Chapter 30 third quarter

March 30th in the fourth year of Tiande. Shinshi-about four o'clock in the afternoon, the court waka competition began. The location is Qingliang Temple. In the early morning of the day, the servants of the Tibetan people's office entered the palace to handle the preparations for the venue. The West Wing of Qingliangdian—that is, the space that spans the Oni Room, Taipansuo, and Chaoyu Room, totaling about seven rooms, is hung with new curtains on all sides. In the center is the Emperor's throne with the Emperor's chair.A screen is erected on the left side of the imperial chair, and there is another table for placing items.

On the left and right sides of the imperial chair are seats for female officials.The Zhongdu Hall, which connects Qingliangdian and Hou Qingliangdian, has seats for ministers of third rank or higher, headed by the left ministers Fujiwara Miyori and Dainagayan Yuan Gaoming. According to the official record "Yuji", the emperor appeared and took his seat at Shenshi. First, the left and right sides each presented the Waka sandbar bonsai to the emperor. The so-called sandbar bonsai is a garden-style bonsai that imitates the seaside scenery. There are two types of sandbar bonsai. One is to put aside the bonsai that have not recited the waka, and the other is to put aside the bonsai that has recited the waka.

Since two kinds of bonsai are needed on the left and right sides, there are four pots in total. On the table next to the emperor is a bonsai that has not recited Waka. Inside the bonsai are Waka poems on the left and right. In another bonsai place the recited Waka poetry paper for counting the quantity.In the four years of Tiande's waka competition, the bonsai were placed on the left and right sides. It is worth mentioning that during the waka competition, the clothes on the left and right are distinguished by color. Left is red, right is blue. In addition, there are differences in the types of incense between the left and right sides.

Many people left records or diaries about the waka competition on this day. There are not only the referee records left by Minister Zuo, but also the official record "Yu Ji" written by the emperor, and the "Dian Shang Diary" in which Tibetans privately recorded the emperor's actions. Diary, etc. In fact, there should be more private diaries recording this waka competition, and the large number of records just shows how much people attached importance to this waka competition at that time. All recorders expressed their opinions based on their own point of view, and some people wrote down things that others did not say a word.Perhaps it can also be said that there are as many waka competitions with different atmospheres as there are diaries describing the process of the Waka competition.

A hiragana diary writer described it in his diary: It seems that the colorful and dazzling scene at that time can emerge in front of my eyes. It is described in the diary that all the attendants on the left are wearing white outer and inner red twelve singles, and the lower body is a single silk pleated skirt;On the right, all are unified into the blue twelve singles. The sandbar potted table on the right is made of light fragrant wood, on which there is a small table made of agarwood with carved legs, both of which are tables of different materials. The table on the left pays attention to the material, wood grain and color, while the table on the right is mainly made of rare fragrant wood.Moreover, the material color is also based on the blue color of the female official's clothing on the right.

The cover of the potted plants on the sandbar on the left is the same color as the table and table. It is a mixed shade of hematoxylin red. On it, there are five waka embroidered with broken branches of rattan flowers and kana in cursive script written like grass by the river. The cover on the right is the same color as the table top and bottom dark blue floral silk, embroidered with folded willows, and also strictly adheres to the unity and contrast of patterns and tones.The rattan and willow embroidery on the left and right sides are all related to the topic of this Waka competition, which shows the care of the producer.

The bedding of potted plants on the sandbar, the left is purple Qiluo, and the right is light blue Qiluo.Even the foreshadowing sticks to the basic colors of red on the left and blue on the right. The sandbar potted plants on the left and right sides use agarwood to imitate hills, and then use mirrors as water bowls. Then, a silver crane is erected in the center of the left sandbar, and a silver tortoise is placed in the center of the right sandbar. On the sandbar on the left, the silver crane in the center holds a golden branch of Ditang flower in its mouth, and on the right, there are waka poems hidden in the shell of the silver tortoise.

The potted plants on the sandbars on the left and right are all matched with waka titles. Waka poems about flowers and trees are placed on the flowers and trees, waka poems about birds are put in the birds' mouths, and love songs are placed on the bonfire on the cormorant boat. The sandbar potted plants of both sides not only made use of precious materials such as gold, silver, and red sandalwood that were available at the time, but also contained the essence of craftsmanship at that time, and even painstakingly designed the elegant taste of the title of the waka. In this way, starting in the evening, bonfires are lit all around, and everyone faces delicious food and wine, and conducts waka competitions.

During the banquet, two accidents happened. One of them is related to Yuan Boya. Boya is the right reciter, that is to say, he is responsible for reciting waka. At this moment, Boya took the Waka poetry paper by mistake.The Waka with the theme of the warbler should have been recited twice in a row, but Boya missed one and directly recited the Waka with the next theme, Yangliu. Waka competitions are not allowed to repeat. In order to avoid confusion in the order of waka in the competition, the recited waka and the next waka that cannot be recited are both negative. This is recorded in the "Dian Shang Diary".

This is a quote from "The Book of Songs Daya" that "Bai Gui's stain can still be ground. The stain of Si Yan can't be done."The emperor used the sentence to comment on Boya's mistakes that day, and it is a metaphor that once a slip of the tongue cannot be changed. Boya must have been very embarrassed at the time, breaking out in a cold sweat. Another incident occurred in the final confrontation of the waka competition. When it was Tadami Mibu's turn on the left and Hira Kanemori on the right, the referee Fujiwara Miyori couldn't immediately tell which of the two was better.

Tadami's Zuofang Waka is: Kanemori's right-hand waka is: The topic is "Love". This is the twentieth waka confrontation in the last match. Just as Miyori Fujiwara was holding her arms and frowning, the reciter on the left, Gennobumitsu, recited the same waka once again: "I'm obsessed with Yiren, I just walk around as usual, and the rumors spread thousands of miles, and this love just sprouted in my heart, but I hope everyone doesn't know..." As a result, Boya, the reciter on the right, was not to be outdone, and recited loudly as if trying to cover the other party's voice: "Hidden secrets in my heart, but I don't know how to express it in words. The love in my body, why does everyone ask, and think about whom..." Boya also recited the right waka. However, the referee still couldn't tell the good from the bad.Shi Lai, who was in a dilemma, had no choice but to report to the emperor: "These two waka songs are both excellent, and I can't judge whether they are good or bad. Let one side win and the other side lose." However, the emperor did not suggest a draw for the referee. "Really, I also know your suffering. Both sides of this title are very outstanding. However, you still have to decide the winner..." The emperor insisted on choosing a certain party. The referee minister was helpless, so he turned around and asked: "Master Gao Ming, what do you think?" Shi Lai intends to let Gao Ming, the right Da Na Yanyuan, judge, but Gao Ming just humbly smiles respectfully and does not say a word. During this period, the reciting voices of one's own waka came out one after another from the teams on the left and right. Shi Lai frequently peeped at the emperor's face, wanting to know which song the emperor likes, but he couldn't tell.He was very worried that he had chosen a waka that the emperor did not like, so he could not make a judgment for a long time. As a result, Shi Lai found that the emperor seemed to be whispering, and after listening to it, he realized that the emperor seemed to be reciting waka repeatedly. It is actually recorded in the judgment record written by myself. What the emperor read was exactly Ping Jiansheng's "Selfish Heart Hides Secret Meaning". Yuan Gaoming also heard it, so he whispered in Shilai's ear: "The sky may be leaning to the right." It means that the emperor likes the songs on the right. It was because of this that he made up his mind and decided that the right side won. The ending is: there are twelve waka songs on the left side, and three waka songs on the right side.There are five equally divided. Although Yuan Boya lost two songs in a row because of the wrong order of recitation, even if the two songs on the right win, the left side will still win a big victory. After the competition, there was a formal banquet. Everyone ate and drank, sang and sang, and those who were good at musical instruments played musical instruments. The author of a hiragana diary recorded in the diary as follows: At this time, Boya also played the harmony.Boya is naturally good at music, and even composed the song "Changqingzi" himself, which must have been applauded by the female officials of Guangbo. There is no never-ending banquet in the world. When the banquet was over, it was recorded in the "Dian Shang Diary": The banquet lasted until dawn, and after the emperor withdrew from the banquet, all the officials below the ministers also left the banquet one after another with dances and dances. This is the end of the waka competition with a long history in the Heian period.But later, an incident happened.Based on this event, the waka contest held in March of the fourth year of Tentoku became more and more unforgettable in history. In the final contest, the 20th waka contest, Tadami Mibu, who had won the battle with Ugatahira Kanemori, passed away. According to historical data, because Zhongjian lost his "Infatuation with Iraqis" to Kanemori's "Selfish Secrets", he couldn't hold his breath, so he suffered from food refusal, and finally starved to death. Mibu Tadami turned into a ghost after death, appearing in the palace every night.