Akashi Kakuichi
Akashi Kakuichi ( Japanese 明石 覚 一 ; † August 10, 1371 ) was a Buddhist monk of the Japanese Middle Ages ( Namboku-chō ). He was a blind lute player ( biwa -hōshi ) who gave the Japanese epic Heike Monogatari its form, which is still widespread today. Three months before his death he dictated it to his student Teiichi.
He was a monk in Shoshazan ( 書写 山 ) - the temple Enkyō-ji ( 円 教 寺 ) - near Akashi , before he went to Kyoto - probably in the 1330s . He became a student of Jōichi ( 城 一 ), the most famous Heike reciter in Kyoto, and soon surpassed his master in the Kyoto scene. A note from 1340 noted that his Heike version was a different form of the work. He recited at many of the city's shrines and temples and by 1363 he had reached the highest rank ( 検 校 , kengyō ) in his guild. He died as the grandmaster and head ( 総 検 校 , sōkengyō ) of his guild of blind Biwa players.
literature
- Barbara Ruch: The other side of culture in medieval Japan. In: The Cambridge History of Japan. Vol. 3, Cambridge 1990, pp. 500-543, especially pp. 531-541
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Akashi Kakuichi |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | 明石 覚 一 (Japanese); Kakuichi |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Monk of the Japanese Middle Ages |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 13th century or 14th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 10, 1371 |