The Tale of Genji- A Visual Companion

by Melissa McCormick

  women — Murasaki is the daughter of Fujitsubo’s

  The spells of the healer whom Genji meets on the

  older brother, Prince Hyōbu, and thus her niece.

  mountain, and his own meditations, prove eff ective,

  Although Murasaki will become one of the most

  for soon he is well enough to investigate his sur-

  central fi gures in the tale, thoughts of her f re-

  roundings, in particular an intriguing abode nestled

  quently mingle with those of Fujitsubo in Genji’s

  amid the temple buildings and hermitages that dot

  the hills below. From far above, Genji sees the house,

  surrounded by a brushwood fence, as well as several

  page girls emerging to fetch water and fl owers for

  Buddhist devotions. His interest piqued, the young

  courtier descends the mountainside for an eye-level

  view of the house, which is the moment captured in

  Mitsunobu’s painting. The house is framed by two

  cherry trees in full bloom and connects to a temple

  building in the “overhanging style” ( kakezukuri), the

  supporting columns of which are visible in the mid-

  dle of the painting, while a shelf on the left with its

  own miniature roof is for holding Buddhist off erings,

  signaling that the house’s inhabitants are devotees.

  With his attendant Koremitsu at his side, Genji

  peers over the fence to behold a bustling scene in

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  mind, and here she seems almost to materialize out

  of his intense desire for the great lady.

  The young Murasaki has been residing with her

  maternal grandmother, an ailing nun who has been

  charged with the girl’s care since her mother’s death.

  It is the grandmother’s voice that is captured in the

  painting’s accompanying poem. There she expresses

  a desire to leave the world in a spiritually elevated

  manner, free from attachment, as well as a reluc-

  tance to do so while the fate of her granddaughter

  remains undecided. The calligraphy is inscribed on

  green paper evoking a fi eld of grass, and begins with

  a boldly brushed sequence of kana with the word

  “to grow” ( oitatan), a reference to the “young grass”

  ( wakakusa) in the nun’s care. The inscription jumps

  from the undecorated center of the sheet to the ver-

  tical dragon border on the right, where our eye is led

  above to the word “dew” ( tsuyu) in the upper right

  corner. The nun uses this poetic metaphor to refer

  to herself, a fragile drop that should have evaporated

  but that clings stubbornly to the young grass. The

  word “dew” is brushed conspicuously as a logograph

  instead of in kana at the highest spot on the paper.

  Yet in another sense it is also diminished in size and

  an action is karmically determined. Soon he learns

  hidden in the border, conveying the ambiguous posi-

  that the nun has passed away, making the circum-

  tion of the nun who utters the verse while longing

  stances right for him “to pluck the young fl ower.”

  for her own nonexistence. The fi nal line of the poem

  The painting anticipates the girl’s fate by

  laments her inability to “vanish into the sky,” a sen-

  removing the nun f rom the scene and placing six

  timent conveyed with brushstrokes that trail across

  indigo-colored sutra scrolls on an armrest as her

  the top of the paper like smoke from a funeral pyre.

  metonymic replacement. In the tale, the nun reads

  Later, as Genji pines for Fujitsubo, his desire to pos-

  f rom a sutra while Genji observes her, and the vast

  sess Murasaki intensifi es, whereupon he intones the

  majority of pictorial representations of this scene

  closing line from this very poem about the nun’s

  include the grandmother. Her absence transforms

  departure from the world. To Genji’s ears, the verse

  the accompanying poem into the voice-over narra-

  must suggest a certain justifi cation for taking the girl

  tion of an absent fi gure, the vanished dew that has

  and lends authority to his own stated belief that such

  left its little plant behind.

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  Noticing a mandarin orange tree

  covered in snow, Genji ordered

  one of his men to clear it off . A

  neighboring pine, seemingly out of

  envy, rose up and shook off its own

  heavy branches. The cascades of

  snow that suddenly came crashing

  down reminded him of those

  famous waves of Sue.

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  6

  The

  Saffl

  ower

  Suetsumuhana

  Tachibana no ki no uzumoretaru,

  mizuijin meshite harawasetamau.

  Urayami gao ni, matsu no ki no

  onore okikaerite sato koboruru yuki

  mo, na ni tatsu Sue no to miyuru.

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  The fi rst chapters in The Tale of Genji present a series image in a cruel poem, privately scribbled to him-of remarkable female characters encountered by self, lamenting his association with the “saffl ower,”

  the young Genji, and Chapter Six is no exception,

  known for being picked by its bulbous red blossom:

  introducing the incomparable Suetsumuhana, the

  Natsukashiki

  Not for this color

  daughter of the late Hitachi Prince, eking out a mea-

  Iro to mo nashi ni

  Do I yearn, remembering

  ger existence in her father’s desolate old mansion.

  Nani ni kono

  Some cozy love;

  When the chapter begins, Genji is still mourning

  Suetsumuhana o

  Why did I brush against my sleeve

  the loss of Yūgao and is susceptible to hints of pos-

  Sode ni furekemu

  The pinch-bright saffl

  ower bloom?

  sible women who might console him. When the

  cranston, pp. 720–21

  court lady Taifu no Myōbu, who as the daughter of

  Genji’s childhood nurse relates to him like a sister,

  The album painting depicts Genji in the prin-

  speaks of a princess skilled at the koto and living

  cess’s company on that bright winter morning, but

  alone in straitened circumstances, Genji lets his while the tale’s prose may have been harsh, the court imagination get the best of him. In an encoun
ter

  painter avoids picturing the woman’s unattractive-

  staged by Myōbu, Genji does not get a glimpse of

  ness. Indeed, she resembles most of the women in

  the woman but overhears a few strains of her music.

  the album, with a nose as petite as any other and

  When in addition he discovers his f riend and rival

  a forehead and jaw just as pleasantly round. Visual

  Tō no Chūjō lurking in the princess’s garden at the

  cues do, however, indicate that this is none other

  same time, he is spurred into romantic action. He

  than the woman nicknamed the Saffl

  ower Princess.

  begins sending poetic missives and enters into the

  The hand raised to her mouth recalls the unattractive

  rituals of courtship with nighttime visits, clearly

  giggle she issues in lieu of a thoughtful response to

  intrigued by the woman’s royal bloodline. After long

  Genji’s banter. Meanwhile, a close look at the wom-

  periods of utter silence on her part, or disappointing

  an’s robe reveals short strokes of brown pigment

  letters written by proxy, he begins to fear that her

  and gold paint on the surface that connote her sable

  reticence may refl ect nothing more than ineptitude

  fur jacket, a hopelessly outdated and inappropriate

  with the brush and versifi cation. And yet, because

  garment that keeps her f rom f reezing in her dilap-

  their late-night encounters have not aff orded him a

  idated old house. The painting thus alludes to her

  good look at her, he visits once more, leading to the

  unsightly appearance and ruinous living conditions,

  climactic moment in the chapter.

  but still emphasizes Genji. Depicted beneath a prom-

  In the stark light of a winter morning, with the

  inent gold cloud, he glances outside at an attendant

  sun refl ecting off the snow, Genji gets a clear view of

  brushing snow f rom a mandarin orange tree. The

  the woman’s features only to wish they could have

  exterior scene is described in a charming manner in

  remained hidden. He tries but fails to turn away and

  the accompanying text, in which the chain reaction

  instead fi xates on her attributes, giving the reader

  of falling snow f rom tree to anthropomorphized

  a unique and near clinical description of the char-

  tree reminds Genji of a famous line of poetry. In the

  acter’s physical appearance. Her torso is said to be

  old poem, the speaker likens his drenched sleeves

  overly long, her complexion so white that it looks

  to waves of tumultuous rain pouring down on the

  bluish, and her bone structure, the line of her jaw

  “pine-laden mountain of Sue” ( Sue no matsuyama).

  and forehead, disconcertingly angular and broad.

  Gazing on the tableau in Suetsumuhana’s garden,

  Most shocking to the young courtier, however, is

  Genji revels in his own erudition and longs for a

  her enormous nose, which prompts him to invoke

  companion to understand the reference, someone

  in comparison the proboscis of the bodhisattva other than the dim-witted princess.

  Fugen’s elephant mount. The nose is lengthy enough

  Although the passage in the tale has Genji

  to extend outward and then curl under, ending with

  glimpsing the snow shower f rom inside his carriage

  a hideous bright red tip. Genji later conjures up this

  while departing the residence, the album painting

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  keeps him in the company of the princess during

  literally means “the renowned Sue” ( na ni tatsu Sue)

  this moment of poetic allusion. The reason for this

  is likely more than coincidental. Viewed this way,

  pictorial confl ation may simply represent an econ-

  the hybrid image does double duty, emphasizing

  omy of pictorial means, allowing for two scenes

  the snow scene while including Suetsumuhana, the

  within the narrow format of the album leaf. But

  namesake of the chapter, depicted here with only a

  the impetus to combine these moments may also

  hint of unsightliness, so as not to detract f rom the

  have come f rom the album’s patron. Note that a

  commemoration of the patron. The image in the

  line in the calligraphic excerpt, “the renowned Sue,”

  album depicts a seemingly jovial couple, obscur-

  contains a homophone for the surname of the Sue

  ing the disappointment the princess engenders,

  family, who commissioned the album. In the era

  but perhaps also pointing to Genji’s compassion.

  when the album was made, it was common prac-

  Ultimately the misfortunes of the Saffl

  ower Princess

  tice at poetic gatherings to compose a line of verse

  only highlight the benevolence of the young man as

  that embedded within it the host’s surname. Ending

  he overcomes his repulsion and commits to look-

  the calligraphic passage in the album not only with

  ing after the woman, bestowing his radiance on her

  the homophone for “sue” but also with a line that

  household for years to come.

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  Amidst the colorful shades of

  falling autumn leaves, “Waves of

  the Blue Sea” shone forth with

  a frightening beauty.

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  7

  An Imperial

  Celebration

  of Autumn

  Foliage

  Momiji no ga

  Iroiro ni chirikau ko no ha

  no naka yori, Seigaiha no

  kagayaki idetaru sama ito

  osoroshiki made miyu.

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  During the late autumn of Genji’s eighteenth year,

  title of which appears near the bottom of the sheet,

  against a seasonal backdrop of fall colors and falling

  like rippling water that buoys the calligraphy above.

  crimson leaves, a grand event is held at the palace of

  The fi nal words of the excerpt hover at the top of

  the Retired Emperor to celebrate his longevity. With

  the sheet and describe the beauty of Genji’s perfor-

  the reigning Kiritsubo Emperor (Genji’s father), mance as “frightening” ( osoroshiki) in its sublimity.

  and the Crown Prince (Genji’s half brother) both

  In the album painting all eyes a
re on Genji and

  in attendance, the audience for the event includes

  Tō no Chūjō, depicted in mid-performance. The

  three generations of the imperial line. Lavish perfor-

  three men of the imperial house, as custom dic-

  mances take place before them as festive decorated

  tates, do not appear, but are assumed to be within

  boats fl oat across the pond, and as many as forty

  the building to the left, concealed behind blinds.

  musicians perform throughout the day. The most

  Acting as their visual proxy, three noblemen seated

  spectacular and moving presentation of the festivi-

  on the veranda in black formal attire, their trains

  ties is said to be Waves of the Blue Sea ( Seigaiha

  draped over the balustrade, turn to gaze at the pair.

  ), a dance and song recitation set to Chinese-style

  Meanwhile, in the lower right corner, a group of

  music performed by Genji and Tō no Chūjō. The cal-

  musicians appear mesmerized by the display. The

  ligraphy leaf for Chapter Seven was fi ttingly brushed

  branches of a maple tree at the height of its autumn

  by the only imperial family member among the foliage enter the scene f rom the far right and seem album’s calligraphers, which augments the subject

  to be the source of the red leaves that have scat-

  matter of the painting. The blue background of the

  tered on the ground and that decorate the men’s

  sheet evokes the watery imagery of the dance, the

  headdresses. In most paintings of this scene by later

  artists, the musicians stand behind a black and red

  curtain ( manmaku), which here surrounds the tree,

  and the ensemble is usually shown with members

  playing the drum ( dadaiko), reed pipe ( shō), and

  small oboe ( hichiriki). This painting instead shows

  at least some of the musicians pausing to watch the

  performance. Following the choreography of this

  particular dance, both Genji and Tō no Chūjō lunge

  forward holding their right arm close to the body,

  while fl uttering the voluminous sleeves of the left

  to evoke the rolling waves of the sea.

  The two men appear to be nearly identical in the

  painting, despite the description in the tale that Tō

  no Chūjō, although handsome and talented, is to

  Genji as an average mountain tree is to a cherry tree