Sei Shōnagon

Sei Shōnagon, drawing of Kikuchi Yōsai.

Sei Shōnagon (清少納言, c. 968-between 1000 and 1025) was a Japanese writer who lived in the X, during the Heian Era, known for her diary Makura no Sōshi (The Pillow Book).

Her life is little known. It is disputed what his real name was, although the most widespread opinion is that he was called Kiyohara Nagiko . His nickname is formed by the combination of a formal title ("Shōnagon", Third Undersecretary of State) and a family surname ("Sei" is the Chinese pronunciation of the character with which the name is written. first part of the author's last name, "Kiyohara", meaning "pure field").

She was the daughter of the poet Kiyohara no Motosuke. Thanks to her father's prominent position, she managed to become a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Consort Fujiwara no Sadako, Emperor Ichijō's favorite wife. Presumably she married or cohabited with Tachibana no Norimitsu, with whom she had a son, Tachibana no Norinaga. He also married Fujiwara no Muneyo and from this union had a daughter, Koma no Myobu.^{[citation needed]} On the other hand, numerous lovers were attributed to him. ^{[citation required]}

He spent most of his life in Heian-kyo, present-day Kyoto. Until the end of his life he lived as a wanderer, supporting himself thanks to alms, between the island of Shikoku and the surroundings of the capital.

Sei Shōnagon, in the Hyakunin Isshu.

His most important work, Makura no Sōshi (The Pillow Book), was his personal diary, which was customarily kept under the head of the bed. bed (hence the name). The pillow book is made up of a series of lists in which the author enumerates elements of everyday reality, such as things that excite, things that produce a feeling of dirt, things that do not can be compared etc. Jorge Luis Borges selected, annotated and translated this work with the help of María Kodama.

In addition to Makura no Sōshi, he composed the collection of poems Sei Shonagon-shu. She is also one of the poetesses who appear in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu , a traditional card game in which the memory and poetic knowledge of the participants are essential.