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Paper short abstract

This paper considers the poetic legacies of three toraijin poets who were likely the sons of men of Paekche who fled the aftermath of the Battle of the Paek River of 663 and have poems in both Literary Sinitic and in Old Japanese in Kaifūsō (751) and Man’yoshū (ca. 780s).

Paper long abstract

This paper considers the poetic legacies of three toraijin poets of first half of the eighth century: Asada no Yasu (fl.720s-740s), Tori no Senryō (fl.710s-720s), and Kichi no Yoroshi (fl.700s-730s). All three poets were likely the sons of men of Paekche (ca. late third century-660CE) who fled the aftermath of the Battle of the Paek River of 663, and all three have works preserved in both Literary Sinitic and in Old Japanese in Kaifūsō (751) and Man’yoshū (ca. 780s). While very little information is available about their lives and careers, it is apparent from their extant compositions that they were not only educated in the Chinese classics, but that they also cultivated their skills in Japanese poetry as part of their official careers. Through an exploration of the poetic artifacts attributable to these three men, this paper argues that poetry in both modes was a means of fostering social ties with superiors, especially those men with a taste for literature such as Prince Nagaya (676-729) and Ōtomo no Tabito (665-731). The poetry of all three poets, in both Literary Sinitic and Japanese, is thus distinguished by its focus on the lord-vassal relationship; however, each man’s poetic voice is distinctive and consistent across languages and forms. In considering these relatively unknown and minimally-represented poets, this paper also takes up the question of the role of descendants of peninsular refugees in the literary culture that developed in eighth-century Japan.