Gossips goin’ around
Irk me as I know you’d care　－
Carin’ I’m not found,
Crossed the river home early morn,
Which I’d never done before.
(Vol.2-116)

Princess Tajima, the songwriter here, a daughter of Emperor Tenmu, was married to Prince Takechi, a son of Emperor Tanmu, and they were half-siblings. Takechi had another wife outside, and perhaps Tajima felt lonely and neglected, she fell in love with Prince Hozumi, another half-brother of hers. The scandal spread and Hozumi was deported out of Nara to Ohmi (present day Shiga Pref.), but Tajima dared to visit secretly her true love, Hozumi. In modern day Japan, such a consanguineous marriage (intermarriage between near relations) as these cases is not legal, but in the ancient time of Nara Age, it was almost an ideal marriage in that the authentic Imperial bloodline would be thus kept and succeeded. The scandal here was not about the intermarriage, but the two-timing.

There is also a preface to this poem, written by the compiler of Man-Yoh-Shuh :

“This gracious poem was made by Princess Tajima, when the affair with Prince Hozumi came to surface, after Princess secretly met Prince Hozumi, despite her position in the Palace of Prince Takechi”

(This theory also relies on Mr. Tada’s “Handbook”)
Please also have a look at the poem by Prince Hozumi (Vol.2-203), which may add to the tragic and melo-dramatic aspect of the story.

―――

“photo taken by HM 9/2019”

● BILOG“MAN-YOH-SHUH”topに戻る