In this article, Dr Tom McAuley provides some background to his Futurecade exhibit ‘A Mirror it Does Seem<\/a>‘ and the research on premodern Japanese poetry and poetic criticism that informed it. He also provides context about the poetry, and the society and culture that produced it. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The term \u2018premodern Japan\u2019 obviously encompasses many centuries, but the period I\u2019m most interested in runs from about 900-1200 when Japan was largely peaceful and its ruling nobility had settled in the city of Heian-ky\u014d (modern day Kyoto) around the court of the emperor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This was a time of significant cultural development in Japan, not least in literature and in poetry, in particular, because the writing and appreciation of poetry was an integral part of aristocratic life. Everyone in the nobility wrote poetry\u2014in fact, it\u2019s not going too far to say that you couldn\u2019t be a functioning aristocrat without the ability to compose a verse when needed. There\u2019s not really a modern English equivalent, but it would be like being a member of the upper classes in Jane Austen\u2019s time and being unable to dance\u2014you would be a strange figure of fun and ridicule, and not get invited to any parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I digress slightly, but there\u2019s an actual example of such an individual mentioned in the writings of the time: Tachibana no Norimitsu (965-?). Norimitsu was by all accounts quite dashing\u2014a number of sources tell the story of how he was able to kill three robbers in a swordfight (you can read my translation of one of these stories here<\/a>)\u2014but he is also known to have had a relationship with Sei Sh\u014dnagon (ca. 966-1017\/1025) a court lady and the author of one of the most famous accounts of court life, Makura no s\u014dshi<\/em> (\u2018The Pillow Book\u2019). Sei describes the end of their relationship in her book and portrays Norimitsu as a buffoon as he is unable to respond properly to any of her verses, and even refuses to do so!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nobles used poetry for both describing the natural world and their feelings about it, and also their emotions in response to life events like births, deaths, travelling and, of course, falling in love and out of it. An individual was not free to compose about anything any way he or she liked, however\u2014there were rules about what topics were suitable for poetic composition, about which emotions should be expressed depending upon the topic, and what words could and could not be used in poetry. There was also only one form for acceptable poetry: the waka<\/em>, a short verse in a pattern of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The topic of our project, the moon and its reflection in water, was associated with autumn\u2014the best night of the year for viewing it was believed to be the 15th day of the Eighth lunar month (around mid-September)\u2014just when the Festival of the Mind is taking place. At this time of year, aristocrats would gather together, either at their estates, or at places where it was known the moon looked particularly beautiful, and enjoy the sight in each other\u2019s company, composing poems as they did so. One just one such occasion:<\/p>\n\n\n\n When he had first gone to the residence of the former Regent and Rokuj\u014d Minister, and people were composing on the conception of long clear pond waters.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u4eca\u5e74\u3060\u306b\u93e1\u3068\u898b\u3086\u308b\u6c60\u6c34\u306e\u5343\u4e16\u7d4c\u3066\u3059\u307e\u3080\u5f71\u305e\u3086\u304b\u3057\u304d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fujiwara no Norinaga (ca. 993-?) (Translated by Thomas McAuley \u00a9)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Poems were exchanged between friends and lovers, sent to superiors, were written for recitation at functions held at court and the mansions of the senior nobility, and also to accompany artworks on the screens which were used for decorating aristocratic dwellings. So, there has been a long association between waka<\/em> and artwork, making this project a continuation of this centuries old relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Waka were also collected into anthologies so they could be passed down to individuals\u2019 descendants as a social and cultural inheritance. Of course, in order to decide which poems were worth preserving, critical poetic standards had to be developed, and the formal criticism of poetry became increasingly important from the mid-eleventh century. One of the most important venues in which poetry was criticised was the poetry competition (uta\u2019awase<\/em>), where poets would present their work and have it criticised and judged by experts (for more information on uta\u2019awase<\/em>, see here<\/a>). Possibly the single most famous such contest, and certainly the largest judged by a single person is Roppyakuban uta\u2019awase<\/em> (\u2018Poetry Contest in Six Hundred Rounds\u2019; 1193-94), my translation and commentary of which has recently been published (if you want to hear me talk about poetry contests, Roppyakuban uta\u2019awase<\/em> and the translation, watch the video, below:<\/p>\n\n\n\nkotoshi dani
kagami to miyuru
ikemizu no
chiyo hete sumamu
kage zo yukashiki<\/em><\/td>Especially this year
A mirror it does seem:
This pond water \u2013
Clear through the passage of a thousand ages,
How I long for its light!<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\u85e4\u539f\u7bc4\u6c38<\/p>\n\n\n\n