Ki no Yoshimochi


Ki no Yoshimochi was a Japanese poet of both waka and kanshi. He also composed the Chinese preface to the tenth-century waka anthology, the Kokin Wakashū. He studied classics at the Imperial University, before serving various, mostly scholarly, positions at court.

Biography

The date of birth of Ki no Yoshimochi is unknown. He was the first-born son of Ki no Haseo and the elder brother of Ki no Yoshihito and Ki no Yoshimitsu, and may have been the adopted son of Ki no Tsurayuki.
In Kanpyō 8 he entered the Imperial University as a student of Chinese. In 906, he attained the Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade, and in 912 was promoted to the Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade, having acted as Director of the University and Teacher of the Classics for the Crown Prince. In 913 he became Provisional Vice-Governor of Shinano Province.
He died in 919, Engi 19.

Works

The, Kokin Wakashū and Shinkokin Wakashū each include one waka attributed to him, but it seems his Chinese writings were held in higher regard, as the Wakan rōeishū leads one of its books with a kanshi by him and he was selected to write the Chinese preface to the Kokin Wakashū.

Prose writings

He wrote the Chinese preface to the Kokin Wakashū, in which he expressed the view that all poetry has its source in human emotion. This view was popular in China and Japan, and reflects an east Asian attitude to poetry not shared in other parts of the world where major poetry was frequently inspired by battles, heroes, gods and the communication of moral truths. The preface dates itself to the fourth month of 905.

Works cited

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