was a Japanese anthologist, calligrapher, literary critic,"The high quality of poetic theory (karon) in this age depends chiefly upon the poetic writings of Fujiwara Shunzei and his son Teika. The other theorists of tanka writing, stimulated by father and son either to agreement or disagreement, contributed also toward the high level of poetic theory, but we may say that Shunzei and Teika were most representative of the age." This quote is sourced to Odagiri Hideo in pg 10 of his "Nihon ni okeru bungei hyōron no seiritsu" (The Rise of Art Criticism in Japan), pub. by Geijutsuron-shū ("Collection of Discussions of Art"), Tokyo 1962; see Shun'ichi H. Takayanagi's review of Japanese Court Poetry by Robert H. Brower and Earl Miner in Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 18, No. 1/4. (1963), pp. 352–364. novelist,It is generally believed that Teika wrote the Tale of Matsura poet, and scribe"During his last years Teika seems to have composed little poetry, but he was otherwise engaged in copying manuscripts, especially of the major works of Heian literature. It is not much of an exaggeration to say that what we know of the literature of Teika's day and earlier is mainly what he thought was worthy of preservation" pg 673–674 of Seeds in the Heart. of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. His influence was enormous, and he is counted as among the greatest"The single most influential figure in the history of Japanese classical poetry, Fujiwara no Teika (or Sadaie) 1162–1241, was the supreme arbiter of poetry in his day, and for centuries after his death was held in religious veneration by waka and renga poets alike." Robert H. Brower. Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 40, No. 4. (Winter, 1985), pp. 399–425. ).
Charles Murray, in his Human Accomplishment, ranks Teika as the 17th most influential figure in all of Japanese literature based on his analysis of academic research on Japanese literature. "Fujiwara no Teika....is one of the four greatest Japanese poets. The son of Shunzei, Teika lived to an advanced age constantly plagued by both recurring illness and reverses and advances in his family's fortunes. Similarly, his poetry and critical writings also underwent a series of changes in the course of his life, leaving behind the most substantial and intense poetic legacy by a single poet in Japanese history." "Teika's unique reputation rested in part upon his accomplishment as the leading figure among the many fine poets of the Shinkokin Jidai, the period of fifty-odd years in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries when revival and innovation in the native poetry were exemplified in Shin Kokinshū, c. 1204, the eighth, and in many respects the greatest, of the imperially sponsored anthologies of classical verse. As one of the six compilers of the anthology, and with forty-six of his poems included in it, Teika stood at the forefront of the younger and more innovative poets of his day, and his various experiments with diction, rhetoric, and figurative language, as well as with new styles, modes, and aesthetic effects, were widely imitated by his contemporaries. After his death, his quarreling descendants were recognized as the ultimate authorities on all poetic matters, and through them Teika's influence pervaded six hundred years of Japanese poetic history." Extract from "Fujiwara Teika's Maigetsusho" by Robert H. Brower, Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 40, No. 4. (Winter, 1985), pp. 399–425. Donald Keene writes, "...is the diary of Fujiwara Teika (1162–1241), a man equally celebrated as poet, critic, and editor." pg 95, Keene 1989 of Japanese poets, and perhaps the greatest master of the waka form – an ancient poetic form consisting of five lines with a total of 31 syllables.
Teika's critical ideas on composing poetry were extremely influential and studied until as late as the Meiji era. A member of a poetic clan, Teika's father was the noted poet Fujiwara no Shunzei. After coming to the attention of the Retired Emperor Go-Toba (1180–1239; r. 1183–1198),pg 7 of Brower 1972 Teika began his long and distinguished career, spanning multiple areas of aesthetic endeavor. His relationship with Go-Toba was at first cordial and led to commissions to compile anthologies, but later resulted in his banishment from the retired emperor's court. His descendants and ideas would dominate classical Japanese poetry for centuries afterwards.
Biography
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 niece became a well-respected poet of waka and renga, known as Kengozen or Shunzei's Daughter, whom he occasionally sought out for poetic advice. His elder brother, Fujiwara no Nariee (sometimes romanized as "Nariie"; ), was somewhat successful in court, but not nearly as much as his niece.pg 410, Keene 1989 Teika's foster-brother, the priest Jakuren or "Sadanaga" c. 1139–1202 was 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 was 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 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... 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,
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:
pg 9 of Brower 1972 See also pg 14: "Go-Toba, on the other hand, while appreciating the need for discipline and practice, remained throughout his life the grand dilettante – man who in his own way appreciated and loved poetry, but who never ceased to regard it as a kind of elegant pastime. Such an attitude is implicit in the ex-emperor's flitting from hobby to hobby, and it is, as his poetic treatise illustrates, at the heart of his critical differences with Teika."
Go-Toba regarded all these pursuits as hobbies, taking one up and dropping another. One of these was his support of poetry, especially the waka. Immediately after his abdication, he had announced that he would hold two poetry contests, each requiring a number of preeminent poets to compose some 100 waka in a particular thematic progression, known as the hyakushu genre of poem sequences. The first contest (Go-Toba In shodo hyakushu ; "Ex-Emperor Go-Toba's First Hundred-Poem Sequences") was considered a crucial political nexus; if a clan's poet did well and impressed the powerful (and youthful) Go-Toba, the clan would benefit considerably.
Teika's diary records that he looked forward to this chance to improve himself. He was 38, and had reached middle age. While he was recognized as a talented poet, his career was stagnant; he had been in the Palace Guards of the Left for twenty years, and had not been promoted for nearly 10. He was "Lesser Commander of the Palace Guards of the Left" with little prospect of further advancement.pg 15 and 69 of Brower 1972
Teika had wider political problems: the influence of his patrons, the Kujōs, over the Emperors had declined drastically. Minamoto no Michichika (d. 1202) had insinuated himself into Imperial circles through Go-Toba's former nursemaid; with this leverage, Michichika's adopted daughter (the then-Shōgun's daughter, who had decided to marry his daughter off to the Emperor, using Michichika as a go-between – contrary to the Shōgun's usual policy of favoring Kujo Kanezane. The Shōgun's lack of confidence allowed Michichika to push Go-Toba into firing Kanezane as kampaku in 1196pg 667 of Keene 1999) became Go-Toba's concubine (making Michichika the Retired Emperor Go-Toba's father in law), and they had his first heir in 1195. The shame of this usurpation led Go-Toba's first wife, Ninshi, to retire from the court. As Ninshi was the daughter of the Kujō's leader Kujō Kanezane, the Kujō's influence in court diminished considerably, even to the extent of Kanezane and Yoshitsune (d. 1206; once the regent and prime minister)pg 663 of Keene 1999 being driven from the court in 1196;pg 60 of Brower 1972 with the diminution of their influence, so dimmed Teika's prospects. Teika expressed his disappointment through poetry, such as this example, written when he was "passed over for promotion in the spring list" in 1187 (he would eventually be promoted in 1190, but as his good and encouraging friend Saigyō died that year, it was cold comfort):
RōmajiEnglishtoshi furedo kokoro no haru wa yoso nagara nagamenarenuru akebono no soraAnother year gone by And still no spring warms my heart, It's nothing to me But now I am accustomed To stare at the sky at dawn.