Renri Hishō

is a text on renga poetics. It was written by Nijō Yoshimoto around 1349. It had a great influence on the development of renga [Miner, Earl Roy, "Japanese linked poetry", Princeton University Press, 1980, ISBN 0-691-01368-3 pbk.] .

Development

Yoshimoto learned waka from Ton'a and renga from Gusai and Kyūsei. While he authored several treatises on waka, it is for renga that he is best known. By the age of thirty, he was regarded as an authority on the subject.

In 1345, Yoshimoto composed nihongo|"Hekirenshō"|僻連抄|. This text served as the draft for "Renri Hishō", and over the next four years he slightly revised and edited it until it became "Renri Hishō". The differences between the two texts are extremely minimal.

The text currently remains in a single manuscript in the nihongo|Inokuma Nobuo|猪熊信男| collection. It is a mid-Muromachi period copy.

Contents

The text begins with a kanbun preface by Priest Gen'e and concludes with an afterwards by Kyūsei. The main text consists of two major sections: general discourse on renga ranging from history to ways to learn, and rules for composing renga. These rules, more formally known as nihongo|"shikimoku"|式目|, became the foundation for later renga poetics such as the 1372 nihongo|"Ōan Shinshiki"|応安新式|.

Notes

References

* cite book
last = Kidō
first = Saizō
authorlink =
coauthors = Imoto Nōichi
title = Iwanami Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei: Renga Ronshū, Haironshū
publisher = Iwanami Shoten
year = 1961
location =
pages =
url =
language = Japanese
doi =
id = ISBN 4-00-060066-4
* cite book
last = Miner
first = Earl Roy
authorlink = Earl Miner
coauthors =
title = The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature
publisher = Princeton University Press
year = 1985
location =
pages =
url =
language = English
doi =
id = ISBN 0-69-100825-6
* cite book
last = Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten Henshū Iinkai
title = Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten
publisher = Iwanami Shoten
year = 1986
location =
pages =
language = Japanese
id = ISBN 4-00-080067-1