Ōe no Chisato

Ōe no Chisato, from the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu

Ōe no Chisato (大江千里) was a Japanese waka poet and Confucian scholar^[1] of the late ninth and early tenth centuries. His exact birth and death dates are unknown^[1][2][3] but he flourished around 889 to 923.^[4] He was one of the Chūko Sanjūrokkasen^[1][3] and one of his poems was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.^[4][5]

He was a son of Ōe no Otondo (大江音人)^[5][1][2][3] and a nephew of Ariwara no Yukihira and Ariwara no Narihira.^[4][5] Ten of his poems were included in the Kokin Wakashū^[1] and fifteen in later imperial anthologies.^[4][2]

He was the author of the kudai waka, also known as the chisato-shū. A selection of waka based on lines from various Chinese poems.^[6]

The following poem by him was included as No. 23 in Fujiwara no Teika's Ogura Hyakunin Isshu:

Japanese text[5]	Romanized Japanese[7]	English translation[8]
月みれば ちぢにものこそ 悲しけれ わが身一つの 秋にはあらねど	Tsuki mireba chi-ji ni mono koso kanashikere wa ga mi hitotsu no aki ni wa aranedo	Looking at the moon thoughts of a thousand things fill me with sadness— but autumn's dejection does not come to me alone.

References

1. MyPedia article "Ōe no Chisato". 2007. Hitachi Systems & Services.
2. Britannica Kokusai Dai-hyakkajiten article "Ōe no Chisato". 2007. Britannica Japan Co.
3. Digital Daijisen entry "Ōe no Chisato". Shogakukan.
4. McMillan 2010 : 136 (note 23).
5. Suzuki et al. 2009 : 35.
6. "Ōe no Chisato • . A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史". . A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史. Retrieved 2024-10-10.
7. McMillan 2010 : 159.
8. McMillan 2010 : 25.

Bibliography

• McMillan, Peter. 2010 (1st ed. 2008). One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Suzuki Hideo, Yamaguchi Shin'ichi, Yoda Yasushi. 2009 (1st ed. 1997). Genshoku: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. Tokyo: Bun'eidō.