Chūjō miyasudokoro uta’awase

Shinpen kokka taikan no.
Heian-chō uta’awase taisei no.2
Title中将御息所歌合
Romanised TitleChūjō miyasudokoro uta’awase
Translated TitlePoetry Contest held by the Chūjō Lady of the Bedchamber
Alternative Title(s)
DateBefore 26/8 Ninna3 [7.9.887]
Extant Poems2
Identifiable ParticipantsY
JudgementsN
TopicsWarblers; blossom

The only knowledge we have of this contest is the fact that two of its poems were included in Kokinshū, and one, by Sosei, is included in his personal collection with a slightly variant and more informative headnote. The identity of the Chūjō Lady of the Bedchamber is also unclear: it is possible that she could have been an Imperial Concubine (kōi 更衣) to Emperor Kōkō 光孝 (830-887; r. 884-887), but due to where Sosei’s poem is situated in his personal collection, where the dates of composition of the surrounding poems are more clear, it is also not possible to discount the theory that she was a concubine of Emperor Uda 宇多 (866-931; 887-897). It is also not possible to say definitively that this was a full contest which actually took place: it might be that these were poems which were composed with a mind to inclusion in another contest and then not used.

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