Ono no Michikaze

JAPAN, Aichi; Heian period

Ono no Michikaze, also known as Ono no Tofu, was a poet and calligrapher from Owari (present day Aichi). He was the grandson of Ono no Takamura, a celebrated scholar and poet of the early Heian period. Michikaze became a government official at the age of twenty-seven, and served through the rules of Emperor Daigo (reigned 897–930), Emperor Suzaku (reigned 930–946), and Emperor Murakami (reigned 946–967). Utilizing his calligraphic skills, Michikaze was responsible for writing the screen of coronation rituals for emperors Suzaku and Murakami. Additionally, the majority of the screen painting inscriptions in the Imperial Hall were also written by him. Alongside Fujiwara no Sukemasa and Fujiwara no Yukinari, Michikaze is regarded as one of the Three Brush Traces in the history of Japanese calligraphy.
His calligraphy, although based on that of calligrapher Wang Xizhi, was not limited to Chinese style. Through his nurtured, powerful, and fluent scripting style, he created the wayoshodo style, which laid the foundation for the further development of calligraphy in Japan. His gentle and bright cursive script was highly-regarded by Emperor Daigo, who issued an edict for him to write cartouches for Daigoji Temple in Kyoto.
Three of Michikaze’s existing calligraphic works have been listed as National Treasures of Japan. They are: Posthumous Conferment on Master Enchin, presently kept at the Tokyo National Museum; Poetic Anthology of Bai Juyi, kept at the Masaki Art Museum in Osaka; and Autumn Bushclover Anthology, which is kept at the Tokyo National Museum. Another work by Michikaze entitled Byobu Dodai, is a draft for an inscription of poetry written by Oe no Asatsuna on a Japanese screen; the piece is now kept at the Museum of the Imperial Collections in Tokyo.