From the Diary of Emperor Murakami
On the 30th day of the Third Month, Tentoku 4 (Earth junior-snake),[i] a poetry match for court ladies took place.[ii] In the autumn of the previous year, in the Eighth Month, a Sinitic Poetry Match had been held for courtiers and retainers.[iii] At that time, the Palace Ladies[iv] and Handmaids[v] had said to each other that since the men had held a match of Sinitic poetry, the women should hold a match of Yamato poems. Thus, in the Second Month of this year, the members of the Left and Right were determined. Among them, Imperial Concubines Shūshi[vi] and Yūjo,[vii] both of the Fujiwara, were appointed leaders of the teams. Each team was instructed to composed poems for the event. I did this out of concern that the way of elegance and poetry might foolishly be neglected and fall into disuse and, therefore, record the details of the match in full, lest future generations, lacking understanding of my intent, might denigrate this event as merely an exercise in frivolous luxury and seek to emulate it as such.
For the event, the northern shutters of the connecting corridor between the Halls of Cool Purity and Later Cool[viii] were temporarily removed. Seating for the senior nobles was positioned in that same corridor. Seating mats for the Left and Right teams were laid out on the eastern veranda of the Hall of Later Cool with the Left to the south and Right to the north. The court ladies likewise arranged themselves and were positioned behind the blinds of the western aisle of the Hall of Cool Purity. My throne was set up in the fifth, central, bay of this aisle (a chair from the court ladies’ office[ix] was used for this)—during this time the blinds were raised.[x]
At around the Hour of the Monkey[xi] I took my seat. After a considerable delay, the Right entered from the north and presented their diorama.[xii] The lower stand was fashioned from agarwood, with legs carved with floral designs. Upon this was laid a brocade cover, embroidered with willows, birds and blossom, with the whole placed on a mat of patterned silk.[xiii] Four pagegirls to the Imperial Concubines brought it before me into the corridor, while the diorama containing the tally markers was placed in the small northern courtyard[xiv] before the round straw mats for the attendants.
Shortly afterwards, the Left passed before the courtiers’ and retainers’ office[xv] to the south and presented their diorama. The stand was made of rosewood and likewise had legs with floral designs. The lower stand was sappanwood red and covered with brocade embroidered with flowers and calligraphed poems;[xvi] it was placed on a purple patterned silk mat. As with the Right, six pagegirls to the Imperial Concubines brought it out, while the tally-tray was placed in the southern courtyard before the attendants’ mats there. At first the pagegirls mistakenly placed the tally trays beneath the stands, but later repositioned them.
I issued a command for the senior nobles to present themselves. Immediately, the Minister of the Left, His Excellency Saneyori; the Minamoto Major Counsellor, Lord Taka’akira; the Fujiwara Major Captain of the Right, Lord Morotada; and the Consultants, Lord Masanobu[xvii] and Lord Asahira[xviii] entered and took their seats. Next, the retainers serving as members of each team took their seats. By this time the sun had already set and it had grown dark, so torches were lit in the northern and southern courtyards.
I summoned the official reciters: for the Left, Captain of the Outer Palace Guards, Left Division, Lord Nobumitsu; and for the Right, Middle Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Lord Hiromasa. They positioned themselves before the two dioramas to recite the poems. For the Left, a branch of kerria had been made of gold, with the poems engraved upon its leaves; they were also written on poem-slips. Minor Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Left Division, Lord Koretada[xix] and Minor Captain of the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division, Lord Sukenobu[xx] held torches to illuminate these. Junior pageboys sat in the courtyards to handle the tallies. I ordered the Minister of the Left to act as judge.
During the event food and wine were served to both the senior nobles and the participants.
In the course of the match, a dispute arose between the Left and Right over Round Two, the bush warbler poems, when the Right mistakenly recited a willow poem out of sequence. Following precedent, I instructed that this should be a loss. In total, twenty rounds of poems were recited, with the Left winning nine. Once the poetry recitation was finished, I summoned musicians from the Court Music Office.[xxi] They positioned themselves in both the northern and southern courtyards and played melodies in turn. The Minister played the zither, while the Lord Minamoto Major Counsellor Taka’akira played the lute. Meanwhile, wine cups circulated constantly, and music and song never ceased. The Minister, rising from his seat, presented a formal toast to me.
As dawn broke, I had imperial gifts distributed to all, from the Minister down, in order of rank. The Minister and the Consultants each received a set of white unlined robes and bolts of silk; the Major Counsellor received a single set of lily-white robes.[xxii]
At daybreak,[xxiii] I rose and withdrew into the palace, while the retainers also departed. Frost fell with the dawn, and my close attendants remarked how out-of-keeping with the season this was.
On the 3rd day of the Fourth Month[xxiv] at the Hour of the Ram,[xxv] in the Hall of Flying Fragraces,[xxvi] a diorama from the match was gifted to Her Majesty, the Empress.[xxvii] A short time later, at the beginning of the next hour, I had the diorama of the Left presented to Imperial Princess Masako.[xxviii]
[i] The traditional calendar designated years on a 240 year cycle composed of a combination of both elements with zodiacal signs. See Miner, Odagiri, and Morrell (1985, 407) for a detailed explanation.
[ii] As should be clear from the poems in the match and the identities of the poets—who were mostly male—this was an event organized for the entertainment of the palace’s ladies, not one in which they generally took part.
[iii] This was the Tenjō shi’awase 殿上詩合 (‘Courtiers’ Sinitic Poetry Match’) which took place on the 16th day of the Eighth Month, Tentoku 3 [21.9.959]. See Hagitani and Taniyama (1965, 88) for brief details.
[iv] Myōbu 命婦: this term referred to a court lady in service at the palace whose father or husband was of the Fifth Rank or higher, and was allowed to enter the palace by virtue of this connection. Individuals were frequently referred to with a combination of their male relative’s position and myōbu: for example, Sakon no myōbu 左近の命婦 (‘the Palace Lady [related to a man in the] Inner Palace Guards, Left Division’).
[v] Naishi 内侍: at the time this match took place, this term referred to female officials of the Handmaids’ Office (naishi no tsukasa 内侍司) who aided the emperor in drafting decrees and organising musical performances other events. Later in the Heian period, these roles were taken over by male officials and the Handmaids mainly performed a range of services in the imperial harem.
[vi] Fujiwara no Shūshi 藤原修子 (dates unknown) was one of Murakami’s concubines (kōi 更衣). Also referred to as Chūjō no kōi 中将更衣 (the ‘concubine related to the Middle Captain’), she was the daughter of Fujiwara no Asahira 藤原朝成 (917-974), who had held the positions of Middle Captain in the Inner Palace Guards, Right Division (ukonoe no chūjō 右近衛中将) (950-953) and Middle Captain in the Inner Palace Guards, Left Division (sakonoe no chūjō 左近衛中将) (953-955).
[vii] Fujiwara no Yūjo 藤原有序 (dates unknown): also known as Ben no kōi 弁更衣 (the ‘concubine related to the Controller’), she was the daughter of Fujiwara no Arisuke 藤原有相 (908-959), who had held the positions of Major Controller of the Right (udaiben 右大弁) (951-954) and Major Controller of the Left (sadaiben 左大弁) (954-956).
[viii] The two buildings here were the Seiryōden 清涼殿, where the emperor had his personal quarters, and the Kōryōden 後涼殿, which lay to the west of the Seiryōden and contained quarters for court ladies. There were three connecting corridors (watadono 渡殿) linked the two buildings: one to the north, one to the south and one in the centre. A watadono was a roofed and raised walkway between two main buildings in the palace and other aristocratic dwellings. These were frequently open-sided but could be closed off with lattice shutters—in this case those on the northern side of the central walkway were removed to enable it to be used as a seating area.
[ix] Murakami refers to the nyōbō no saburai 女房侍 here. Also known as the daibandokoro 台盤所, this was a room in the Seiryōden where court ladies were stationed while attending the emperor.
[x] The palace buildings’ architecture had roofs, supported by pillars, overhanging a raised external veranda (rō 廊) of wooden boards. The pillars demarcated separate ‘bays’ within the buildings, which could be made into discrete internal spaces with screens or curtains as necessary. The space immediately inside the building, between the veranda and the deeper interior was known as the aisle (hisashi 庇). This, too, could be partitioned off into discrete spaces, as well as from the interior, with screens and curtains. Murakami was seated in the fifth bay of the building, which was where the central watadono connected to it. This meant that he was facing the seating of the senior nobles.
[xi] Approximately 4:00 p.m.
[xii] The dioramas (suhama 州浜) of both Left and Right for this event are similar in design, featuring a lower stand (shitazukue 下机), covered with a cloth, upon which rested a further stand (tsukue 机) supporting the tray upon with the decorative elements of the diorama rested. There was also a further tray for each team holding the tally markers which were used to keep score of each team’s wins.
[xiii] The Courtiers’ Record (below) gives a more detailed description of both suhama and how they were positioned.
[xiv] The space between the Seiryōden and Kōryōden was divided into two courtyards, separated by the central walkway. The northern courtyard was known as the asagarei no tsubo 朝餉壺 (‘breakfast court’) and was a space where the emperor and his inner circle usually enjoyed informal activities such as kickball (kemari 蹴鞠), musical performance or appreciating decorative plants. The southern courtyard was known as the daibandokoro no tsubo 台盤所壺 (‘court ladies’ office court’) due to its proximity to this office.
[xv] Tenjō no saburai 殿上侍: a room in the Seiryōden where courtiers and other retainers waited while attending the emperor.
[xvi] Ashide 葦手 (‘reed script’): this was a stylized form of writing which was used for aesthetic purposes. When used on paper, the characters were often blended with, or formed part of, images of reeds, birds or other things—hence its name. Here, poems written in this style have been embroidered onto the cloth. These were separate from the poems recited in the match but are given later in the record.
[xvii] Minamoto no Masanobu 源雅信 (920-993): Masanobu was renowned as a once in a generation musical talent, but was reputedly disliked by Murakami because of his straightlaced nature, refusing to discuss anything but official business when in the emperor’s presence.
[xviii] Shūshi’s father—see above.
[xix] Minamoto no Koretada 源伊陟 (938-995): he had been appointed to as Minor Captain two years before in 958, his third court appointment.
[xx] Fujiwara no Sukenobu 藤原助信 (?-966), appointed Minor Captain in 955, he was close to Murakami who gifted him a robe when he went to Shinano to take a hot-spring cure. He participated in a number of poetry events, including this one, but has only one poem in an imperial anthology, Shinshoku Kokinshū (IX: 909): When Lord Fujiwara no Sukenobu was appointed Governor of Bichū and was due to depart, and he heard that he had been sent a fan and garland from the Hall of Received Fragrance. 我にあらぬ人のたむくるぬさなれど祈りぞそふるとくかへれとて ware ni aranu / hito no tamukuru / nusa naredo / ori zo souru / toku kaere tote ‘Not for I, but / For another’s departure, / This garland is, yet, / Suited to this time, / Swiftly to return it tells me!’
[xxi] Gakusho/Gakuso 楽所: as its name suggests this office was responsible for providing music for court occasions. It was located in the Keihōbō 桂芳坊 (‘Kerria-scented Quarters’) to the east of the Sakuheimon 朔平門 (‘Gate of Northern Peace’) to the external part of the inner palace compound.
[xxii] The account of these gifts given in the Courtiers’ Record more detailed and differs from this somewhat.
[xxiii] Given the time of year, this would have been about 5:00 a.m.
[xxiv] 2nd May 960.
[xxv] About 2:00 p.m.
[xxvi] Higyōsha 飛香舎: this lay to the north of the Seiryōden and was the quarters for the empress (chūgū 中宮) and junior consorts (nyōgo 女御). It had a wisteria (fuji) in the courtyard before it, and so was also known as the Fujitsubo 藤壺.
[xxvii] Fujiwara no Yasuko (Anshi) 藤原安子 (927-964), the eldest daughter of Fujiwara no Morosuke 藤原師輔 (909-960), and the mother of both Emperor Reizei 冷泉 (950-1011; r. 967-969) and Emperor En’yū 円融 (959-991; r. 969-984). Eiga monogatari 栄華物語 provides a vivid account of her final illness, death in childbirth and Murakami’s subsequent misery (McCullough and McCullough 1980, 84–88).
[xxviii] Shōshi/Masako-naishinnō昌子内親王 (950-1000) was a daughter of Emperor Suzaku 朱雀 (923-952; r. 930-946) and Princess Hiroko (Kishi) 煕子女王 (?-950), who died giving birth to her. Murakami, her uncle, took the orphaned princess under his wing and supported her at court.
