Читать книгу Tosa Diary - Ki No Tsurayuki - Страница 4

THIS early translation of a classic work of Japanese literature retains its charm more than half a century after initial publication in 1912, and it is a distinct satisfaction to present it once more for the pleasure of discerning readers. The appearance in later years of other English translations of the work has in no way diminished the value of this one, as all who appreciate writing of a truly engaging quality will recognize.

Although it has proven impossible for technical reasons to reproduce the sketch of Ki no Tsurayuki's route that appeared in the original edition, the Tosa Diary continues to provide the reader with a fascinating glimpse of tenth-century Japan, as well as a literary work of enduring stature. With his great experience in translating ancient Japanese poetry, William N. Porter was ideally equipped to render into English the elegant prose and many tanka poems in this book. The publisher takes more than the usual pleasure in offering his translation to the public.

Ki no Tsurayuki (c. 872-946), a court nobleman of high rank, was a diarist, literary theorist, and poet. He was renowned for his erudition and skill in Chinese and Japanese poetry. Between 905 and 922, he, with the assistance of others, compiled the Kokinshu, the first imperial anthology of poetry. His much-cited preface to that work is the first formal articulation of a Japanese poetics and established a model for future generations of poetic criticism.

William N. Porter translated many works from the Japanese between 1909 and 1914. He is best known for his challenging but artful translation of A Hundred Verses from Old Japan: Being a Translation of the "Hyaku-nin-isshiu" (1909), a collection of 100 specimens of Japanese classical tanka (poetry written in a five-line 31-syllable format in a 5-7-5-7-7 pattern) dating from the seventh to thirteenth centuries.