Ugetsu Monogatari or Tales of Moonlight and Rain (Routledge Revivals)
Page 21
‘When the Ming grass of Yao585 grew green each day,
The hundred names could depend on their home.’586
With this utterance, the spirit's exuberance abated, and the distant temple bell tolled the fifth watch.
‘The night has already passed,’ the apparition said. ‘We must part. My long ramblings have robbed you of your sleep.’
With these words he seemed about to leave, when suddenly he disappeared.
Sanai pondered over the events of the night, and when he thought of the verse and understood the general sense of the phrase concerning the hundred names depending on home, he felt a deep faith well up within him. This was certainly an omen of the auspicious grass.
The Fifth Year of An'ei [1776],
Under the Cyclical Sign of Fire and Monkey,
On the first day of the summer,
By the booksellers
Of Kyoto and Osaka
Teramachi Dōri and Gojō-Agaru,
UMEMURA HAMBEI,
and
1 chōme Kōraihashi-Suji,
NOMURA CHŌBEI
xi Volume One,page Ib-2a: Portion of the Preface and the first half-leaf of “White Peak”.
xii Volume Five,page 16b-17a: Final leaf of text of “Wealth and Poverty”.
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Note: Full citations for works previously mentioned in the introduction have not been repeated. The figures in brackets indicate the page numbers of the wood-block edition of 1776.
Preface
1 ‘For three generations he begot deaf mutes’ San sei aji wo umi: Lo Kuan-chung's punishment for having written extravagant romances. See Introduction.
2 ‘For writing The Tale of Genji Lady Murasaki was condemned to hell’ Shi-en wa Gengo wo arawashite ittan akushu ni da-suru: according to a legend found in the Ima monogatari, a 13th-century collection of Buddhist anecdotes and tales. This legend also figures in the no play, Genji kuyō, where in the end it is revealed that Lady Murasaki is actually Kannon, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy.
3 ‘With crying pheasants and quarrelling dragons’ Kiji naki ryū tatakau: metaphorically, the world of the supernatural. See the Chinese classics, Shu ching and I ching, as well as the preface to the Ming collection, New Tales for Lamplight, I, Ib, and the Japanese kanazōshi, Otogi bōko. A crying pheasant represents an ill omen and requires that a worthy minister lecture the ruler on his faults. Quarrelling dragons, their blood flowing black and yellow, tell of danger. Darkness has ended, but the principle of night advances from the realm of moral indifference and battles with the power that gives light; as a result, both elements suffer harm. Cf. James Legge, trans., The Chinese Classics . . . (1861-72; rpt. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1961), 111, 264-5; and Richard Wilhelm, trans., The I Ching or Book of Changes, rendered into English by Cary F. Baynes (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1951), 11, 25; Japanese preface to Otogi bōko, in Kaii shōsetsu shū, Kindai Nihon bungaku taikei (Tokyo: Kokumin Tosho, 1927), vol. 13, p. 93.
4 ‘Late in the spring of the Meiwa Era, under the zodiac of earth and rat’ Meiwa tsuchinoe-ne no ban-shun: the 3rd month of Meiwa 5 (1768, by the Western calendar) and the 25th year of the 60-year sexagenary cycle used in China and Japan.
5 ‘Signed: Senshi Kijin’ Senshi Kijin sho-su: literally, ‘the eccentric man with split fingers,’ a reference to Akinari's deformity. It may also carry the idea of a quibbler or obscurantist. For his identity as Akinari, see Takizawa Bakin, Kinseil mono-no-hon Edo sakusha burui, p. 125; and Kimura Mokurō, Keisetsu sakusha-kō,’ in Zoku-enseki jisshū (Tokyo: Kokusho Kankōkai, 1908), vol. 1, pp. 273-4.
6 Shikyo Kōjin (first seal) literally, ‘a descendant of Tzu Hsü,’ an eccentric but fictitious envoy of the ancient Chinese state of Ch'u. He was the subject of the prose-poem ‘Tzu-Hsü fu,’ by Ssu-ma Hsiang-ju, in the Wen hsüan, See Monzen bōkun taizen, 2, 35b-38a.
7 Yūgi Sammai: (second seal) literally, ‘emersing oneself in pleasure.’ See the late Ming work, Wu tsa tsu, comp. Hsieh Chao-che (Kyoto, 1661), 15, 36a, ‘In writing novels, plays, or light fiction one must necessarily mix truth and falsehood, thereby emersing oneself in pleasure.’ Not only does Hsieh's passage touch on a widely-held view of fiction, but Akinari's use of such a fanciful name was typical of Chinese and Japanese authors in early modern times.
1 White Peak
8 ‘Once upon a time,’ etc. Osaka no seki-mori niyurusarete yori, etc.: cf. Senjūshō, p. 69 for this and all the place names mentioned through note 18. Akinari follows his source very closely. ‘I’ refers not to Akinari but to the 12th century priest Saigyō. See Introduction.
Osaka no seki-mori, or the ‘barrier guards of Osaka,’ were formerly placed at the checkpoint between the provinces of Yamashiro and Ōmi (the prefectures of Kyoto and Shiga). Here travellers to the east were supposed to show their credentials. The guards, however, were anachronistic even in Saigyō’s day, and the phrase was employed for its poetic associations.
9 ‘Yellow leaves of the autumn peaks’ Aki koshi yama no momiji: Chinese characters for ‘yellow leaves’ with a Japanese kana gloss for momiji, or ‘crimson leaves.’ Cf., Man'yōshū,
Akiyama no On the autumn peaks
konoha wo miteba When we see the trees all clad
momiji wo ba In their yellow leaves,
torite zo shinubu Who can keep from picking them?
NKBT, vol. 4, p. 14 (no. 16). Similar Chinese usage occurs in the opening passage of ‘Wei tang ch'i yü chi,’ in New Tales for Lamplight, 2, 34b; and Kokuyaku Kambun taisei, p. 71.
10 ‘I visited Narumi bay,’ etc. Hama-chidori no ato fumi-tsukuru Narumi- gata: a poetic place name in present-day Nagoya. Formerly it was one of the fifty-three stations on the Tokaidō Post Road.
11 ‘Smoke curling from lofty Mt. Fuji,’ etc. Fuji no takane no keburi, Ukishima ga hara: the wood-block text reads kefuri; Mt. Fuji, with Chinese characters meaning ‘the inexhaustible.’
The plain of Ukishima, literally, ‘floating island,’ a belt-shaped strip of low coastal land along Tago Bay, in Shizuoka Prefecture. Cf. Saigyō’s verse in the Sankashū,
Itsu to naki All through the night
omoi wa Fuji no My thoughts dwelt on Mt. Fuji,
keburi ni te With its curling smoke,
uchi-fusu toko ya As I lay down to sleep
Ukishima ga hara On the plain of Ukishima.
NKBT, vol. 29, p. 226 (no. 1307).
12 ‘The barrier at Kiyomi’ Kiyomi ga seki: Shizuoka Prefecture, near the town of Okitsu and the Seikenji temple, famed in Oliver Statler, The Japanese Inn (New York: Random House, 1961). From here one could view Miho no Matsubara - a famous strand of pine trees - across the bay. For a discussion of barriers and place names in Japanese literature, see Morris, Pillow Book, I, 123, 11, 97-9.
13 ‘The many bays around Ōiso and Koiso’ Ōiso Koiso no ura ura: the Shōnan beaches of Sagami, in Kanagawa.
14 ‘Purple grass of Musashino moors’ Murasaki niou Musashino no hara: murasaki, a grass-like herb belonging to a family that includes the forget- me-not; from its root a dye of the same name was extracted. The province of Musashino (now, Tokyo) used to be renowned for this plant. See Kokinshū,
Murasaki no The purple grasses
hitomoto yue ni That bloom in solitary stems
Musashino no On Musashino moors -
kusa wa minagara How I like to look at them,
aware to zo miru So delicate and beautiful!
NKBT, vol. 8, p. 275 (no. 867).
15 Shiogama: in Miyagi, not far from Sendai. The name, which represents the area of Ōu in northern Honshu, appears among the famous bays in the Pillow Book (see Morris, I, 187), as well as the Kokinshū, Tales of lse, and Oku no hosomichi. Ōu was made up of the former provinces of Mutsu and Dewa (now, the prefectures of Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, Aomori, Akita, and Yamagata).
16 Kisagata: by the Sea of Japan, in southern Akita and northern Yamagata, at the foot of Mt Chōkai. Its lovely islands and inlets formed a famous landsc
ape until an earthquake of 1861 destroyed it, and the bay was turned into dry land. See Shinkokinshū,
Sasurōru As I wandered,
waga mi ni shi areba Here was where I find myself -
Kisagata ya At Kisagata Bay,
ama no tomaya ni And in the rush-thatched fisher huts
amata tabi-ne nu I stayed for many a night.
NKBT, vol. 28, p. 214 (no. 972).
17 Sano: a village, part of the city of Takasaki, in Gumma, once famed for its floating bridge of boats over which travellers on the Nakasendō, or ‘Central Mountain Post Road,’ crossed the Tone River. This highway linked the Kyoto-Osaka area with the regions of Kantō (see note 207) and Hokuriku (see note 506).
18 ‘Hanging bridge at Kiso’ Kiso no kake-hashi: one of the famous sights of the Nakasendō. Here the highway descended to the Kiso valley from the uplands of Nagano. For Bashō’s visit to this place, see Keene, Land scapes and Portraits, pp. IO9-3O.
19 ‘The fall of the Third Year of Nin'an’ Nin'an san-nen no aki wa: AD 1168; the Senjūshō, p. 46, states simply ‘during the Nin'an Era,’ but the Hōgen monogatari, p. 395, assigns Saigyō’s visit to the 3rd year of the era. See also Wilson, Hōgen, pp. 99, 149.
20 ‘Of the falling reeds’ Ashi ga chiru: a makura kotoba, or ‘pillow-word,’ for Naniwa, which is now Osaka.
21 Suma and Akashi: south of Kobe, where the former post road paral leled the beach. Readers of The Tale of Genji will remember these names as the scene of Genji's exile. The place was also famous for its beautiful view of the moon.
22 Hayashi, etc.: Ōkoshi-chō, in the city of Sakaide, in Kagawa, on the island of Shikoku.
23 ‘Nearby this hamlet,’ etc. Kono sato [see wood-block text, I, Ib] chikaki Shiramine to iu tokoro ni: Shiramine, name of a Buddhist temple of the Shingon sect. It was founded in the ninth century by Kūkai (see ‘Bird of Paradise,’ and N.B. notes 294, 303) and is situated on a mountain overlooking the Inland Sea.
24 ‘Emperor Sutoku’ Shin-in: (1119-64) literally, ‘the new cloistered emperor.’ His father was the in, or ‘cloistered emperor.’ Eldest son of Toba (see note 66) and 75th sovereign of Japan, he reigned from 1123-41, when he was forced to abdicate in favour of his half-brother, Konoe (see note 30). At the latter's death, in 1155, Sutoku wished his own son, Shigehito (see note 49), to become emperor, hoping that he himself might become an influential retired monarch like his father and his great grandfather. His main supporters were Minamoto Tameyoshi (see note 85) -along with his sons - and Fujiwara Yorinaga (see note 97). His chief opponents were Goshirakawa (who was his own brother; see note 51), Lady Bifukumon'in (see note 50), Fujiwara Michinori (Shōnagon Shinzei in the tale, note 75), Fujiwara Tadamichi (note 97), and Taira Kiyomori (note 91), all of whom figure in the tale. See Varley, Imperial Restoration, pp. IO-11. Also see Introduction and Appendix, Imperial Succession in Twelfth Century Japan.
25 ‘Godless Month’ Kaminazuki’. Chinese characters for the IOth month and the Japanese poetic name in the kana gloss; so-called because at this time all of the deities were said to congregate at the Izumo Shrine, leaving the rest of the nation temporarily bereft. For the names of the months in pre-modern Japan, see Morris, Pillow Book, 11, I-2.
26 ‘Even on a day,’ etc. Ao-gumo no tanabiku hi sura kosame sobo furu ga gotoshi: cf. Man'yōshū, NKBT, vol. 4, pp. 94 (no. 161); vol. 7, pp. 162-3 (no. 3383); and NGSK, p. 18.
27 ‘Indeed, when I had seen,’ etc. Geni ma no atari ni mi narishi wa, etc.: cf. Senjūshō, pp. 46-7; Wilson, Hōgen, p. 149.
28 ‘Great halls of the palace’ Shishin seiryō: literally, ‘Hall of the Purple Apartment,’ where ceremonies and festivities were held, and ‘Hall of the Clear Cool,’ where the emperor had his private residence.
29 ‘The hundred officials’ Momo no tsukasa: figuratively for all the court officials. See Senjūshō, p. 47; and Uzuki, Ugetsu, p. 36.
30 Emperor Konoe: (1139-55) the 76th sovereign of Japan, he reigned from 1141-55. At the insistence of his mother, the Lady Bifukumon'in (see note 50), he was placed on the throne when less than two years of age by Western reckoning. Here he remained until his untimely death, which followed closely by his father's in the next year became one of the causes of the Hōgen Insurrection. Konoe's personal name is given in the tale as Toshihito, but Narihito is now the preferred reading. See Introduction and Appendix, Imperial Succession.
31 ‘In the Grove of Jewels or on faraway Ku-she Mountain’ Hakoya no yama no tama no hayashi ni: Tama no hayashi, ‘The Grove of Jewels’; a Chinese imperial garden in the Sung dynasty, on the outskirts of the city of Kaifeng.
Hakoya no yama (Miao Ku-she, in Chinese); a mountain mentioned in the Chuang tzu. Here a holy man lived by sucking the wind and drinking the dew. For enjoyment he climbed on the clouds and mist and rode a flying dragon.
Both names were used as euphemisms for a retired emperor's palace. ‘The Mistress of Hakoya’ was the title of an old Japanese story, and a posthumous work by Akinari was called ‘Hakoya no yama.’ See Watson, Chuang Tzu, p. 33; The Tale of Genji, p. 31O; NKBT, vol. 15, pp. 141, 453; and Akinari ibun, pp. 382-8.
32 ‘Only the tracks of the wandering stag’ Biroku no kayou ato nomi [I, 2a] miete,
33 ‘Lord who had commanded ten thousand chariots’ Banjo no kimi: said metaphorically of the emperor; see The Book of Mencius; cf. also Senjūshō, p. 47, banjo no aruji; and Wilson, Hōgen, p. 150.
34 Verse: from the Sankashū, with only a minor variation. Matsuyama, literally, ‘pine clad hills.’ Kata-, in katanaku, is an engo, or ‘related word,’ poetically associated with nami, ‘wave.’ It means ‘shape,’ or ‘form.’ Therefore, katanaku, means, ‘Your form has gone,’ or more freely, ‘You have died.’ Naku also means ‘to weep,’ implying further that Saigyō weeps or mourns for Sutoku. See NKBT, vol. 29, p. 233 (no. 1354).
35 ‘I felt cleansed in spirit, but a chill struck my bones’ Shin sumi hone hie: similar to an expression in ‘T'ien t'ai fang yin lu,’ New Tales for Lamplight, 2, 11a; and Kokuyaku, p. 49.
36 Saigyō: the text uses En'i, another name for Saigyō, by which he was known in his later years. I have preferred the designation more familiar to Western readers. See Introduction.
37 ‘I opened my eyes and peered’ Me wo hirakite sukashi [I, 2b] mireba.
38 ‘Being a priest seeking enlightenment’ Saigyō motqyori dōshin no hōshi nareba: This may be interpreted in either the first or third person. I have chosen the former, partly for the sake of English style. See Introduction.
39 Verse: The Sankashū gives an explanatory note, ‘I went to worship in Sanuki, and at Matsuyama I visited the cloistered emperor's place, but I was unable to meet him.’ In the Kotohira-bon text of the Hōgen mono-gatari, however, this verse is attributed to Sutoku's ghost. See Wilson, Hōgen, p. 154; NKBT, vol. 29, p. 232 (no. 1353), and vol. 31, p. 183. The expression koshi fune, or koshi-bune, is somewhat puzzling, but Suzuki, Ugetsu, p. 150, explains it as ‘boat that came.’
40 ‘Now that you have departed,’ etc. Kyakushō sokumō shite, etc.: cf. Senjūshō, p. 48.
41 ‘Sutoku merely gave a provocative laugh’ Shin ‘in karakara to warawase tamai [I, 3 a].
42 ‘Surely you didn't know,’ etc. Nanji shirazu, etc.: Sutoku's ghost is prophesying the Gempei wars between the Taira and the Minamoto and also the events and institutional changes that took place during the middle ages. (See Introduction, and also notes 79-82, 98, and 348).
43 ‘Ruler's moral responsibility’ Ōdō no kotowari: wood-block text reads, ōtō. As expressed in early modern Japanese interpretations of the writings of Confucius and Mencius. See Hershel Webb, The Japanese Imperial Institution in the Tokugawa Period (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968), p. 172.
44 ‘Revolt during the Hōgen Era’ Hōgen no go-muhon: the period from the 27th day 4th month of 1156 to the 20th day 4th month of 1159. The insurrection took place in 1156, when Sutoku and his supporters tried to depose Goshirakawa from the throne in an abortive coup d'etat.
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45 ‘In accordance with the teachings of the Sun Goddess’ Ame no kami no oshie-tamō kotowari: cf. Hōgen monogatari, p. 352.
46 ‘Will of heaven’ Ten no mei: the doctrine of revolution, as found in The Book of Mencius.
47 Eiji Era: the period from the IOth day 7th month of 1141 to the 28th day 4th month of 1142.
48 ‘Emperor Konoe, who was only three years old’ Sansai no Toshihito: see note 30.
49 ‘My son, Prince Shigehito’ Waga [I, 4b] miko no Shigehito: (114O-62) Sutoku's only son. Although Goshirakawa (see note 51) was appointed emperor when Konoe died in 1155, the actual enthronement was delayed. Meantime, Sutoku and his backers wanted Shigehito to become emperor. But in the 7th month of 1156, immediately after the failure of his father's coup, Shigehito became a Buddhist priest, and he lived in seclusion until his death, which preceded that of Sutoku.
50 Bifukumon'in: (1117-60) daughter of Fujiwara no Nagazane; 3rd wife of Toba; mother of Konoe. Her personal name was Tokuko. She had Toba make her son, Konoe, emperor, and after his death in 1155 she urged that Goshirakawa, rather than Sutoku's son, Shigehito, should occupy the throne, thus contributing to the events that led to the Hōgen Insurrection.
51 ‘Goshirakawa, the Fourth Prince’ Yon no miya no Masahito: (1127- 92) the 77th emperor of Japan; a younger son of Toba (see note 66) by the same mother as Sutoku; reigned from 1155-58. Goshirakawa had been passed over in favour of Konoe, but after the latter's death he was chosen emperor instead of his nephew, Shigehito (see note 49). See also, Intro duction, and Appendix, Imperial Succession.
52 ‘Once upon a time, in China, a subject struck down his lord’ Shin to shite kun wo utsu: referring to King Wu's act against the last ruler of the Shang dynasty, which gave precedent to the idea of deposing a ruler who fails to act in the interests of the people.
53 ‘To replace a ruler during whose reign hens crowed in the morning Hinkei no ashita suru yo wo totte kawaran ni: criticizing Bifukumon'in’s political activities in terms of imagery from the Shu ching; when a hen crows in the morning, the realm was said to be in danger. Also see Hōgen monogatari, p. 391; and Wilson, Hōgen, p. 91.