As a representative of the pinnacle of Japanese classical literature, The Tale of Genji has had a profound impact on future generations. Some people compare it with "Dream of the Red Chamber", one of the four most popular chinese masterpieces, but in fact, in the international arena, "The Tale of Genji" is a little more vocal. Yasunari Kawabata said in an acceptance of the Nobel Prize in Literature, "The Tale of Genji is the pinnacle of fiction creation, and I can't compare it." Although it is a self-effacing statement, the popularity and historical achievements of The Tale of Genji can also be seen here.
Created in the 11th century, The Tale of Genji describes the extravagant erosion of the Heian period, the most noteworthy period in Japanese history, the daily life of the "Heian Period" aristocrats, the wind and snow, with the love of the "Hikari clan" as the main line.
In the 11th century, Japanese literary creation reached its peak, and prose and novels have developed significantly. In literature, there were even a number of female writers who specialized in serving the court, and the author of "The Tale of Genji" Washibu was one of the most famous.
Shishibu was a japanese female writer of the Heian period, from a noble family, a member of the Fujiwara family, and one of the Thirty-Six Song Immortals of the Middle Ages. It is generally believed that her name is unknown, or that her name is Fujiwara Kako or Fujino, while "Purple Shibu" is her pen name, "Purple" is taken from the main character of Monogatari, Zi, and "Shibu" is taken from her father's and brother's official position "Shibu Cheng". She was influenced by her father and brother since she was a child, full of reading, proficient in Chinese poetry and singing Buddhist scriptures, and also quite accomplished in Bai Juyi's poetry. He lost his mother at an early age and lived with his grandmother. It is said that this grandmother is good at music, which is also in line with the zishibu's good guzheng.
In the fourth year of Nagatoku, due to the family's decline, the 20-year-old Zishibu had to marry Fujiwara Nobutaka, who was 25 years older than her, and had a daughter. After six years of widowhood, she began to live in widowhood, and in the autumn of the same year began to compose "The Tale of Genji", which was once admired by high-ranking officials such as Fujiwara Michiaga. At the age of 36, she was commissioned to enter the palace to teach books such as the Nihon Shoki and the Shirashi Anthology for Emperor Nakamiya Fujiwara Akiko (daughter of Fujiwara Michiaga). In the autumn of 1010, she also wrote a "Purple Diary", which recorded life and events in the court.
Interestingly, many commentators like to compare her to her contemporaries. In her diary essay, she said: "Her face shows complacency, and she always poses as a wise and talented person, scribbling a pass. Zi Shibu was very disliked by Qing Shao and thought that she was pretending to be QingGao, but in fact, the two of them almost never met. Before the Purple Style Department entered the palace, Qing Shao Nayan had already left the palace.
Later generations felt that she was a little mean to Qing Shao, but this did not mean that she was a person who was cold and jealous. She never spares ink on those she loves. She said that a big nayan in the palace was "a petite Shu Li, white and beautiful, plump and lovely", she said that the female official Xiao Major General Jun, "has an inexplicable elegant style, delicate and weak like the weeping willow branches in early spring and February".
The most talked about is the scandal between her and Fujiwara Michiaga. She wrote small stories about the Governor in many places. She wrote that once when she was talking to a palace maid, the Elder Dao came in from outside, and she quickly hid it, but the man grabbed her sleeve and had to compose a song before she would let go.
Compared with her "Light Source Clan", her gossip is really a small witch. The entanglement of the "Hikari clan" with nearly a hundred women, through the affair of three generations of emperors, thus achieved the emergence of one of Japan's most famous early novels.
Diagram of all beings
The Tale of Genji is a group portrait of a group of noble women in the Heian period, who, under the pen of Zi Shibu, broke away from the vulgarity and withering of feudalism, and became distinctive, either mournful or bright, or warm or poignant.
"The face of the sunset is bright, and it is expected that the Iraqis are stationed in Malaysia." Xi Yan is a woman from a humble origin who is judged to be inferior according to the left horse head, but her pursuit of love is indeed very innocent and pure. She once fell in love with the married noble prince,300, but fearing intimidation from the main chamber, she broke off her relationship and left with her daughter.
Yu-yan meets Genji by chance, and Genji falls in love with Yogi-yan at first sight, and the two have a good conversation and a close correspondence. Genji made an oath to her and made a covenant on the afterlife, and Yume began to trust her sincerely. During this time, she was a little worried and refused to show her true face, so Genji also concealed her identity. Genji and Yuyan secretly met many times, but unexpectedly there were six creatures who received imperial interest, complaining that Genji was associated with inferior women, and attacked Yuyan, causing him to die at the age of nineteen.
AoiHime is one of the most distressing characters, she is dignified and beautiful, loyal and virtuous, and she obeys the orders of her parents and marries Genji. I thought that my husband was young and handsome, and only then did he have a name outside, and it must be a marriage with Meimei. Unexpectedly, at that time, Genji was infatuated with the gentle and amorous stepmother barnacle, and was not interested in the young and beautiful hair wife.
Aoi-hime resents Genji's frivolous behavior and ruthlessness, and Genji also hates Aoi-hime's inhumanity. Genji is amorous person and is not really ruthless towards AoiHime. He also cut Aoi's hair, admiring her thick hair, and said: "The depth of the Chihiro Sea is difficult to know, and the algae stretches out to my own knowledge." But when he turned around, he forgot his warmth with Aoi Ji and looked at the six concubines with affection again.
After 8 years of marriage, the illness turned to the end because Aoi Ji was possessed by a spirit. After she gave birth to a son, her body became weaker and weaker, and although she had the tendency to return to the light, she eventually left. Genji's weeping was unusual, but it was not because of his love for Aoi-hime, but because he had only seen the death of Yue-yan alone, and he had not seen much fear.
The short lives of Yuki and Aoihime ended with the impermanence of life, and neither of them nor they were of humble origin or noble, nor had they ever received a piece of Genji's sincerity. Genji gave them pampering, love, and affection without sincerity. This is also something that many women crave but cannot get.
Zi Ji is the luckiest of the women Genji meets, and one of the most colorful characters in the book. When Genji saw a little girl at the temple who resembled her first love barnacles, she felt pity for her, so she put the little girl by her side and raised her, and named her "Shikihime". As she grew up, Zi-hime became more and more radiant, and Genji couldn't resist it, so he also liked her. Zi-hime is Genji's wife after Aoi-hime, and she is also Genji's favorite woman.
In the next volume of the book, Genji marries a woman named Princess San. When the third princess went to look for the cat, she was seen by a young man, Cypress, who had a grudge against her and took the opportunity to possess her. The third princess accidentally became pregnant with Kashiwagi's child. Genji didn't know it until he was born and realized that the child didn't resemble him.
Genji felt that he had been punished because he had secretly revealed that his father and stepmother Barnacles also had a son. Later, he learned that his father had always known, but he loved him very much, and he did not say anything until his death. Genji was devastated and could not sleep at night.
In the second half of the story, Genji is the only one who is around Hime. After Zi Ji died because of the six souls, he remembered Zi Ji's goodness and began to complain about the past events that he hated Zi Ji's jealousy. He was disheartened and eventually became a monk.
"Material mourning" culture
"The mourning of things is to Dongying, just as the wind and bones are to China." The greatest contribution of "The Tale of Genji" is to open the door to the Japanese "material mourning" culture. The so-called "material sorrow" refers to the sadness, the intuitive feeling of seeing the hurt of things, and the same sorrow of things and me, and this culture has penetrated the hearts of the Japanese people for a hundred years, deeply affecting their spiritual world and aesthetic foundation.
In "The Tale of Genji", Genji's stunning dance at the flower feast was a very beautiful thing, but he left a line of poetry that reads, "When the age is exhausted, my body will also fall", which is also the last poem in the book. The book also describes the death of beauty in large quantities, barnacles, Yuki, Aoihime, Rokujō Concubine, And Zi-hime, etc. It seems that every glamorous, fairy-like beauty will go to darkness and loneliness after appearing, and every death is beautiful and gorgeous.
The Japanese historian Ieyasaburo said in the "History of Japanese Culture": "Even if it is like the Hikari clan, even if it is appearance and origin, talent and status, it is like a superman who far exceeds ordinary people, and cannot do anything in the face of fate." This is the real sadness of The Tale of Genji.
Yasunari Kawabata wrote about the same scene many times in his novel "Snow Country", in early summer, "the distant mountains and sunsets, from the peak down, the autumn leaves are more and more bright red", and in the early winter, "the autumn leaves of the distant mountains have become rusty and fading, because of this snow, they have become bright and vibrant." The depiction of these scenes is a concrete embodiment of "material mourning", and it is particularly touching to write love through the scenery.
"Material mourning" is also a special concept of beauty, which incorporates many poignant and sad emotions and even some Zen concepts of nothingness and impermanence, which can also explain why most Japanese writers and works have some pessimism. Japanese literature loves to depict pure love and something timeless, and is very interested in the beauty of the work, which is different from China's demand for "true feelings".
In addition, Cherry blossom viewing, Japan's most famous event, is also an aesthetic embodiment of "material mourning". The cherry blossoms are only in full bloom for a short time, and a breeze blows through, and the cherry blossoms fall and slide over the delicate cheeks of the girl. The petals of the flowers scattered everywhere, the ethereal and dreamy beauty are irreplaceable feelings in the hearts of the Japanese.
The flower falls for a moment, which they consider to be the ultimate beauty, which is one of the unique aesthetic tastes of this nation.
We often lament that "life is as splendid as a summer flower, and death is as beautiful as the quiet beauty of autumn leaves," and "The Tale of Genji" is one such book. It is not just about the wind and snow moon, so it has been respected by modern and contemporary Japanese writers for many years, and it has its own unique cultural heritage and aesthetic significance.