Biographies LX: Sugawara-no-Michizane

Sugawara-no-Michizane

¶Sugawara-no-Michizane had the courtesy name Mitsu (Note: following the Keirin Iboshō) and the childhood name Ako (Note: following the Baijōroku). He was the third son of Sugawara-no-Koreyoshi, Sangi, Counsellor (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Fusō Ryakki). He was intelligent from early childhood. When he was only eleven, his father Koreyoshi ordered Shimada-no-Tadaomi to have Michizane compose a poem as a test. Michizane at once composed a poem in which the moon's brilliance was like clear snow, the plum blossoms were like shining stars, and, how lovely, the full moon wheeled across the sky while a jewel-like fragrance drifted over the garden (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō). Koreyoshi was moved to admiration and said, "The young shoot of the orchid already gives off its scent; so it truly is" (Note: following the Baijōroku). In the Jōgan era he was recommended as a Monjōshō, Student of Letters, and later became a Tokugyōshō, Graduate Candidate, and was granted the post of Shimotsuke-no-gon-no-jō, Provisional Assistant Governor of Shimotsuke (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Seiji Yōryaku).

¶One day Michizane called on Miyako-no-Yoshika, who happened to be giving a lecture on archery. Yoshika, thinking that this Confucian scholar had surely never drawn a bow, handed him a bow and arrows to try him. Michizane struck the target with a single shot, and the onlookers were astonished and full of admiration (Note: following the Egara Engi and the Taiheiki). He passed the examination for the civil service and was entrusted with the legal affairs of the Genba-no-suke, Assistant Director of the Bureau of Buddhism and Foreign Affairs (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Seiji Yōryaku), and was appointed Shōnaiki, Junior Secretary. Soon he went into mourning for his mother and left office (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). In the sixteenth year of Jōgan (874) he was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower and held in turn the posts of Shōyū, Junior Vice-Minister, of the Ministry of Military Affairs and of the Ministry of Popular Affairs. In the early years of Genkei he was transferred to Shikibu-no-shōyū, Junior Vice-Minister of Ceremonial, and concurrently became Monjō Hakase, Professor of Letters (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Seiji Yōryaku). By imperial command he lectured on the Book of the Later Han (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō) and was advanced to Junior Fifth Rank Upper. In the seventh year of Genkei (883) he concurrently became Kaga-no-gon-no-kami, Provisional Governor of Kaga (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Seiji Yōryaku). When the envoy of Bohai (Parhae), Pei Ting, came to the court, Michizane acted in the duties of Jibu-no-taifu, Senior Assistant Minister of Civil Affairs, and together with Shimada-no-Tadaomi attended to the reception (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku).

¶In the Ninna era he was transferred to be Sanuki-no-kami, Governor of Sanuki, and was granted Senior Fifth Rank Lower. In the third year of Kanpyō (891) he entered the palace and became Kurōdo-no-tō, Head Chamberlain (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). Michizane sent up a memorial declining, saying: "When I respectfully examine the precedents of recent years, those appointed to this post have all been of imperial blood or from distinguished families; there has been no case of an ordinary Confucian scholar proving equal to the task." His plea was not granted. He was then raised again to Shikibu-no-shōyū and concurrently became Sachūben, Middle Controller of the Left. He once more submitted a memorial asking to be relieved as Head Chamberlain, and this too was refused (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō). In the fourth year of Kanpyō (892) he was granted Junior Fourth Rank Lower and concurrently became Sakyō-no-daibu, Master of the Left Capital Office. In the fifth year (893) he became Sangi, Counsellor, and concurrently held the posts of Shikibu-no-taifu, Senior Assistant Minister of Ceremonial, Sadaiben, Senior Controller of the Left, and Kageyu-chōkan, Director of the Office of Inspectors of Outgoing Officials, and soon afterwards was also made Tōgū-no-suke, Assistant Master of the Crown Prince's Household (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Seiji Yōran). At that time the affairs of the Eastern Palace, the Crown Prince's household, were handled with a great deal of simplification, and the two vacant posts of Tōgū Gakushi, Scholar to the Crown Prince, were not filled, so Michizane was made to lecture on the classics. Michizane pleaded that the two posts were too busy for his strength, and recommended Fujiwara-no-Sugane to take his place as lecturer (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō).

¶The following year Michizane was appointed Ambassador to Tang, with Ki-no-Haseo as Deputy Ambassador (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki). At that time the monk Chūkan, who was in Tang, sent word of civil disorder there. Michizane submitted a memorial saying: "When I respectfully examine the old records, among the envoys to Tang there were some who met bandits and lost their lives. From Chūkan's report one can infer what is to come. I beg that this report be shown widely to the ministers and the scholars and that they be made to deliberate on it. This is a great matter of state and not a concern for my own person. I also state this with all sincerity and beg for Your Majesty's decision" (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō). In the end the embassy to Tang did not take place (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki).

¶In that year Michizane reached the age of fifty, and his disciples held a banquet to celebrate. An old man appeared, set a congratulatory letter and some gold dust on the desk, and left without looking back. Those present saw this and thought it strange. The letter read: "I have heard that the disciples of the house of Sugawara are together celebrating the year of knowing Heaven's decree (fifty). Your pupil has withdrawn from the world and is a man unknown to it, yet many times I have taken down your earnest teaching and corrected many foolish errors. The men of old said, 'Whoever receives virtue must repay it, and whoever receives words must respond to them.' I am deeply moved by this principle and cannot help myself. The gold is to show that my sincerity is not slight, and the gold dust is to pray for your long life. Do not doubt this person, but take his meaning to heart. Though I dwell far to the north, beyond even the northern palace, I bow in worship toward the distant south." Afterwards it became known that this had been arranged by the emperor himself, and it was understood how greatly Michizane was esteemed (Note: following the Egara Engi).

¶In the seventh year of Kanpyō (895) he concurrently became Ōmi-no-kami, Governor of Ōmi, was appointed Chūnagon, Middle Counsellor, was granted Junior Third Rank, and concurrently became Tōgū-gon-no-daibu, Provisional Master of the Crown Prince's Household (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Seiji Yōryaku). In the eighth year (896), by imperial command, he examined the prisoners in the prisons of the Left and Right and corrected many wrongful convictions (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō). He concurrently became Minbu-kyō, Minister of Popular Affairs, with his other offices unchanged. In the ninth year (897) he was appointed Gon-dainagon, Provisional Major Counsellor, and concurrently became Ukonoe-no-taishō, Commander of the Right Palace Guards (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Seiji Yōryaku), and became Uji-no-chōja, Head of the Clan (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). When the emperor once meant to go out hunting, Michizane remonstrated and stopped him (Note: following the Zoku Kojidan). Whenever occasion arose he gave his opinion and corrected much. When the emperor was to appoint a Crown Prince, he decided the matter in consultation with Michizane alone. Two years later, when the emperor wished to abdicate, Michizane argued strongly that it should not be done. Afterwards, when the emperor again declared his earlier intention, Michizane this time agreed. Opinion in the world was already in turmoil, and the matter of abdication seemed about to be suspended for a time. Michizane submitted a memorial saying: "A great matter cannot be carried out twice. If it is put off now, unforeseen disturbances will rather arise." The emperor was pleased and at last yielded the throne to the Crown Prince. This was Emperor Daigo (Note: following the Kanpyō Yuikai). By edict he and Fujiwara-no-Tokihira were to decide together every matter of government (Note: following the Kanpyō Yuikai, the Ōkagami, the Gukanshō, and the Seiji Yōryaku). The Retired Emperor (the Cloistered Emperor Uda), because the abdication had been brought about with Michizane's consent, admonished Emperor Daigo and especially made him hold Michizane in regard (Note: following the Kanpyō Yuikai).

¶Michizane was granted Senior Third Rank, concurrently became Chūgū-no-daibu, Master of the Empress's Household, and received an edict of Nairan, Inspection of Documents. In the second year of Shōtai (899) Fujiwara-no-Tokihira became Sadaijin, Minister of the Left, and Michizane became Udaijin, Minister of the Right, keeping his post as Commander of the Right Palace Guards (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Seiji Yōryaku; for the edict of Nairan, following the Gukanshō). Michizane sent up a memorial declining, saying: "My family is not of noble descent but is no more than a house of Confucian learning. It is solely through the grace of my promotion in earlier years that I have come to where I am today. As I rise higher, men's hearts are already not tolerant, and the envy of those who watch from the shadows will surely increase. I beg Your Majesty to consider this deeply and quickly relieve me of my offices. Then you will not rob a mere commoner of his aspiration, and you will also accord with the wishes of many." He submitted the memorial three times, but it was not accepted (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō). The favor shown to Michizane grew greater day by day, and he was always summoned to the private banquets within the palace (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō).

¶In the third year of Shōtai (900), when the emperor visited the Suzaku-in, he consulted in secret with the Retired Emperor (the Cloistered Emperor Uda) (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki and the Baijōroku), and thought: "With both the Ministers of the Left and Right conducting the government of the court, it is inconvenient that I cannot conduct it as a unified whole" (Note: following the Egara Engi). He therefore summoned Michizane and instructed him: "As to the government of the realm, you alone shall report on it and decide it." Michizane firmly declined and did not accept (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki and the Egara Engi). He further said, "Having summoned me, if nothing comes of it, people will surely find it suspicious," and so he composed and presented a poem on the theme of the willow sprouting in spring. The emperor and the Retired Emperor each bestowed an imperial robe on Michizane and sent him away (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki and the Baijōroku). Soon afterwards Michizane submitted a memorial asking to resign as Commander of the Right Palace Guards, but it was not granted (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō). The emperor frequently made visits to the Shinsen-en garden and held banquets in the Kenrin-kaku pavilion, using the Konoe Jishō, Lieutenants of the Palace Guards, to attend the guests, but Michizane remonstrated and stopped this (Note: following the Kokon Chomonjū).

¶Michizane rose from a family of the way of letters, enjoyed the Retired Emperor's exceptional promotion, and reached the summit of rank among generals and ministers. He was versed in the ways of government, his decisions flowed with clarity and accuracy, the discipline of the state was tightened, and people looked up to his bearing. Tokihira had always been jealous of anyone who enjoyed more favor than himself, and when he heard that Michizane had received secret instruction from the Retired Emperor he became still more displeased (Note: compare the Ōkagami, the Taiheiki, and the Egara Engi). At that time Minamoto-no-Hikaru and Fujiwara-no-Sadakuni had long enjoyed high reputation, but both were lower in position than Michizane and were always discontented (Note: following the Egara Engi; compare also the Kanke Bunsō). Fujiwara-no-Sugane also bore a grudge against Michizane (Note: following the Gōdanshō and the Egara Engi). Tokihira allied himself with these men, and together they sought to bring Michizane down, and slanders gathered against him day after day (Note: following the Taiheiki and the Egara Engi). Tokihira secretly reported to the emperor: "Michizane has a design of rebellion; he intends to depose Your Majesty, set up Prince Tokiyo, and himself monopolize the government of the realm" (Note: following the Seibyōki quoted in the Baijōroku; the original text gives Prince Tokiyo as Prince Motoyasu, but here it has been corrected according to the Kōin Shōunroku). Michizane's daughter had married this prince (Note: following the Kōin Shōunroku), and Tokihira presumably used this connection to lend credibility to his slander. The emperor was still young and had been on the throne only a short time, and in the end he believed it (Note: following the Seibyōki quoted in the Baijōroku).

¶In the first month of Engi 1 (901) Michizane was granted Junior Second Rank, but soon afterwards he was demoted to Dazai-no-gon-no-sotsu, Provisional Governor-General of Dazaifu (Note: following the Seiji Yōryaku), and was charged with the crime of plotting a deposition and enthronement. Many persons were reduced in office through association with Michizane, beginning with Minamoto-no-Yoshi, Sakonoe-no-chūjō, Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards (Note: the office is from the printed edition of the Sonpi Bunmyaku) (Note: following the Seiji Yōryaku). Michizane was full of grief but could not plead his innocence himself, and entrusted his feelings to waka and appealed piteously to the Retired Emperor (Note: following the Ōkagami and the Egara Engi). The Retired Emperor wished to meet the emperor and plead for Michizane's pardon, but Sugane blocked this and did not have him announced (Note: following the Gōdanshō and the Egara Engi). The guard posts of the palace were strictly watched, and the guards would not lower a bench for him; the Retired Emperor sat the whole day outside the guard post, but in the end could not enter the palace and returned (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku; compare also the Fusō Ryakki).

¶Michizane had twenty-three children, sons and daughters, all of whom were demoted (Note: following the Taiheiki and the Egara Engi) and sent to different places, and only his young son and daughter were permitted to accompany him. Michizane loved plum blossoms; at his departure the blossoms were just open, and he composed a waka to express his feelings. Its words were truly sorrowful, and all who heard it pitied him (Note: following the Ōkagami, the Taiheiki, and the Egara Engi). On reaching Dazaifu, Michizane shut his gate, did not go out, and passed his days entrusting his feelings to writing (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō).

¶Later the court sent an envoy to Usa, who on the way stopped at Dazaifu to observe Michizane's condition. The envoy returned and reported: "Michizane said as follows: 'In truth I had no design of rebellion, and I was drawn into this because of the improper conduct of Minamoto-no-Yoshi. Moreover, the Retired Emperor must have intended to follow the precedent of the Jōwa Incident, and so matters have come to this'" (Note: following the Daigo Gyoki quoted in the Fusō Ryakki). Presumably at that time the slanderers had falsely reported that Yoshi had urged an unlawful plot on Michizane, and meant to have the envoy confirm it. When Michizane was Governor of Sanuki, his predecessor as Governor of Sanuki, Fujiwara-no-Yasunori, had foreseen beforehand that Michizane would not in the end fare well (Note: from "He was Governor of Sanuki" onward, following the Biography of Fujiwara-no-Yasunori written by Miyoshi-no-Kiyoyuki). After Michizane had risen to the post of minister, Miyoshi-no-Kiyoyuki, Professor of Letters, likewise urged him to avoid power and favor (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki and the Honchō Monzui). Michizane did not follow this advice and so was finally brought down by slander (Note: following the Zoku Kojidan). In the second month of Engi 3 (903) Michizane died in his place of exile at the age of fifty-nine (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin, the Nihon Kiryaku, and the Ōkagami. The Fusō Ryakki, however, gives sixty, and the Seiji Yōryaku says he died in the fourth year of Engi at the age of sixty-one. Here, counting from the entry for the year Kinoto-I of Saikō (855) in the Kanke Bunsō, it is clear that he was fifty-nine). He was buried at the Anraku-ji temple in Chikuzen (Note: following the Egara Engi).

¶Michizane excelled in letters, and was most accomplished in poetry. In the Ninna era he visited the Kasai estate of Taira-no-so-and-so, Governor of Awa, and composed poems on twenty themes, finishing them in about the time of a single meal and needing no correction. Again, when he was in office, he was ordered to compose poems on twenty objects and completed them on the spot, with a wonderful subtlety of feeling. Pei Ting, the envoy of Bohai, saw Michizane's poems and remarked that they were close to the style of Bai Juyi (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō).

¶In the Shōtai era, by imperial command, he collected his own poetry and prose in twelve volumes. What is now called the Kanke Bunsō is this work, and together with it he presented the collected poetry and prose of his grandfather Kiyokimi and his father Koreyoshi. The emperor bestowed a poem praising him, writing a line to the effect that the House of Sugawara surpassed Bai Juyi himself, so that the Collected Works of Bai, long put away in their box, no longer needed to have the dust wiped from them, and added at the end of the volume that the Collected Works of Bai that he had read with love all his life he would no longer open, now that he had the writings of the Sugawara house (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō). While at Dazaifu he compiled his own writings and entrusted them to Ki-no-Haseo. This is the Kanke Kōshū (Note: following the colophon of the Kamakura-period text of the Kanke Kōshū and the Egara Engi). Formerly, by imperial command, together with the other scholars he compiled the Sandai Jitsuroku in fifty volumes (Note: following the Sandai Jitsuroku). Again by imperial command he classified the old histories (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō) and produced a work named the Ruijū Kokushi, in two hundred volumes in all (Note: following the Ninna-ji Shoseki Mokuroku). The Kōfuku-ji monk Kanken, when he was to cross to Tang to seek the Buddhist law, petitioned that he might take with him the poetry collections of Michizane, Ki-no-Haseo, Tachibana-no-Hirōmi, and Miyako-no-Yoshika, and the running and cursive script of Ono-no-Michikaze, in order to spread their fame there, and this was permitted (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki).

¶After Michizane's death, Tokihira and Sugane died one after the other, disasters occurred repeatedly in the capital, and the Crown Prince Bunken (Prince Yasuakira) died suddenly. People in the world took this to be the curse of Michizane (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku, the Fusō Ryakki, and the Kitano Engi). The emperor later repented. In the first year of Enchō (923) he restored Michizane's rank and office and posthumously granted him Senior Second Rank (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku and the Seiji Yōryaku). All the documents concerning Michizane, including the edict that had demoted him and the papers of the Geki, Secretariat, were burned and destroyed, and so the world could not learn the detailed circumstances (Note: following the Nihon Kiryaku, the Fusō Ryakki, and the Seiji Yōryaku; compare also the Gukanshō). In the fourth year of Shōryaku (993), in the reign of Emperor Ichijō, he was posthumously granted the rank of Sadaijin, Minister of the Left, and Senior First Rank, and soon afterwards the post of Dajō-daijin, Chancellor, as well (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin, the Nihon Kiryaku, and the Hyakurenshō. The Fusō Ryakki, however, places the posthumous grant of the post of Chancellor in the first year of Enchō).

¶The edict reads: "Writings of favor praise virtue; recorded on scrolls of brocade they will be handed down for long. Generous ceremony honors the worthy; written on slips of plain wood they will not decay. The late Sugawara Asomi, posthumous Senior First Rank and Minister of the Left, was a man whose merit should be engraved on bells and stones and inscribed on banners. Holding a key post of government, he brought the state into harmony, and his talent surpassed wind and clouds. We formerly added the honor of posthumous promotion and made his shining merit plain for a hundred generations. Now we issue a further command and make his spirit still more honored beneath the Nine Springs. Alas, though years have passed at his tomb and the green of the pines has grown old, the light of the dragon is warm and the paper of the edict is new. We grant him the post of Chancellor, the highest office a subject can hold, that it may illuminate his footsteps in the other world" (Note: following the "Shikan-ki" and the Seiji Yōryaku).

¶In the Tenryaku era, a shrine was first built at Kitano by the people, and Michizane's spirit was enshrined and called Tenman Tenjin. From then on, the reverence of high and low grew ever greater. The court too established a festival on the fourth day of the eighth month (Note: following the Kuji Kongen), and the shrine came to be counted among the Twenty-Two Shrines (Note: following the Nijūnisha Honen). In the first year of Kankō (1004) an imperial visit to the Kitano Shrine took place for the first time (Note: following the Ichidai Yōki and the Kitano-gū-ji Engi). From then on successive courts continued the custom and never ceased to send offerings (Note: following the Kuji Kongen), and the shrine was called in the world the "Seibyō," the Sacred Mausoleum (Note: following the Honchō Monzui). In the provinces too, shrines were often built and portraits of Michizane were painted and worshipped.

¶Michizane's sons were Takami, Kageyuki, Kaneshige, and Atsushige (Note: following the Kanke Denki. The Taiheiki and the Egara Engi both say that Michizane had four sons and nineteen daughters, but do not give their order. There are several versions of the Kanke genealogy and they differ from one another, so they are not annotated in detail here).

¶Takami was granted Senior Sixth Rank Upper and appointed Monjō Tokugyōshō, Graduate Candidate in Letters (Note: following the entry for the first year of Hōji in the Yōkōki). He advanced to Junior Fifth Rank Upper, was appointed Usōben, Junior Controller of the Right (Note: following the Kanke Bunsō), and became Daigaku-no-kami, Director of the University, but through his father's case was demoted to Tosa-no-suke, Assistant Governor of Tosa (Note: following the Seiji Yōryaku), and was later again made Usōben (Note: following the Fusō Ryakki). He died in the thirteenth year of Engi (913), at the age of thirty-eight. His descendants continued in succession, and generation after generation inherited the house in the way of letters, and many reached high rank (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku).

¶Kageyuki was of Junior Fifth Rank Lower and Shikibu-no-daijō, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Ceremonial (Note: following the Kanke Denki), but was demoted to Suruga-no-gon-no-suke, Provisional Assistant Governor of Suruga (Note: following the Seiji Yōryaku).

¶Kaneshige (Note: the Seiji Yōryaku gives Kageshige) was Kurōdo, Chamberlain, of Senior Sixth Rank Upper (Note: following the Kanke Denki), and was demoted to Hida-no-gon-no-jō, Provisional Assistant Governor of Hida (Note: following the Seiji Yōryaku).

¶Atsushige is recorded in the "Biographies of Men of Letters."