>>> So the tale of Genji is the first major loan
exhibition in North America to focus on the
artistic tradition inspired by Japan's most
celebrated work of literature, which was
written about 1,000 years Ago by a noblewoman
Murasaki Shikibu. Generally recognized as
the world's first novel, the captivating story of
the radiant Prince Genji and his amorous escapades,
introduced audiences to some of the most iconic
characters in history of Japanese literature and
launched an artistic phenomenon that continues
to thrive today. The exhibition presents nearly
1,000 years of Genji related origin through
more than a 120 works representing the tale and
nearly every conceivable form.
>>> The exhibition is really about how the tale
of Genji was read and interpreted over the past
1000 years. Here you're looking at the oldest
illustrated Genji book in the world. The character
called Ukifune. She is receiving a letter from
one of her lovers who is accusing her of being
unfaithful. She does not know how to reply. Next to
the image is actually the content of the letter.
In the second room of the exhibition you're going to
see a lot of portraits or portrait icons of the
author of tale Murasaki Shikibu. It explained that
she took a pilgrimage to the temple called Ishiyama-dera,
she gazed out over the waters of Lake Biwa and
saw the flickering reflection of the moon on the water
and in that moment her mind cleared and she saw her
chapters of the tale of Genji appear before her.
In this triptych, we see Murasaki Shikibu.
In the very center to unify the triptych the three
paintings as one you can see how the shore connects
across all three paintings. On the right you have a
scene of Genji, in Suma from, that chapter of the tale
of Genji. We find the protagonist in exile and on
the left you have Genji in a Akashi going to for the first
time to meet Lady Akashi.
>>> At the end of the 10th century, at the beginning of the
11th century, there was a flourishing of a women's
literary salon culture. This is a time not only of the great
tale of Genji but of The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon,
of all of the great diaries written by female writers.
There hasn't been such a flourishing of women's
literature in Japanese history again until the
20th century. By the 10th Century we see that there
was a fully developed phonetic syllabary called
Kana that allowed writers to express themselves in
the Japanese vernacular. And of course the tale of Genji,
Genji Monogatari, means that it's a tale
talking about things also in the vernacular.
Kana writing system was so closely associated with
women writers, it was in fact called women’s hand.
In contrast to writing in Chinese, which was called
the men's writing system or the men's hand.
>>> Especially in Genji paintings employed a
device called the removal of the roof and these
scrolls and paintings they pause at a viewer who is
looking down into space, like a bird's eye view,
and it's what some scholars call a
psychological perspective or these sort of spirits
that appear in the tale of Genji as though there's a
kind of hovering perspective above these
scenes. So some of the most dramatic parts of the
tale of Genji involve spirit possession and no
one better exemplifies Spirit possession than
Lady Rokujo who is Genji’s older lover, but she's
been willfully neglected by Genji who has been
consumed with other affairs and also his
official wife Lady Aoi. So one day Genji is making a
procession and the novel is very explicit about
exactly how beautiful Genji is, how everyone is
tripping over themselves to get a spot along the
road to see Genji. And in this screen, he's riding a
horse and he's accompanied by an attendant as he
moves horizontally across this pair of folding screens.
And this would be First Avenue in Kyoto.
The third panel here we find what's called the battle
of the carriages. And this is where Genji’s official
wife Aoi, who is actually pregnant at the time, also
reluctantly goes out to see her husband in the procession,
but she does, so she comes late and her
men push out of the way the cart of the Rokujo lady.
Broken the pedestal of Rokujo’s carriage and
you can see how it's broken. And as you can see
as Genji passes by in a procession, he has men bow
out of deference to the official wife Aoi, and
Lady Rokujo is ignored. And so this is just too
much for her to bear and her vengeful wandering
spirit leaves her body and then attacks poor Aoi when
she has given birth to Genji’s son. Aoi suffers
terribly during childbirth, but she gives birth.
The child is healthy. All seems well and everyone
departs for the palace when all of a sudden the vengeful
spirit sweeps in and kills Lady Aoi.