is an autobiographical text written by Japanese Edo-period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

 scholar-official Arai Hakuseki

Arai Hakuseki

was a Confucianist, scholar-bureaucrat, academic, administrator, writer and politician in Japan during the middle of the Edo Period, who advised the Shogun Tokugawa Ienobu. His personal name was Kinmi or Kimiyoshi . Hakuseki was his pen name...

 (1657-1725). It describes Arai’s ancestors, his childhood, and his work as an official of the Tokugawa government

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

, providing an invaluable perspective on the Tokugawa government of his day.

Title

Hakuseki does not explain the meaning or significance of the title. The general view is that it is in reference to poem #801 in the Shin Kokin Wakashū poetry anthology:

omoiizuru ori taku shiba no yūkeburi musebu mo ureshi wasuregatami ni

At dusk when I think of the one who is no longer here, I am happy to choke on the smoke of the burning brushwood twigs. It is a memento of the one who I can not forget.

This poem was written by Emperor Go-Toba

Emperor Go-Toba

was the 82nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His reign spanned the years from 1183 through 1198....

. The smoke that he chokes is an illusion for sobbing for his wife Owari, who died in 1204. The smoke from the burning brushwood twigs reminds him of the smoke from her cremation ceremony.

For Hakuseki, the one who he yearns for and can not forget is Tokugawa Ienobu

Tokugawa Ienobu

was the sixth shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty of Japan. He was the eldest son of Tokugawa Tsunashige, thus making him the nephew of Tokugawa Ietsuna and Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, the grandson of Tokugawa Iemitsu, the great-grandson of Tokugawa Hidetada, and the great-great grandson of Tokugawa...

, the sixth shōgun

Shogun

A was one of the hereditary military dictators of Japan from 1192 to 1867. In this period, the shoguns, or their shikken regents , were the de facto rulers of Japan though they were nominally appointed by the emperor...

 of the Tokugawa shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

.

An alternative explanation is suggested by Katsuta Katsutoshi. He argues that Hakuseki did not have a talent for waka

Waka (poetry)

Waka or Yamato uta is a genre of classical Japanese verse and one of the major genres of Japanese literature...

 and hence he could not have based the title on this poem. Further, in a correspondence with Mura Kyūsō (室鳩巣), Hakuseki writes about his father saying "They would burn brushwood and talk of things past and present throughout the night". Katsuta argues that burning brushwood is a euphemism for reminiscent discussion.

Translations

Oritaku Shiba no Ki has been translated into English by Joyce Ackroyd

Joyce Ackroyd

Joyce Irene Ackroyd was an Australian academic, translator, author and editor. She was a scholar of Japanese language and literature.-Early life:...

 and released in 1979 under the title Told Round a Brushwood Fire and published by Princeton University Press

Princeton University Press

-Further reading:* "". Artforum International, 2005.-External links:* * * * *...

.