Japanese Literature (4)

Man'you-shu

The twenty volume "Man'you-shu" is the oldest anthology of poems in Japan. It was compiled by Otomo no Yakamochi and others over an extended period until its completion in the mid 8th century. It includes approximately 4500 poems from a plethora of people including an exalted emperor, and an unknown peasant. The style of writing is predominately Man'you-gana (a phonetic form of writing), unlike the  anthology of 751 poems, "Kaifuusou," which is written in the more continental form of kanji.

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