Yamanoue no Okura was a man of quite character for his concerns expressed in his poetry are usually one’s that not all would care to convey during his era. He was originally from Korea yet fled for Japan at a young age. Later in his years he became a General of a province in Japan. He was therefore not in a bad economic state, easily able to survive and provide for his family. Despite that he is often seen addressing social concerns in his poetry, especially poverty. His poems are characterized by a Confucian-inspired moral emphasis, unique in Japanese poetry. Confucius being the founder of Confucian was deeply concerned about human flourishing and living a good or virtuous life, he urged the necessity of humanity to cultivate the self so that as a result society could flourish. Although this Confucius philosophy was originally from China,
Was Yamanoue no Okura describing his own state? As a general his financial state would not have been so low as to end up eating only salt, so most definitely he was not describing his condition. Yet why did he care to write about such matters? It is through his poetry that one can draw a strong conclusion about his character, that he was quite a compassionate and concerned man, who understood the sufferings of the poor. Although his poetry can be depressing, however it reminds not just the reader but also the poet himself of his responsibilities to his people. Some other of his poetries are about complaining of the old age, love and worry for the sons, hope of a better life in a Buddhist afterlife and more. Yamanoue died in the year 733 AD at the age of 73. All in all Yamanoue no Okura is considered a great poet of his language and time, that is why he was cho
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