, also known by his Chinese name Chao Heng ( zh, c=晁衡, pronounced ''Chōkō'' in Japanese), was a Japanese scholar and '' waka'' poet of the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

. He served on a Japanese envoy to

Tang China The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

and later became the Tang '' duhu'' (protectorate governor) of Annan (modern

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

). Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)
"Abe no Nakamaro, "
'Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 3.

Early life

He was a descendant of , the son of Emperor Kōgen and first son of . As a young man he was admired for having outstanding academic skills.

Career

In 717–718, he was a member of the Japanese mission to Tang China (''Kentōshi'') along with Kibi no Makibi and Genbō. They returned to Japan; he did not. In China, he passed the civil-service examination. Around 725, he took an administrative position and was promoted in

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

in 728 and 731. Around 733 he received , who would command the Japanese diplomatic mission. In 734, Abe tried to return to Japan, but the ship that was to take him back sank not long into the journey, forcing him to remain in China for several more years. In 752, he tried again to return, with the mission to China led by Fujiwara no Kiyokawa, but the ship he was traveling in was wrecked and ran aground off the coast of Annan (modern day northern

). He managed to return to

Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...

in 755. After the

An Lushan Rebellion The An Lushan rebellion was a civil war in China that lasted from 755 to 763, at the approximate midpoint of the Tang dynasty (618–907). It began as a commandery rebellion attempting to overthrow and replace the Tang government with the rogue ...

started later in 755, it became unsafe to return to Japan and Nakamaro abandoned his hopes of returning to his homeland. He took several government posts and rose to serve as Duhu (Governor-protector) of Annam between 761 and 767, residing in Hanoi. He then returned to Chang'an and was once again planning his return to Japan when he died in 770, at the age of 72. Abe was a close friend of the Chinese poets

Li Bai Li Bai (, 701–762), Literary and colloquial readings, also pronounced Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet acclaimed as one of the greatest and most important poets of the Tang dynasty and in Chinese history as a whole. He and hi ...

and Wang Wei, Zhao Hua, Bao Xin, and Chu Guangxi.

Legacy

Abe is known for a poem filled with intense longing for his home in

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...

. One of his poems was included in the anthology ''

Hyakunin Isshu is a classical Japanese anthology of one hundred Japanese ''waka'' by one hundred poets. ''Hyakunin isshu'' can be translated to "one hundred people, one poem ach; it can also refer to the card game of '' uta-garuta'', which uses a deck compo ...

'': Abe's place in Japanese cultural history is confirmed in

Hokusai , known mononymously as Hokusai, was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period, active as a painter and printmaker. His woodblock printing in Japan, woodblock print series ''Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji'' includes the iconic print ''The Gr ...

's ''Hyakunin Isshu'' series of

ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art that flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock printing, woodblock prints and Nikuhitsu-ga, paintings of such subjects as female beauties; kabuki actors and sumo wrestlers; scenes ...

woodblock prints.Machotka, Ewa. (2009)
''Visual Genesis of Japanese National Identity: Hokusai's 'Hyakunin Isshu', '' pp. 92-95

References

Bibliography

External links