The Chronicle of MuchimaroThe Lower Part of the History of the Fujiwara HouseBy the Monk Enkei 延慶

Abstract

Abstract The Chronicle of Muchimaro (Muchimaro den 武智麻呂伝) is the third and final extant part of the History of the Fujiwara House (Tōshi kaden 藤氏家伝), an eighth century history connected with, and partly attributed to, the courtier Fujiwara no Nakamaro (藤原仲麻呂; 706–764), Muchimaro’s son. For the translations of the first two parts, see Bauer 2017 and Bauer 2018. Attributed to Enkei, a monk who probably was close to Nakamaro, the text celebrates the virtues and achievements of Muchimaro, a courtier whose life was cut short during the smallpox epidemic of 737. This disaster heavily affected the Fujiwara family and court politics: the four main Fujiwara officials passed away in one year, along with about one-third of the entire population. Apart from Muchimaro, his three brothers also passed away during the epidemic: Fusasaki 藤原房前 (681–737); Umakai 藤原宇合 (694–737) and Maro 藤原麻呂 (695–737). One of the consequences of the epidemic was the sudden rise of Tachibana no Moroe after 737 and the subsequent competition between him and Muchimaro’s sons, mainly Nakamaro. The compilation of The History of the Fujiwara House can thus be seen as part of an attempt to reestablish the authority of the Fujiwara line by Nakamaro. The text presents Muchimaro as close to the sovereign and celebrates his virtues as an official by referring to and drawing from a variety of continental sources, a characteristic that can also be discerned in the first two parts of the History.