The adoption of the Chinese calendar and its impact on seasonal poetry in early Japan (c. 700 to 1000)

Gerhard Leinss

doi:10.1515/asia-2021-0026

Article

The adoption of the Chinese calendar and its impact on seasonal poetry in early Japan (c. 700 to 1000)

Gerhard Leinss

Published/Copyright: September 10, 2021

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From the journal Asiatische Studien - Études Asiatiques Volume 75 Issue 1

Abstract

We have evidence that since the second half of the seventh century a common calendar has been shared among Japan’s political elite within an evolving state based on Chinese models. This paper discusses the impact its introduction had on the perception of time as revealed by the seasonal poetry of aristocrats who presumably had access to the calendar. Not only numerous poems on seasonal topics but also a substantial number of calendars is extant from that period. We can therefore anticipate what kind of calendars poets possibly had at their hands when pursuing their art. I argue that the impact the introduction of the common calendar had on seasonal poetry has been far greater and more complex than hitherto acknowledged by researchers, and that the underestimation of this impact is largely due to an incomplete understanding of the seasonal concepts of the adopted calendar which I intend to clarify with this paper.

Keywords: Chinese calendar; early Japan; perception of seasons; poetry

Corresponding author: Gerhard Leinss, Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Johannisstr. 10, 10117 Berlin, Germany, E-mail: gerhard.leinss@gmail.com

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Received: 2021-02-01

Accepted: 2021-07-22

Published Online: 2021-09-10

Published in Print: 2021-03-26

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