Poems about the Arrival of Autumn, from Newly Selected Collection of Poems to Sing (Shinsen rōeishū), one of the “Yamana Fragments” (Yamana-gire)
Fujiwara no Mototoshi Japanese
Not on view
This is a fragment from a manuscript of the Newly Selected Collection of Poems to Sing, an anthology compiled between 1116 and 1122 by the courtier-poet Fujiwara no Mototoshi. The collection included 540 Chinese poems alongside 203 waka, mirroring and updating Fujiwara no Kintō’s similar volume from about 1013. The section on view was brushed by Mototoshi himself and features the gold- and silver-decorated paper typical of calligraphic works presented at the palace.
These verses address the beginning of autumn, with a poignant Chinese couplet about the season’s early arrival and a waka echoing this theme. Annotations in the margins were intended to help scholars read and interpret the Chinese poems. The fragment variously exemplifies the interactions between Japanese and Chinese literary traditions in the Heian period.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.
