Kenreimon-in Ukyō no Daibu (建礼門院右京大夫) was Japanese noblewoman and waka poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods.

Biography

She was a daughter of Fujiwara no Koreyuki [ ja] ^[1] and Yūgiri (夕霧), a daughter of Ōga no Motomasa [ ja] and a renowned koto player. ^[1] It has been postulated that she was born in Hōgen 5 (1157). ^[1] In 1173, she entered the service of Taira no Tokuko, then empress to Emperor Takakura. ^[1] She may have come to court under the patronage of Fujiwara no Shunzei. ^[1] Her mother had previously given birth to a son, Son'en (尊円), by Shunzei, ^[1] before marrying Koreyuki and taking Son'en with her into Koreyuki's house, ^[1] and Ukyō no Daibu's nickname (literally " Ukyō High Steward") comes from the political post held by Shunzei at the time she came to court. ^[1] She served less than six years as a lady-in-waiting, ^[1] but during this time she began a love affair with Taira no Sukemori [ ja], ^[1] and also took Fujiwara no Takanobu as a lover. ^[1] Takanobu was the son of Fujiwara no Tametsune [ ja] and Bifukumon-in no Kaga [ ja], ^[1] who later married Shunzei, ^[1] so it is possible that Takanobu's mother and foster-father were involved in the relationship. ^[1] In around the autumn of 1178, she left court and went to live with her mother, ^[1] but the following year her mother fell ill and died, ^[1] and Ukyō no Daibu went to live with her half-brother Son'en in the Nishiyama district of the Capital. ^[1] Her relationship with Takanobu came to an end around this time, ^[1] and she came to rely on the love of Sukemori. ^[1] With the growing tensions between the Taira and their rival Minamoto clan, however, their relationship was short-lived. ^[1] The Taira were driven from the Capital in the seventh month of 1183 (according to the traditional Japanese calendar), ^[1] and Sukemori left her, ^[1] before drowning at the Battle of Dan-no-Ura in 1185. ^[1] Ukyō no Daibu heard the news of her lover's death, ^[1] and later entered religious orders along with her brother at Hosshō-ji ( ja). ^[1] She went on treasuring the memory of her lover Sukemori, ^[1] but around a decade later, in 1196 or 1197, she went back to the court of Emperor Go-Toba, ^[1] and then entered the service of the empress dowager Shichijō-in. ^[1] She lived until at least 1233, ^[1] but her date of death is unknown. ^[1]

Writings

Poetry

She left a personal anthology, the Kenreimon-in Ukyō no Daibu Shū (建礼門院右京大夫集). ^[2]

23 of her poems were included in imperial collections from the Shin-chokusenshū on, ^[1] and her poems were also included in the Fuboku Wakashō (夫木和歌抄), the Gyokuyōshū and others. ^[1] The ten poems by her that were included in the Gyokuyōshū are indicative of both her individual poetic style and the style of that anthology. ^[3] These poems can all duplicates of those in her personal collection, ^[4] but the two poems included in Jien's Shūgyokushū (拾玉集) and the Tsukimōde Wakashū (月詣和歌集) are not found in her personal anthology. ^[4]

Other works

It has been hypothesized that Yamaji no Tsuyu [ ja], the unofficial sequel to The Tale of Genji, was written by her. ^[4]

References

Works cited

• Hon'ida, Shigemi (1983a). "Kenreimon-in Ukyō no Daibu". Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典 (in Japanese). Vol. 2. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. pp. 464–465. OCLC  11917421.
• Hon'ida, Shigemi (1983b). "Kenreimon-in Ukyō no Daibu Shū". Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten (in Japanese). Vol. 2. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. p. 465. OCLC  11917421.