Eikyoku

A type of song performed from the Heian to Kamakura periods, or a general term for it. The word originates from the vulgar songs that were popular in Ying, the capital of the state of Chu during the Spring and Autumn period in China. In the early Heian period, it was a general term for court songs such as roei, saibara, kagurauta, and fuzokuuta, but in the mid-Heian period it broadened to include imayouta, and from the end of the Heian period it also included kamiuta, ashigara, kataoroshi, koyanagi, and sarahayashi. In the narrow sense, it refers only to roei, but it can also refer separately to the soga (also known as enkyoku) of the Kamakura period. In Tsurezuregusa, the phrase "the words of the Eikyoku in Ryojin Hisho" refers to the miscellaneous arts of the time. This is because the Eikyokusho, which is thought to have been written by Emperor Goshirakawa, is also known as the eleventh volume of Ryojin Hisho. The recitation, modern songs, and miscellaneous arts sung at the Tenjo Enzui on Gosechi are called Gosechi Eikyoku in particular, and were loved at aristocratic banquets in conjunction with the Kamakura period haiku. There were two families that passed down the traditions of Eikyoku: the Genke family, whose ancestors were Prince Atsuzane and Minamoto Masanobu, and the Touke family, whose ancestors were Fujiwara Moronaga and Minamoto Hiromasa. However, the Touke family died out in the mid-Muromachi period, and today the Ayanokoji family, a descendant of the Minamoto family, continues to thrive.

[Yoko Hashimoto]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

平安時代から鎌倉時代にかけて行われた歌謡の種目、またはその総称。語源は、中国の春秋時代に楚(そ)の国の都、郢(えい)ではやった卑俗な歌謡の意。平安初期には朗詠、催馬楽(さいばら)、神楽歌(かぐらうた)、風俗歌(ふぞくうた)など宮廷歌謡の総称であったが、平安中期には今様歌(いまよううた)、末期からは神歌(かみうた)、足柄(あしがら)、片下(かたおろし)、古柳(こやなぎ)、沙羅林(さらのはやし)などの雑芸(ぞうげい)も包括し広義に及んだ。狭義には朗詠のみをさし、また別に鎌倉時代の早歌(そうが)（別名宴曲(えんきょく)）を示すこともある。『徒然草(つれづれぐさ)』に「梁塵秘抄(りょうじんひしょう)の郢曲の詞」とあるのは当時の雑芸をさす。これは後白河(ごしらかわ)法皇の撰(せん)と思われる『郢曲抄』が別名『梁塵秘抄巻十一』とも称されるためである。五節(ごせち)の殿上淵酔(てんじょうえんずい)で歌われた朗詠、今様、雑芸などをとくに『五節間郢曲』と称し、鎌倉時代の早歌と結んで貴族の宴席で愛好された。郢曲を伝承する家には敦実(あつざね)親王・源雅信(まさのぶ)を祖とする源家(げんけ)、藤原師長(もろなが)・源博雅を祖とする藤家(とうけ)の2家があったが、室町中期に藤家は絶え、いまは源家の流れの綾小路(あやのこうじ)家が命脈を保つ。

［橋本曜子］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例