Hanishi no Mimichi

Hanishi no Mimichi (土師水道, 土師氏御道 or 土師水通, also known by the courtesy name Hanishi no Shibimaro 土師乃志婢麿) was a Japanese nobleman and waka poet in the Nara period.

Biography

The details of the life of the poet Hanishi no Mimichi are not well documented. Four poems in the famous waka anthology the Man'yōshū are attributed to him, with his name being written in various styles in the notes attached to these poems.[1] His given name is written as 水道 ("water-road") in the attribution of poems 557 and 558 in Book IV, but at 御道 ("august-road") for 843 in Book V.[2]

His kabane was Sukune.[1]

His court position is not indicated in the collection, so he was likely of low rank.[2] The note attached to poem 3845 in Book XVI describes him as ōtoneri.[1]

In Tenpyō 2 (730) he participated in a plum blossom-viewing party at the residence of Ōtomo no Tabito,[3] then the governor (一大宰帥 ichi Dazai no sochi) of the Dazaifu.[3]

Poetry

Poems 557, 558, 843 and 3844 in the Man'yōshū are attributed to him.[4] The first pair of poems, included in Book V of the collection, were written on a sea voyage from his posting in Tsukushi to the capital, expressing his pining for his feeling of loneliness without his wife and his desire to see her as soon as possible.[5] In his commentary on the poems, Mizue Aso noted the use of taboo language, apparently deliberately so, to emphasize the sincerity of the poet's emotions.[5]

Man'yōgana[6]Modern Japanese text[7]Reconstructed Old JapaneseModern JapaneseEnglish translation
大船乎
榜乃進尓
磐尓觸
覆者覆
妹尓因而者
大船を
漕ぎの進みに
岩に触れ
覆らば覆れ
妹によりては
ōfuna o
kogi no susumi ni
iwa ni fure
kaeraba kaere
imo ni yorite wa
As, in our great vessel,
we set sail out to sea,
if we should run into rocks and keel over
then let it be so if it means I can return the sooner,
that I can see my love again.
Man'yōgana[6]Modern Japanese text[6]Reconstructed Old JapaneseModern JapaneseEnglish translation
神之社尓
神之社尓
我挂師
幣者将賜
妹尓不相國
ちはやぶる
神の社に
わが懸けし
幣は賜らむ
妹に逢はなくに
chihayaburu
kami no yashiro ni
wa ga kakeshi
nusa wa tabaran
imo ni awanakuni
That offering I made
at the holy shrine
of the fierce and raging gods—
I will be wanting it back,
for I was not able to meet my love.

The last of Mimichi's poems in the collection's ordering (which is not strictly chronological across books), 3844, is of uncertain date.[8] Akira Nakamura, in his article on Mimichi for the Man'yōshū Kajin Jiten dates the poem to Mimichi's later years after returning to the Capital, based on stylistic differences with the earlier poems quoted above.[9]

See also

References

Citations
  1. Aso 2006, p. 555; Nakanishi 1985, p. 263.
  2. Aso 2006, p. 555.
  3. Nakanishi 1985, p. 285.
  4. Nakanishi 1985, p. 263.
  5. Aso 2006, p. 554.
  6. Aso 2006, p. 553; University of Virginia 1999.
  7. Aso 2006, p. 553.
  8. Nakamura 2007, p. 278.
  9. Nakamura 2007, p. 279.

Works cited
  • Aso, Mizue (2006). Man'yōshū Zenka Kōgi (Kan Dai-san, Kan Dai-yon) 萬葉集全歌講義（巻第三、巻第四） (in Japanese). 2. Tokyo: Kasama Shoin.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Nakamura, Akira (2007). "Hanishi no Sukune Mimichi". In Ōkuma, Kiichirō; Mori, Atsushi; Harihara, Takayuki (eds.). Man'yōshū Kajin Jiten 万葉集歌人事典 (in Japanese). 1. Tokyo: Yuzankaku. pp. 278–279. ISBN 978-4639019886.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Nakanishi, Susumu (1985). Man'yōshū Jiten (Man'yōshū zen'yakuchū genbun-tsuki bekkan) (paperback ed.). Tokyo: Kōdansha. ISBN 978-4-06-183651-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • University of Virginia (1999). "Manyoshu [Book 4]". Charlottesville: University of Virginia. Retrieved 2019-11-09.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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