Minamoto no Shunrai

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Minamoto no Shunrai (~1057-1129) was an important and innovative Japanese poet, who compiled the Gosenshū. He was the son of Minamoto no Tsunenobu (1016-1097; holder of the second rank in court and of the position of Grand Counsellor). Shunrai was favored by Emperor Go-Sanjo and to a lesser degree Emperor Shirakawa; in no small part for political reasons. At this time, the Fujiwara family was dominating the country, and its branch, the Rokujō family, similarly dominating the court poetry scence; by favoring their rivals, the Emperors could thus strike back. Although Shunrai was passed over to compile the Goshūishū. Shunrai's angry polemical Nan Goshūi ("Errors in the Goshūishū") appears to somehow convinced Shirakawa to have Shunrai compile the next imperial anthology, the Kin'yōshū. This anthology, when completed, embroiled Shunrai in dispute, and his Gosenshū was especially criticized with various uncomplimentary nicknames; Brower and Miner mention that one Fujiwara no Akinaka (fl. 1100-1125) wrote a now-lost ten-part work called the Ryōgyokushū ("Collection of Genuine Jewels") which did nothing but mock and criticize the Kin'yōshū.