KKS Kana Preface

Contents

• Part 1 (Introduction)
• Part 2 (The genesis of waka)
• Part 3 (The early development of waka)
• Part 4 (The six poetic styles)
• Part 5 (The current decline of waka)
• Part 6 (The prior glory of waka)
• Part 7
• Part 8 (Seasonal poetry)
• Part 9 (The Man'yoshu era)
• Part 10 (The six sages of poetry)
• Part 11 (The compilation of the Kokinshu)
• Part 12 (Conclusion)

Introduction

All complete manuscripts of the KKS contain a preface written in Japanese, which we now label the "Kana preface." A minority of manuscripts also contain a preface written in literary Chinese (the "Mana preface"), but a number of these texts place the Chinese preface at the end of the manuscript. These prefaces have had an enormous influence on Japanese poetry and poetic theory, but they have also raised a number of questions that have not been satisfactorily answered. My purpose here is not to give a complete accounting of the entire history of scholarship on the KKS prefaces, but simply to indicate some of the major interpretive issues -- additional issues of interpretation will also be covered in the translation itself.

Who wrote the prefaces?

The kana preface is attributed to Ki no Tsurayuki -- tradition is unanimous on this, and only a few modern scholars have tried to suggest it was a later pseudonymous work. The authorship of the Chinese preface is more debatable; tradition attributes it to Ki no Yoshimochi, but there have been theories that it was written entirely by Tsurayuki.

What is the relationship between the two prefaces?

This is a far more uncertain question than the issue of authorship.

How important are the prefaces to interpreting the KKS?

This links to a related question: what is the value of the preface as a whole? Opinions are divided. Takeoka Masao takes the preface as a serious, well written work that reflects Tsurayuki's own poetic sensibility and provides a key to unlocking the interpretation of the KKS as a whole as well as that of individual poems.