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Thirty Six Immortals of Poetry

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Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry

The Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry (三十六歌仙, Sanjūrokkasen) are a group of Japanese poets of the Asuka, Nara, and Heian periods selected by Fujiwara no Kintō as exemplars of Japanese poetic ability. The eldest surviving collection of the 36 poets' works is Nishi Honganji Sanjū-rokunin Kashu ("Nishi Honganji 36 poets collection") of 1113. There are five female poets among them. Similar groups of Japanese poets include the Kamakura period Nyōbō Sanjūrokkasen (女房三十六歌仙), composed by court ladies exclusively, and the Chūko Sanjūrokkasen (中古三十六歌仙), or Thirty-Six Heian-era Immortals of Poetry, selected by Fujiwara no Norikane 藤原範兼 (1107–1165). This list superseded an older group called the Six Immortals of Poetry.

Contents

Sets of portraits (essentially imaginary) of the group were popular in Japanese painting and later woodblock prints, and often hung in temples.

Kintō's Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry

  1. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
  2. Ki no Tsurayuki
  3. Ōshikōchi Mitsune
  4. Lady Ise
  5. Ōtomo no Yakamochi
  6. Yamabe no Akahito
  7. Ariwara no Narihira
  8. Henjō
  9. Sosei
  10. Ki no Tomonori
  11. Sarumaru no Taifu
  12. Ono no Komachi
  13. Fujiwara no Kanesuke
  14. Fujiwara no Asatada
  15. Fujiwara no Atsutada
  16. Fujiwara no Takamitsu
  17. Minamoto no Kintada
  18. Mibu no Tadamine
  19. Saigū no Nyōgo / Kishi Joō
  20. Ōnakatomi no Yorimoto
  21. Fujiwara no Toshiyuki
  22. Minamoto no Shigeyuki
  23. Minamoto no Muneyuki
  24. Minamoto no Saneakira
  25. Fujiwara no Kiyotada
  26. Minamoto no Shitagō
  27. Fujiwara no Okikaze
  28. Kiyohara no Motosuke
  29. Sakanoue no Korenori
  30. Fujiwara no Motozane
  31. Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu
  32. Fujiwara no Nakafumi
  33. Taira no Kanemori
  34. Mibu no Tadami
  35. Kodai no Kimi
  36. Nakatsukasa

Thirty-Six Female Immortals of Poetry

Nyōbō Sanjūrokkasen (女房三十六歌仙), composed in the Kamakura period, refers to thirty-six female immortals of poetry:

  1. Ono no Komachi
  2. Ise
  3. Nakatsukasa
  4. Kishi Joō
  5. Ukon
  6. Fujiwara no Michitsuna no Haha
  7. Uma no Naishi
  8. Akazome Emon
  9. Izumi Shikibu
  10. Kodai no Kimi
  11. Murasaki Shikibu
  12. Koshikibu no Naishi
  13. Ise no Taifu
  14. Sei Shōnagon
  15. Daini no Sanmi
  16. Takashina no Kishi
  17. Yūshi Naishinnō-ke no Kii
  18. Sagami
  19. Shikishi Naishinnō
  20. Kunai-kyō
  21. Suō no Naishi
  22. Fujiwara no Toshinari no Musume
  23. Taikenmon'in no Horikawa
  24. Gishūmon'in no Tango
  25. Kayōmon'in no Echizen
  26. Nijō In no Sanuki
  27. Kojijū
  28. Go-Toba-in no Shimotsuke
  29. Ben no Naiji
  30. Go-Fukakusa In no Shōshōnaishi
  31. Inpumon'in no Tayū
  32. Tsuchimikado In no Kosaishō
  33. Hachijō-in Takakura
  34. Fujiwara no Chikako
  35. Shikikenmon'in no Mikushige
  36. Sōhekimon'in no Shōshō

New Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry

There are at least two groups of Japanese poets called New Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry (新三十六歌仙, Shinsanjūrokkasen):

  • One selected by Fujiwara no Mototoshi (Heian period)
  • One including poets mainly of the Kamakura period; who selected this is unknown.
  • The term usually refers to the second:

    1. Emperor Go-Toba
    2. Emperor Tsuchimikado
    3. Emperor Juntoku
    4. Emperor Go-Saga
    5. Prince Masanari of Rokujō-no-Miya
    6. Prince Munetaka of Kamakura-no-Miya
    7. Prince Dōjonyūdō
    8. Prince Shikishi
    9. Kujō Yoshitsune
    10. Kujō Michiie
    11. Saionji Kintsune
    12. Koga Michiteru
    13. Saionji Saneuji
    14. Minamoto no Sanetomo
    15. Kujō Motoie
    16. Fujiwara no Ieyoshi
    17. Jien
    18. Gyōi
    19. Minamoto no Michitomo (Horikawa Michitomo)
    20. Fujiwara no Sadaie
    21. Hachijō-in Takakura
    22. Shunzei's Daughter
    23. Go-Toba-in Kunaikyō
    24. Sōheki Mon'in no Shōshō
    25. Fujiwara no Tameie
    26. Asukai Masatsune
    27. Fujiwara no Ietaka
    28. Fujiwara no Tomoie
    29. Fujiwara no Ariie
    30. Hamuro Mitsutoshi
    31. Fujiwara no Nobuzane
    32. Minamoto no Tomochika
    33. Fujiwara no Takasuke
    34. Minamoto no Ienaga
    35. Kamo no Chōmei
    36. Fujiwara no Hideyoshi

    Late Classical Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry

    ja:中古三十六歌仙

    References

    Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry Wikipedia