The Tale of Genji- A Visual Companion
Page 30
while the woman’s upturned face and the plectrum
Kaoru focusing on only one sister, who is most likely
point toward the silver moon in the upper right
Oigimi, with whom he later develops a deeper bond.
corner of the composition, directly above Kaoru’s
She is also the sister most commonly identifi ed as
head. Unlike other artists’ renditions of this scene,
“the divine princess at Uji Bridge” (Hashihime), the
the moon is not a full autumn moon, but a half-
person referred to in the title of this chapter. The
moon, as if to match the sister’s comment and the
name comes f rom a poem by Kaoru in which he
holes on the biwa. Meanwhile, the inclusion of the
likens himself to a ferryman who is adrift between
koto in the painting, without its player, alludes to the
the secular world and the far shore of the next life,
continued dialogue between the sisters in the tale.
and who pines romantically for the mythical female
The conversation between the sisters resembles
guardian deity of the fl oating bridge that spans the
other instances in the tale in which serious content
two realms.
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The great bole of oak
Into whose sweet shade I thought
To come for shelter
Has become, alas, a space
Empty of its seat of prayer.
cranston, p. 922
204
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46
At the
Foot of the
Oak Tree
Shiigamoto
Tachiyoramu
Kage to tanomishi
Shii ga moto
Munashiki kitoko ni
Narinikeru kana
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In one of the most beautiful and well-preserved
it recalls the “maiden of the bridge,” the elder sister
paintings in the album, Mitsunobu’s artistry with
Oigimi, as in the previous chapter.
snow scenes is on full display in the picture’s med-
The visible span of the bridge is covered in f reshly
ley of shimmering gold, luminescent shell white,
fallen snow between its brown-colored railings and
and dark mineral blue, combined with a visually
is f ree of tracks or traces of travelers. Its pristine
striking and unique design. It is just before the New
state calls to mind a poem by Oigimi in the tale (dif-
Year in the twelfth month and the landscape at Uji
ferent f rom the one in the calligraphy leaf ), a reply
is blanketed in powdery white snow. The banks on
she gives to Kaoru during a visit in which he asks
opposite sides of the undulating stream alongside
her whether she has ever corresponded with Prince
the sisters’ villa are soft, rounded mounds shaped
Niou. She seeks to reassure him with her verse:
as if they interlock like a puzzle. The gold ground
Yuki fukaki
Over the bridges
beneath the dusting of white does the work of the
Yama no kakehashi Clinging to the cliff s along
bright winter sun, its refulgence capturing the crisp-
Kimi narade
Our deep-snow mountains
ness of a visual world in high resolution. Ink lines
Mata fumikayou
No letter-bearer leaves his trace:
in the water suggest the ripples of a fast-moving
Ato o minu kana
Those footprints are yours alone.
stream, but the f rosty reeds at the edge of the shore
cranston, p. 921
foretell the f reezing of the water soon to come.
Adding to the sense of a chilly but not quite f rigid
The painting for Chapter Forty-Six works with
atmosphere are the gentle fl urries of white fl akes,
this poem as a “poem-picture” ( uta-e), more so than
which stand out against the mineral blue pigment
the verse actually included in the album’s calligra-
used to depict the water. The snowbanks and land
phy, as Katagiri Yayoi has pointed out. Keywords
formations on the right side of the composition,
in Oigimi’s poem fi nd direct visual counterparts in
dotted by snow-covered pine trees, lead the eye the image, beginning with the most obvious “deep upward past a large gold cloud that extends across
snow” ( yuki fukaki), and the “mountain spanning
the entire width of the painting, to the rim of a
bridge” ( yama no kakehashi), in the fi rst part of the
snow-covered mountain. There, in the upper right
waka. Even the last part of the poem is visualized
corner, is the Uji bridge, spanning f rom behind the
through a pun on the word “fumi,” which can mean
mountain to an unseen shore beyond the picture
both “letter” and “to step” ( fumu). In a corner of the
plane. The image participates in the long-standing
residence, Kaoru sits with his head tilted downward,
symbolism of bridges as linking this world and the
engrossed in reading a letter held in his hands. The
next, integral to the overall characterization of the
missive, with its pink and gold back, and light blue
otherworldly atmosphere of Uji. At the same time,
surface bearing lines of writing, is unusually large,
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now contend without their father. Kaoru’s presence
at the house in Uji, however, represents the fulfi m-
ment of a promise he made to Hachinomiya to look
after the princesses.
The calligraphic excerpt chosen for this chap-
ter does not match the picture, as mentioned, but
it does provide the verse f rom which the chapter
title derives, which also refl ects Kaoru’s sadness
over the passing of Hachimomiya, his f riend and
spiritual mentor. The poem is a lament composed
by the young man after he enters the room of the
deceased Hachinomiya. He sees that the chambers
are already covered in dust and emptied of all the
ritual implements and Buddhist statues and paint-
ings that had aided the prince in his devotions. The
place where Kaoru once studied with Hachinomiya
is “beneath the oak” ( shii ga moto), the tree being a
as if signaling its status as a word-image for corre-
symbol for the old prince, a space now empty ( muna-
sponding c
omponents in Oigimi’s poem: “letter”
shiki toko) in both the literal and Buddhistic sense of
( fumi) and “traces” ( ato) of writing. The letter in
“emptiness.” Reading the image in conjunction with
Kaoru’s hand and the pristine snow on the bridge
this poem, regardless of its fi t with the precise tem-
suggest that Kaoru’s competitor, Prince Niou, has
poral moment of the scene, encourages the viewer
not “stepped” ( fumu) here, as he has left no “tracks”
to understand the fi gure of Kaoru in the painting as
( ato) either in snow or in writing.
a character contemplating more than just romance.
The sender of the letter, Oigimi, appears in With the inclusion of this poetic lament, the paint-the large room near the bottom of the zigzagging
ing can function as a depiction of another step in
architectural structure, highlighted by a bright red
Kaoru’s ill-fated relationship with the princesses and
standing curtain to her side decorated with a gold
as a vision of him grieving the loss of his religious
crisscross design on its reverse. She is dressed in
teacher and f riend, allowing the bridge at the top of
elaborate robes with layers of pink and red sleeves,
the painting to symbolize the link to the mythical
and a dark green underlayer, as she leans forward
maiden and to the otherworld.
facing two female attendants. The young lady’s face
is downturned and shows a troubled expression,
while a gold cloud hovers above, emphasizing her
importance in the scene. Although she has reassured
Kaoru that she has never written to Niou, the reader
knows better. She has in fact sent the prince a poem
on behalf of her sister who had been correspond-
ing with him, but who was too grief-stricken by the
death of their father to reply. Niou was fascinated
by Oigimi’s writing, and according to the narration
in the tale, he stared at the letter, unable to put it
down, in much the same posture, one might imag-
ine, as Kaoru in this painting. Kaoru’s fi gure calls to
mind Niou as a suitor with whom the women must
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They could make out the brocade-
like thatch of autumn leaves that
decorated the roof of the boat and
were surprised by the extravagant,
lively sound of musical instruments
in concert that came wafting toward
them on the wind.
washburn, p. 1016
208
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47
A Bowknot
Tied in
Maiden’s
Loops
Agemaki
Momiji o fukitaru fune no
kazari no nishiki to miyuru
ni, koegoe fukiizuru mono
no ne mo, kaze ni tsukite
odoroodoroshiki made oboyu
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Drawn to women of royal status, Niou ignores the
jected to court duties and constraints placed on
plans made for him to marry the sixth daughter of
him by vigilant parents suspicious of his philander-
his commoner uncle, Yūgiri, and in Chapter Forty-
ings, he has been unable to visit his secret bride at
Seven, he secretly weds the second princess at Uji,
Uji. Finally, under the public pretense of an autumn
Nakanokimi. As Niou is a favorite son of the Akashi
excursion, he travels by boat, one extravagantly
Empress, and it is presumed he will one day become
decorated and festooned with fall leaves. The
Crown Prince, Niou’s movements and behavior are
painting shows the boat transporting four court-
strictly circumscribed by protocol and scrutinized
iers playing the “lively music carried on the wind,”
by the watchful eyes of his parents and relatives. His
as the text in the album’s excerpt describes. The
visits to Nakanokimi, after having been introduced
instruments include the reed pipe ( shō), the small
to the Uji sisters by Kaoru in the last chapter, have
oboe ( hichiriki), and two horizontal fl utes ( yokobue).
only been conducted with great eff ort on Niou’s
Only one fi gure faces the viewer, a fl ute player, who
part and careful scheming by Kaoru. Niou manages
seems to be Prince Niou. He wears elegant robes
to make the arduous trip south of the capital for
and sits directly beneath the pinnacle of the boat’s
the obligatory three consecutive nights that consti-
roof. A golden-lined bamboo blind hangs behind
tute a wedding, but with no one else’s knowledge
him, and a profusion of crimson leaves encircle
or acknowledgment, the union still feels tenuous
his face. The fi gure playing the short vertical fl ute
to Nakanokimi and her sister. Oigimi, burdened by
is dressed in similarly elegant robes and might be
her father’s admonitions not to shame the family or
Kaoru. As in the album painting for Suma (Chapter
marry beneath her station, coupled with her own
Twelve), sound travels over the waves and across
aversion to marriage and deep-seated feelings of
golden forms that evoke sandbars, or the shadows
inadequacy, persists in rejecting Kaoru. And yet for a
of the mottled gold clouds hovering above. The
brief moment after Niou spends his third night with
musical strains reach the villa, which is represented
Nakanokimi, both sisters seem hopeful.
by two grand structures poking through the clouds
The album painting depicts the moment, in the upper left corner. The buildings have gray-however, just as events take an unfortunate turn,
tiled ridges that top hipped and gabled cypress
leading Oigimi to fear that the couple is indeed
roofs. Trees with leaves painted in red, green, and
star-crossed, and that her sister may be headed blue signify the canopy of colorful autumn foliage for neglect and ridicule after all. It has been weeks
that blends in with the green hills said to be visible
since Niou wed Nakanokimi and having been sub-
to Niou and Kaoru f rom the boat.
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The passage in the tale also describes the boat
as Hikoboshi in the painting, the artist makes him
f rom the perspective of the female attendants at
&n
bsp; a fl ute player, the instrument long associated with
the Uji villa who have crowded onto the veranda
the oxherd.
to get a glimpse of their lady’s new husband. They
But while natural forces conspire to bring the
cannot spot Niou himself through the heavy mist
two stars together in poetry, in this episode, higher
suspended over the water, but they are struck by
powers, namely Prince Niou’s mother and father,
the lavishness of the entourage and the colorful red
keep Niou and Nakanokimi apart. Not only is Niou
leaves, “brocade-like,” fl oating through the haze.
surrounded by young men who would be his future
The women fi nd the vision of Niou’s fl oating specta-
brothers-in-law (sons of Yūgiri), he is also soon
cle so magnifi cent that they liken him to Hikoboshi,
joined by a vast contingent of palace offi
cials sent
the celestial oxherd (the star Altair), who only meets
by the Akashi Empress. The excursion becomes a
his lover the celestial weaver maiden, Orihime (the
grand courtly event, making a visit for Niou across
star Vega), once a year. The women decide that if
the river to the Uji villa impossible. Meanwhile, the
he were Hikoboshi, Niou’s celestial light would sisters, even though they have been told to prepare be worth the wait for Tanabata, the autumn festi-for the prince’s visit, can only watch in humiliation
val during which the two stars cross the “River of
as the fanfare and revelry exceeds anything they
Heaven” (Ama no Kawa), the band of stars known
have witnessed before, and Niou simply ignores
as the Milky Way that otherwise keeps them apart.
them. Oigimi had already been doubtful of Niou’s
In this way, the Uji River can be viewed as the River
intentions, but this indignity shames her to the core.
of Heaven that separates the two lovers. During
She wants nothing more than to disappear, a goal
Tanabata the mythical couple reunites by crossing
she fi nally accomplishes by the end of the chap-
a bridge of autumn leaves, as beautifully expressed
ter when she loses all will to live and simply stops
in a Kokinshū poem (IV: 175), which explains why
eating. Kaoru rushes to her sickbed, commissions
the weaver maiden has been known to long for fall.