Fujiwara no Shunzei

Fujiwara no Toshinari (Japanese藤原 俊 成, or in a respectful reading Fujiwara no Shunzei; * 1114, † December 22, 1204 ) was a Japanese waka poet.

Life

The son of poet and politician Fujiwara no Toshitada was a student of both the conservative waka poet Fujiwara no Mototoshi and its innovative rivals Minamoto no Toshiyori ( Minamoto no Shunrai ). As a member of Mikohidari branch of the Fujiwara family, he held lower offices at the court of Tennō and peaked in the middle of his thirties the post of provincial governor.

Toshinari made ​​a name for himself both as a poet and as a literary critic. A collection of 750 own poems appeared under the title Chōshū Eiso (长 秋 咏 藻), another 430 were admitted in various imperial collections. He created in 1188 the Waka Collection Senzai - Wakashū, in which he recorded the works of contemporary poets such as Sagyō, Fujiwara no Sadaie and Shikishi Naishinnō.

His poetic concept presented in the book Toshinari Korai fūtei shō (古来 风 体 抄, 1197/1201 ) dar. He was in demand as a referee for poetry contests at the court, where he used to praise the good more than the evil to blame. At the age he was regarded as the doyen of a whole generation of young poets and enjoyed an unusual for its low rank attention of the court.

Since 1176 Toshinari lived as a Buddhist monk under the name Shakua (釈 阿). In addition to his son Fujiwara no Sadaie also his stepson Jakuren ( Fujiwara no Sadanaga ) and adopted by him granddaughter Toshinari Fujiwara no Musume as a poet were known.