Egyō

Egyō (恵慶, sometimes read Ekei; dates unknown, but probably second half of the tenth century) was a Japanese waka poet of the mid-Heian period. One of his poems was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. He produced a private collection, the Egyō-hōshi-shū, and was listed as one of the Late Classical Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry.

Although his exact birth and death dates are unknown, he flourished in the Kanna era in the mid-980s,^[1] His name is sometimes read as Ekei.^[2]

Fifty-six of his poems were included in imperial anthologies from the Shūi Wakashū on,^[1][2] and he was included in the Late Classical Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry.^[2]

Along with Anpō (安法), he was a central figure of the Kawara-no-in (河原院) poetry circle of his day, and also associated with the poets Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu, Ki no Tokifumi and Taira no Kanemori.^[1]

The following poem by him was included as No. 47 in Fujiwara no Teika's Ogura Hyakunin Isshu:

He also left a private collection, the Egyō-hōshi-shū (恵慶法師集).^[1][2]

He is supposed to have delivered sermons on the Buddhist sutras at the Kokubun-ji in Harima Province.^[1]

• Keene, Donald (1999). A History of Japanese Literature, Vol. 1: Seeds in the Heart — Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-11441-7.
• McMillan, Peter. 2010 (1st ed. 2008). One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Suzuki Hideo, Yamaguchi Shin'ichi, Yoda Yasushi. 2009 (1st ed. 1997). Genshoku: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. Tokyo: Bun'eidō.

• List of Egyō's poems in the International Research Center for Japanese Studies's online waka database.
• Egyō-hōshi-shū in the same database.
• Egyō on Kotobank.