The Hyakunin Shūka and
the Hyakunin Isshu: Comparing Their Order
The Hyakunin Shūka and the Hyakunin Isshu are based on the same poems, but their order is very different.
On this page you can compare the difference visually, with animation.
About the Two Anthologies
Fujiwara no Sadaie compiled the Hyakunin Isshu at the request of Utsunomiya Yoritsuna, and the generally accepted view is that before that he compiled the Hyakunin Shūka, which is thought to be its prototype.
The biggest difference between the two is seen in the last two poems. In the Hyakunin Isshu, Emperor Go-Toba (Poem 99) and Emperor Juntoku (Poem 100) were newly added. On the other hand, three poets found only in the Hyakunin Shūka, the Empress of Retired Emperor Ichijō (Teishi), Acting Middle Counselor Kuninobu, and Acting Middle Counselor Nagakata, were not included in the Hyakunin Isshu.
This difference in order is thought to be not a simple rearrangement but a re-editing that took into account the flow and structure of the poems.
The Difference in Order
When you switch the buttons, each poet moves to their position in the other anthology with an animation.
In the Hyakunin Shūka, poems that answer each other in content, or that are close in season or theme, tend to be placed side by side. The Hyakunin Isshu, on the other hand, is arranged roughly in order of time, while a flow of feelings, bright poems, rising love, heartache, and a sense of impermanence, is woven through it like waves.
Summary
In compiling the Hyakunin Isshu, Sadaie is thought to have made the following changes.
- He added at the end the poems of Retired Emperor Go-Toba (Poem 99) and Retired Emperor Juntoku (Poem 100), who had been exiled by the Kamakura shogunate.
- He did not include the Empress of Retired Emperor Ichijō (Teishi), Acting Middle Counselor Kuninobu, or Acting Middle Counselor Nagakata, who were in the Hyakunin Shūka.
- He changed the poem chosen for Minamoto no Toshiyori (Poem 74) and changed its place in the order.
These changes may have been not mere editing but a restructuring based on the flow of the poems, a view of history, and even the political background. The Hyakunin Isshu is thought to have been raised from a simple selection of fine poems into a work that tells a single story through the very order of its poems.