<Articles>On the Reception of Chinese Culture during the Period of the Flowering of National Culture, Using the Descriptions of Foreign Countries in Japanese Literature as a Key

本稿では、国風文化期における中国文化の受容の在り方を再検討する。従来の日本史研究ではほとんど扱われることのなかった『浜松中納言物語』『松浦宮物語』に見られる異国描写を手掛かりとして、平安時代の人々が何によって異国像を形成していたか、またその背景にはどのような社会状況を想定できるかを考察した。『浜松中納言物語』からは、類書的な漢籍知識や絵画による文化受容があり、その背景には、「宮仕え」を軸とした身分・性別を超えた文化の総体の存在を指摘できる。『松浦宮物語』には漢籍による文化受容が見られるが、令式に規定された古典的な漢籍がなお重要な位置を占めていた。中国から輸入された書籍の実態を再検討すると、それらが国風文化に与えた影響は限定的であったといえる。当該期に中国文化が広く受容されたのは、唐物の輸入といった対外交流以上に、唐絵や漢籍知識の類書化、漢籍の学習方法などの国内の文化動向によるものである。This article employs literary works, which have seldom been regarded favorably as objects of analysis in Japanese historiography, as primary sources to re-examine the structure of mid-to-late Heian culture (国風文化 kokufû-bunka). Specifically, it employs two fictional narratives, the Hamamatsu chûnagon monogatari 浜松中納言物語 and the Matsuranomiya monogatari 松浦宮物語, that use foreign countries as the background of the tales as keys to clarify the reception of Chinese culture and its reality in the period of kokufû-bunka. In the first section, I examine the Hamamatsu chûnagon monogatari. One can note that two types of expression can be discerned therein: expressions using Chinese literary works (漢籍 kanseki) and expressions that were verbal representations of Chinese-style paintings. However, the knowledge of Chinese literary works used by the author had previously been incorporated in Japanese narratives and paintings including the Collection of Japanese and Chinese Poems for Singing (和漢朗詠集 Wakan rôeishû), and thus did not extend beyond the boundaries of common knowledge known to the nobility of the time. In other words, one could say that there was a certain fixed, shared knowledge of Chinese literary works within the noble society of the day. In order to consider the background to the spread of such knowledge, I next considered the manner in which literature was received. At that time the mode of the reception of literature differed according to one's social status. Narrative fiction had a dual character, used both for entertainment and for education. In the salons of women of the highest ranks of the nobility, illustrated narratives were collected and also produced. For women in the middle rank of the nobility, these narratives were difficult to obtain, but they would occasionally receive them from women in the upper levels of the nobility. These two different types of reception were brought together by women in service to the influential families. In other words, the middle-ranking noble women who read the narratives given by higherranking noble women and who were the recipients of culture were transformed into the producers of new culture by becoming involved in the production of narratives in the salons. In this way, a cultural entity that spanned social ranks was formed, and the knowledge of Chinese literary works shared in noble society was selected.In the second section I examine the Matsuranomiya monogatari. Here too, one can point out representations of foreign lands based on Chinese literary works, but unlike the case of the Hamamatsu chûnagon monogatari, a greater degree of knowledge of Chinese works was required. I have focused in this article on the fact that classical works and histories such as the Book of the Han (漢書 Hanshu/Kanjo) and the Book of the Later Han (後漢書 Houhanshu/Gokanjo) and literary works such as the Anthology of the Verse of Bai Juyi (白氏文集 Baishi wenji/Hakushi bunshû or Hakushi monjû) played a large part in the basic character building and that histories of the Tang dynasty were in contrast only used to elaborate on official titles and characters' names. It can be surmised that this discrepancy was due to the manner of studying Chinese works by male government officials ever since the period of kokufû-bunka. Male officials studied under officials who had been educated in the Daigaku and they often studied Chinese works and were equipped with sufficient knowledge of classics and histories studied in the Daigaku and of the Baishi wenji, which was considered equally important. However, in regard to other Chinese works, it is thought that they were not studied fully enough to be applied to Japanese literature. Moreover, from the period of kokufû-bunka to the creation of the Matsuranomiya monogatari in the late 12th century, one cannot see a great change in the circumstance regarding the study of Chinese literary works. In the third section, I examine the influence of foreign relations in the move to the period of kokufû-bunka based on the foregoing considerations. Examples of imported Chinese literary works that can be found in historical records are limited, and it has become clear that only certain social classes (members of the imperial and regental houses, scholars, and Buddhist monks) could import literary works with relative ease. Considering that even these people could not necessarily obtain all the works they sought, there is little evidence that literary works imported from China were widely disseminated throughout various social classes. Moreover, the majority of literary works imported during the period were the Selections of Refined Literature (文選 Wenxuan/Monzen) and Baishi wenji and did not represent new knowledge. At least in terms of literature, the Chinese culture that had the most influence during the period of kokufû-bunka was chiefly from those works imported prior to the Jôwa era. These works were made into narratives and pictorialized, and through their study by male officials, they were incorporated into Japanese culture. While the manner in which Chinese culture was received during the period of kokufû-bunka involved the importation of material objects from China, it can be concluded that it largely depended on classical Chinese knowledge that was a matter of ideas