Biographies · Vol. 225
Biographies CLII: Hermits
Machine-assisted draft translation, checked for readability. For the classical Chinese text and the modern Japanese translation, see this volume in Japanese.
Fujiwara-no-Takamitsu
¶When a gentleman is born into this world, wise and foolish alike follow the endowments Heaven has given them, and each puts his own abilities to use. Why, then, should one shut oneself up in a steep mountain cave, lost to the world as a fisherman or woodcutter, and call that nobility? In foreign lands, in ages of changing dynasties, there were those who were ashamed to serve a second lord and so kept their integrity lofty, and the histories praise them for it. In our realm, however, the imperial line has been handed down unbroken from the age of the gods and has not changed through ten thousand generations, so it would seem that hermits are hardly men who call for special praise. Even so, the circumstances of gentlemen are not all alike. Some have fine talent and outstanding ability yet remain unknown to the world; others, though they harbor loyalty and principle, are buried under slander and flatterers. Would it not be better to withdraw to the heights and live in seclusion, plowing the banks of the Fuchun River or whistling on Mount Sumen, than to bend one's will and humble oneself, gazing at the dust raised by the carriages of the powerful and clinging to a stipend? Therefore, although there are differences of gain and loss, of great and small, in how men conduct themselves, gentlemen all judge such conduct by the teaching of the topmost line of the Gu hexagram in the Book of Changes (Note: the passage means "He does not serve kings and lords, but sets a lofty value on his own affairs"). When Fujiwara-no-Fujifusa departed because his remonstrance was not accepted, he was precisely an example, in the words of the commentary on the hexagram, of one "whose aim may be taken as a model": his advancing and retiring accorded with the Way. His deeds are in his own biography and are not repeated here. Accordingly, this Biography of Hermits has been compiled.
Minamoto-no-Narinobu
¶Fujiwara-no-Takamitsu was a son of Morosuke, Minister of the Right. He was rich in literary talent and skilled in waka. In the reign of Emperor Murakami he rose to Junior Fourth Rank Lower (Note: the Kasen-den gives Junior Fifth Rank Lower) and to Shōshō, Lesser Captain, of the Right Division of Inner Palace Guards (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Kasen-den). Once, when the emperor appeared at the Higyōsha, he summoned Takamitsu and had him read the Wen Xuan; Takamitsu recited from memory the preface to the "Rhapsody on the Three Capitals," and the emperor is said to have marveled greatly (Note: following the Kyūreki). Takamitsu was high of purpose and did not seek advancement or wealth. When he was about to flee the world, he composed a waka, saying that in a world that seemed so hard to endure he envied the moon for dwelling in it so serenely (Note: following the Shūi Wakashū). He took the tonsure and hid himself at Yokawa (Note: following the Ōkagami) and changed his name to Nyokaku (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). The emperor deeply regretted this. Later he lived at Tōnomine, and the world called him the Tōnomine Shōshō, the Lesser Captain of Tōnomine (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku, the Ōkagami, and the Eiga Monogatari). He died in the fifth year of Shōryaku (994) (Note: following the Tōnomine Ryakki).
Fujiwara-no-Shigeie
¶This section concerns Minamoto-no-Narinobu and Fujiwara-no-Shigeie. Minamoto-no-Narinobu was a son of Imperial Prince Munehira. He served Emperor Ichijō and rose to Junior Fourth Rank Upper and to Chūjō, Middle Captain, of the Left Division of Inner Palace Guards (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku, the Kojidan, and the Zoku Kojidan). His mother was an elder sister of the wife of the Regent Fujiwara-no-Michinaga, and for that reason he was brought up as Michinaga's adopted son (Note: following the Gukanshō and the Eiga Monogatari). Fujiwara-no-Shigeie, Shōshō of the Left Division of Inner Palace Guards, was a son of Akimitsu, Minister of the Left (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). He was on close terms with Narinobu, and both men were of handsome appearance. People of the time called them "the Radiant Middle Captain and the Shining Lesser Captain." The two were also versed in court ceremony, and their bearing and conduct were exact and splendid (Note: following the Gukanshō and the Eiga Monogatari). One day, when the two were on night duty and watched four Dainagon, Counsellors, deliberating on affairs of government, they saw that their decisions were clear and their words flowed without hesitation. After withdrawing, the two sighed and said: "This is how men holding office ought to be. Our talents do not reach so far, and for us to compete in seeking advancement would be a disgrace to men of our station. If we cannot possibly catch up, it is more honorable to avoid the world and yield the way to the worthy." And together they entered Onjōji and had their heads shaved (Note: following the Gukanshō, the Kojidan, the Imakagami, and the Zoku Kojidan). Shigeie's Buddhist name was Shungen, and he took the style Ichijōin (Note: following the Gukanshō and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Both were still in their twenties, and the people of the time lamented it (Note: following the Imakagami).
Minamoto-no-Akimoto
¶Minamoto-no-Akimoto was the eldest son of Toshikata, Dainagon, Major Counsellor (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Sonpi Bunmyaku). In his youth he loved learning and was earnestly devoted to the classics (Note: following the Zoku Ōjōden and the Genkō Shakusho). In the eighth year of Kankō (1011) he was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower. During the Chōwa era (1012-1017) he became Jijū, Chamberlain, was appointed Uhyōe-no-suke, Assistant Captain of the Right Division of Palace Guards, and later was transferred to Shōshō, Lesser Captain, of the Left Division of Inner Palace Guards (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). In the early days of Emperor Go-Ichijō's reign, Jōtōmon-in entered the palace and lamented, saying: "The late Retired Emperor has been gone only a short while, and already the state of things in the palace is no longer as it was in the old days." The emperor heard this and showed signs of being ashamed. It happened that Akimoto was on night duty and was chanting poems aloud; Jōtōmon-in heard him and, moved, praised him, saying, "Nothing calls the past to mind but this," and the emperor's heart too was cleared by it (Note: following the Jikkinshō). During the Chian and Manju eras (1021-1028) he was appointed Kurōdo-no-tō, Head Chamberlain, and was transferred to Chūjō, Middle Captain, of the Left Division of Inner Palace Guards. During the Chōgen era (1028-1037) he was appointed Sangi, Counsellor, and rose to Junior Third Rank and Gon-Chūnagon, Provisional Middle Counsellor (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin). The emperor's favor toward him was exceedingly great, but Akimoto had long cherished the wish to withdraw from the world. He used to say, "I would like to look at the moon from a place of exile, without having committed any crime." When Emperor Go-Ichijō died, Akimoto, grieving and longing for him, went to the palace to pay his respects before the imperial coffin. As it happened, no lamps had been set out, and he lamented quietly, saying: "That the feeling of the world should have grown so thin as this! Since ancient times it has been said that a loyal minister does not serve two lords. I no longer wish to stand at court." And so he climbed Mount Hiei, had his head shaved, and changed his name to Enshō. Everyone lamented it. Later he lived on Ōharayama, read widely in the sutras and treatises, and devoted himself to practice (Note: following the Kojidan, the Jikkinshō, the Zoku Ōjōden, and the Genkō Shakusho). He then moved again to Daigo (Note: following the Jikkinshō). In the second year of Eishō (1047) he fell ill with a swelling and said joyfully: "Of all illnesses, I have heard, it is only the carbuncle in which, even when it brings a man to death, his mind and spirit are not thrown into confusion." And at last he refused medicine and passed from the world (Note: following the Zoku Ōjōden and the Genkō Shakusho; the year of his death follows the Kugyō Bunin). His son Suketsuna was skilled in waka and rose to Gon-Chūnagon, Provisional Middle Counsellor, of Senior Second Rank (Note: following the Kugyō Bunin and the Eiga Monogatari).
Fujiwara-no-Tamenari
¶Fujiwara-no-Tamenari was a descendant of Nagara, Gon-Chūnagon, Provisional Middle Counsellor. His father Tametada was Governor of Tango (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). Tamenari served in the reign of Emperor Sutoku and was appointed Kurōdo, Chamberlain (Note: following the Chūyūki). Afterwards he held in turn the governorships of Izu and Iga and became Kōtaigōgū-no-daishin, Senior Secretary to the Empress Dowager (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku). He loved waka and excelled at recording past events. Adopting the form of a dialogue between the old man Yotsugi and Natsuyama Shigeki, he set down in outline the deeds of rulers and ministers, from Emperor Montoku to Emperor Go-Ichijō; this work he named the Yotsugi Monogatari, also called the Ōkagami (Note: following the preface to the work itself, the Sonpi Bunmyaku, and the Ninna-ji Shoseki Mokuroku). He shaved his head and lived in hiding on Ōharayama, changing his name to Jakunen (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Hōbutsushū). Tamenari's younger brothers were Yorinari, Governor of Iki, and Tametaka, Governor of Nagato (Note: the Hōbutsushū and the Sakusha Burui write the latter as Tametsune, but this is a mistake). Yorinari shaved his head before his elder brother, took the name Jakuzen (Note: the source gives the reading "Jakunen" here, the same as that of Tamenari's name; the standard reading Jakuzen is used), and likewise lived at Ōhara. He was skilled in waka and exchanged poems with Saigyō (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Jakuzenshū). Tametaka also became a monk, with the name Jakuchō. The three brothers all lived hidden in the mountains and forests, taking pleasure in chanting poetry (Note: following the Hōbutsushū). People of the world called them the "Three Jaku of Ōhara" (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku).
Fujiwara-no-Yorinari
¶Satō-no-Norikiyo (Note: the various books write Norikiyo as Noriyoshi, or as Norikiyo with other characters for "nori"; since those characters all share the same reading as the one used here, the Taiki and the Sonpi Bunmyaku are followed) was a ninth-generation descendant of Fujiwara-no-Hidesato, Chinjufu-shōgun, General in Command of the Garrison (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku, the Azuma Kagami, and the Saigyō Monogatari), and a son of Yasukiyo, Saemon-no-jō, Lieutenant of the Left Division of Palace Guards. His family had been known for martial valor for generations (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku, the Taiki, and the Saigyō Monogatari). Norikiyo was brave, excelled at archery, and was versed in the art of war (Note: following the Saigyō Monogatari). He served the Retired Emperor Toba as a member of the Hokumen no Bushi, the Northern Guard, and was appointed Sahyōe-no-jō, Lieutenant of the Left Division of Military Guards (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Saigyō Monogatari). He loved waka beyond measure, and his attainments in it were very high. The Retired Emperor loved his talent and treated him with deep familiarity. But Norikiyo took no pleasure in advancement or profit, and always held the wish to avoid the world. When the Retired Emperor let it be known that he intended to appoint him Kebiishi, Police Commissioner, Norikiyo firmly declined, on the ground that the post involved arresting criminals and so was apt to bring hidden misfortune afterward. When the new palace at Toba was completed, the Retired Emperor ordered the renowned men of the age to compose waka to accompany the paintings on the sliding screens; Norikiyo presented ten poems on that same day. This pleased the Retired Emperor greatly, and he bestowed on him the sword Asahimaru from among his treasured swords. Rewards were given at the palace as well, and his relatives congratulated him. But Norikiyo took no joy in it. Once, when he had gone to the Toba palace together with a kinsman, Noriyasu, Saemon-no-jō, Lieutenant of the Left Division of Palace Guards, they parted on the road home with the promise, "Tomorrow let us attend together again." Norikiyo went at the appointed hour, but from Noriyasu's house there came sounds of weeping that could be heard outside. Puzzled, he inquired, and learned that Noriyasu had died suddenly the night before. Norikiyo was struck with dread; his wish to leave the world grew ever firmer, and he explained his circumstances and asked leave to resign his office. The Retired Emperor, regretting the loss of his talent, did not permit it. One day, when Norikiyo came home from an outing, his daughter, only four years old, came out laughing to meet him and tugged at the hem of his robe in play. Norikiyo felt a deep pity at the sight, but then, with sudden resolve, said: "Nothing hinders my abandoning the world more than this. The cutting of attachment must begin right here." And he kicked the child off the veranda. The child cried and clung to him and would not stop, but Norikiyo hardened his heart and refused to look back, and everyone in the household was shocked and bewildered. That night Norikiyo at last abandoned his wife and child, went to Saga, and became a monk (Note: following the Saigyō Monogatari). He took the name Saigyō, and was also styled Eni (Note: following the Sonpi Bunmyaku and the Genpei Jōsuiki). He was then twenty-three years old. Norikiyo was of distinguished birth and gifted, and had met with a good age, yet one morning he abruptly cast everything aside and showed no sign of regret. The people of the time marveled at it (Note: following the Taiki). His wife too became a nun, lived at Amano at the foot of Mount Kōya, and devoted herself steadfastly to practice (Note: following the Senjūshō). Saigyō used to say: "A man who has left the household has no house; he should devote himself to practice for the whole of his life." And so he went everywhere, from the Kantō in the east to Kyūshū in the west, with no place left unvisited. Whenever he found a place to his heart's liking, he chanted verse and passed the time at ease (Note: following the Saigyō Monogatari). He built a hermitage at Futami-no-ura in Ise (Note: following the Senzai Wakashū and the Saigyō Dangishō); he spread grass for a mat, hollowed a cave in the rock to serve as his dwelling, and at poetry gatherings used a fan or a flower basket in place of a writing stand. He often lamented to himself, saying, "A man's life lasts but a little while, and the next world is already close at hand" (Note: following the Saigyō Dangishō). Once, as he was about to cross at the Tenryū ferry in Tōtōmi, the boatman, saying there were too many passengers, scolded Saigyō and tried to put him off the boat, but Saigyō would not comply. The boatman, enraged, beat him with a whip until blood ran over his face, yet Saigyō showed not the least anger and calmly left the boat. The monk who accompanied him was indignant, but Saigyō said: "It is for the sake of the Buddha's Law that I have come to this. I would not regret dying in disgrace. If you lack this resolve, you would do better not to shave your head. You have not yet cast off the world, and you are not fit to be my disciple." With those words he sent the monk away (Note: following the Saigyō Monogatari). Mongaku, a monk of Jingoji, did not think well of Saigyō and used to say: "A monk's proper business is the practice of the Buddhist Way. What does that man do? He wanders in every direction and indulges in poetry all day long. He is truly a thief within the gate of the Buddha. If I ever meet him, I shall surely split his head open." But when Saigyō visited Takao and talked with Mongaku, Mongaku was completely won over and delighted. The disciples asked Mongaku, "Master, you once said you would shame Saigyō so; why do you treat him like this now?" Mongaku answered: "Did you not see Saigyō's bearing? He is no man I could strike; if anything, I would have been the one struck" (Note: following the Seianshō). Again, when Saigyō was passing through Kamakura, he met Minamoto-no-Yoritomo on the road. Yoritomo sent a man to ask his name and summoned him for an audience. When Yoritomo questioned him about waka and about the arts of archery and horsemanship, Saigyō declined, saying: "Of archery and horsemanship I have only barely carried on the family trade, and on the day I fled the world I burned all the books handed down since Hidesato. As for waka, I can only now and then, moved by the season or by some object, compose a little; its subtle depths I have never mastered. I have nothing to answer." Yoritomo pressed him earnestly, and Saigyō spoke on archery and horsemanship through the whole night, while Yoritomo ordered his attendants to write it all down. The next day Saigyō took his leave and prepared to depart. Yoritomo repeatedly tried to detain him, but he would not listen, and Yoritomo gave him a silver cat. Saigyō accepted it and went out the gate, but happening to see children playing beside the gate, he gave it to them and went on his way. In the Kajō era (1235-1238), Hōjō Yasutoki, since Unno Yukiuji was well versed in archery, had him instruct Hōjō Tokiyori. Yukiuji taught him by citing the words Saigyō was said to have spoken to Yoritomo. The warriors of the time, Miura Yoshimura and the others, all praised it, and it was established as a rule of the houses of archery and horsemanship (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). He died in Kyoto on the sixteenth day of the second month of the first year of Kenkyū (1190) (Note: the Saigyō Monogatari gives the ninth year of Kenkyū (1198), and the Kensai Zōdan the third year (1192); here the Toshinari Kashū is followed). He was seventy-three years old (Note: none of the books records his age at death, so it is inferred here from the Taiki and the Hyakurenshō, and from the statement that Norikiyo took the tonsure at twenty-three in the sixth year of Hōen (1140)). Among the waka he once wrote on cherry blossoms is one in which he wished to die in spring beneath the blossoms, around the time of the full moon of the second month, and in the end it came to pass just as his words had it (Note: following the Shoku Kokinshū, the Toshinari Kashū, and the Saigyō Monogatari). In Buddhism he was versed in both the exoteric and the esoteric teachings. When the monk Jien asked him for instruction, Saigyō answered: "If you wish to glimpse the inner secrets of the esoteric teaching, you must first study waka; otherwise you will never reach its depths" (Note: following the Shasekishū). The Retired Emperor Go-Toba once said: "Saigyō's wit and intelligence were of Heaven's own giving, not something an ordinary man can obtain by study" (Note: following the Go-Toba-in Gokuden). His collection of poems is called the Sankashū, and there are also the Mimosusogawa Utaawase and the Senjūshō, all of which circulate widely in the world.
Fujiwara-no-Tametaka
¶Kamo-no-Chōmei was called Kikudayū, and came of a house that for generations served as priests of the Kamo Shrine. His grandfather Suetsugu and his father Nagatsugu both served as Negi, Priests. (Note: following the Kamo-shi Keizu.) Chōmei was versed in music for strings and winds and skilled in waka (Note: following the Jikkinshō). During the Ōho era (1161-1163) he was granted Junior Fifth Rank Lower (Note: following the genealogy). He was summoned by the Retired Emperor Go-Toba and became a Yoriudo, Member, of the Waka-dokoro, the Office of Poetry (Note: following the Jikkinshō). Once, by the Retired Emperor's command, the master poets of the day were made to present waka in three styles, the weighty, the lean, and the elegant, as a test of their talent; while many found this difficult, only six answered the command, among them Chōmei, the Regent Fujiwara-no-Yoshitsune, and the monk Jien (Note: following the Mumyōshō). Chōmei once asked to be appointed to a shrine office in succession to his father and grandfather, but this was not granted. From then on Chōmei was discontented and took no pleasure in anything; he closed his gate and cut off dealings with others, and gave voice to his feelings in a poem on the hollyhock (Note: see the Shin Kokinshū and the Jikkinshō). At last he shaved his head and became a monk, changing his name to Ren'in (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). It was when he was fifty years old that he entered Ōharayama (Note: following the Hōjōki). During the Kenreki era (1211-1214) he went to Kamakura, where the shogun Minamoto-no-Sanetomo, who had long known his name, repeatedly summoned him to audiences (Note: following the Azuma Kagami). Soon he returned to Kyoto and built a hermitage of his own ingenious design. It was ten feet square and no more than seven feet high; the pillars, beams and eaves all had hooks and chains so that it could be opened and closed. If he disliked the place, it could be moved elsewhere, and it was small enough to load onto two carts. He then entered the mountains at Toyama in Hino and lived there. His only possessions were a Buddhist image, several volumes of books, and a koto and a biwa, and he kept nothing else. He climbed the mountain, went down to the waterside, and supported himself on nuts and plants he gathered. He wrote the Hōjōki, in which his pure and spirited frame of mind can be largely seen, and which has been widely told in the world (Note: following the Hōjōki). Later the Retired Emperor wished to summon Chōmei again to the Waka-dokoro, but Chōmei sent a waka and declined (Note: following the Jikkinshō). At the site of Chōmei's remains there is a stone floor, which the world calls the Hōjō Stone. Once, when Fujiwara-no-Toshinari compiled the Senzai Wakashū, only a single poem of Chōmei's was included. Chōmei was glad of it and said: "I do not come from a family of poets, nor have I any particular talent. Even so, to have even one poem taken into an imperial anthology is it not the highest honor?" Someone answered: "What you say is quite reasonable; no one else could say it. When I look at that collection, even undistinguished poets mostly have a dozen or more poems, and at the least four or five. I supposed that you were inwardly dissatisfied, and at first I did not believe your words, but seeing that you kept saying so without ceasing, I now understand that you are truly glad. With such a frame of mind you will in time receive the help of the gods in this Way." After that Chōmei's reputation grew day by day, and it came about exactly as the man had said (Note: following the Mumyōshō). When the Shin Kokinshū was being compiled, those who submitted waka at the time sent in thousands, or hundreds, and many were struck out by the compilers, but Chōmei is said to have submitted only twelve poems, all of which were adopted (Note: following the Kensai Zōdan). His works include the Eigyokushū, the Mumyōshō, the Hosshinshū, the Mojikusari, the Shiki Monogatari, and the Hōjōki, and they circulate widely in the world.