Segment from the Meigetsuki 記録切（明月記断簡）キロクギレ（メイゲツキダンカン）

Description

Meigetsuki was Fujiwara-no-Sadaie (also Teika, 1162-1241) ’s diary. Although some leaves are missing, the entries in the diary span 56 years between February 1180, when Sadaie was 19, to December 1235, when he was 74 years old. The diary describes the aristocratic high society of the early Kamakura Era, social aspects and political developments in great detail, while many entries refer to the compilation of imperially commissioned poetry anthologies, poetry composition, the hand-copying of classics and the research involved. The diary is a priceless document evidencing the life of Sadaie as a poet and literary scholar.The segment shows the typical eccentric hand particular to Sadaie, as he himself admitted his hand was ‘like that of a monster’. However, fanned by reverence for Sadaie in the world of tea ceremony (chado or sado) , his style was established into the Teika (Sadaie) School by his descendants. This piece is the entry of July 15, 1199, modifying the entry in print format. It describes that a daughter is in mourning after the death of her father, the Generalissimo Minamoto-no-Yoritomo, and due to this, some court ceremony and the dispatch of the emperor’s convoy were being delayed.