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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1985.371
People
Traditionally attributed to Fujiwara Sadayori, Japanese (995 - 1045)
Title
Fragment of the Wakan Rōeishū (Yamashiro-gire)
Other Titles
Transliterated Title: Yamashiro-gire (Wakan rōeishū)
Classification
Calligraphy
Work Type
calligraphy
Date
Late Heian period, late 12th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, Japan
Period
Heian period, Late, 898-1185
Culture
Japanese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/210612

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Fragment of a book mounted as a hanging scroll; ink and vermillion marks on paper
Dimensions
text only: H. 26.1 x W. 11.3 cm (10 1/4 x 4 7/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: [in Chinese characters]
    庚申

    年長每勞推甲子, 夜寒初共守庚申

    許渾

    己酉年終冬日少,庚申夜半曉光遲

    管




    [in Japanese hiragana]

    Okinaka no

    Ezaru toki naki

    Tsuribune wa

    Ama ya sakidatsu

    Io ya sakidatsu



    Translation:



    Geng-shen



    As the years advance it grows a burden

    to reckon the jia and zi.

    The night is cold, together we learn

    to keep the geng and shen

    by Xu Hun



    The year of ji-you is ending,

    the days of winter are few.

    Half through the night of geng and shen,

    the light of dawn is late.

    by Kan [Sugawara no Michizane]



    The fishing boat

    That never misses a catch

    In the offshore grounds:

    Do its fishermen start first,

    Or do the fish come first to it?

    Attributed to Minamoto no Shitagō



    (translations by Edwin A. Cranston)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Bequest of the Hofer Collection of the Arts of Asia
Accession Year
1985
Object Number
1985.371
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • John M. Rosenfield, Fumiko Cranston, and Edwin A. Cranston, The Courtly Tradition in Japanese Art and Literature: Selections from the Hofer and Hyde Collections, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1973), Cat. No. 45 / pp. 142-143
  • John M. Rosenfield, The Japanese Courtier: Painting, Calligraphy, and Poetry from the Fogg Art Museum, the Philip Hofer Collection (With a Complementary Selection of Lacquers and Other Arts of Japan from the Collection of F. Bailey Vanderhoef, Jr.), exh. cat., Santa Barbara Museum of Art (Santa Barbara, CA, 1980), Cat. No. 04 / p. 10 (not illustrated)

Exhibition History

  • Assemblages: Fragments in Classical Japanese Art, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 02/26/2019 - 05/20/2019

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu