Minamoto no Hiromasa
Career. Because the highest rank he achieved was Provisional Master of the Palace of the Empress as a lower-third rank non-councillor, he was known as , which is the Chinese reading of the characters for 'Hiromasa' and those for 'third rank'. He was an expert in , orchestral gagaku which does not accompany dance. He was also called or "Lord Autumn after the Autumn Palace", the poetic name for the empress and her dwelling. When he was removed from the imperial succession, he was granted the surname Minamoto. In 934, the lower fourth rank was conferred upon  him. In 947, he became the Senior Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Central Affairs. In 959, he became Captain of the Right Watch. In 965, he became the Middle Captain of the Left Palace Guards. In 974, he was promoted to the lower third rank and became Provisional Master of the Palace of the Queen Mother. He attained his mastery of gagaku, music lore has it, by studying vocal music with Prince Atsumi, koto with Emperor Daigo, biwa with Minamoto no Osamu, flute from Ooishi no Minekichi, and hichiriki from Yoshimine no Yukimusa. Bass hichiriki was his strong point , but he disliked song and dance. In 951, he played biwa at the Emperor's New Year's banquet. In 966, by the order of Emperor Murakami, he compiled an imperial music anthology, the . The system of notation he developed is still used today. There is a story that he was called upon to participate in the so-called "Forth Year of Tentoku Poetry Contest" in 960, but that he froze in front of the emperor and accidentally gave the title of one poem but recited another. He received the famous flute from the demon at the Suzakumon Gate. He  retrieved the famous biwa from the Rashomon Gate. After three years of visiting Semimaru in Osaka, he was taught the secret tunes "Flowing Spring" and "Woodpecker". He appears in many tales of this kind in sources like the Konjaku Monogatarishu. Also, it is said that he held his liquor well and was a heavy drinker. About his personality, Fujiwara no Sanesuke made the following comment in his diary: "As for Hiromasa, he's a poet and a writer, but he neglects his duties." References. Much of the content of this article comes from (retrieved January 28, 2006). Minamoto no Hiromasa