[Biographies of Famous Women of Past and Present] Fumihiroge no Chiyo
|Fumihiroge no Chiyo| is a woman who served |Ono no Otsu|, a |concubine| of the |Lord| of |Soken-ji Temple|. She was famous in the |capital| at that time as a |madwoman| of |refined taste| who would wander out into the |flower-shadowed| |Higashiyama| or before the |moon| at |Gojo Bridge|, take a |letter| out of the |letter box| |hanging| from her |collar|, and read it in a |voice| that was |high| and then |low|, laughing and crying as she read.
This |woman| was not |clumsy| in any way. She had been |secretly| |pledged| to a |merchant| named |Kito Saemon| for |three years|, and saddened by the |rarity| of their |meetings| at night,
I envy the |crickets|
|chirping| in the |fields| where no one sees, for my |body| is not my own to command.
Hearing this |poem|, |Otsu| felt |pity| and gave her to |Kito| to be his |wife|. Later, when she was about to be |abandoned| by her |husband|, |Otsu| wrote a |letter| full of |feeling| and sent it to |admonish| him, so |Kito| |changed| his |mind| and they became |harmonious|.
After |five years|, she was |widowed| by her |husband|'s death, and her |heart| was so |disturbed| by |grief| that she would carry |Otsu|'s |letter| around and read it.
In the "|Inuko Shu|"
Does even |Heaven| |get drunk| on the |flowers|? The |staggering steps| of the |snow|
Chishige
* "Soken-ji Temple" is a temple established by Oda Nobunaga in 1576 in conjunction with the construction of Azuchi Castle. It is also written as Soken-ji. The "Lord of Soken-ji" is thought to refer to Oda Nobunaga.
* "Concubine" refers to someone who stays by the side of a noble or similar person to attend to their needs.
* "Kirigirisu" means cricket.
* "Inuko Shu" is a haiku collection compiled in the early Edo period. Also known as "Kushi Shu".
* "Chishige" is the haiku poet of the early Edo period, Nonoguchi Ryuho.
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Fumihiroge no Chiyo was a woman who lived during the Tensho era.
Dates of birth and death unknown (around the Tensho era)
It is not certain whether she was a real person or a fictional character, but she is recorded as "Fumihiroge no Madwoman" in a collection of biographies called "Kinsei Kijin Den" (Biographies of Eccentrics of Recent Times) written in the mid-Edo period. The content is almost the same as the story in "Biographies of Famous Women of Past and Present".
If we list the story in bullet points...
1. Chiyo serves Ono no Otsu (a concubine of the Lord of Soken-ji in Omi Province).
2. She makes a promise of marriage with a merchant named Kito Saemon.
3. Chiyo, unable to marry even after three years, composes a poem. *1
4. Otsu, feeling pity for Chiyo, summons Kito Saemon and makes them husband and wife.
5. They become a married couple and live in Kyoto, but she is about to be abandoned by her husband.
6. Chiyo sends a letter to Otsu. *2
7. Otsu sends a letter of admonition to Kito Saemon.
8. Kito Saemon changes his mind and lives harmoniously with Chiyo.
9. Five years later, her husband dies, and she becomes a madwoman, her heart in turmoil.
10. Chiyo, who reads Otsu's letter on the street corners of Kyoto, was called "Fumihiroge no Chiyo" by the people.
*1 I envy the crickets in the fields where no one sees; my body is not my own to command.
*2 Seeing that the thread of the spider is about to break, how heart-wrenching it is to rely on it so much.
Sasagani (spider) is another name for a spider, and it is said to indicate a sign that a visitor is coming.
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After her husband died, Chiyo, unable to accept his death, must have hoped that if she read Otsu's letter, her husband would surely return... just like five years ago.
A madwoman of refined taste, taking a letter from the letter box hanging from her collar, reading it in a voice high and low, laughing and crying.
I think that what turned Chiyo into that state was not only the death of her husband, but also her longing for Otsu, whom she had relied on. It is a bit long, but I will post the full text of the letter Otsu wrote to Kito Saemon from "Kinsei Kijin Den".
This is the letter from Otsu that Chiyo, now a madwoman, read aloud at the foot of Gojo Bridge.
Just when I was wishing to hear from you after a long time without any connection, I received a letter from Chiyo telling me of the situation, and reading things like 'Seeing that the thread of the spider is about to break,' I have been lamenting it over and over, so in this reply, I have sent the following: 'In any case, I resent the differences in each occasion, and it is in the midst of that resentment that our bond exists.' Even without this, women have shallow hearts, and keeping various things in their narrow chests, they are prone to being neglected by men, and though they may wait, I rely on your heart that cannot forget the original clear water. If you feel that your current residence, where the evening glory fence is sparse, is also painful to the eyes of others, please rely on the Higashiyama Yukan-bo, and he will handle it well. Although the priest's way of relaying messages is rough, he has no deep intentions, and even if he ties the mountain well, he will handle it for you without any harm. Because of the current restlessness in various places, and because your mood is not calm, and because the people of each month are not as they should be, I have written this in a sloppy manner, even for a happy message. Respectfully.
Judging from the relationship between Chiyo and Otsu up to that point, it is thought that when her husband died, Chiyo informed Otsu of his death. And upon learning of it, Otsu must have sent a letter of consolation to Chiyo. However, "Kinsei Kijin Den" does not touch upon those circumstances.
It only records that 'after her husband passed away and her life in Gifu became unsettled, her circumstances changed, and she became restless and wandered about,' which only allows us to infer that she was in a situation where she could no longer rely on Otsu as she had before.
Perhaps Chiyo continued to read those letters after becoming a madwoman because they were also a reflection of her feelings for Otsu.
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Finally, let's look at some works that depict Chiyo.
This is Chiyo as depicted by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, an ukiyo-e artist who was active from the end of the Edo period to the first half of the Meiji period. At the foot of Gojo Bridge, Chiyo holds a letter fluttering in the wind, gazing intently ahead with her head tilted slightly upward. The crescent moon hidden by thick black clouds, her disheveled black hair, and the sound of the blowing wind seem to come alive. What is it that Chiyo's eyes are capturing?
『One Hundred Aspects of the Moon: The Moon's Madwoman Unfurling a Letter』
This is a performance titled 'Fumi Kurui' (The Letter Madness) staged at the Shimbashi Enbujo in 1933. The protagonist is the madwoman Chiyo. The stage is set at the foot of Gojo Bridge. Because it is a real human dancer and a photograph, it is very realistic, and it stirs our hearts with a charm different from the Chiyo depicted by Yoshitoshi.
『Commemorative Art Collection of the Karyu Dance Research Society Performances』
Enviable is the cricket in the field where no one sees,
crying, while I, in my own body, cannot follow my heart.
Watching the spider's thread that I see will surely break,
how desolate it is to have placed my trust in it.
Reference: National Diet Library Digital Collections 'Biographies of Eccentrics of the Early Modern Period: Selected Reviews (Jussen Bunko; Vol. 19)', 'Biographies of Beautiful Women of Japan (New Women's Library; Vol. 4)', 'Biographies of Ancient Sages, Biographies of Early Modern Eccentrics, Biographies of One Hundred Eccentric Deeds (Yuhodo Bunko)', 'Collected Works of Kunio Yanagita, Vol. 7 (Women and Folklore)』
Author's Note: I will update this as appropriate when I can decipher new characters or notice typos or misreadings. For details, please read 'Self-Introduction/Disclaimer'. 📖