The Sugawara Century: the ecosystem of sinitic poetry in Early Heian Japan (ca 800-950)

This thesis investigates the socio-political dynamics informing the production of Sinitic poetry (shi) by means of three interconnected parameters that together, I argue, contribute to define the specificity of the early Heian literary field. First, the cultural relevance of the institutionalized poetry banquets, such as the Palace Banquet (naien) and the Double Nine Banquet (chōyō no en). Second, poetic erudition as a capital of cultural and political legitimation for the imperial household. Third, the development of Sinitic poetry into a form of cultural capital specifically connected to the scholarly Sugawara House. This dissertation argues that the interconnection between these three aspects is a phenomenon that specifically identifies the early Heian period, thus creating an analytical model that allows to better understand the dynamics of cultural production of this period. Specifically, the thesis delineates the path that leads to the development of Sinitic poetry as an autonomous and prestigious form of cultural capital, and the role of the Sugawara House in this process. By considering also the socio-political changes that occurred from the second half of the tenth century, this work is thus configured as the study of the rise and fall of a specific cultural ecosystem.