THE IMAGE OF SAKURA FLOWERS IN THE JAPANESE POETRY JISEI IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Abstract

The article deals with one of the most frequent images of Japanese poetry – the image of sakura flowers (sakurabana), already found in the first anthology of the 8th century “Man’yoshu.” This image acquired particular significance during the early Middle Ages. During the appearance of the anthology “Kokinshu” (X century) the phrase sakurabana, having absorbed the main philosophical and aesthetic principles of that time (mujo: and mono no aware), was not only a symbol of spring and beauty, but also became the personification of fragility of things, ephemerality of life. The tragic sound of the image of sakura flowers is especially traced in the songs of the jisei, in which warriors, monks and poets, in an attempt to comprehend the hidden laws of the universe, through the image of sakurabana expressed the Buddhist concept of frailty of life, powerlessness of life before death.