The Novel The Tale of Genji - Essay Example

1 IN THE TALE OF GENJI, A GREAT IMPORTANCE IS PLACED ON ART. PEOPLE GAIN RESPECT AND ADMIRATION BASED ON THEIR MUSICAL, PAINTING AND WRITING ABILITY. HOW DOES THIS VALUE SYSTEM COMPARE TO THAT OF CONTEMPORARY AMERICA? Introduction Art and literature flourished in Japan even in ancient times. Japanese writings showed that ancient Japanese placed great premium on culture such as painting, poetry, prose, music, dramatic performances and all genres of literature. Ancient writers and artists i.e. poets, musicians, painters were then hailed as an elite group who were notches above the rest and special groups of people to be venerated and esteemed with high regard. And such writings showed that these predilections and love for art and literature even pre-dated that of European and American passion for art and literature. However, it had been claimed that most of these writings were mere oral literature because the Japanese failed to independently devise their own kind of syllabaric script and thus failed to find a means of recording their language. Thus, most of this oral literature perished (Keene 19). It was only when the Japanese (and the Koreans, too) discovered the Chinese Kanji script, the ancient Chinese method of writing that the Japanese were able to put into writing the works of their writers who then described the high level of culture in ancient Japan (Snowling & Hulme 23). Yet, many of this oral literature were luckily integrated into Japan’s first known surviving book, the Kojiki or “Record of Ancient Matters”. This book featured poetry, songs, myths, legends, customs and traditions, language and ancient Japanese history (Chamberlain i,ii). 2 The magnificence of Japanese artistry was then showcased in the 20-volume Manyoshu or “Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves” published in 759 AD which revealed that ancient Japan produced legions of geniuses in the field of poetry, which bespoke of the esteem and encouragement that the nation had in store for its writers and artists. This book which included astonishing “pre-Homeric pages” of poetry had been hailed as “one of the world’s great collections of poetry” (Keene 20). That ancient Japan encouraged people from all walks of life to produce cultural works of creativity was patently manifest in the Kokin Wakashu or Kokinshu, a 20-volume literary masterpiece, commissioned by Emperor Daigo in 905 AD. This was a collection of 1,111 poems written by 570 Japanese poets and non-poets, who came from a wide spectrum of society i.e. “from aristocrats to warriors, farmers, fishermen, or others who mastered and produced the superb art“. These poems were so moving that they inspired others to compose various popular songs which were “often heard in musical and theatrical performances” (Izawa & Ohta 276). When the capital of Japan was transferred to today’s Kyoto during the Heian period, the value system of giving high importance to man’s ability to compose works of art was intensified. The world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji or Genji Monogatari (Legend of Genji) exemplified this emergence of a new value system. Importance and Significance Of The Tale of Genji The Tale of Genji signaled an unparalleled renaissance of culture in Japan. It accelerated and generated the development of other art forms and most importantly it became a source of pride to all Japanese and a rallying point for all Japanese to be creative so that they may emulate 3 or even come close to the achievements and honors reaped by its author, Murasaki Shikibu. The Genji Monogatari has become a “source of inspiration for writers and artists of all kinds- poets, dramatists, painters, print-makers, costume designers and (today) novelists, video-makers, advertisers and cartoonists”( Barnhart 177). One writer has even claimed that William Shakespeare could have been inspired by Shikibu’s work as both have eerily so many things in common. Shakespeare, 600 years later also “wrote dramas about a prince (Hamlet), an emperor (Julius Caesar), many English kings, and stories/lives of noble families” ( Izawa & Ohta 277). The Genji Monogatari has impacted not only later literature but other art genres. It has inspired the theatrical production of musical dance-dramas or No plays and the Kabuki stage plays based on the Genji tale. It has moved producers to adapt the Genji legend to the cinematic wide screen and to the TV screen. It has inspired painters to paint exquisite Yamato E Japanese paintings with scenes from the Genji opus (Izawa & Ohta 278). A modern ballet performed by some of Japan’s most distinguished dancers was also devised “based on a theme from The Tale of Genji” ( NY Public Library Dance Collection 210). No other Japanese artist in Japanese history has ever been heaped such international and national honors and accolades as Shikibu. The Tale of Genji was branded as a high landmark not only in Japanese literature but also in world literature. Written around 1000 AD by an aristocratic lady-in-waiting of a Japanese empress during Japan’s Heian era, it is composed of 54 chapters and with over 1000 pages of text. It brilliantly epitomizes the beauty of Japanese verse expressed in elegant and magnificent prose. It is now generally deemed to be “the world’s first true novel” and the world’s “first important novel of world literature”. It has distinguished itself as “one of the finest of all Japanese literature” (Kent 137). It also marks a milestone in Japanese 4 classic literature as it signals “the beginning of the novel in Japan” (Janeira 54). It has been ranked as “one of the greatest literature of the Eastern world” and stands out among all works of art because it has expressed “the unique spirit and mind of the Asian world”. As such, it had been investigated and studied with all reverence and awe. The general consensus was that it was an epitome of “Japanese refinement and sensitivity toward nature” (Sage et al 615). Scholars and authors sang hosannahs to it. Author Olive Classe described it as “a masterpiece of world literature”, “one of the 2 or 3 greatest novels ever written” and “the greatest work of literature in Japanese” (Classe 980). Many scholars also consider it “the first psychological novel” and “the first novel to be considered a classic”. The Tale of Genji could not have seen the light of day had it not been supported and encouraged by the Empress and the other literary patrons in the kingdom. Had people been apathetic or indifferent to the pursuit of culture and literature, the novel could not have prospered. This was because the 54 chapters were “written as serials, with each chapter composed and then read aloud to the high born literary patron or patroness for whom they were first intended. If the work proved popular, a sequel would be added, then another sequel with the larger world of the story taking shape only gradually” (Boyarin 170-171). The warm response caused all the 54 chapters to be written. This novel also underscored the high degree of literacy and culture and training in arts and literature reserved and attained by Japanese women even in ancient times. The Tale of Genji- Synopsis The Tale of Genji follows the amorous affairs, indiscretions and love life of a dazzlingly 5 handsome and charismatic son of the Kiritsubo emperor with a commoner concubine. It then traced his fall from grace, his rise to power and his pursuit for stability in life. To shield him from succession struggles, his emperor-father thought it best that his favorite son be removed away from the imperial palace and instead take the Minamoto surname. The narrative then quickly focused on Genji’s amoral pursuits after the death of his mother. The quick succession of wives, sexual dalliances and flirtatious romances include Aoi, whom he married by arrangement when he was 12; Murasaki, whom he married when he was 18 and who faithfully stayed with him until her death; the Third Princess, the daughter of Suzaku emperor, Genji’s own half-brother, whom he married when he was 40; the Rokujo lady, his jealous, passionate and vindictive paramour; and his “hidden-flower adventure” partners which included Utsusemi, Yugao, the Safflower lady and Oborozukiyo. The illicit liaison with this latter lady forced him to flee to Suma, to escape the ire of her own relatives. The death of Aoi, who bore him a son named Yugiri seemed to cause some semblance of marital stability to Murasaki but Genji’s discontentment pushed him to pursue his womanizing ways. Genji finally returned to the capital i.e. today’s Kyoto from his Suma exile and the story shifted to his rise to power in the emperor’s court. This was triggered by the fact that the Suzako emperor fell seriously ill and had to abdicate in favor of the Fujitsubo lady’s juvenile son, who later was uncovered to be not the emperor’s son but Genji’s. Genji was later named the chancellor and regent and the real power behind the throne until the boy-emperor grew up to maturity and became the Reizei emperor. The new emperor realizing that Genji was his real father bestowed upon Genji the “status equivalent to that of a retired emperor”. Thus, began Genji’s resplendent and high-living lifestyle in his 6 magnificent Rokujo Mansion, where Murasaki had to coexist with Genji’s new wife, the Third Princess. Later, Murasaki fell grievously ill and Genji, realizing that she was despite his infidelity, his own true love, stayed with her until her death. At this juncture, the novel shifted focus to the story of Genji’s acknowledged son with Aoi, Yugiri and to his daughter with the Akashi lady, who was personally reared by Murasaki and who later on became the Akashi Empress. The Emphasis and Importance of Art and Culture in The Tale of Genji Correlative and serving as backdrop to the steamy, passionate relationships and the struggle for power in The Tale of Genji was the importance, reverence and special place accorded in Heian Japan for art, culture and literature. All throughout the more than 1000 pages of the novel, the readers are provided with a view of Heian court culture. Pages after pages, there are descriptions of Chinese paintings, poetry, artistic handscrolls, calligraphy etc. The readers are made to realize that courtiers spend their time listening to musical performances and the reading aloud of poetry while lovers, licit or illicit, exchange handwritten poetic notes in hiragana script to express their love or lust for each other. There were also scenes of artisans in work, painting and mixing inks to produce works of art. The novel brilliantly exposes the imperial court as the center of an elite culture where courtiers in order to belong had to develop love for music, painting, poetry, dress decorum and proper manners. Reading the entire book makes one conclude that life at the imperial court consisted of love affairs, flirtations, music, dances, poetry readings, recitations of quotations from ancient Japanese classics and involvement in calligraphy and painting. Someone who doesn’t show such predilection is a court pariah. The court ladies were expected to be diarists, who noted down daily events in their handscroll diaries. 7 Both men and women were expected to produce poems, paintings and calligraphy. The paintings most often depict plants and animals that symbolize the seasonality of nature as well as the moon, the clouds and the stars. Even the fabrics and textiles used in courtly costumes were so colorful and the court dresses reflected the classic taste and aesthetic values of the people in Heian imperial Japan. Nowhere was there an imperial edict that all had to engage in art and other cultural and literary pursuits but the admiration, reverence and respect accorded to those who shine in these undertakings were strong encouragement for people in the era to be cultured and to live a life enmeshed with artistic and literary activities. Not only was culture a favored activity but courtiers were also involved in sports and legal pursuits. In the book, men were depicted playing kickball, horseback riding, archery and hawking. There were scenes where people wrote petitions, wills, litigation settlements and edicts. But the most common activity was love for poetry where poetry was used to seduce, attract and enamor would-be lovers. The book also showed that many Heian Japanese specifically those in the imperial court loved to compile anthologies of Chinese poetry and many of them got hooked with the hobbies of landscape gardening, handicrafts and other fine arts hobbies. The hero himself showed enthusiasm for the landscape gardening of his new Katsura villa while government officials in the landscape gardening of the place in Kujoden took leadership in the undertaking (Seidensticker 324-5). A memorable scene in the Genji Monogatari, where art in various forms was celebrated was the spring boating party organized by Genji. In that event, pleasure boats bedecked as dragon and phoenix boats sailed out with palace musicians that provided “water music” while pages and helmsmen wore colorful Chinese dresses and little girls dressed up as birds and 8 butterflies, danced to the tune of lively music. In this event, poems were also recited and composed while kerria flowers which reflected on the water surface were strewn to produce electric effect. It was emphasized that nobles traditionally do this and were in fact pressured by society to provide these artistic celebrations. It was also hinted that these artistic events were originated by the emperors themselves (Seidensticker 418-419). The Tale of the Genji also featured the Yamato artists who painted works of art on such subjects as mountain villages, water ponds, the sacred kagura dance, the Kamo festival of summer and provincial sceneries. They then added poetic descriptions on these paintings. They proliferated because they have patrons and patronesses who belonged to the imperial family and the noble class. Imperial Heian Japan encouraged art in all its forms by among other means, organizing artistic competitions and contests. In one scene in Chapter 17, there was a picture contest and after the event, the organizers allowed people to compose music by making available musical instruments for them to play. These competitions came about because possession of ability to write, compose songs, dance, design, paint was considered the gauge for measuring how sophisticated and important a person was in the Heian Japanese kingdom (Seidensticker 316). The Heian Cultural Value System As Compared To That Of Contemporary America It has been proven that the passion for art and literature and the need to accomplish so much in these areas gripped the lives of so many people during the Japanese Heian period. And the main reason was that Japanese society as well as the imperial government placed so much expectation on them to act in the expected direction. Today’s contemporary America eerily follows the same path and direction as those in the Heian era. The expectations are the same. 9 Today, America carries the burden of being the world’s prime political, economic and social leader. Whether it is aware or not, America is also pressured to take the role of being the most civilized and cultured country in the whole world. Thus, America has replaced Europe as the bastion of education, culture and civilization. Today, “many of the world’s most prestigious higher education institutions are in the USA”. When students all over the world desire for high quality education, they apply mostly to US schools. Thus, ”the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs receives 25 million inquiries annually from prospective students around the world interested in US-based studies” and recent report by the Institute of International Education showed a “record number of international student enrollments at over 600,000” (Brain Track, www.braintrack.com). Paris used to be the center of art and culture in the world and most art students used to flock to Paris to receive the best art training possible. But after World War II, New York had displaced Paris as the art capital of the world. Suddenly, an extremely high premium and unprecedented importance on art and the American artists had been generated as art of the highest and most elevated level was triggered in the shores of America and artists are showered unprecedented admiration and respect for their artistic accomplishments not to mention financial rewards. New York Times explained this phenomenon. The triggering mechanism according to that paper was that after the war, by some stroke of fate, New York became entrenched as the “chief centre for the distribution of art works”. The art centres all over the world sent their art and literary collections and even their historic collections to New York City to be sold by auction. “Many of the famous Old World collections have been sold through the American Art Association” while Thomas Kirby established himself as the world’s art seller non-pareil via 10 auctions ‘selling everything in the way of art, literary and personal property”. “Italy, France and to some extent England have sold many of their historic pieces”. Undoubtedly, New York has established itself as ‘the outlet for the chief art centres of the world” where the world’s art collectors and connoisseurs converge to “buy a Rembrandt for three or $400,000”. “A Blakelock was sold for $20,000” and “$30,000 was paid for an Inneas and half as much for a Murphy” (Chenery, New York Times, 2009). American youngsters realized they can gain financial and artistic global acclaim if they focus all their talents and energies on artistic achievements. The presence of the world’s greatest works of art in the city of New York has raised the level of appreciation of art works. Thus, the would-be artists must move heaven and earth to also raise their level of art education as well as the quality of artistic work that they must do in order to come up to world standards in their midst. They must bear in mind that ‘the high prices paid and the distribution of the famous works of art have had the indirect effect of enhancing the demand for the products of the present day artists” (Chenery, New York Times, 2009). They must also bear in mind that success in this field means not only great éclat but also prosperity they have never dreamed of. Thus art schools proliferated not only in New York but also elsewhere in America. In New York, art schools like the Art Institute of New York City, New York Academy of Art and School of Visual Arts to name a few rose to help artists realize their dreams of fame and wealth. Other fields of art such as music, the dance, the performing arts and graphic designs were also emphasized. Thus, came into being the Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music, the New York Film Academy and the New York Conservatory For Dramatic Arts, the Joffrey Ballet School and the International Ballet Dance Center. Graduates of these institutions found jobs in Broadway theaters, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, 11 American Ballet Theatre and got to perform before such hallowed grounds as the Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center. Many of them found world-wide acclaim and gained respect and admiration for their artistic talents. New York proved to be the nucleus of artistic success because later venues for the search for fame, affluence, admiration also included such cities as Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and others. It is lucid-clear that the passion for excellence in artistic activities between the artists from the Heian imperial Japan and the artists of contemporary America are comparable in intensity, devotion and ardor. But the difference is that while that in Heian Japan, such zeal and fervor were rooted in tradition, imperial governmental expectations and the need to belong and the fear of becoming a social pariah, that from contemporary America is rooted in the desire to excel and to become somebody unique from the rest; to become admired, respected and known in all four corners of the globe; to win awards such as the Nobel Prize, the Oscars, the Grammy’s, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Awards and the Royal Awards for Painting to name a few, all of which elevate the artist to timeless recognition; and last but not the least affluence or financial reward that ensures the artist a possible lifetime financial security. Conclusion One facet of the novel The Tale of Genji that easily stood out is that the characters of the novel as well as the inhabitants of the Heian imperial Japan most specifically the courtiers of the emperor’s palace spent their courtly lives in activities centered on art i.e. music, poetry, diary writing, poetry and musical composition, dance, landscape gardening, costume designing etc. Today’s contemporary America sees also the rise of artists all set to conquer the world and gain timeless fame, admiration and recognition in practically all aspects of art. It had been found that 12 what triggered this unprecedented zeal and ardor was the post-war establishment of New York City as the world’s art market and the chief centre for the distribution of art works. People especially youngsters realized that through art, one can gain world-wide recognition, admiration, respect and most especially lots of dollars as New York entrenched itself as the outlet and the showcase of prime art centres of the whole world. Thus, the resolve to excel in their artistic undertaking was intensified. Many achieved success, world-wide fame and wealth. It is lucid-clear that the differences between the Heian Japanese period and today’s contemporary America were based on the fact that Heian Japan artists were driven to excel by Japanese traditions, imperial expectations and the need to belong as well as the fear to become a social pariah while contemporary American artists were impelled by the need to excel and to be elevated from the rest of humanity; to gain world-wide fame and popularity; to preserve their names to immortality by winning awards and to become rich and achieve lifetime financial security. WORKS CITED Barnhart, Michael. 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