Abutsu-ni
Abutsu-ni (阿仏尼, 1222?-1283) was a notable Japanese poet and Buddhist nun, recognized for her significant contributions to the waka poetry subgenre during the mid-Kamakura period. Born Ankamon'in no Shijo, she was later known as Nun Abutsu, reflecting her status as a Buddhist monk after the death of her husband, Fujiwara no Tameie. Abutsu-ni's early life was marked by familial connections to the imperial court, where she served the imperial princess Ankamon'in. Throughout her life, she produced an impressive body of work, including an essay, a critique, two diaries, and a remarkable 887 poems.
Her relationship with Fujiwara no Tameie, a prominent member of a literary clan, played a crucial role in her literary journey. Following his death, a protracted dispute arose over the rights to his literary works, which underscored her influence in preserving Japanese poetry. This conflict became the longest literary dispute in history and highlighted her efforts to safeguard the legacy of waka poetry. Despite the turmoil, her descendants continue to protect important literary treasures in Japan. Abutsu-ni is celebrated not only for her poetic talents but also for her role in the preservation and continuation of Japanese literary heritage.
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Subject Terms
Abutsu-ni
Writer
- Born: c.1220
- Died: c. 1283
Biography
Abutsu-ni was known by various names throughout her life. Her birth name was Ankamon’in no Shijo; she was later known as Nun Abutsu (“ni” is the Japanese suffix that denotes a Buddhist nun), Ankamon’in Echiien and Ankamon’in Uemon no Suke between 1265 and 1275, and Ankamon’in no Shijo from 1278 onwards. She is best remembered for her prolific poetry, and for preserving Fujiwara Teika’s poetry and Japanese court poetry. She established and furthered the waka subgenre of writing during the mid-Kamakura period.
Abutsu-ni was born early in the thirteenth century. Her mother married a provincial governor, Taira no Norishige, when Abutsu-ni was very young, and subsequently passed away. He adoptive father rose in the ranks and was appointed governor of Sado and an assistant commander by the time he died. He had placed her in service for the imperial princess Ankamon’in, second daughter of Retired Emperor Go Takakura, around the age of fourteen or fifteen. Abutsu ni had two sisters, also placed at court. She produced several daughters and several sons, some by Fujiwara no Tameie (successor to the poet Teika), whom she married in a spring/winter romance. She assumed the name Abutsu- ni, or Nun Abutsu, as a Buddhist tonsure upon the death of her spouse, although she had sought seclusion and instruction in her teens and later in life in a nunnery.
Abutsu and Fujiwara met when she came to serve as his private correspondence and writings secretary. Fujiwara came from an established literary clan, whose position was weakened due to his lack of poetic leadership. At one point, he relinquished the rights to the family poetic papers and property rights of a son by an earlier relationship to a son of Abutsu’s. When Fujiwara died some twenty years after the formation of his relationship with Abutsu-ni, dispute among several households arose as to rights to his library, the repository of waka teachings and transmissions. The dispute went so long and far as it got caught up between military and provincial courts. Thus, Abutsu-ni was the initiator of the world’s longest and most expansive literary dispute. In doing so, she guaranteed the existence of the works, the fate of which was doubtful should those have fallen to other conservative, literary families. She was in her sixties when she died, the suits still unresolved. A decision to award the papers to her son was made, reversed, and re-reversed. Her descendants still serve as the protectors to much of Japan’s literary treasures.
Abutsu-ni, by far a better poet than her husband and one of the best ever to write in Japanese, authored a critique, an essay, two diaries and 887 poems, 100 of which appear in Ankamon’in no Shijo hyakushu and another 506 that appear in Ankamon’in no Shijo gohyakushu.