The Tale of Genji- A Visual Companion
Page 23
Look, how lovely! snow is falling.
households: one in the midst of chaos, and the other
tyler, p. 550
the epitome of order and harmony, at least for now.
A painting within the album painting — a fold-
Both Genji and Sochinomiya join in the singing,
ing screen that appears behind Genji — depicts a which is followed by rounds of rice wine and the snow-covered tree standing beside a rustic fence and
exchange of auspicious poetry by all the men pres-
seems anomalous in the context of the spring rains
ent. Sochinomiya’s poem praises his brother and
and the humid air described in this chapter. But of
host, starting off the rounds of ritualized versifi ca-
course, early spring in the lunar calendar coincided
tion by complementing the voice of the warbler
with lingering winter snow, and indeed the hearty
(Kōbai) amid the glorious spring blossoms. The
plum tree blooming in winter was a symbol of per-
sound sends his heart soaring for the proverbial
severance. Winter is also associated with the Akashi
“thousand years,” a phrase common to imperial
Lady, deprived of seeing her daughter on the occa-
banquet poetry, and felicitations appropriate on this
sion of donning the train, and the image may allude
eve of the Akashi girl’s donning of the train, which
to her as the mother of the girl whose entry to the
will ultimately lead to her elevation as Empress.
Chapter 32 | A Branch of Plum | 151
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The Palace Minister spoke a line
of verse: “Shoots of wisteria leaves . . .”
Taking that as his cue, Kashiwagi
broke off an extremely long, full
cluster of richly hued blossoms
adding it to the guest of honor’s cup.
washburn, p. 627, modified
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33
Shoots
of Wisteria
Leaves
Fuji no uraba
“Fuji no uraba no,” to
uchizujitamaeru, mikeshiki
o tamawarite, Tō no Chūjō,
hana no iro koku koto ni
fusa nagaki o orite, marōdo
no onsakazuki ni kuwau.
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Three events take place in Chapter Thirty-Three
that others want him as a son-in-law, Tō no Chūjō
that mark the pinnacle of Genji’s success: the mar-
sends his eldest son Kashiwagi with a message for
riage of Genji’s son, Yūgiri; the Akashi girl’s offi
cial
Yūgiri, an invitation to his home for a banquet cel-
entry into the imperial palace; and Genji’s elevation
ebrating the wisteria blossoms in his garden. The
to the status of retired emperor. The album paint-
invitation tells Yūgiri to arrive at twilight when the
ing depicts the fi rst of these three events, showing
fl owers are most luminous, the fi rst of many wiste-
the eighteen-year-old Yūgiri on his wedding night,
ria and fl ower images in the chapter that function
engaging in a ritualized toast and poetry exchange
as metaphors for both the Fujiwara house and the
with his new in-laws. His bride is the young woman
daughter on off er, Kumoinokari. Yūgiri arrives late,
known as Kumoinokari, twenty years of age, and a
in a noteworthy parallel with Genji’s tardy appear-
daughter of Tō no Chūjō, whom Yūgiri has been in
ance at the wisteria banquet in Chapter Eight. The
love with since childhood. Both were raised at the
similarities end there, however; whereas Genji
knee of Princess Ōmiya, their shared grandmother,
appeared at the party dressed in an audacious cos-
at Sanjō, the childhood home of Aoi (Yūgiri’s tume and fl agrantly pursued the Minister of the mother) and Tō no Chūjō. The cousins were con-Right’s daughter Oborozukiyo, Yūgiri, ever the fi lial
stant companions until they were precautionarily
son and upstanding courtier educated in Confucian
separated at around age ten by Tō no Chūjō. ethics, shows the utmost respect to his prospective Kumoinokari’s mother was a princess of royal father-in-law. All the men dress up for the occasion blood, giving her father great hope that she might
by pairing their informal robes ( nōshi) with formal
one day become an imperial consort. In this way, Tō
caps ( kanmuri). The painting makes it clear that it
no Chūjō embodies the institution of the Fujiwara
is no longer twilight — the moon has risen, repre-
Regency, in which commoners controlled the throne
sented by a silver half circle in the upper right, and
by marrying their daughters into the imperial fam-
it casts a glow on the rocks in the garden, which
ily. Yet nothing has gone according to plan. Genji,
are highlighted by lines of gold pigment. The per-
the son of an emperor, made a commoner not of his
spective of the painting is such that we see over the
own volition, has consistently usurped the prerog-
veranda and through translucent bamboo blinds to
atives of the Fujiwara Regents by sending his own
the wisteria in the garden. These elements recall
daughters to court to become empress consorts.
the moment in the tale when Tō no Chūjō escorts
This was the nature of the competition underlying
the nervous young groom to the veranda where
the picture contest in Chapter Seventeen in which
he praises the purple wisteria, reminding Yūgiri of
the Umetsubo Consort (Genji’s adopted daughter)
their shared Fujiwara/purple roots ( iro mo, hata,
prevailed over the Kokiden Consort (Tō no Chūjō’s
natsukashiki yukari).
daughter). Tō no Chūjō hoped to try again with
The festivities for the guest of honor begin as
Kumoinokari and thus did his best to keep her away
Yūgiri’s hosts press wine on him, and Tō no Chūjō
f rom Genji’s son, a commoner. When, in Chapter
feigns inebriation in order to voice sentiments that
Twenty-One, Tō no Chūjō learned that despite their
might otherwise be awkward and to make the mar-
young age the two had already been intimate, his
riage proposal. The painting situates Yūgiri to the
hopes were dashed again. At the same time, com-
far right, while a fi gure in a kanmuri cap and a black
ments by Kumoinokari’s serving lady regarding patterned cloak sits on the fl oor holding a golden Yūgiri’s low rank deeply off ended the young man,
sake pitcher at the ready for the guest. As the host
which l
ed to a lull in the romance for several years,
and most senior fi gure in the room, Tō no Chūjō is
although both Yūgiri and Kumoinokari continued
likely the fi gure with his back to the wall painting
to pine for each other.
on the far left. When the timing is right, he utters a
When Yūgiri is promoted to Consultant (Chūna-
line f rom which the chapter title derives, “shoots of
gon) in Chapter Thirty-Three, and it becomes clear
wisteria leaves” ( fuji no uraba). The f ragment is f rom
154 | The Tale of Genji
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a verse in the Gosenshū spoken by a woman who has
branch awkwardly until his father chimes in with a
fi nally realized the trustworthiness of her lover:
poem that alludes to the wisteria (his daughter) and
the pine (Yūgiri) as both having waited too long to
Haruhi sasu
Rays of the spring sun
unite. Yūgri responds by raising his cup, bowing his
Fuji no uraba no
Cast the last leaves on the vine tips
head, and expressing his joy at the marriage in his
Ura tokete
Of wisteria:
own poem. A number of off -color references by the
Kimi shi omowaba
Caught up in the glow of melting words,
men follow, suggesting that the bride is a fl irtatious
Ware mo tanomamu I’ll trust in your true love.
woman, a characterization that Kumoinokari hears
cranston, p. 254
f rom Yūgiri, making her less than welcoming to
Although this marriage proposal is a transactional
him on their fi rst night together, but things progress
one between men, with no women in the room,
and the narrator confi rms their unbreakable bond.
Tō no Chūjō alludes to a poem spoken by a woman
The marriage of Genji’s son to Tō no Chūjo’s
acquiescing to a marriage proposal. The base poem
daughter, taking Kumoinokari out of contention
is not only appropriate in terms of the betrothal
as an imperial wife, is a victory for Genji over his
and the faithfulness to be expected of the groom,
long-standing rival. After the Akashi girl enters the
but it also includes the wisteria, the symbol of the
palace in a grand ceremony, Genji is promoted to
Fujiwara house; even the fi rst word, haruhi, the a status “equivalent” ( nazurau) to that of retired characters of which can also be read kasuga, invokes
emperor ( daijō tennō), which is unprecedented for
the name of the most important tutelary shrine of
a commoner, while his son, Emperor Reizei, still
the Fujiwara clan. Kashiwagi, sitting in between wishes to abdicate and make his real father the sover-his father and Yūgiri, turns toward his f riend in a
eign. In the stunning fi nal scene of the chapter, both
pose that exudes eagerness as he holds up a glori-
retired Emperor Suzaku and Emperor Reizei pay an
ous branch of wisteria. While most translations of
offi
cial visit to Genji at Rokujōin, now the symbolic
the tale say that he “laid the branch on the fl oor
retirement villa ( in) of an ex-emperor. Interestingly,
alongside the cup,” the artist interprets Kashiwagi’s
Mitsunobu depicted precisely this scene of the impe-
“adding” ( kuwau) of the wisteria to the cup as a
rial visitation to Rokujō for the back cover of a bound
ritualized gesture, more like a blessing or a toast.
booklet of Chapter Thirty-Three (shown here),
Traces of green pigment around the branch show
now in the collection of the Idemitsu Museum. The
that the painting originally included those “shoots
f ront cover depicts Yūgiri’s betrothal, virtually iden-
of wisteria leaves” as well. Kashiwagi holds out the
tically to the album leaf, demonstrating how these
two scenes were viewed as the most emblematic
of the chapter. The scene of festivities taking place
amid autumn leaves recalls the one in Chapter Nine
where Genji and Tō no Chūjō, then nearly on equal
footing, danced before three generations of emper-
ors. Now, however, Genji has taken his seat among
the sovereigns. In a fi nal stroke, Genji sends Tō no
Chūjō a poem with a chrysanthemum (symbolic of
heirs to the throne), to which his long-standing rival
can only respond with praise. This chapter named
for the Fujiwara wisteria thus ends with an image of
imperial chrysanthemum, but with hints that all is
not settled between these two intertwined houses.
Chapter 33 | Shoots of Wisteria Leaves | 155
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“We should stay clear of the cherry
outer aisle room, as was their wont.
tree.”
The various colors of their robes
As he was speaking, he cast a
were faintly visible through the
sidelong glance over at the quarters
translucent blinds, and their sleeves
of the Third Princess. From what
were spilling out onto the veranda.
he could tell, some of the more
It resembled those bright cloth
forward ladies-in-waiting had
pouches fi lled with off erings.
apparently stepped into the south
washburn, p. 696, modified
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34
Early Spring
Greens:
Part One
Wakana jō
“Sakura wa yokite koso” nado
notamaitsutsu, Miya no omae no
kata o shirime ni mireba, rei no,
koto ni osamaranu kewaidomo
shite, iroiro kobore idetaru misu
no tsumazuma sukikage, haru
no tamuke no nusabukuro ni ya
to miyu.
157
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The chapters Early Spring Greens Parts One and Two
judgment and talent. The Third Princess is consis-
together cover several years, their titles referring to
tently described as childish, and her carelessness is
the green plants off ered at celebrations commem-
blamed for the fateful event depicted in the album
orating Genji’s fortieth year (Chapter Thirty-Four),
painting for Chapter Thirty-Four — Kashiwagi’s sur-
and his half brother, the Retired Emperor Suzaku’s
reptitious observation of the Princess.
fi ftieth year (Chapter Thirty-Five). Genji’s daugh-
&n
bsp; The kaimami scene takes place on a bright spring
ter and Retired Emperor Suzaku’s daughter, day amid blooming cherry blossoms, when a num-sponsors of the celebrations, present the spring ber of courtiers join Genji’s son Yūgiri at Rokujō
greens, symbolizing youthful vitality, to each man.
for a game of kemari football, in the northeastern
Father-daughter issues are the central theme of both
quarter. Genji hears of the young men’s activity
chapters, beginning in Chapter Thirty-Four with and insists that they bring the game to the south-Emperor Suzaku’s concerns over the future of his
east residence where he can watch. Although they
youngest and favorite daughter, the Third Princess,
are both of a rank that usually precludes joining in
age fourteen. With a temple under construction and
such rollicking, Kashiwagi and Yūgiri take part, and
plans to take Buddhist vows and withdraw f rom
as the game grows more intense the players move
the world, Suzaku f rets over the young girl’s mar-
to the south garden of the residence. Although the
riage. Several potential husbands are considered and
tale describes Yūgiri and Kashiwagi breaking off
rejected: Genji’s son Yūgiri (already married to the
the branch of a cherry tree and taking a seat on
Chancellor’s daughter), Kashiwagi (not yet of high
enough rank), and Prince Sochinomiya (deemed
too fi ckle). Suzaku fi nally decides on Genji himself,
despite the substantial age diff erence and the com-
plicated personal history between the two men. At
fi rst Genji seems disinclined to accept the proposal,
but when he remembers a familial connection
between the mother of the Third Princess and the
late Fujitsubo (both were daughters of the emperor
who reigned before Genji’s father), he is intrigued.
Only after accepting the proposal does he realize
the devastating eff ect the new marriage will have on
Murasaki, who had long feared being replaced by a
woman of higher social status. The Third Princess
soon moves into the Rokujō Estate with all the
pageantry befi tting a princess and becomes Genji’s
offi
cial principal wife. She also usurps Murasaki’s
position as mistress of the spring quarter by tak-
ing over the southeastern residence, occupying the
western half of the main hall and the western wing,