Shinkei (心敬, 1406 – 14 May 1475) was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Buddhist priest and poet (''

tanka is a genre of classical Japanese poetry and one of the major genres of Japanese literature. Etymology Originally, in the time of the influential poetry anthology (latter half of the eighth century AD), the term ''tanka'' was used to disti ...

'' and ''

renga ''Renga'' (, ''linked poem'') is a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry in which alternating stanzas, or ''ku (''句), of 5-7-5 and 7-7 morae (sound units, not to be confused with syllables) per line are linked in succession by multiple poets ...

'' poetry).

Life and work

Shinkei was born in Taisha,

Kii Province , or , was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today Wakayama Prefecture, as well as the southern part of Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kii''" in . Kii bordered Ise, Izumi, Kawachi, Shima, and Yamato Pro ...

(now

Wakayama Wakayama may refer to: * Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan * Wakayama (city), the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture, Japan * Wakayama Station, a train station in Wakayama, Wakayama * Wakayama University, a national university in Wakayama, ...

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 876,030 () and a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture to ...

) in 1406. He was a

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

priest at an early age and quickly rose to the rank of ''Daisōzu'' (大僧都, Senior Director). He regarded poetry as the result of a religious way of life (''shugyō''). For more than thirty years he remained a student with the poet

Shōtetsu Shōtetsu (, 1381–1459 CE) was a Japanese poet during the Muromachi period, and is considered to have been the last poet in the courtly waka tradition;Miner 1968, p.139; "Shotetsu is thought by some Japanese today to be the finest poet of the ...

. His poems are based on the Japanese aesthetic ideal called ''

yūgen Japanese aesthetics comprise a set of ancient ideals that include ''Wabi-sabi, wabi'' (transient and stark beauty), ''Wabi-sabi, sabi'' (the beauty of natural patina and aging), and ''yūgen'' (profound grace and subtlety). These ideals, and other ...

'' (幽玄). He also wrote the poetic treatises ''Sasamegoto'' (ささめごと) in 1463 and ''Oi no kurigoto'' (老のくりごと) in 1471. Shinkei died on 14 May 1475 in Ōyama,

Sagami Province was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan located in what is today the central and western Kanagawa Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kanagawa''" at . Sagami Province bordered the provinces of Izu Province, Izu ...

(now part of

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

Translations in English

Esperanza Ramirez-Christensen translated and annotated Shinkei's ''Sasamegoto'' under the title ''Murmured Conversations: A Treatise on Poetry and Buddhism by the Poet-Monk Shinkei'' (

Stanford University Press Stanford University Press (SUP) is the publishing house of Stanford University. It is one of the oldest academic presses in the United States and the first university press to be established on the West Coast. It is currently a member of the Ass ...

, 2008), which received the

Japan–U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature The Japan–U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature was established in 1979 and is administered by the Donald Keene, Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture at Columbia University. It is the oldest prize for Japan ...

in 2009. Ramirez-Christensen also published a book-length study on Shinkei's life and poetry titled ''Heart's Flower: The Life and Poetry of Shinkei'' (Stanford University Press, 1994).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinkei Japanese writers Japanese poets Japanese male writers Japanese male poets Japanese Buddhist clergy Buddhist clergy of Muromachi-period Japan 1406 births 1475 deaths Tendai Buddhist monks