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Courtly Literature in
MEDIEVAL
JAPAN
Yamato or Kofun Period
Chinese Influence
ca. 300-710 ce
 Yamato : “great kings”




Kofun: giant tomb mounds
Military aristocracy
Capital at Naniwa (Osaka)
Imported Chinese culture
via Korea:
Writing
Confucianism
Buddhism
Prince Shotoku
573-621
Prince Shotoku
Kamakura period, early 14th century
Gilt bronze
Regent during reign of
Empress Suiko (r. 592-628)
Wrote the Seventeen Article
Constitution, the earliest piece
of Japanese writing and basis
for Japanese government
throughout history
Led Japanese court in
adopting Chinese calendar
and sponsoring Buddhism
Asuka
Period
645-710
Relief Tile with Buddhist Triad
Asuka period, 7th century
Metropolitan Museum of Art
 Capital in the Asuka
District
 Establishment of
Imperial Power under
Taika Reform Edict
 Temple building and
sculpture introduced with
Buddhism -- heavily
influenced by Korean
and Chinese models
Taika Reform Edicts: 645
Fusion of Buddhism and Shinto
 Influence of Chinese culture -institutions, language, philosophy
-- concept of national unity
symbolized by Emperor's dual
role:
 Shinto religious leader with
elaborate rituals, ceremonial
functions
 Chinese-like secular Emperor
 Emperor ruled by Decree of
Heaven with absolute authority
and by descent from Amaterasu,
the sun goddess
Emperor Tenji (From Ogura Hyakunin Isshu)
626-672
Shinto:
Ise Jingu:
Grand Shrines of Ise
 Ise Grand Shrine is Japan's most important Shinto shrine and
serves as the center of all shrines nationwide.
 Situated near the banks of the Isuzu River, the shrine is
surrounded by 800-year-old Ise Grand Shrine cedars.
 The smooth pebble-lined approach to the shrine lends the site a
majestic air.
The Naiku
The most
revered of all
Shinto shrines,
the Naiku, is
located at Ise.
The Naiku
enshrines
Amaterasu
Omikami, the
ancestral
goddess of
Japan's
imperial house
and the great
ancestral deity
of the Japanese
people.
Amaterasu
Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865). Amaterasu Emerges from the Light.
(colored woodcut, no date).
Nara Period: 710-794
 710: first permanent
capital established at Nara
 Emperors embraced
Buddhism leading to its
rapid and dramatic
expansion
784: Rise in political
power of Buddhist
monasteries led to capital
being moved to Nagaoka
Nara Fashion
During the Nara and the previous Asuka periods, techniques for
dyeing silk were developed. Clothing consisted of many pieces
including upper and lower garments, jackets, a front skirt, and a
back skirt.
Nara - Temple Horyu-ji
7th c.
Nara - Temple Chugu-ji
7th c.
Buddha Sculptures
Umayasaka Temple
at Nara
Earliest Japanese
Literature
 712 : The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) -an anthology of myths, legends, and other
stories
 713: The Fudoki (Records of Wind and Earth),
compiled by provincial officials describe the
history, geography, products, and folklore of
the various provinces.
 720: Nihon shoki (Chronicle of Japan) -- a
chronological record of history.
The Kojiki
 The Kojiki (Record of Ancient
Matters) is traditionally viewed as
Japan's first book. It was written in
712 by the courtier Ono Yasumaro
(? - 723) at the behest of Empress
Gemmei (661-721) and is in three
volumes.
 The Kojiki recounts the history of
Japan from its mythological origins
to the era of the Empress Suiko
(554-628) in the Yamoto era and
includes myths, legends, Imperial
genealogy, history, and poetry.
 Ono Yasumaru's work was based
on the oral recitations of Hieda no
Are
Kojiki – album cover
Kitaro
Izanami and Izanagi, the creator kami
Waka
wa-Japanese ka-poetry
 Waka were first composed orally to celebrate victories in battle and
love, or for religious reasons
 Around the 8th century the fixed forms Choka (long poem) and Tanka
(short poem) emerged. These Waka are based on a set number of Mora
(syllables).
 During the first great age of written waka in the seventh and eighth
centuries, nagauta or choka 'long poems‘ were composed for
performance on public occasions at the imperial court.
 At the same time, tanka 'short poems', consisting of five 'lines' in the
pattern of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables, became a useful shorthand for private
communication between friends and lovers, and the ability to compose a
tanka on a given topic became an essential skill for any gentleman or lady
at court.
 It was not uncommon for parties to be thrown just to recite waka. One
ritual was the Utokai. At Utokai parties each guest would come with an
original waka and recite it to the group. All of the waka would then be
judged by the host and the winner would be welcomed to eat at the head
table.
The Manyoshu
(Collection of
Ten Thousand Leaves)
 Collected ca. 759
 Anthology of over 4500 poems
 Includes wide variety of poems:
courtly, rustic, dialectical,
military, travel
 Identified and anonymous poets
 Syllabic poetry: 5-7-5
 Choka: indeterminate number of
lines culminating in a 7-syllable
(mora) couplet
 Tanka: 31 syllable poem: 5,7,5,7, 7
Heian
Japan
Heian Japan
 794-1185
 Capital at Heian: present-day Kyoto
 Highly formalized court culture
 Aristocratic monopoly of power
 Literary and artistic flowering
 Ended in civil wars and emergence of
samurai culture
 Anthology commissioned by
Emperor Daigo (r. 897-930
 1111 tanka poems in 20
books
 Set the pattern for later anthologies
 Books divided by subject:
Collection
love, seasons, felicitations, parting,
of Ancient
travel, names of things, etc.
 Poetic sequences – linked
and
narrations
Modern
 Renga: 'linked verse' : pairs or
Times)
groups of poets would compose
jointly, with one poet supplying the
initial 5-7-5 of a verse and another
the concluding 7-7, often building
up to hundred verse sequences.
 The initial 5-7-5 of a renga became a
confused array
poetic form on its own, the haiku A
of red leaves in the current
The
Kokinshu
(
of Tatsuta River.
Were I to cross,
I would break the fabric of a rich brocade
Kokinshu Poets
Fun'ya-no-Yasuhide
Ono no
Komachi
Lady
Ise
Otomo-no-Kuronushi
Ki no Tsurayuki
Ariwara no Narihira
Thirtysix
Immortal
Poets
The Thirty-six Immortal
Poets (detail), Edo
period (1615-1868)
Ikeda Koson (1802–
1867)
Two-panel folding
screen; ink and color on
silk; 68 x 68 3/4 in.
(172.8 x 174.6 cm)
Property of Mary Griggs
Burke
Heian Fashion
 A culture more
independent of Chinese
influence
 miyabi : courtliness
makoto : simplicity
aware : melancholy
mono no aware :evanescence
 Emphasis on the exquisite
and evanescent
 Literary: poems, letters,
pillow books
 Extreme sensitivity to
nature
 Nocturnal
 Importance of
convention and fashion
Heian
Style
Heian Society
 Patriarchal but women inherited: matrilineal
and matrilocal
 Polygamous
 Sexuality viewed as normal and necessary
part of life
 Men exercised political power, but marriages
created political alliances and women could
exercise significant political influence
Heian Painting: Yamato-e
 Onna-e
 rich colors and subtle outlines.
 the medium for courtliness,
appropriate to the literature of
miyabi, such as The Tale of Genji.
 "cutaway" painting, in which
interior scenes are painted by
"cutting away" the roof.
 primarily concerned with the
Japanese life that goes on inside
the court or house
 Otoko-e
 strong calligraphic outlines on
figures with washed colors so
that these strong lines would
not be overwhelmed by the
color
 the medium for action
subjects involving war or
conflict;
 primarily concerned with the
public life outside the court or
house.
Onna-e style
from
Genjimonogatari
Otoko-e style
Heian Literature
 Men continued to write
Chinese-style poetry
 Women began to write
in Japanese prose
 First novel: Genji
Monogatari by Lady
Murasaki Shikibu
 Diaries:
 The Pillowbook by
Sei Shonagan
 As I Crossed a Bridge
of Dreams by Lady
Sarashina
Murasaki Shikibu
From a series of the 36
Immortal Poets
Katsukawa Shunsho 18th c.
The Tale of Genji
 Picture of life
The Tale of
Genji
Lady
Murasaki
at the 10th c.
Heian court
 Relates the
lives and
loves of
Prince Genji
and his
children and
grandchildren
 Unesco
Global
Heritage
Pavilion: The
Tale of Genji
The Tale of Genji
 The Tale of Genji has 54 chapters and over 1,000 pages of text in
its English translation.
 The novel has three gradual stages:
 1. The experience of a youth (Chapters 1-33): Love and romance
 2. The glory and the sorrow (Chapters 34-41): A taste of power and the
death of Genji’s beloved wife
 3. The descendants (Chapters 42-54): After the death of Genji
 The Tale of Genji depicts a unique society of ultra-refined and
elegant aristocrats whose indispensable accomplishments were
skill in poetry, music, calligraphy, and courtship.
 The novel is permeated with a sensitivity to human emotions
and the beauties of nature.
Artist Unknown, Chapter 12 Suma, Genji Monogatari (Tale of Genji).
About mid-18th century, Color on paper
Family
Relationships
in
The Tale of
Genji
Members of the Emperor’s
Family
Former Emperor
Minister of the Right
Prince Hyobu Fujitsubo--Lady of the --Kokiden--Emperor Princess Omiya---Minister
Paulownia Court
of the Left
Murasaki
Crown Prince
Reizei Emperor
Genji
Crown Prince
Aoi
Suzaku Emperor
To no Chujo
Genji’s Families
Genji --- Aoi
To No Chujo Suzaku Emperor--Lady Shokyoden
Yugiri --- Kumoinokari
--- Murasaki
~~ Akashi Lady
Akashi Empress ---Emperor
Prince Niou -- Rokunokimi
--- Third Princess ~~ Kashiwagi
Kaoru
Genji’s Liaisons
Genji ~ Lady at Rokujo---late Crown Prince
Akikonomu, High Priestess of Ise  consort of Reizei Emperor
~ Yugao (Evening Faces) ~ To no Chujo
daughter, Tamakazura
~ Fujitsubo -- Emperor
Crown Prince (Reizei Emperor)
~ Lady of the Locust Shell -- Governor of Iyo
~ Naishi
~ Safflower Lady
~ Oborozukiyo, Kokiden’s sister -- consort of Suzaku Emperor
~ Lady of the Orange Blossoms, Reikeiden’s sister
~ Gosechi dancer
~ Akashi Lady
Akashi Empress