Fujiwara no Teika

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Fujiwara no Teika : biography

1162 – September 26, 1241
  • Teika hachidai sho (定家八代抄) (Anthology of 1811 poems from the first 8 Imperial anthologies.)
  • Shuka no daitai (秀歌大体) ("A Basic Canon of Superior Poems")
  • Teika Jittai (定家十体) (1207–1213; an anthology of 286 poems, chiefly derived from the Shin Kokinshū; long believed a forgery, but some modern scholars contend that it is a genuine work.)

Biography

Monument to Fujiwara no Teika, Ogura, [[Kyoto]]

Birth

Teika was born to a minor and distant branch of the aristocratic and courtly clan, the Fujiwara, in 1162, sometime after the Fujiwara regents had lost their political pre-eminence in the Imperial court during the Hōgen Rebellion. His branch of the clan sought prestige and power in the court by aligning itself with the Mikohidari family, and by specializing in artistic endeavors, principally poetry. Such specialization was not unusual; branches of extended clans were not in a position to compete directly in politics with the head branch of the clan (or indeed other clans because of their junior status), but could compete in more restricted aesthetic pursuits. (The Mikohidari, also known as the Miko, were a cadet branch of the Fujiwaras, through Fujiwara no Michinaga’s sixth son, Fujiwara no Nagaie (1005–1064); the Mikohidari were themselves aligned with the more senior Kujō branch of the original Fujiwara, who opposed the Rokujō family)

Teika’s grandfather was the venerable poet Fujiwara no Toshitada. His father was Fujiwara no Shunzei (1114–1204), a well known and greatly respected poet (and judge of poetry competitions), who had compiled the seventh Imperial anthology of waka (the Senzai Wakashū). His sister would also become a well-respected poet of waka and renga, known as Kengozen or Shunzei’s Daughter, whom he would occasionally seek out for poetic advice. His elder brother, Fujiwara no Nariee (sometimes romanized as "Nariie"; 藤原 俊成), would be somewhat successful in court, but not nearly as much as his sister.pg 410, Keene 1989 Teika’s foster-brother, the priest Jakuren or "Sadanaga" c. 1139-1202 would be successful as a poet although his career was cut tragically short; he had been adopted by Shunzei when Shunzei’s younger brother "retired from the world".pg 27 and 47 of Brower 1972

Career

Teika’s goals as the senior male of his branch were to inherit and cement his father’s position in poetry, and to advance his own reputation (thereby also improving the political fortunes of his own clan in the court). While his life would be marked by repeated illness"It was a heavy burden for Teika, whose chronic bronchitis and rheumatism made him a semi-invalid, to be caught up in the ex-emperor’s hectic life." pg 19 of Brower 1972 and wildly shifting fortunes- only partially moderated by his father’s long-lasting influence in court (Shunzei would live to the advanced age of 90), the young and poetically inclined Retired Emperor Go-Toba’s patronage would prove to lead to some of Teika’s greatest successes."The decision was vital to the position and future status of Teika in particular, affording an opportunity to establish contact and ingratiate himself with the powerful ex-sovereign and to demonstrate his poetic prowess to the discomfiture of his enemies. One hesitates to make such a sweeping statement as that the course of Japanese classical poetry would have been forever altered had Teika been shunted aside at this juncture to eke out the remainder of his days in wretched obscurity…[but]one may be excused for thinking his inclusion in the Shoji sequences more than a mere ripple on the surface of literary history." pg 10 of Fujiwara Teika’s Superior Poems of Our Time, trans. Robert H. Brower, Earl Miner. 1967, Stanford University Press, L.C. 67-17300, ISBN 0-8047-0171-7

Go-Toba’s patronage

The Retired Emperor Go-Toba announced, in the second year of his abdication (1200, the second year of the Shōji era) that he would be conducting a poetry contest.pg 16 of Brower 1972 Retired Emperors frequently became more influential after their retirement from the office of Emperor rather than as the actual Emperor, since they were free from the highly restricting ceremonial requirements and politics of the court. Go-Toba was 20 when he abdicated; he was the consummate amateur, skilled at playing the lute, considered an authority on traditional learning and courtly precedent, excellent at playing Go, and fond of equestrian pursuits such as horseback archery, shooting at running dogs, and swordsmanship.Minamoto Ienaga also writes: