Fujiwara no Yukinari

• • Period: Heian Period
  • Occupation: Caligrapher
  • Family: Fujiwara no Yoshitaka (father) Fujiwara no Yukitsune (son)
  • Birth: 972AD
  • Death: 1027AD

Fujiwara no Yukinari

Fujiwara no Yukinari (藤原 行成) (972-1027¹ 1028²AD) was a member of the Fujiwara Clan, more specifically the Hokke Branch of this clan.

The son of Fujiwara no Yoshitaka, during his life he became a renowned calligrapher.¹ He was the father of Fujiwara no Yukitsune.²

Tales related in the Kojidan state that he was involved in an argument with the poet Fujiwara no Sanekata whilst at the Imperial Palace, this led to Sanekata being exiled to the Province of Mutsu by Emperor Ichijo.¹

He became known as one of the Sanseki (Three Brush Traces) alongside Ono no Michikaze and Fujiwara no Sukemasa. His caligraphy is said to have brought perfection known as jō-daiyō. This style would later be used by the Sesonji School which was long considered the authority on Japanese caligraphy.

Yukinari also wrote a diary called the Gonki (its name derived from the position of gon dainagon Yukinari held) and made transcriptions of poetry from the Chinese poet Bai Juyi.

He was also known as Fujiwara no Kōzei.²

Footnotes

1. MacMillan, P. (2018) ”One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse”. St. Ives: Penguin Classics.
2. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

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