Said night was young when the false rooster crowed, but the gates of Osaka remained shut.
夜をこめて | yo wo komete |
鳥のそらねは | tori no sora-ne wa |
はかるとも | hakaru tomo |
よに逢坂の | yo ni Afusaka* no |
関はゆるさじ | seki wa yurusaji |
Sei Shōnagon
a lady-in-waiting from the Kiyohara clan
Sei Shōnagon 清少納言 (b. 965? − ?) is one of the best-known female writers of Heian period (平安時代 Heian jidai 794−1192). She was born into Kiyohara 清原 clan and her personal name may have been Nagiko 諾子 (McKinney 2006, xi), but as she became a lady-in-waiting to Empress Teishi or Fujiwara no Teishi 藤原定子(also read as Fujiwara no Sadako; 976−1000), Sei Shōnagon became her sobriquet, by which she is known to this day. Her sobriquet is derived from her family name Kiyohara, the first kanji of which is read sei in Chinese reading of Japanese, and a position of shōnagon 少納言 or Minor Counselor, which was probably held by someone close to her, although we are unsure whom.
Sei Shōnagon was daughter of Kiyohara no Motosuke 清原元輔 (908−990; Hyakunin Isshu 42) and great-granddaughter of Kiyohara no Fukayabu 清原深養父 (dates unknown; Hyakunin Isshu 36). Her family was not of incredibly high standing, it was one of considerable poetic fame.
Sei Shōnagon too was a poet, but rather than in composition for poetry contests and occasions, she excelled in social verse, where her vast knowledge of Chinese classics, while perhaps a little unusual for a lady of her time, was nevertheless appreciated and gentlemen who had known of her erudition “enjoyed seeing her negotiate the difficult challenge of cleverly responding to a Chinese allusion in a suitably roundabout way.” (ibid., xvii−xviii)
Fourteen of her poems are included in imperial anthologies from Goshūishū 後拾遺集 (Later Collection of Gleanings; 1086) onwards and Shōnagon was acknowledged by Fujiwara no Norikane 藤原範兼 (1107−1165) as one of Late Classical Thirty−Six Poetic Immortals (中古三十六歌仙 Chūko sanjūrokkasen). Her most famous work, Makura no sōshi 枕草子 or The Pillow Book, however, came in prose rather than verse.
The Pillow Book is a scattered, chatty and witty collection of lists, essay-style notes and diary-like records of her time in service as a lady-in-waiting to Empress Teishi. It the first text considered to be of a Japanese essay-like genre of zuihitsu 随筆 (literally “following the brush”), which became extremely popular in the Edo period (江戸時代 Edo jidai; 1603−1867) and continues being explored to this day.
The Pillow Book is different in tone to diaries (nikki) or tales (monogatari), and it is a piece where Shōnagon often goes to great lengths to demonstrate her wit and learning, in a manner hardly to everyone’s liking. For example, Murasaki Shikibu 紫式部 (around 973–1014 or 1025; Hyakunin Isshu 57), Shōnagon’s contemporary and author of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji), writes in her diary:
“Sei Shōnagon, <…>, was dreadfully conceited. She thought herself so clever and littered her writings with Chinese characters; but if you examined them closely, they left a great deal to be desired.”
(translated by Richard Bowring 2005, 54)
And today, like back then, readers of The Pillow Book are divided into those who adore and those who abhor the author and her writing, but at the same time − Sei Shōnagon hardly leaves anyone indifferent.
A false rooster's crow
The poem that Fujiwara no Teika 藤原定家 (1162−1241; Hyakunin Isshu 97) chose for the Hyakunin Isshu represents the witty, knowledgeable Shōnagon, who is ever−present in her Pillow Book. All of these attributes, however, are hardly obvious when reading her poem by itself, which is exactly the way we originally encounter it in the Hyakunin Isshu, − without headnotes or explanations1. Therefore, it only makes sense to start with the story and come back to the poem with its context in mind.
Originally, we find the poem in The Pillow Book, but Fujiwara no Teika took the vast majority2 of the Hyakunin Isshu poems from imperial poetry anthologies and in the context of those Hyakunin Isshu is analysed most often.
We encounter the poem in question in the fourth imperial anthology Goshūishū, among miscellaneous poems, with a headnote (詞書 kotobagaki):
Grand Counsellor Yukinari3 stayed deep into the night, talking about tales and the like but because the Emperor was to enter Imperial Abstinence, Yukinari hurried to return to the palace before dawn. Early in the morning he sent a letter, saying a rooster’s crow urged him to leave. Was that rooster’s crow late into the night one of the Kanko Barrier, Shōnagon inquired. He quickly answered: it was one of the Barrier of Afusaka [The Meeting Hill]. In return, she composed:
Deep into the night,
even if some are deceived
by the crow of a false rooster, −
the Barrier of Afusaka will surely
not let down its guard; and I will surely not meet with you.
This is the poem we find in the Hyakunin Isshu and reading it together with the headnote, we may notice how Shōnagon is playing at an intertextual level, − while the Kanko Barrier in China was opened because a false rooster crowed deceiving the barrier guards, the Barrier of Afusaka here would surely not open.
To anyone familiar with Chinese classics and The Pillow Book, the headnote may have been sufficient; the retelling of the dialogue between Shōnagon and Yukinari could have been just enough to get the readers excited, but to us it might even raise more questions than provide answers, so we shall look further and turn to The Pillow Book.
In The Pillow Book, around section 1304, there is a more detailed story which most likely served as the basis for Goshūishū headnote.
According to The Pillow Book, Secretary Controller (頭弁 tō no ben) Yukinari5 visited the Office of the Empress’s Household and stayed deep into the night but then hurriedly left for the imperial palace because of Imperial Abstinence. The next day he sent a “very lengthy message on several pieces of official paper from the Chamberlain's Office, saying, 'My heart is still full of regrets for yesterday. I thought to stay till dawn speaking with you of things past, but the cock's crow hastened me early on my way.'” (McKinney 2006, 134)
Shōnagon answered him asking, could the rooster’s crow he heard so late in the night have been one of Lord Mengchang. She referred to a legend of Lord Mengchang, recorded in Records of the Grand Historian, known in Japan as Shiki 史記. According to the legend, fleeing Lord Mengchang arrived at the Kanko Barrier Gate in the middle of the night and found the gate closed, − with enemy closing in, he had one of his followers imitate a rooster crow and so fooled the guards to open the gate.
Yukinari answered that while it is written in the books that Lord Mengchang's rooster opened the Kanko Barrier Gate and allowed his three thousand followers to finally escape, the barrier gate in his case was the Barrier Gate of Afusaka. He most likely chose the Barrier of Afusaka intentionally, as Afusaka means Meeting Hill, by which he could suggest that he would like to meet Shōnagon again.
Shōnagon answered Yukinari with the yo wo komete 夜をこめて poem and in the end, referring to the Barrier of Afusaka, added: there’s a watchful guard.
Yukinari, in turn, promptly replied with a poem a lot less known than Shōnagon’s (and no wonder, he was a famous calligrapher but not an especially gifted poet):
逢阪は | Afusaka wa |  | |
人越えやすき | hito koe-yasuki | ||
関なれば | seki nareba | ||
鳥鳴かぬにも | tori nakanu ni mo | ||
あけて待つとか | akete matsu to ka | ||
|
| ||
| The Barrier of Afusaka is simple to cross, and so I hear, that even without bird’s cry, it awaits wide open. | ||
Contrary to what her own poem suggested, this poem said that she was someone easily reached, and Shōnagon forwent replying. Nevertheless, she recorded that her own poem received praise among courtiers of her time, and we know that ultimately, Fujiwara no Teika also valued it highly enough to select it among superior poems.
This poem stands out for its deep Chinese intertext but it is ultimately a waka and the rules and play of waka still prevail:
夜をこめて 鳥のそらねは はかるとも | Yo wo komete tori no sora−ne wa hakaru tomo | Deep into the night, even if some [they] are deceived by the false rooster’s crow... Here we find a subtle allusion to Lord Mengchang’s legend. Without the headnote in Goshūishū or The Pillow Book, this allusion would most probably be lost, and such might actually be the case in some Hykunin Isshu translations. Most modern Japanese commentaries, however, point to either of the aforementioned sources and note the allusion. |
よに逢坂の 関はゆるさじ | yoni Afusaka no seki wa yurusaji | In the second part of the poem, yoni at the beginning and ji at the end form a single structure, meaning will surely not, while within this structure afu is a pivot word or kakekotoba 掛詞, which carries a double meaning: afu 逢ふ − to meet and Afusaka 逢坂, a placename, literally meaning The Meeting Hill. This possible wordplay made it a popular poetic placename or utamakura 歌枕. The actual Afusaka Barrier was crossed by those travelling from capital to the East.
Because of the wordplay, the second part of the poem has two meanings. Primarily, it says: the Barrier of Afusaka will surely not let down its guard, but the secondary meaning is: I will not meet with you. |
Shōnagon’s poem goes to demonstrate her ability to subtly incorporate intricate allusions and her strength in social poetry, thus proving that while she may not have been a famous poet, she was one nevertheless a capable one.
The poem also stands to show how a strict poetic form can remain versatile and continue to function in social context, as well as how the context surrounding and intertext within the poem can add to an otherwise simple-looking creation.
Notes
1 Originally, the Hyakunin Isshu was a collection of poems without headnotes or any other notes, and in its original form as decorative cartouches, even authors of the poems were not written down. Commentaries were added in the later ages and nowadays Japanese readers read the poems through extensive commentary. On the other hand, Western readers are most often presented with poems only.
2 Only the last two poems in the Hyakunin Isshu were included in imperial anthologies after Teika’s death.
3 Fujiwara no Yukinari 藤原行成 (972−1027).
4 Different editions of The Pillow Book have different numberings. For example:
- Section 130 in Japanese editions by Shōgakukan 小学館
- The beginner-friendly Nihon no koten wo yomu 8: Makura no sōshi 日本の古典を読む⑧ 「枕草子」;
- And the detailed Shinpen Nihon koten bungaku zenshū 18: Makura no sōshi 新編日本古典文全集 18「枕草子」.
- Section 129 in Meredith McKinney’s English translation (see Sources/References page);
5 It is most probable that at the time of the events, Yukinari was Secretary Controller − a position in which he served from late 998 to late 1000. This is in contrast to Goshūishū headnote, which calls Yukinari Major Counsellor (大納言 dainagon) − a position he only reached in late 1020.
Illustrations
Square illustration: Chōyaku Hyakunin Isshu: Uta Koi 超訳百人一首 うた恋い, dir. Kasai Ken‘ichi カサヰケンイチ, TYO Animations, 2012. / Edited by the blog author.
Poet card: Sei Shōnagon by Katsukawa Shunshō 勝川春章 1775, carved and pained by David Bull in 1990.
Poem sheets: Chōyaku Hyakunin Isshu: Uta Koi / Edited by the blog author.