Fujiwara Shunzei (b. 1114 d. 22 Dec. 1204 CE) was a noted Japanese poet and nobleman. He was also known as Fujiwara Toshinari or Shakua; his original name was Fujiwara Akihiro. He was noted for his innovations in the waka poetic form, and for his achievement in compiling Senzaishu ("Collection of a Thousand Years"), the seventh Imperial anthology of waka poetry, at the behest in 1183 of the Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa. The Common Era (CE), also known as the Christian Era and sometimes the Current Era, is the period of measured time beginning with the year 1 until the present. ... Poets are authors of poems, or of other forms of poetry such as dramatic verse. ... The Lords and Barons prove their Nobility by hanging their Banners and exposing their Coats-of-arms at the Windows of the Lodge of the Heralds. ... Waka (和歌) or Yamato uta is a genre of Japanese poetry. ... Cloistered Rule, also known as the Insei system, is a distinct feature of Japanese history and politics and sometimes in business. ... Emperor Go-Shirakawa (後白河天皇 Go-Shirakawa Tennō) (October 18, 1127 – April 26, 1192) was the 77th imperial ruler of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. ...

He was a member of the famous poetic and aristocratic clan, the Fujiwara. As his father and grandfather and a number of other relatives were all men of literature and poetry, he began writing and composing poetry at a young age. He tended to hew to an older style of poetry such as that seen in the Manyoshu, but he also drew upon recently-imported and translated T'ang dynasty Chinese poetry. From a literary criticism perspective, he notably was an early supporter of theTale of Genji, and past his 30s and 40s, he was especially known for his judgements at various poetry gatherings and contests, where he favored poems that displayed his preferred poetic style of yugen (one of ten orthodox styles of poetry which focussed on conveying romantic emotion, with characteristic undertones of nostalgia and regret). At the age of 63, in 1177, he "retired from the world" and took Buddhist vows, taking the religious name of "Shakua". Most of his critical philosophy of poetry is known from his sole major work of criticism, written a decade (in 1197, and revised in 1201) after he was asked by the Emperor to compile the anthology, Fūteishō ("Notes on Poetic Style Through the Ages"). His son, Fujiwara no Teika, would succeed him in prominence as a poet, and would be more successful in court politics than his father- Shunzei only ever attained to the rank of "Chamberlain to the Empress Dowager". Shunzei's daughter, Fujiwara Toshinari no Musume, whom he lived to see and help teach, would also be successful as a poetess. Fujiwara (藤原) can refer to: The Fujiwara clan and its members Kamatari Fujiwara Keiji Fujiwara Fujiwara-no-Sai, character of Hikaru no Go Takumi Tak Fujiwara, character of Initial D Zakuro Fujiwara, character of Tokyo Mew Mew (Known as Renee Roberts in the Mew Mew Power English anime) This is... ... Poetry (ancient Greek: ποιεω (poieo) = I create) is traditionally a written art form (although there is also an ancient and modern poetry which relies mainly upon oral or pictorial representations) in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... Manyoshu (万葉集 ManyōshÅ«, Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) is the oldest existing, and most highly revered, collection of Japanese poetry, compiled sometime in the Nara or early Heian periods. ... The Tang Dynasty (唐朝 pinyin: tángcháo) (June 18, 618 – June 4, 907) followed the Sui Dynasty and preceded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period in China. ... Genji Monogatari (源氏物語), frequently translated as The Tale of Genji, is a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century, around the peak of the Heian period. ... // Headline text A replica of an ancient statue of Gautama Buddha, found from Sarnath, near Varanasi Buddhism, a religion and philosophy from ancient India, is based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, of the Shakyas. ... Monument to Fujiwara no Teika, Ogura, Kyoto Fujiwara no Teika or Sadaie (藤原定家: 1162–September 26, 1241) was a Japanese waka poet, critic, carigrapher, scribe and scholar of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. ...