Four Poems from the Sekido Version of the Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Sekido-bon Kokin wakashū)

Fujiwara no Yukinari 藤原行成

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Four thirty-one-syllable Japanese court poems (waka), inscribed in an elegant, flowing kana (phonetic writing) script, allude to the sad story of the celestial lovers known as the Weaver Maid and the Herdboy (the stars Vega and Altair). This particular eleventh-century transcription of works from the Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Kokin wakashū, compiled 905), originally part of a bound booklet of pages dyed various colors, was long esteemed as an exemplary model of ancient court kana calligraphy.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art