week 6

During the Heian period, Murasaki Shikibu, wrote the Tale of Genji. In this traditional Japanese novel, the author explains her views with fiction romance literature. The type of story like the tale of Genji helped the readers of its time to get a sense of what honest love is with both good and bad parts of it. Writing like this keeps the reader engaged and invested in the story as a whole, not even just the romantic parts; it corresponds to Buddhahood and earthly lust (bodai and bonnō), as stated in “Murasaki Shikibu: On the Art of Fiction”, which connects to the buddhist beliefs on enlightenment (bonnō soku bodai).
Genji is the son of the emperor and considered very intelligent and talented, making him very popular. In “Kritsubo”, Genji is visited by a woman who has fallen in love with him, but whom he does not reciprocate her feelings. In order to discourage her, he shows her a broom tree outside his window and tells her that he is like the tree (i guess implying that he is dry and dying which is so dramatic). The woman leaves after saying a random poem expressing her sadness. In “Aoi”, which tells the story of the battle of the carriages, Genji’s wife, Lady Aoi, is possessed by a bad spirit that causes her to become ill, while she is currently pregnant. I don’t really know what was going on in this story all that much, but men on horseback were making a ruckus and this spirit also was there. In “Lady Rokujo’s spirit”, Lady Rokujo is one of Genji’s former lovers, who has been consumed by jealousy and cold bitterness oooo and haunts Genji’s wife while she is trying to give birth. I think she then gets possessed by this spirit and it says a depressing poem and leaves again. The baby is born safely and they all say vows, hoping for the good omen of this baby’s birth to stay.
The Tale of Genji is a great traditional Japanese fiction novel, with themes of love, jealousy, and power. The characters with complex relationships, and intricate plots have influenced generations of writers and continue to engage readers around the world.

“Murasaki Shikibu: On the Art of Fiction.” In Sources of Japanese Tradition, Volume One: From Earliest Times to 1600. 2nd edition, edited by Ryūsaku Tsunoda, Wm. Theodore De Bary, and Donald Keene, 201-202. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002.

Helen Craig McCullough, translator. Genji & Heike: Selections from The Tale of Genji and The Tale of Heike, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994.

Helen Craig McCullough, translator. Genji & Heike: Selections from The Tale of Genji and The Tale of Heike, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994.