reed writing ashide—A manner of painting a waterside scene (with reeds, water swirls, rocks, and so on) in such a way that the lines of the painting formed the kana letters of a poem.
Reikeiden—A pavilion within the inner palace compound, occupied by a Consort or an Empress. Its prestigious location, on the east, was symmetrical with that of the Kokiden on the west.
retreat nurigome—A walled space normally two bays square and located at one end of the chamber (moya). It could be used as both a storeroom and a sleeping room, and it might contain a curtained bed (michōdai). There were small double doors (tsumado) between it and the chamber, and perhaps also between it and the northern aisle.
“Return of Spring, The” “Kishunraku”—A “Chinese” bugaku piece for four dancers.
rice mi-yuzuke—Brown rice in hot water, a winter food; or, for summer, suihan, rice chilled in cold water.
rice dumplings tonjiki—Egg-shaped balls of rice that were given out to lower servants as gifts after a festive event.
richi mode—A scale with a “minor” feel to it, commonly used at the time of the tale for songs and particularly favored in autumn.
roller jiku—The spindle around which a scroll was rolled.
rouge beni—The dye essence extracted from safflower blossoms.
round mat warafuda—A round sitting mat made of rice straw.
“Royal Deer, The” “Ōjō”—A festive bugaku piece for which only the music now survives.
ryo mode—In “Bamboo River,” possibly an error for “richi mode.”
sacred rope shimenawa—The rice-straw rope drawn around a sacred object or space.
saibara—A body of Nara-period (eighth-century) folk songs that were taken up by the Heian aristocracy and incorporated into the Heian musical repertoire (gagaku).
sakaki—A broadleaf evergreen shrub or small tree that was and remains sacred in Shinto.
sakuhachi—An end-blown flute related to the shakuhachi of later times. Its use had died out by the author's time.
sasa—A general word for several ground-cover plant species related to bamboo.
screen byōbu—Between two and eight decorated panels joined at their vertical edges to form when open a temporary, movable partition.
screening fence suigai—A fence of woven wood or bamboo strips that stood between buildings as a sort of screen.
scripture—A sutra, a sacred Buddhist text.
scripture case kyōbako—A case to contain Buddhist sacred texts.
scripture reading mi-dokyō—A four-day event held twice a year, in the second and eighth or third and ninth months, in the palace as well as the homes of the highest nobles. The sutra ceremonially read was the Daihannya-kyō (Greater Sutra on the Perfection of Wisdom).
scrubby reeds asaji—A low, grassy plant, sometimes described as a reed and commonly associated with moors or neglected gardens; a low-growing form of chigaya (Imperata cylindrica).
seafolk, sea girl ama—People who inhabit the shore and live from the sea, whether men or women, fishermen, divers for shellfish and seaweed, or saltmakers. In poetry, an ama is often a particularly young and attractive girl, and the seashore imagery associated with the word could easily have erotic overtones. Since ama is homophonous with the word for “nun,” a good many poems exploit this double meaning.
“Sea of Ise” “Ise no umi”—A saibara song.
seclusion monoimi—A time during which one confined oneself indoors in order to avoid evil influences. Periodic seclusions were mandated according to the teachings of yin-yang divination (onmyōdō).
sedōka—A poetic form slightly larger than the tanka mentioned in the Introduction. A sedōka consists of thirty-eight syllables, in the pattern 5-7-7-5-7-7.
Seiryōden—The Emperor's private residence in the inner palace compound.
servants' hall shimoya—A separate building, to the rear of a house, where various servants lived.
serving table daiban—A rectangular table on which meal stands were placed.
shaft bench shiji—A small bench on which to rest the shafts of a carriage when the oxen were unyoked.
Shaka—Shakyamuni, the historical Buddha.
Shiji—See Records of the Historian, The.
Shishinden—The main ceremonial hall of the inner palace compound.
shō—A wind instrument consisting of seven slender bamboo pipes rising from a central wind chest.
Shōkyōden—A centrally located palace pavilion not far from the Emperor's residence, the Seiryōden.
shutter shitomido, hajitomi, kōshi—See lattice shutter.
Silent Cascade Otonashi no Taki—Otonashi Cascade, famous in poetry and situated near Ono, just east of the City. The water slips soundlessly over a smooth rockface.
sin tsumi—A religiously defined offense. The standards governing the definition of tsumi vary according to a complex religious and quasi-religious tradition.
sinecure tsukasa—Income to the court derived from fees paid by persons appointed to sinecures; this income was redistributed to high-ranking officeholders, including women.
sliding door yarido—A sliding wooden door.
sliding panel shōji, sōji—The equivalent of the modern fusuma, a lightweight, usually paper-covered panel in a frame held in runners at top and bottom and used to partition a room.
slip (out, backward, etc.) izari—To slide on the shins, without rising: the way a lady moved within a room.
small bow koyumi—The small bow, used only for contests, was drawn in a half-kneeling position.
solfège sōga or shōga—Voicing the names of the notes of a musical score.
sō mode sōjō—One of the six gagaku modes, associated with spring.
sō no koto—A thirteen-stringed koto (see entry).
song leader katō—See mumming.
“Song of the Spring Warbler” “Shun'ōden”—A “Chinese” bugaku piece said to have been commissioned by the founding Emperor of the Tang dynasty.
“Song of Unending Sorrow, The” Chinese “Changhenge,” Japanese “Chōgonka”—A narrative poem by Bai Juyi (772–846), extremely popular in Heian Japan. It tells the story of the love of the Tang Chinese Emperor Xuanzong for Yang Gueifei (Japanese Yōkihi). His passion for her led him to neglect the state and invite a dangerous rebellion, for which he was forced by his own army to have her executed.
soul sanctuary tamadono—A place at the burning ground where the body was laid out before the cremation.
spearflower berries yamatachibana—The red berries of a plant (in modern Japanese yabukōji) that grows wild in the hills.
spells majinai—Healing magic performed by Masters of Spells from the Office of Medicine.
spindle tree mayumi no ki—A deciduous tree that bears small blue-green flowers and reddens nicely in autumn.
spirit mononoke—Illnesses and derangements were easily attributed to the actions of a spirit tormenting the affected person. Exorcism could draw the spirit out to speak and express its grievance, usually through a medium, and then to be pacified or dismissed.
spring and autumn progresses haruaki no gyōgō—Formal visits that the Emperor made every spring and autumn to his mother and to living Retired Emperors.
staff office kurōdodokoro—The gathering place for lower-level household staff.
standing archery kachiyumi—Archery with the longbow, done standing; as distinguished from umayumi, longbow archery from horseback.
standing curtain kichō—A trailing curtain on a movable stand, suitable for placing so as to shield someone seated from view. They came in several different heights, taller or shorter. The standing curtain was a basic item of domestic furniture.
standing panel kosōji—A low, stiff panel mounted on a stand so that it could be moved about.
standing shutter tatejitomi—A lattice shutter backed by boards that was stood between house and garden as a screen.
star anise shikimi—Illicium religiosum, a broadleaf evergreen normally plac
ed as an offering on a Japanese Buddhist altar and therefore strongly associated with Buddhist practice.
steamed rice kowaii—Rice cooked in a steamer, as opposed to rice boiled in a pot.
steward azukari, inmori—The resident keeper of a house or estate.
straight-folded letter tate-bumi—A letter folded long and straight, hence visibly a formal or business note, not a love letter, which would be knotted.
“Strike the Ball” “Dagyūraku” or “Tagyūraku”—A “Chinese” bugaku dance for four dancers, often performed at archery meets, horse races, wrestling contests, and so on. It evokes a game played on horseback and very close to polo.
Suzaku Palace Suzaku-in—The Retired Emperor's palace, first mentioned in connection with a Retired Emperor who is probably Genji's grandfather. For much of the tale it is occupied by Retired Emperor Suzaku. It stood on a large tract not far south of the imperial palace compound.
sweetfish hio—The nearly transparent juveniles, about an inch long, of ayu, a delicacy offered by Japan's river and lakes.
Sweet Flag Festival Tango no Sechie—A festival held on the fifth day of the fifth month. The Emperor went to the Butokuden and bestowed herbal balls (kusudama) on the assembled courtiers, who were crowned with sweet flag (ayame, calamus, a fragrant medicinal plant). Horse races (kurabeuma, races between pairs of horses) were held as well. The event was abolished in 968, but the custom of adorning the roof of one's house or one's own person with sweet flag roots persisted long afterward.
Taishaku Sanskrit Indra—The lord of the Tōri heaven, on the summit of Shumisen (Mount Sumeru), the central mountain of the Buddhist cosmos.
tall stand takatsuki, dai—A tall stand for food or drink, resting on a single foot.
Tanabata—The Tanabata Festival, on the seventh night of the seventh month. This was when, according to an originally Chinese legend, the celestial lovers (the Weaver Star and the Herdboy Star, on either side of the Milky Way) came together for their one night a year. The festival celebrated particularly poetry, calligraphy, and sewing.
Tatsuta Lady Tatsuta-hime—The goddess of autumn and patron of the art of dyeing, whose presence is conveyed by the “brocade” of autumn leaves.
tent hirabari—A curtained-off space with flat panels of cloth stretched over it to form a roof.
“Ten Thousand Years” “Manzairaku”—A felicitous bugaku piece performed on particularly grand occasions.
“That Horse of Mine” “Sono Koma”—A saibara song.
“There Dwells the God” “Kami no masu”—A folk song that mentions “the High Plain of Heaven” (Takama ga Hara) and, over and over, “eight divine maidens” (yaotome).
“This Gentleman” “Kono Tono wa”—A felicitous saibara song.
thoroughwort fujibakama—Eupatorium fortunei, a wildflower closely related to the North American boneset (E. perfoliatum). It puts forth clusters of tiny, light mauve flowers in autumn.
three-foot cabinet sanshaku no mizushi—A cabinet three feet tall, with doors.
Three Histories—The three basic Chinese dynastic histories: The Records of the Historian (Shiji), The History of the Han Dynasty (Hanshu), and The History of the Later Han Dynasty (Hou Hanshu).
Three Realms Sangai—A term that in Buddhist discourse sums up the universe inhabited by sentient beings. The Three Realms are canonically defined as those of desire, form, and no-form.
Three Treasures Sanbō—The Buddha, the Dharma (teaching), and the Sangha (community of monks and lay believers).
throne ishi—A chairlike piece of furniture on which the Emperor or another exalted personage sat during a solemn ceremony.
Tōkaden—A residential pavilion in the palace compound, north of the Kokiden. It was normally occupied by an Empress or a Consort.
torch taimatsu—A bundle of resin-rich slivers of pine.
Toribeno—A burning ground just east of the City.
torii—The characteristic gate of a Shinto shrine.
transformed presence henge—The temporary, limiited, “transformed” manifestation of a divine being.
tray oshiki—A plain, square wooden tray.
trefoil knot agemaki—Three-lobed knots used to decorate an object for formal presentation. There is also a saibara song known by this name.
Tsukuba, Mount Tsukuba Yama—A poetically famous mountain in Hitachi, the province to which Ukifune's stepfather was once posted.
Tsukushi—The old name for Kyushu.
twilight beauty yūgao—“Evening face,” a gourd flower.
“Twin Dragons” “Rakuson,” also known as “Sōryū”—A “Korean” bugaku dance performed on the same sort of occasions as “Strike the Ball.” It involved one or two masked dancers.
twin tresses mizura—Hair bunches that divided the hair evenly on either side of the head. Boys wore twin tresses until they came of age.
two-tiered shelf nikai(dana)—A piece of furniture resembling an open-back bookcase, with two useful shelves.
Uji—A locality on the Uji River, south of the City. The site of many country villas of the nobility, Uji nonetheless had a doleful literary reputation thanks to a celebrated poem (Kokinshū 983) by Kisen Hōshi, in which the poet played on the place-name and on ushi, “hateful.”
Uji Villa Uji no In—A country villa that had apparently belonged to the tale's Emperor Suzaku. There is evidence that the historical Emperor Suzaku actually visited such a place. This one was probably near the north bank of the Uji River, toward the City.
Umetsubo—The Umetsubo (“plum pavilion”) was a relatively long and narrow (east-west) pavilion near the center of the inner palace compound. A passageway (medō, north-south) divided it into two apartments, each of which consisted of a chamber and of aisle spaces on three sides. Red and white blossoming plum trees grew beside it.
Unmeiden—The palace building that housed the Hall of the Sacred Mirror (Naishidokoro).
Urashima, Master Urashima no Ko—A fisherman who wandered in his boat to the island of the Immortals and married a beautiful maiden there. Three years later he returned, homesick, to his village, carrying a box that his wife had given him with the warning never to open it. Three hundred years had passed, and everything had changed. In despair he opened the box. His wife's wraith floated out of it and into the sky, and in that instant he aged three hundred years. The earliest occurrence of the story is among the surviving fragments of an early-eighth-century work (Tango fudoki).
utility paper kamuya-gami or kōya-gami—“Paper from the government paper workshop,” generally gray and made of recycled materials, for government office use.
veranda sunoko—The open space, floored with wood or bamboo and covered by the eaves (noki), that edged a house.
victory music rajō—Music on flute, shō, and hichiriki played to mark the winning side's victory in a “Left” and “Right” contest. The “Korean” rajō was played for a victory by the “Right” and the “Chinese” one for the “Left.”
wagon—The six-stringed “Japanese koto” (see koto), also known as azumagoto (“koto of the East”).
warbler uguisu—A small warbler that sings in spring, prominent in poetry.
Warmth of Wine Toyo no Akari—A gathering that took place in the eleventh month, after the First Fruits Festival (Niinamesai) or the Enthronement Festival (Daijōsai). The Emperor invited his courtiers to partake of “light” and “dark” wine. One of the major events of the court calendar, it was accompanied by the Gosechi dance (see entry).
“Warrior King, The” “Ryōō”—A “Chinese” solo bugaku dance that evokes a mighty warrior.
Watch—See “Offices and Titles.”
watered rice yuzuke—Steamed brown rice in hot water; a winter food.
water stop mizumumaya—Literally “water and stabling for the horses,” but actually wine and hot rice gruel offered participants in the New Year's mumming (see entry). Certain stops along the route were designated as mizumumaya, while at others, called iimumaya, the mumm
ers could expect a meal.
weeds yomogi, mugura—Plants that in the tale are the sign of a neglected residence or an abandoned field. See humulus, wormwood.
weir ajiro—A barrier of wood or bamboo slats built across a river to trap fish.
“Where the Road Begins” “Michi no kuchi”—A saibara song.
winding frame tatari—Three pegs set in a base, on which spun thread was wound to make a skein.
wing tai—A residential structure linked to the main house (shinden) of a Heian dwelling by one or more bridgeways (watadono). A normal dwelling, which faced south, had east and west wings.
Women's Music Pavilion Naikyōbō—The place where the women musicians and dancers of the palace were trained.
wormwood yomogi—Artemisia vulgaris, also known in English as mugwort. A plant typical of a weed-infested garden.
wrapped letter tsutsumi-bumi—A knotted letter (musubi-bumi) wrapped in thin paper (usuyō) and suitable for a morning parting letter (kinuginu no fumi), sent by the man to the woman with whom he had just spent the night.
Wrestling Tournament Sumai no Sechi—Held near the end of the seventh month, when wrestlers gathered from all the provinces to compete in the Emperor's presence. A banquet followed.
Yakushi—The Medicine Buddha, whose cult flourished in Heian times. The eighth of the month was one of his feast days.
Yamashiro—The province in which Uji was located.
Yamato—The province south of Uji, roughly surrounding Nara.
yin-yang lore onmyōdō—A complex body of geomantic, divination, calendration, and other lore learned from China and practiced by professionals known as diviners or yin-yang masters (onmyōji).
Yokawa—One of the three major sectors of the great monastic complex on Mount Hiei.
Clothing and Color
Words for clothing are impossible to translate except in general terms that convey at best only vague impressions. The colors and color combinations (“layerings”) listed here are more evocative, but they are not necessarily more precise. The range of colors current in the time of the tale was too wide to permit usefully precise translation, and in any case much about their names remains uncertain. Moreover, a good many terms for single colors refer more to the dye source (safflower, cloves, sappanwood, dayflower, gardenia seeds, and so on) than to the resulting hue, which in practice could vary widely. Therefore these color terms, too, are no more than distant approximations.
The Tale of Genji: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (Junichiro Breakdown of Genji) Page 172
