Meigetsuki (The Record of the Clear Moon) (明月記)
"Meigetsuki" (The Record of the Clear Moon) is the Kamakura period diary of FUJIWARA no Sadaie, who is more commonly known as "Teika." In this diary, Teika conscientiously recorded events over a span of 56 years, from 1180 to 1235.
Aside from its value as a diary, it is also valuable as a historical and scientific record of this period. But since it was written in the difficult classical Chinese hybrid script known as kanbun, many portions of it remain unintelligible.
Moreover, the diary includes some entries that are not based on Teika's personal experience. For example, Teika has an entry on the 1054 supernova explosion in the Crab Nebula, despite the fact that this happened before he was born, meaning the entry was made as pure hearsay.
Today, most portions of the diary remain in the Shigure-tei bunko (storehouse) library of the Reizei family (Teika's descendants), but some are part of other private literary collections, while others are held at the Tokyo National Museum, the Kyoto National Museum, and the Tenri library. Furthermore, in terms of Teika's waka poems and calligraphy, there is a strangely strong reverence for his work, so they have spread widely, so it is not uncommon to see examples of his work mounted as hanging scrolls (kakejiku) and so forth and distributed to a wide range of different families.
One portion of his work was designated a National Treasure.
Copies
Because many sections of the manuscript that remain in the Shigure-tei storehouse of the Reizei family were cut apart in order to be made into hanging scrolls and the like, the copy held by the Tokudaiji family, which is considered close to the original, is usually used for the purposes of research and so forth. Reprints of the original have been published.
The "Meigetsuki," edited by Yosuke ONOE and published by Yumani Shobou. Volume one, January 2005.
ISBN: 9784843312551
Volume two, January 2005.
ISBN: 9784843312568
Volume three, March 2005.
ISBN: 9784843312575
Volume four, March 2005.
ISBN: 9784843312582
Volume five, September 2005.
ISBN: 9784843312599
Volume six, November 2005.
ISBN: 9784843312605
Volume seven, December 2005.
ISBN: 9784843312612
Volume eight, March 2006.
ISBN: 9784843312629