Ryōzen

Priest Ryōzen (良暹 Ryōzen-hōshi), from the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

Ryōzen (良暹, dates unknown, but flourished c. 998—1064) was a Japanese waka poet of the mid-Heian period. One of his poems was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, and thirty-one of his poems were included in imperial anthologies from the Goshūi Wakashū on.

Biography

Although his exact birth and death dates are unknown,^[1] he flourished around 998 to 1064.^[2]

A Tendai monk^[2] at Hiei-zan,^[1] he later became abbot (別当 bettō) of the Gion Monastery.^[1][2] He lived as a hermit at Ōhara (Japanese Wikipedia) and then, late in life, at Unrin'in (雲林院, Japanese Wikipedia).^[2]

Poetry

Thirty-one of his poems were included in imperial anthologies from the Goshūi Wakashū on.^[1][2]

The following poem by him was included as No. 70 in Fujiwara no Teika's Ogura Hyakunin Isshu:

Japanese text[3]	Romanized Japanese[4]	English translation[5]
さびしさに 宿を立ち出でて ながむれば いづこも同じ 秋の夕暮れ	Sabishisa ni yado wo tachi-idete nagamureba izuku mo onaji aki no yuugure	Lonely, I step outside my hut and look vacantly around: It's the same all over— Autumn dusk!

References

1. Digital Daijisen entry "Ryōzen". Shogakukan.
2. McMillan 2010 : 144 (note 70).
3. Suzuki et al. 2009 : 90.
4. McMillan 2010 : 169.
5. McMillan 2010 : 72.

Bibliography

• Keene, Donald (1999). A History of Japanese Literature, Vol. 1: Seeds in the Heart — Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-11441-7.
• McMillan, Peter. 2010 (1st ed. 2008). One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Suzuki Hideo, Yamaguchi Shin'ichi, Yoda Yasushi. 2009 (1st ed. 1997). Genshoku: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. Tokyo: Bun'eidō.

External links

• List of Egyō's poems in the International Research Center for Japanese Studies's online waka database.
• Egyō-hōshi-shū in the same database.
• Egyō on Kotobank.