著者

吉川 美恵子

出版者

奈良教育大学

雑誌

奈良教育大学紀要. 人文・社会科学 (ISSN:05472393)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.34, no.1, pp.207-225, 1985-11-25

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Ono-no-Tofu(894-966), Fujiwara-no-Sari (944-998) and Fujiwara-no-Kozei (972-1027) who appeared in the tenth century after the three eminent calligraphers, known as "Sampitsu (Three Brushes, i.e.Kukai (774-835), Emperor Saga (786-842), Tachibana-no-Hayanari (?-842)) have been called "Sanseki" (Three Brush Traces; another set of three eminent calligraphers), and they are the representative masters of Japanese calligraphy who started and established "wayo" (the Japanese style) which means the break from the direct influence of "karayo" (the Chinese style) that had originated in China and then later was introduced to Japan. Sari, one of the above-mentioned "Sanseki", was a very unique person who has greatly influenced the present-day calligraphers like us in our fundamental attitudes towards making our own calligraphic works. The purpose of this paper is to give a tentative explanation for the charm of his art by paying special attention to his way of lije and the age in which he lived. Sari was born to the north branch of the reputable Fujiwara Clan, and he lost his father when he was four years old and then lost his grandfather, too, who had been his guardian after the death of his father. That prevented him from holding an important place in the political world of his days. But he was very good at writing calligraphic works on tablets and "shikishi" (square pieces of fancy paper) attached to "byobu" (folding screens) and he gradually became known as one of the finest calligraphic artists. Only a few of his works are now extant - that is, Shikaishi and five letters. Judging from his calligraphical characteristics that we can see in those extant works of his, he was not a mere successor to Tofu who started "wayo", but he established his own free style with the aesthetic and rhythmical writing of his own. The main feature of Sari's calligraphy has been traditionally called "ichiboku-no-yo" (the style of ink in one streamline), which means writing several characters with one stroke, but at the same time, giving variations to each character, which reminds us of "renmentai" (the style of unbroken line) of "kana" syllabary. It is often said that when you see a man's writing you can see the man. Sari's calligraphic style seems to have much to do with his own personality and the historical background of the age in which he lived. He was never a worldly-wise man and he was sometimes even called "jodeinin" (a loose man). But he doggedly lived up to his own way of life without going with the current of his times. We can say that Sari's writing is nothing but his own sincere attitude towards life itself.