| Shinpen kokka taikan no. | |
| Heian-chō uta’awase taisei no. | 27 |
| Title | 藤壺女御歌合雑載 |
| Romanised Title | Fujitsubo nyōgo uta’awase zassai |
| Translated Title | Miscellaneous Poems from the Poetry Contest held by the Fujitsubo Junior Consort |
| Alternative Title(s) | |
| Date | 8 Engi 延喜 19 [9.919] |
| Extant Poems | 2 |
| Sponsor | |
| Identifiable Participants | N |
| Judgements | N |
| Topics | Maidenflowers (ominaeshi 女郎花); autumn leaves (momiji 紅葉) |
白露のわきて染めおく女郎花色ことなりと君に見えなむ
| shiratsuyu no wakite someoku ominaeshi iro kotonari to kimi ni mienamu | Silver dewdrops Parting, leaves dye upon A maidenflower— Her passionate hue, particularly, Resembles you! |
1[i]
永き世のためしにせよと立田姫つねよりことに染むるもみぢ葉
| nagagki yo no tameshi ni seyo to tatsutahime tsune yori koto ni somuru momijiba | O, forever this world’s Condition let them be! Princess Tatsuta More than normal, especially, The scarlet leaves has dyed! |
2[ii]
Only two poems survive from this contest, both of which are included in other collections (see below). Hagitani (1957, 208), while admitting that there is a possibility that these poems may, in fact, have been included in the earlier ‘Garden Match held by the Fujitsubo Junior Consort’ or the ‘Poetry Match held by the Seventh Princess of Former Emperor Uda’ (913), argues that they should be considered to be part of a separate contest on the following grounds: first, that the diary of Fujiwara no Tadahira 藤原忠平 (880-949), Teishinkōki 貞信公記,[iii] states that on the 29th day of the Eighth Month, Engi 19 [25.9.919], mogi ceremonies were conducted for two significant individuals. The most likely candidates to have been coming-of-age in 919, and who would have been worth Tadahira noting, were daughters of Emperor Daigo 醍醐 (884-930; r. 897-930). If their mother was the Fujitsubo Junior Consort, then it would not be unusual for her to sponsor a poetry match to mark the event. Second, that the topics—maidenflowers and autumn leaves—make sense for a match held at the end of the Eighth Month, when autumn was under way. Given this, I have chosen to follow Hagitani and record these poems as remnants of a separate uta’awase.
[i] This poem is included in Fubokushō (XI: 4234) with the headnote, ‘Maidenflowers, from the Poetry Match held by the Fujitsubo Junior Consort, in the Eighth Month, Engi 19’. This month began on 28.8.919.
[ii] This poem is included in Mandaishū (V: 1224) with the headnote, ‘On autumn leaves, from the Poetry Match held by the Fujitsubo Junior Consort’.
[iii] A partial translation of Teishinkōki is available (Piggott and Yoshida Sanae 2009), which provides valuable information about Tadahira and his life. Unfortunately, it only covers the year 939, twenty years after this contest would have been held.