Fujiwara no Akihira and Shin Sarugakuki: Kanbun, Heian scholars, and social criticism
Keywords: Shin Sarugakuki
Heian literature
Kanbun
Fujiwara no Akihira
monjō keikoku model
social criticism
Heian scholars

Kanbun 漢文 (literally, Chinese-style writing) is a Japanese writing system that grew out of the adoption and adaptation of Classical Chinese and flourished in the Nara period (710–794). Prior to the advent of modern Japanese writing, kanbun was used to compose many original texts of Japanese literature, as well as being used for reference books and official documents. This dissertation explores a particular work of kanbun of the Heian period — Shin Sarugakuki 新猿楽記 (The Account of New Monkey Music), written by Fujiwara no Akihira 藤原明衡 (989–1066). In terms of both content and writing style, this text has some unconventional, even risqué, aspects that challenge traditional understandings of Heian kanbun, which were more typically focused on government, scholarship, and the public sphere. Shin Sarugakuki offers a different lens through which to view Heian literati and their approach to self-expression, social criticism, and the relationship between commoners and elites.
A look at the elements that shaped the creation of Shin Sarugakuki starts with an introduction to kanbun and its significance in the overall development of Heian literature. This is followed by an appraisal of the State Academy, where kika 起家 (outsider) scholars such as Fujiwara no Akihira were side-lined and neglected as the institution evolved gradually into a hereditary bureaucracy. The content of Shin Sarugakuki, which describes a raucous sarugaku performance in Kyoto and profiles diverse individuals, is analysed in the light of Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the carnivalesque together with the contemporary social and literary environment, Heian Buddhist values, and Fujiwara no Akihira’s idiosyncratic personality. The text is then contextualised in relation to contemporary developments, including the shrinking public sphere of writing, the emergence of popular entertainment as a literary topic and social trends of anxiety and uncertainty in both setsuwa collections and kanbun, and the exploration of the new spaces in kanbun writing.
This dissertation aims to bring together two seemingly disparate perspectives embodied in Shin Sarugakuki. On the one hand, it is presented in an anti-hierarchical and subversive setting and includes grotesque and exaggerated physical descriptions of its characters while transgressing various social norms and stereotypes. All of this interconnects with aspects of identity, power, and authority, opening up a carnivalesque space in the sense defined by Bakhtin. On the other hand, Shin Sarugakuki also reflects an encyclopaedic and inherently hierarchical ordering of information by Fujiwara no Akihira that bears resemblance to reference works of the time, including Fujiwara no Akihira’s own textbook for letter-writing, Unshū Ōrai 雲州往来. This suggests that Shin Sarugakuki may have been written with educational value in mind or designed to attract a high-ranking patron. Finally, the satirical and erotic elements in Shin Sarugakuki are examined in the context of the monjō keikoku model, with a view to understanding how Heian scholars expressed their concern over matters of governance and engaged in social criticism in their kanbun writings. This thesis suggests that Shin Sarugakuki could be read as merely unconventional but is more properly viewed as a kind of social criticism that deserves a significant place in Heian literature.