Kana preface
one of the two prefaces to the Kokin Wakashū
The kana preface to the Kokin Wakashū (古今和歌集仮名序 Kokin Wakashū kana-jo, 古今集仮名序 Kokinshū kana-jo, or simply 仮名序 kana-jo; rekishi-teki kanazukai: 假名序) is one of the two prefaces to the tenth-century Japanese waka anthology, the Kokin Wakashū. It was written by the poet/editor Ki no Tsurayuki. It is also known in English as the Japanese preface, distinguishing it from Ki no Yoshimochi's Chinese preface (mana-jo). It was the first serious work of poetic criticism on the waka style, and is regarded as the predecessor of later karon works.
Authorship, date and context
The kana preface, or Japanese preface, is one of the two prefaces that were given to the Kokin Wakashū, a tenth-century anthology of Japanese waka poetry. It was written by Ki no Tsurayuki, the principal compiler of the anthology.
The other is Ki no Yoshimochi's Chinese preface (mana-jo).
The kana preface was written between the second month of Engi 6 (906) and the first month of the following year.
Contents
The kana preface opens with a detailed and poetic explication of what the core concept of waka poetry is. It divides the waka into six stylistic categories, explaining each of those categories and giving an example.
“Kana preface” enters the record as one of the two prefaces to the Kokin Wakashū. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Kana, preface and prefaces can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Kana preface” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.