The Art Of Heian Poetry
Poetry dates back nearly as far as Japanese as a written language. The first books of poetry, the Manyou'shu and the Kokin'shu, were written almost entirely of the newly adopted system of writing called Manyou'gana. Manyou'gana was kanji adopted from China in the 5th century and assigned phonetic values to fit the Japanese language. Later on, in the Heian period, it was frowned upon for women to know Chinese characters, though they were still expected to be literate. This brought about the creation of hirigana and katakana, both of which are still used in modern Japanese.
The primary styles of poetry at the time were the waka and the tanka. When most people think of Japanese poetry, they think of the haiku. Sadly, the haiku is a shortened form of the waka, created in the 1600's. Bashou is probably one of the most famous haiku poets.
The waka was a breif poem consisting of a 5 syllable line, a 7 syllable line, a 5 syllable line and two 7 syllable lines. In the Heian era, waka was a key part of courtly life. Competitions for waka writing were often hosted as a fun passtime, and waka was often used to express the prevailing tone of the day. They were often written during festivals and celebrations, as well as during times of mourning. Waka were also used as a greeting between friends or written to obtain the attention of a love interest. Sometimes, the first three lines of the waka were written, but the remaining two left blank, for the person to reply with two lines of their own.
