The Tale of Genji- A Visual Companion
Page 12
now seeming like a dream. As someone connected
in mid-fl ight. Murasaki Shikibu’s contemporary, Sei
to the former reign and an intimate of his father, the
Shōnagon, and other poets often envisioned this bird
Reikeiden Consort provides just the kind of solace
amid the branches of the orange tree, making the
and commiseration Genji needs after the tumultuous
two a common pairing.
events of the last chapter. They both represent indi-
viduals out of favor politically, and their conversation
is nostalgic for the previous reign, but their exchange
is wrapped in the language of romance and longing.
The poem in the album is Genji’s, and he speaks
it to the Reikeiden Lady on hearing the call of the
cuckoo, hototogisu in Japanese, a summer bird that
sings at night like a suitor. The inquiring lovebird
could stand for Genji; while he may have turned to
the older Reikeiden Lady for commiseration, this
night he also seeks an intimate encounter with her
younger sister, a former lover. This younger sister
comes to be known as Hanachirusato, the “Lady at
the Villa of Scattered Blossoms,” a name taken from
a line in this poem, and she becomes forever linked
to nostalgic memory and Genji’s youth at the palace.
Although this is Hanachirusato’s fi rst appearance in
the tale, Genji’s familiarity with her suggests that he
must have been meeting her over the time period
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Here, however, the bird fl ies toward the moon,
The hototogisu in Genji’s poem may represent
suggesting its role is not merely that of a lovebird,
Genji himself seeking solace among these women
but that of an avian mediator between the living and
who share his sense of loss, but the allusion to the
the deceased lover or loved one. Genji’s poem that
Kokinshū poem with its “scented sleeves of someone
appears on the album leaf is an allusion to one from
long ago” implies his deceased father, the Kiritsubo
the fi rst imperially commissioned anthology of Emperor. A tachibana tree stood permanently in the Japanese poetry, the Kokinshū (Book III, poem 139):
courtyard of the Shishinden, the offi
cial ceremonial
hall of the imperial palace, providing an associative
Satsuki matsu
Fragrance of the orange
link between the memory of sleeves scented with
Hanatachibana no
Flowering at last in June
orange blossoms and the ruler now gone.
Ka o kageba
Wafts through the summer night
Mukashi no hito no
The memory of scented sleeves
Sode no ka zo suru
Of someone long ago.
cranston, pp. 142–43
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How by koto strains
Pulled, tugged to a stopping,
Rides on the rolling waves
In the slack of our towlines
A seasick heart, can you guess?
cranston, p. 765
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12
Exile
to Suma
Suma
Koto no ne ni
Hikitomeraruru
Tsunadenawa
Tayutau kokoro
Kimi shirurame ya
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With the Minister of the Right’s faction fully in
famous exile, Ariwara no Yukihira (818–893),
power, Genji is stripped of court rank and on the
brother to Narihira, who famously described the
verge of censure for his alleged slights against the
“briny water drips f rom seaweed tangles” at Suma
throne, as was threatened by the Kokiden Consort,
( Kokinshū Book XVIII, 863). Throughout the chapter
now the Imperial Mother of the reigning sovereign.
are references to China’s most famous exile, Bai Juyi
He preempts the embarrassment of offi
cial exile by
(772–846), whose collected poems Genji takes with
leaving for the shore of Suma of his own accord,
him, along with a seven-string Chinese koto ( kin).
fearing both for the well-being of his secret son, the
That trusted instrument, his companion in isola-
Crown Prince, and the possible revelation of the
tion, fi gures prominently in this pair of album leaves
boy’s true parentage. His aff air with his father’s con-
in both text and image.
sort Fujitsubo, which produced the child, weighs
The single poem that appears on the album leaf
heavily on him, and the associated guilt, it is sug-
for Chapter Twelve begins with the large, darkly
gested, becomes another reason he has chosen to
inked characters for the “sound of the koto” ( koto
leave. Thus begins the tale’s fi rst extended foray into
no ne
) in the upper right, then continues
lands beyond the capital. The settings turn rustic,
with the verb “to pull,” or “pluck” ( hiki). The poem
exotic, and are crafted in the poetic language of cel-
is composed by the so-called Gosechi Dancer, a
ebrated exiles f rom the Chinese and Japanese past.
woman who once had a dalliance with Genji. And
Genji’s date of departure, the twenty-sixth of the
it is her heartstrings that are being plucked by the
third month, is exactly that of another dispossessed
sound of Genji’s seven-string koto, which she lik-
“genji” prince, Minamoto no Taka’akira (914–982),
ens to the towrope that pulls her boat. Like sound
who was exiled to Dazaifu by a scheming Minister
reverberating across the water, the marks of the
of the Right of his own day. Moreover, Genji’s tem-
calligraphy resonate across the blue ground of the
porary residence in Suma, in present-day Kōbe on
paper to echo the visual dynamic in the adjacent
the Seto Inland Sea, would be near that of another
painting. Instead of focusing on Genji’s point of
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view, as many of the images in the album do, the
painting foregrounds the Gosechi Dancer seated
in the large boat listening to the elegant musical
strains coming f rom the distant shore. Genji’s abode
is perched between golden clouds, a green hill on
the far left, and a golden shore populated by spin-
dly beach pines guarding against the wind and salty
spray of the sea on the right. The open structure of
the house reveals two retainers inside facing Genji,
who appears with his back to a golden screen, play-
ing the seven-string koto resting in his lap. Despite
the miniature size, details are clearly articulated,
including the white fi ngers of Genji’s right hand
plucking the instrument’s golden strings.
Dancer’s boat, an impressionistic assemblage per-
Punctuating the watery stretch of blue waves
haps informed by shipbuilding techniques f rom the
that separate Genji and the Gosechi Dancer are album’s sixteenth-century time period. The vessel fl oating gold clouds with mottled edges, and two
appears to be made, for example, with planks joined
wonderfully ambiguous cloud-like shapes that sug-
lengthwise to build the hull, which enabled greater
gest shadows of the clouds above, or the sandbars
width. Emphasizing the boat’s size is its large cabin
that have appeared in Japanese art since the Heian
with a gabled roof that encompasses the entire
period, and which here prefi gure the shoreline paint-
stern. Two post and lintel f rames are perched pre-
ings of Tawaraya Sōtatsu (d. 1643). The Gosechi cariously atop the roof; in actuality, they should Dancer, accompanied by her mother and sisters, is
span the width of the cabin and provide stability
returning to the capital by boat while her father, the
for sailors manning the boat f rom atop the roof.
Assistant Governor of Kyūshū, travels overland. The
The boat recalls domestic merchant ships that in
women swoon when they hear of Genji’s presence
the Muromachi period plied the waters around the
nearby and regret that the boat cannot stop, the
bustling ports of Hyōgo and Sakai, gateways to the
Gosechi Dancer most of all. In a rather audacious
capital. A distinctive wooden barrier ( kakidatsu)
move, she fi nds a messenger to deliver her poem
designed to guard against the waves juts out f rom
to Genji and is soon rewarded with a reply. Genji
the hull, here covered with a rhombus-patterned
compares his fl irting to a man fi shing with a line
lattice, originally green, but now yellow where the
by alluding to a classical poem of exile by Ono no
pigment has fallen away. Boats with this unique
Takamura ( Kokinshū 961):
feature were called “diamond guard cargo ships”
( higaki kaisen) and were thought to have only been
Omoiki ya
Could I have thought it?
in use f rom the seventeenth century. The album
Hina no wakare ni
That I would come down to this,
painting thus suggests an earlier date for such boats
Otoroete
In rude banishment
and may represent vessels that were employed by
Ama no nawa taki
To haul a line with the seafolk
the patrons of the Genji album, the Sue and their
Isari semu to wa
And cast my hook for fi sh?
lords, the Ōuchi, as they traversed the waters going
cranston, p. 764
to and f rom their western home provinces. By
The playful exchange seems like an excuse for bringing a sixteenth-century vessel into the Genji Murasaki Shikibu to include as many verses as pos-storyworld, this depiction of Genji’s exile to Suma
sible f rom the canon of exile poems.
off ered its original viewers a more topographically
The most remarkable visual element of this immediate and personalized version of The Tale painting is the representation of the Gosechi of Genji.
Chapter 12 | Exile to Suma | 71
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Moonlight sorrel,
Stallion of the autumn night,
Take me to my love,
Course the clouds to her dwelling —
For one hour let us meet.
cranston, p. 772
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13
The Lady
at Akashi
Akashi
Aki no yo no
Tsukige no koma yo
Wa ga kouru
Kumoi o kakere
Toki no ma mo min
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On a moonlit autumn evening “too precious to
On the evening depicted in the album leaf, how-
waste,” Genji sets out on horseback, as depicted in
ever, the future is far f rom certain and Genji waivers
this album leaf, for his fi rst romantic tryst with the
as he approaches the woman’s residence, as cap-
woman known as the Akashi Lady. She is the daugh-
tured in the album’s poem. At fi rst, he refused to
ter of a Buddhist lay monk, the Novitiate, a former
travel to the woman’s villa in the foothills, some
Governor of Harima Province of aristocratic ori-
distance f rom his quarters near the shore. To do
gins who fell in status and subsequently left the
so would acknowledge the Akashi Lady as an offi
-
capital for the Bay of Akashi. The Novitiate turns
cial wife, which Genji is loath to do because of
out to be the cousin of Genji’s deceased mother, the
his commitment to Murasaki back in the capital.
Kiritsubo Consort. Ever since his daughter’s birth,
Instead, Genji insists that the woman visit him. The
he has aimed to restore his lineage, inspired by a
Novitiate with his grandiose plans, however, under-
dream of cosmic proportions in which he grasped
stands that such a visit by his daughter would ruin
the glowing orbs of the sun and moon. His hopes
her chances of being taken seriously by Genji. He
hinge on the marriage of his daughter to someone
stands his ground and succeeds in beguiling Genji
of royal descent, making Genji’s presence just a few
with talk of the Akashi Lady’s skill on the biwa and
miles east along the shore in Suma seem like karmic
the thirteen-string koto, and he orchestrates a secret
destiny and an answer to his fervent prayers to the
meeting for Genji to hear her play. In the poem
Sumiyoshi gods. In the midst of a raging tempest
recited by Genji in the album, however, Genji still
that blackens the sky and sends driving rain and vio-
imagines commanding his horse, w
ith its lustrous
lent winds and roiling waves, the Novitiate readies a
coat refl ecting the light of the autumn moon ( aki
small boat, intent on fetching the young noble. He
no yo no tsukige no koma), to race through the sky
miraculously makes it ashore unscathed, and Genji
straight back to the capital. On the verge of com-
boards the boat, having received several omens him-
mencing and consummating his relationship with
self, including a visitation in a dream by the ghost of
the Akashi Lady, Genji’s expression of longing for
his father exhorting him to leave.
Murasaki hints that his subsequent intimacy with
Throughout the tale, the Akashi Novitiate is the new lady is not motivated by his own desire; likened to the Dragon King, a mythical creature in
never before has Genji shown such reluctance for
possession of a powerful wish-fulfi lling jewel who
a liaison. His eventual acquiescence suggests that
resides in a palace beneath the sea. The spectacular
he views the relationship as a matter of fate that
residence of the Novitiate, its extensive grounds cannot be denied, while his invocation of Murasaki that extend from the shore to the foothills and its
precisely at this moment foreshadows how her story
numerous luxuries, resembles a palatial lair, and will be intertwined with that of the Akashi family.
with its proximity to the sea, it suggests that Genji
The painting shows Genji making his way f rom
has crossed into a mythical realm. Indeed, the Akashi
the shore to the Lady’s villa, his face tilted toward
family will play a pivotal role in augmenting Genji’s
the upper right where a wooden step leads to her
aura of rulership later in the tale, as the Akashi Lady
veranda, and two doors, made of “exceptional
bears his only daughter, who in turn becomes an
wood,” beckon him inside. The open doors also
imperial Consort and mother to a future emperor.
seem to represent Genji’s thoughts at that moment,
Through the matriline of the Akashi Lady, therefore,
as expressed in the tale, that they must be ajar to
Genji achieves one of the pinnacles of Heian courtly
allow the large autumn moon, nearly full on this