「奉謝恩賜百屯綿兼七言詩詩一首并序」と「御製詩」

抄録

Kukai wrote the memorial and Chinese poem titled Hosha onshi hyakutonmen ken shichigonshi shi isshu narabi ni jo _??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??__??_ as an expression of gratitude for the Chinese poem sent him by Emperor Saga along with a gift of 15kgs. of raw cotton. Kukai wrote his poem to accompany his memorial, and it was in the form of a howashi response to Saga's poem, no. 24 of the Ryounshu _??__??__??_ Something of the relationship between Saga and Kukai can be known from this exchange.
A howashi was a Chinese poem written impromptu in response to an emperor's poem given at a banquet or other occasion, and in principle using the same rhyme as the emperor's poem (or gyoseishi _??__??__??_). In Japan many howashi were composed for Saga's poems, and are contained in the three imperially-ordered Chinese poetry collections of the Ryounshu, Bunka shureishu _??__??__??__??__??_, and Keikok _??__??__??_.
Kukai's howashi was not written in attendance at a banquet, it is an unusual example of poem sent in response to a poem received. In places where a rhyme would be sufficient Kukai has instead chosen the same character as Saga, and uses them in the same order. Further, Kukai nearly matched his phrases and structure with Saga's poem. There is hardly another example like this howashi even in China.
In this article, the author first examines Kukai's memorial expressing his gratitude. Next, Saga's gyoseishi and Kukai's howashi are placed together and to demonstrate the unique characteristics of Kukai's poem the paired lines in each poem are compared.
There is no clear evidence to suggest when this was written, but rather than the standard theory of the first day of the third month of 814, based on the phrases used in both poems the author believes the first day of the second month of 814 to be a more likely date.