Confusion over Cathay: attitudes to Chinese material in medieval Japanese poetic criticism

Abstract

This article investigates the reception and usage of Sinitic material within mediaeval Japanese poetic criticism, specifically focussing on the Roppyakuban uta’awase (‘Poetry Contest in Six Hundred Rounds’; 1193–94). It challenges the simplistic binary of the ‘wakan dialectic’ by analysing how poets and critics practically engaged with Sinitic material. The study highlights the conflicting attitudes between the contest’s judge, Fujiwara no Shunzei, and the participant Kenshō. Evidence from the contest reveals that while poets frequently incorporated Sinitic allusions and diction, Shunzei often criticised such usage, arguing that distinct aesthetic standards applied to uta (Japanese poetry) versus shi (Sinitic poetry). Conversely, Kenshō actively utilised Sinitic sources to validate his poetic positions and challenge Shunzei’s critical authority. Ultimately, the article demonstrates that while early mediaeval poet/critics did regard Sinitic material as a resource for the composition and criticism of uta, such usage could be contested and was subject to wider critical standards governing waka composition.

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Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	McAuley, T. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9181-8291
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	© 2026 The Authors. Except as otherwise noted, this author-accepted version of a journal article published in Japan Forum is made available via the University of Sheffield Research Publications and Copyright Policy under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Keywords:	waka; kanshi; poetics; criticism; Roppyakuban uta’awase; Shunzei; Kenshō; Sinitic; wakan
Dates:	Accepted: 26 March 2026 Published (online): 19 April 2026 Published: 19 April 2026
Institution:	The University of Sheffield
Academic Units:	The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > School of Languages, Arts and Societies
Funding Information:	Funder Grant number JAPAN FOUNDATION ENDOWMENT COMMITTEE 631 1018 JAPAN FOUNDATION ENDOWMENT COMMITTEE 509 0512 JAPAN FOUNDATION LONDON 10139041
Date Deposited:	13 Apr 2026 13:10
Last Modified:	21 Apr 2026 14:20
Status:	Published online
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis Group
Refereed:	Yes
Identification Number:	10.1080/09555803.2026.2656204
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:239988

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Confusion over Cathay: attitudes to Chinese material in medieval Japanese poetic criticism

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