Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 2
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
spring is over
and now summer seems to be here:
robes of white mulberry cloth,
are said to have been laid out
are said to have been laid out
on heavenly Mount Kagu
haru sugite
natsu kinikerashi
shirotae no
koromo hosutefu
Ama no Kaguyama
春過ぎて
夏来にけらし
白妙の
衣ほすてふ
天の香具山
Empress Jito 持統天皇 (645-703)
[Grave of Empress Jito and Emperor Tenmu
in the Asuka area]
in the Asuka area]
A celebration of the onset of summer. The arrival of summer is evidenced by the fact that mulberry-white garments are laid out against the green of Mt Kagu.
I have translated the poem
literally, as is the usual reading since the Edo period, but earlier
commentators took the white robes not as literal garments hung out to
dry, but as a metaphor for mist or flowers covering the mountain.
Notes
-
Kinikerashi = kinikeru-rashi
- Shirotae means white robes made from the fibers of the paper mulberry, typically thin and airy clothes for summer. These have presumably been laid out to air against the green of Mt Kagu. Shirotae is also a pillow word (makurakotoba) for things that are very white, such as koromo, "garments." Many commentators take this however as a metaphor:
- for rising mists, meaning that the mountain now can be clearly seen;
- or on the contrary, for mists covering the mountain;
- or for nanohana, white deutzia flowers covering the hillside. - hosutefu=hosuteiu
[Empress Jito, by Kuniyoshi]
The poet
The author is Empress Jito (645-703), the daughter of Emperor Tenji, and the wife of Emperor Tenmu, who was Tenji's younger half brother; after Tenmu's death, she gained control of state affairs and, following the death of the crown prince, formally ascended the throne as reigning empress in 690, one of the very few women to occupy the chrysanthemum throne. During her reign she was responsible for enacting Japan's first set of administrative and penal laws, the so-called Asuka Kiyomihara Code. After eleven years, she gave up the throne in favor of her grandson (Emperor Monmu). She was the first Japanese monarch to be cremated in Buddhist fashion after her death; with her husband, Emperor Tenmu, she had been involved in building the Yakushiji Temple. Her frequent outings, especially to Yoshino, provided court poets as Kakinomoto no Hitomaro with opportunities to compose poems of praise. In 694 she moved the court to the capital of Fujiwarakyo, which was located immediately northwest of Mt Kagu, so in the present poem she is writing about a scene before her eyes.By the way, it may be no coincidence that poem 2 of the Hyakunin Isshu is about Mt Kagu, as in the earlier and influential Manyoshu anthology also the second poem was dedicated to that mountain. That particular poem is ascribed to Emperor Jomei and comes with the head-note "Climbing Mt Kagu and looking upon the land":
Many are the mountains in Yamato,
but perfect is only Heavenly Mount Kagu.
When I climb it to look at the land,
from the plain of the land
smoke rises and rises,
from the plain of the sea
gulls rise and rise.
A fair land it is,
the dragonfly island,
the land of Yamato.
(See my post about the Manyoshu)
[Mt. Kagu seen from the site of Empress Jito's Fujiwara Palace]
The Three Mountains of Yamato
"Heavenly Mount Kagu" is one of the Yamato Sanzan, "the three mountains of Yamato", in Kashihara, Nara Prefecture. The other two are Mount Unebi and Mount Miminashi. Jinmu, mythical first Emperor of Japan, is said to have built his palace on the southeast side of Mt Unebi; he is enshrined at Kashihara Jingu.All three "mountains" are in fact low hills - Mt Kagu is only 152 meters high - but as they rise directly out of the plain, they were important landmarks. All three hills figure prominently in the poetry of the time. They were also pivots of cosmic forces, for on the day of the winter solstice the sun would set right over Mt Unebi, and rise that same day over Mt Kagu, thereby symbolically linking these mountains to the imperial power.
In addition, Mt Kagu was associated with the myth of the Sun Goddess, who once hid in a grotto located on the mountain and withheld her light from the world, until she was enticed out of her cave by a lewd dance.
The locations of the three mountains form a triangle, and they were even thought to be involved in a love triangle: Mt Kagu and Mt Miminashi were considered as male, and Mt Unebi as female. A Manyoshu poem ascribed to Emperor Tenji tells how Kagu and Miminashi quarreled over Unebi.
Archaeological studies in the 1990s have shown that, rather than surrounding Empress Jito's capital Fujiwarakyo on three sides, the palace city was so large as to encompass the three mountains. Mr Kagu stood immediately to the east of Jito's palace.
[The three Yamato mountains, from left to right in de middle ground:
Miminashi, Unebi and Kagu]
Visiting
- The Fujiwara Palace Ruins are freely accessible. The site is either a 30 min walk from Kintetsu Miminashi Station or the same distance from Kintetsu Unebigoryo-mae Station. Alternatively, it is again a 30 min walk from JR Unebi Station. If you don't like to walk, there is also a Community Bus from Yamato-Yagi Station to the Fujiwara Capital Information Center. From the palace site, the three Yamato mountains are clearly visible.
- Of the three Yamato Mountains, Mt Kagu is open and can easily be climbed. At the foot of the mountain are several shrines, such as the Amano-Iwato Shrine (featuring the cave in which the Sun Goddess hid herself) and the Amano-Kaguyama Shrine. The mountain is a 25 min walk from JR Kaguyama Station.
- The mausoleum of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jito in Asuka (on the photo at the top of this blog) is a 15 min walk from Asuka Station. You can also rent bicycles at the station.
- Kashihara Jingu is a modern shrine dedicated to the enthronement of the mythical Emperor Jinmu. The purported mausoleum of Emperor Jinmu is also nearby (the shrine is 10 min from the central exit of Kashiharajingu-mae Station on the Kintetsu line).
- A great museum dedicated to the archeology of Nara is The Archeological Institute of Kashihara. Five min on foot from Unebigoryo-mae Station; 15 min from Kashiharajingu-mae Station.
- Another interesting museum with finds from archaeological sites of temples and tombs is the Asuka Historical Museum. From Kashihara-Jingumae St on the Kintetsu line take a bus bound for Okadera and get off at Asuka Daibutsu-mae.
- Another fascinating place is the Nara Prefecture Complex of Man'yo Culture, located in Asuka. It is dedicated to the Manyoshu, an 8th-century poetry anthology (among many exhibits, the museum has a collection of nihonga paintings inspired by poems from the Manyoshu). There are also exhibits about life in the Asuka and Nara periods. From Kintetsu Kashiharajingu-mae Station, take the Nara Kotsu bus to the Complex of Man'yo Culture West Exit bus stop.
[Nihonga Exhibition Room in Manyo Museum]
References: Pictures of the Heart, The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image by Joshua S. Mostow (University of Hawai'i Press, 1996); One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each, by Peter MacMIllan (Penguin Classics); Traditional Japanese Poetry, An Anthology, by Steven D. Carter (Stanford University Press, 1991); Hyakunin Isshu by Inoue Muneo, etc. (Shinchosha, 1990); Genshoku Hyakunin Isshu by Suzuki Hideo, etc. (Buneido, 1997); Chishiki Zero kara no Hyakunin Isshu, by Ariyoshi Tamotsu (Gentosha); Hyakunin Isshu Kaibo Zukan, by Tani Tomoko (X-Knowledge); Ogura Hyakunin Isshu at Japanese Text Initiative (University of Virginia Library Etext Center); Hyakunin Isshu wo aruku by Shimaoka Shin (Kofusha Shuppan); Hyakunin Isshu, Ocho waka kara chusei waka e by Inoue Muneo (Chikuma Shoin, 2004); Basho's Haiku (2 vols) by Toshiharu Oseko (Maruzen, 1990); The Ise Stories by Joshua S. Mostow and Royall Tyler (University of Hawai'i Press, 2010); Kokin Wakashu, The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry by Helen Craig McCullough (Stanford University Press, 1985); Kokinshu, A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern by Laurel Rasplica Rodd and Mary Catherine Henkenius (University of Tokyo Press, 1984); Kokin Wakashu (Shogakkan, 1994); Shinkokin Wakashu (Shogakkan, 1995); Taketori Monogatari-Ise Monogatari-Yamato Monogatari-Heichu Monogatari (Shogakkan, 1994).
Photos via Wikimedia Commons