Hi everyone,
The tale of Genji is considered world’s first ever novel written exactly a thousand years
ago by a female author Shikibu Murasaki. In this video I will summarise the novel,
tell you about the author and its influence on Japanese literature as well as politics. At
the end I will tell you a few interesting things about the tale, so make sure you watch to the end.
First let me talk a little the about authors,.
Lady Murasaki (973 or 978 – c. 1014 or 1031)-was born to a Japanese noble
family called Fujiwara in the capital city of Kyoto. She was employed as a lady-in-waiting,
which basically means a tutor and personal poet for a princess at the Heian court, where she
was asked to write entertaining tales. As we can see in the Tale of Genji, it appears it’s
primarily written for a female audience. The sex in the city of the day. Or 50 shades of poetry.
Shikibu Murasaki is not her real name, simple means ceremonial purple.
In fact all the characters in the Tale of Genji are called by their rank,
not by name, so it can make the reading confusing. Even today in Japan,
there is a higher level of formality when it comes to names. Surnames or company names are
used more than first names. I sometimes think why we have names at all? We should just call
one another by the colour of clothes. Today I am purple and tomorrow yellow. So much fun.
Without her real name, some people think she didn't write it, also maybe because she was
woman. When you read her description of the masculine beauty quite obsessively there is
no doubt it was written by a woman. At the time, Japanese women were not allowed to use Chinese,
the language of technology and literature, considered a masculine space. But the irony
is that most of the text available today about the Heian period was written by women.
They most wrote in Kana writing system which today is mostly for children in Japan. Who
knows a thousand years from today, they discover what kids write these days.
Japan at the time was distancing itself from China as the Tang dynasty, the most innovative
and advanced empire, had declined. Japan was becoming more isolated and nationalistic.
Japanese art and literature was emerging from the shadow of the Chinese. This was also a
period of peace, as there is no mention of any wars in the Tale of Genji. Like Basil Fawlty,
don't mention the war. Even Genji’s political exile for two years is voluntary.
Now let me summarise the novel.
The Tale of Genji has 54 chapters that can be read separately, perhaps she wrote them
in instalment. It tells the story of Hikaru Genji, a prince and his romantic adventures
with women and his quest for meaning in life. Genji is the son of the emperor and a concubine,
therefore he’s not pure blood. With no royal duties, he chase women and smoke weed
like Prince Harry. He is not only beautiful as his name Hikaru means shining, he is also
a poet and a thinker and a very sensitive man, which women valued at the time. He’s in search
of a perfect woman, in doing so he sleeps with a lot of them, some are his wives and some through
secret affairs, some old, young, high rank, low rank. He even he has a child with his step-mother,
behind his father’s back. He doesn't get everyone he wants though. Some women refuse,
some escape and some become Buddhist nuns to stop all men from pursuing them.
Genji lost his mother at a young age, so he is infatuated with any woman who
resembles his mother. Wow, very Freudian. He kidnaps a 10-year old girl, Murasaki,
not the author but a girl who resembles Genji’s mother, in order to raise her as the perfect lady
and sleeps with her when she is only 12. She becomes a central character throughout the
novel and Genji seems to love her the most, but of course cheats on her a million times and her
suffering brings the most anguish for Genji. Her death seems to be his own end as well.
Genji is not just a womaniser or a playboy, he is nervous,
anxious, stressed of secrecy, has bad dreams and goes through the ups and downs of any romance.
Despite all this, he cannot stop. One could say he was obsessed with women,
but never satisfied. Other men go for women of power and money. But Genji’s motivation
seems to be purely romantic or sexual and always goes for the difficult or unusual relationships.
Most women can’t resist him either, as he seems to have everything, look,
brain and access to the royal court. There are no villains in conventional sense. One can say Genji
is the hero and a villain at the same time, as he causes a lot of miseries on his wives, especially
Murasaki. But there is one lady whose spirit seems to haunt everyone. Lady Rakujo. But even
she is not a real villain, so the book seems to suggest there is no good and evil and we are both.
The book covers some 70 years, all Genji’s romantic and political adventures.
After Genji’s death it takes a more pessimistic tone as it follows his
son’s and grandson’s romantic adventures. Genji’s death is marked by an empty chapter,
which is a clever storytelling device. The English author David Mitchell uses it in
his Number9Dream by leaving the last chapter empty, I’m currently reading
a Brazilian novel, which I will make a video later, also uses a similar device.
In those days married couples slept in different rooms, so this allows frequent
affairs to take place. A lot of communication happens through gestures and poetry. If you’re
expecting some hot, steamy sex scenes, you will be disappointed. You have to read between the lines
or read 50 Shades of Grey. The Tale of Genji is very subtle. The rustle of silken dress,
youthful voice, suppressed laughter, these are all you get, the rest? Your own imagination.
Despite not having a clear plot, The tale of Genji reads like a modern novel as the people
and their emotions are portrayed realistically, despite their archaic mode of communication.
Overall it is about love in all its forms, from the most beautiful,
poetic and sublime to the most ridiculous, tragic and
horrible. Romance in all its colours that even today’s novels find too risky to tackle.
Ok, now I am going to share things that I found interesting in this novel.
The main theme of the novel follows the Buddhist view that life is nothing but suffering. All
the affairs result in sorrow and anguish. Very little triumph. Sorrow is somewhat glorified as
beautiful instead of overt happiness. The Japanese concept mono no aware, which is literally means
everything is passing. A fleeting sadness that is beautiful. The most unique thing the Tale of Genji
offers is that for the first time in history we have an emotional record of a historical period.
Women cry a lot. Men define a perfect woman as loyal, cultured, passive and someone who
ignores a man’s shortcomings. Also she doesn't speaks the masculine, coarse Chinese language,
but speaks the feminine Japanese. And she is not concerned with politics. Interestingly, Japanese
people even today don't discuss politics openly. men and women. A perfect man? Good-looking, with
lots of skills, poetic but above all a sensitive man. Perhaps for the first time we read a woman’s
perspective on how they suffered throughout the history in the hands of men. However,
you get the feeling, Murasaki the author wasn't a big fan of many women, except the young Murasaki,
Genji’s beloved wife. The author Murasaki and Genji’s wife, Murasaki are not the same person.
On the surface we might think Genji has a fantastic life, lots of women, no real job to do,
always goes from one ceremony to another, and lives a luxurious life as a emperor’s son,
but most of the time he is in distress, and unhappy. With every new sexual conquest,
he has to suffer with anxiety that comes after. Which seems like the author is taking revenge
on men, but in reality she depicts a real person and who cannot help it. It appears Lady Murasaki
knew men so well that despite what most women thought of men as terrible for causing women
a lot of misery. But the author knows that on a deeper emotional level men are the losers.
At the end Genji acknowledges the suffering of women in the hands of men. His beloved wife,
Murasaki’s selflessness, sacrifices and silent suffering cause the most pain on
Genji. Roance is questioned here. It’s not the people involved, it is love itself that causes
misery. Very similar to Proust. We all desire things we cannot have. Love and jealousy are
inseparable. For as long as we love, we suffer. So a few women escape this vicious cycle of love,
jealousy and hate, by becoming Buddhist nuns. I suppose it has a buddhist message that in order
to be happy, you should really detach yourself from love, money and power and so forth.
Meiji period (1870-1912) Japan adopted western technology but went for everything Japanese as
opposed to Chinese. Shintoism became state religion, not Buddhism because it had come
from China. Nationalism demanded Japanese cultural identity. So intellectuals and scholars found the
Tale of Genji like a sacred text to show Japanese superiority. For example Shinobu Orikuchi,
a Japanese folklorist, asks what is China? He answers, the people who don't know the Tale of
Genji. Another intellectual, Eto Jun suggested that the West values patriarchy while Japan is
very maternal and points at this novel as evidence. Yamato-dammashi (or the Japanese
spirit) was first mentioned in this tale. Yamato is the name of Ancient Japan, before the contact
with China who named it Japan or the land where the sun rises from and the arrival of Buddhism.
Just remember at the Heian period, the Japanese loved everything about China and especially the
Tang Dynasty. Murasaki praises the Japanese spirit that grows within a Chinese education,
but later intellectuals and politicians understood the whole work as a Japanese and nothing else.
But today, most Japanese know the tale taught in schools, but very few people have read it.
I think it was the interest from the West that prompted the Japanese to value it even more.
The funny thing is that most Japanese today read the Tale of Genji in translation.
Why? It was written in court Japanese for the select few educated courtiers, very formal. It’s
taught in schools and with some level of special skills and dedication a Japanese
can understand it. The most accessible translation of The Tale of Genji into
English is The Tyler Genji of 2001 as it explains everything in the footnotes.
It’s not an easy read but it has a few famous fans. Jorge Luis Borges whom I
talked in my Argentine Literature video, was a huge fan for its depiction of human passion and
psychological depth. Virginia Wolf too loved this novel. It’s true Don Qixote
has a more Aristotelian structure of beginning, middle and end, but there is no doubt about the
level of realism and psychological depth in the Tale Genji to make it the first modern novel.
In the next video, I will compare this novel with the Persian epic of Shahnameh by Ferdowsi.
I am on a journey to read books and stories from every country on earth, so if you want to tag
along, please subscribe, share and comment, as it helps the channel. Thank you and happy reading!