著者

根本 千聡

出版者

法政大学国際日本学研究所

雑誌

国際日本学 : 文部科学省21世紀COEプログラム採択日本発信の国際日本学の構築研究成果報告集 = International Japan studies : annual report (ISSN:18838596)

巻号頁・発行日

no.18, pp.164-139, 2021-02

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This paper has the aim of clarifying the transmission of Sino-Japanese lute (biwa/pipa) in the early Heian period (ninth century). In Japan, Fujiwara no Sadatoshi (807-867) has long been respected as the founder of the tradition of Japanese biwa music. He was a minor public servant, and crossed the sea in order to study the biwa as a member of the Japanese mission to Tang China in the Jōwa era (834-848). Sadatoshi did not go to Changʼan, the capital of Tang; however, a biwa master Lian Chengwu gave him lessons in biwa music at Yangzhou. The results of these lessons were compiled in the score Biwa sho-chōshi-hon (ʻVarious lute tuningsʼ) and brought into Japan. Nevertheless, in spite of Sadatoshiʼs great achievement, past studies have not investigated this aspect satisfactorily.The introduction explains background information and the significance of this study.The second section surveys the relation between Japanese musicians and the Japanese missions to Tang China. Ōto no Kiyokami (Yoshie no Kiyokami, ?-839) participated in this mission with Sadatoshi in the capacity of Onjōchō (Head Musician). He was the most outstanding Japanese composer and arranger, as well as superb flute player, of those times. But, according to Nihon sandai jitsuroku (ʻVeritable records of the three reigns of Japanʼ), on his way back to Japan, Kiyokamiʼs ship drifted to the southern seas, where he was killed by barbarians. Although he probably learned some new elements of Tang music, they were lost forever along with his life. This section considers what Kiyokami may have been bringing back, and, at the same time, examines Sadatoshiʼs arrangements of biwa performance based on his experience on the mission.The third section studies how Sadatoshi has been regarded as the founder of the tradition of Japanese biwa. Though several genealogies of the Japanese biwa tradition exist in Japan today, all of them have several doubtful points. For instance, despite Prince Sadayasu (870-924) being born after the death of Sadatoshi, they record that Prince Sadayasu was taught by Sadatoshi. It is thought that this problem arose from later efforts to bring the transmission historical authority.This section includes one more significant topic. There are perhaps six factors why biwa performance became extremely popular after the Jōwa era: first is the reorganization of biwa tunings by Sadatoshi; second is the delay in flute transmission due to Kiyokamiʼs death; third is the influence of Tang poetry; fourth is the beginning of instrumental performance by the Japanese nobility; fifth is Prince Sadayasuʼs interest in the piece Ōshōkun; and sixth is the influence of the sitting repertoire of the erbuji (ʻtwo kinds of musicʼ) of the mid-Tang.The fourth section reaches the following conclusion. Sadatoshi came to be respected as the founder of the tradition of Japanese biwa music not primarily because of his achievements, but due to a range of factors that combined to lead to his ʻdeificationʼ.