Saigyō Hōshi (Japanese: 西行法師) (1118 - 1190) is a famous Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Events Knights Templar founded Baldwin of Le Bourg succeeds his cousin Baldwin I as king of Jerusalem John II Comnenus succeeds Alexius I as Byzantine emperor Gelasius II succeeds Paschal II as pope Births December 21 - Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury Taira no Kiyomori, Japanese general Deaths January 21 - Pope... Events March 16 - Massacre and mass-suicide of the Jews of York, England prompted by Crusaders. ... Poets are authors of poems, or of other forms of poetry such as dramatic verse. ... The Heian period (Japanese: 平安時代, Heian-jidai) is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. ... History of Japan Paleolithic Jomon Yayoi Yamato period ---Kofun period ---Asuka period Nara period Heian period Kamakura period Muromachi period Azuchi-Momoyama period ---Nanban period Edo period Meiji period Taisho period Showa period ---Japanese expansionism ---Occupied Japan ---Post-Occupation Japan Heisei The Kamakura period 1185 to 1333 is a period...

Biography

Born Satō Norikiyo (佐藤義清) in Kyoto to a noble family, he lived during the traumatic transition of power between the old court nobles and the new samurai warriors. After the start of the Age of Mappō (1052), Buddhism was considered to be in decline and no longer as effective a means of salvation. These cultural shifts during his lifetime lead to a sense of melancholy or sabishisa in his poetry. As a youth, he worked as a guard to retired Emperor Toba, but in 1140 at age 22, for reasons now unknown, he quit worldly life to become a monk. He later took the pen name, "Saigyō" meaning Western Journey, a reference to Amida Buddha and the Western paradise. He lived alone for long periods in his life in Saga, Mt. Koya, Mt. Yoshino, Ise, and many other places, but he is more known for the many long, poetic journeys to he took to Northern Honshu that would later inspire Basho in his Narrow Road to the Deep Interior. Some main collections of Saigyō's work are in the Sankashu, Shinkokinshu, and Shikashu. He died in Hirokawa Temple, Kawachi, Osaka, at age 72. This page is about the city Kyoto. ... Japanese samurai in armour, 1860 photograph. ... Events Births Milarepa Deaths Heads of state Holy See - Leo IX pope (1049-1054) Categories: 1052 ... Events Henry Jasomirgott was made count palatine of the Rhine. ... The Big Buddha or Daibatsu in Kamakura, an image of Amitabha Amitābha (阿彌陀佛 Ch. ... todo mal de [ [ Shikoku ] ] a través del [ [ mar interior ] ], y noreste de [ [ Kyushu ] ] a través del [ [ estrecho de Kanmon ] ]. Es la séptima isla más grande, y la segunda isla populosa en el mundo después de [ [ Java (isla)|Java ] ] (véase [ [ lista de las islas de la población ] ]). < style=float del div... Matsuo Bashō (松尾芭蕉 Matsuo Bashō, 1644 – November 28, 1694), was the pseudonym of Matsuo Munefusa, the Japanese poet usually referred to simply as Basho without the surname. ... Oku no Hosomichi (Japanese: 奥の細道, meaning Narrow Road to Oku [the Deep North]) is a major work by Matsuo Bashō. Oku no Hosomichi was written based on a journey taken by Bashō in the late spring of 1689. ... The Shin-kokin-wakashu (新古今和歌集), also abbreviated Shinkokinshu, is a collection of Japanese waka poetry published in 1205. ... Kawachi may refer to: Kawachi, Tochigi Kawachi District, Tochigi Kawachi Province Kawachi ondo This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Osaka Castle (ÅŒsaka-jō) Location in Japan Osaka Aquarium (Kaiyukan) Osaka railway station The Osaka Tower (TsÅ«tenkaku) Azumanga Daioh. ...

Style

In Saigyō's time, the Man'yōshū was no longer a big influence on waka poetry, compared to the Kokinshu. Where the Kokinshū was concerned with subjective experience, word play, flow, and elegant diction (neither colloquial nor pseudo-Chinese), the Shinkokinshu (formed with poetry written by Saigyo and others writing in the same style) was less subjective, had fewer verbs and more nouns, was not as interested in word play, allowed for repetition, had breaks in the flow, is slightly more colloquial, and is much, much more somber and melancholic. Due to the turbulent times, Saigyō focuses not just on awaré (sorrow from change) but also on sabi (loneliness) and kanashi (sadness). Though he is a Buddhist monk, Saigyō was still very attached to the world and the beauty of nature. Manyoshu (万葉集 Manyōshū, 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. ... waka (New Zealand English) is a māori canoe or boat, ranging from single hull small waka to ocean going double hulled waka. ... Kokin (waka)shu (古今(和歌)集 kokin (waka)shū, collection of ancient and modern poems) is an early Heian waka anthology, conceived by Emperor Uda (r. ... The Shin-kokin-wakashu (新古今和歌集), also abbreviated Shinkokinshu, is a collection of Japanese waka poetry published in 1205. ... Wabi-sabi (in Kanji: 侘寂) represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic. ...

Resources

• Saigyô, Poems of a Mountain Home, translated by Burton Watson, Columbia Univsity Press, © 1991 ISBN 0-231-07492-1 cloth ISBN 0-231-07493-X pbk [233 pp.]
• Saigyô,Mirror for the Moon: A Selection of Poems by Saigyô (1118-1190), translated by William R. LaFleur, New Directions 1978

Burton Watson (born 1925) is one of the worlds best-known translators of the Chinese and Japanese literary works. ...

External links

• Classical Japanese Database - has some poems by Saigyō in translations and in the original Japanese