1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:12,880 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radios How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome 3 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:17,240 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson, and in our 4 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,800 Speaker 1: recent Unearthed, we talked about the discovery of a previously 5 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: unknown chapter of the blue cover version of Mirasaki Shikibu's 6 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: Genji Monogatari or The Tale of Genji. Miasaki Shikibu has 7 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: been on my list basically since Holly and I joined 8 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,879 Speaker 1: the show in but she also has a lot in 9 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: common with Say Shawagon, who we covered in our first 10 00:00:40,159 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 1: year on the show and whose episode we republished as 11 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: a Saturday Classic. In we cover people who have similar 12 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: backgrounds and stories all the time, but in terms of 13 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: Say Shawnagon and Mirasaki Shikibu, there's just a lot of overlap. 14 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: Both women were ladies in waiting in the court of 15 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: Japanese Emperor Ichi Jo at the same time, but they 16 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: served in different households. Say shann Agon served Empress Tashi 17 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 1: and Miasaki Shikibu served Empress Shows. These two empresses were rivals, 18 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: although a lot of that rivalry was sort of by 19 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:16,639 Speaker 1: extension through their fathers. Both of these women also wrote, 20 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: with their work being viewed as both literature and as 21 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:24,040 Speaker 1: a historical document about life in the court of hey On, 22 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:27,559 Speaker 1: Japan at the same time, though these two women's written 23 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:30,479 Speaker 1: work isn't really all that similar, and at this point 24 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 1: it seems like there is plenty of time that has 25 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,040 Speaker 1: passed between that, say, showing a Goo An episode and 26 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: its Saturday classic uh and now there's also a lot 27 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:42,040 Speaker 1: of context about hey On Japan that we didn't get 28 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 1: into as much in that earlier episode. So that discovery 29 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: that I came across for unearthed episodes finally moved Miasaki 30 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: up to the top of the list, and we are 31 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: finally getting to her today. Muasaki Shikibu, sometimes known in 32 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: English as Lady Mutasaki, lived during Japan's hay On Period, 33 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: which spanned from seven ninety four to eleven eighty five. 34 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: In this period is named for the Japanese capital of 35 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: hay On Kio, which was the predecessor to today's Kyoto. 36 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:12,440 Speaker 1: The capital moved from Nara to hay On Kiyo in 37 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: seven ninety four. Japan's government and culture during this period 38 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:20,680 Speaker 1: were heavily influenced by and patterned after Tang Dynasty China, 39 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:25,800 Speaker 1: with influences from Buddhism as well. Japan started distancing itself 40 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:28,799 Speaker 1: from China in the late nineteenth century as the Tang 41 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: dynasty declined, although those earlier influences continued to be a 42 00:02:32,880 --> 00:02:35,080 Speaker 1: big part of the culture that kind of started growing 43 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:38,919 Speaker 1: into their own thing. Hey On, Japan was particularly known 44 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: for its imperial court culture, which had a focus on elegance, beauty, 45 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: and refinement, and spawned a whole renaissance in literature and 46 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 1: art during this period. The Fujiuata family really dominated the 47 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:55,120 Speaker 1: Japanese imperial government and society in general. Although the emperor 48 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: was considered to be both above and outside of Japan's 49 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,760 Speaker 1: social and political hierarch key, the Fujiuata family had extensive 50 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,359 Speaker 1: connections to the imperial family and was consequently able to 51 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:10,359 Speaker 1: exert a huge amount of influence. Polygamy was common in 52 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:14,280 Speaker 1: hand Japan, and for much of Japanese history. Emperors typically 53 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: had multiple wives who were arranged into a hierarchy that 54 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: included the empress, followed by consorts, followed by intimates. Powerful 55 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: families arranged marriages between their daughters and the emperor or 56 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: his heir apparent, and then those daughter's placed in this 57 00:03:28,880 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: whole hierarchy depended on their family's position in the greater 58 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: social hierarchy. Although there were surely emperors who really appreciated 59 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: this system gave them access to so many women, this 60 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: was also really about giving Japan's most prominent and powerful 61 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:48,640 Speaker 1: families access to the emperor. The Fujiuata family was Japan's 62 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,680 Speaker 1: most powerful and high ranking family during most of the 63 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: Hayan period, So when the family's highest ranking members arranged 64 00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: marriages between their daughters and the emperor or his heir, 65 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: those daughters usually became empresses or high ranking consorts. The 66 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: daughter's sons were in line to become emperors, and if 67 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: they came to the throne when they were too young 68 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: to rule, their Fujiwara grandfather became regent. That rivalry between 69 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: empresses Tashi and Shoshi that we mentioned earlier, their fathers 70 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,840 Speaker 1: were brothers, and each of them was trying to get 71 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:25,080 Speaker 1: his daughter and her children into that highest ranking position possible. 72 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: In case, it's not really clear from the sheer number 73 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:31,680 Speaker 1: of times we have just said hierarchy and rank, The 74 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: hay On court was incredibly focused on rank and where 75 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:40,719 Speaker 1: you were in the rank and precedence and order really 76 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:45,719 Speaker 1: extremely Murasaki Shikibu was also part of the Fujiwara family, 77 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:49,240 Speaker 1: but from a much less prominent and influential branch of it. 78 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:54,279 Speaker 1: Her father was Fujiwara no Tama Toki. He was educated 79 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: and well regarded as a poet and a scholar, but 80 00:04:57,040 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: he was not nearly high enough in the family hierarch 81 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: key for his daughters to get married into the imperial family. 82 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 1: During his career, he was the governor of three provinces, 83 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,279 Speaker 1: and at one point he was tutor to the crown Prince. 84 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 1: Tomatoki's famous daughter was born sometime between nine seventy three 85 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 1: and nine seventy eight. You'll see both of those years 86 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 1: pretty often, as well as years in between, depending on 87 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: what source you're looking at. In addition to not knowing 88 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: her birth year for sure, we also don't know what 89 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:27,840 Speaker 1: name she was given. Girls names were not generally recorded 90 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: in hay On, Japan, so for the most part, we 91 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,040 Speaker 1: only know their names if they eventually became an empress 92 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: or mother to an emperor. When it comes to the 93 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:39,720 Speaker 1: moniker Murasaki Shikibu, Murasaki was the name of one of 94 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:42,360 Speaker 1: the characters in the Tale of Genji. She was one 95 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:45,160 Speaker 1: of Genji's wives, the one who's often described as being 96 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: the love of his life. Murasaki also means purple or lavender, 97 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: and the name Fujiwara means wistaria arbor, so there's some 98 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:55,840 Speaker 1: speculation that this nickname was also kind of a nod 99 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: to her family name as well. Shikibu is a reference 100 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,040 Speaker 1: to Fujiwara No Tommy Tok's offices. One of the offices 101 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 1: that he held it was the Bureau of Ceremonial. In 102 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:08,720 Speaker 1: addition to not knowing her name, we don't know a 103 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: whole lot about Motasaki's life. She does seem to have 104 00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:15,159 Speaker 1: been regarded as gifted from a very early age. There 105 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:17,960 Speaker 1: are stories that she was such a talented poet that 106 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: her father said that he wished she had been born 107 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: a boy. He also seems to have taught her to 108 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: speak Chinese and write Chinese calligraphy. Chinese was the official 109 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:30,920 Speaker 1: language of the Imperial court, with everything from official documents 110 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: to literature being written in Chinese, but Chinese was also 111 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: considered to be a language for men. Women were not 112 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: generally taught to read or speak it. Maasaki herself said 113 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 1: that she learned Chinese by listening at the door where 114 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,680 Speaker 1: while her father taught her brother, but that would not 115 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: have explained her ability to write in calligraphy. She also 116 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: taught Chinese to the Empress, probably in secret or at 117 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: least as discreetly as possible, because there was really no 118 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: privacy at court. Fuji Aa no Tamatoki was given the 119 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 1: governorship of the province of echizen In, and Murasaki traveled 120 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: with him to help him establish and run his household, 121 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:13,360 Speaker 1: but she was not particularly happy there and only stayed 122 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: for about a year before returning to Kyoto. In nine 123 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: she married Fujiwara no Nobutaka. Although we don't know Marisaki's 124 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 1: age for sure, this does seem to have been a 125 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:29,559 Speaker 1: relatively late marriage, and Nobutaka was a distant cousin roughly 126 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:32,280 Speaker 1: twice her age, who already had other wives and children. 127 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: Murasaki and Nobutaka had a daughter in whose name was 128 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: Katako or Kenchi. The characters used to write it can 129 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: be read either way, and this daughter was later known 130 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:45,960 Speaker 1: as Daini no Samni, and she became a highly regarded 131 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: poet in her own right. Fujiwara no Nobutaka died in 132 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:52,840 Speaker 1: the year one thousand one, and it was probably at 133 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: some point afterward that Miurasaki started writing the Tale of Genji. 134 00:07:57,640 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: It might have been this work that led her to 135 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: be called to serve in the Empress's court. That invitation 136 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: came in the year one thousand and six, and the 137 00:08:05,640 --> 00:08:08,080 Speaker 1: Tale of Genji as we know it today seems to 138 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: existed by about ten oh seven or ten oh eight. 139 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:14,920 Speaker 1: In addition to writing the Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu 140 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: wrote a diary during some of her time at court. 141 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: Sometimes this diary is compared to say Shonagon's pillow Book, 142 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: but the pillow book includes lots of lists and snippets 143 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: and other materials that you wouldn't necessarily describe as a diary. 144 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: Uh Morisaki's diary is more like a series of memoirs 145 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:35,559 Speaker 1: or sketches of court life. It mostly covers the years 146 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:38,480 Speaker 1: of ten o eight to ten ten, including the birth 147 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: of the Empress's children. In addition to the documentation of 148 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:47,000 Speaker 1: notable events at court, Mirisaki's diary includes analysis of court life, 149 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 1: personal reflections, and references to Buddhist rituals. Just as the 150 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:55,199 Speaker 1: emperor's wives were arranged into a hierarchy, so we're all 151 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:59,080 Speaker 1: those wives, ladies in waiting throughout the whole culture. As 152 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:01,680 Speaker 1: we said earlier, there was just so much focus on rank. 153 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: Marisaki wrote about all this in her diary, including documenting 154 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: disputes among the other ladies and her feeling that she 155 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: was treated poorly by some of the other court women 156 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:15,240 Speaker 1: because of their jealousy over her literary success. The date 157 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:19,240 Speaker 1: of Morisaki's death is not entirely clear. The last mentions 158 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: of her in writing are dated from ten thirteen or 159 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:26,280 Speaker 1: ten fifteen. By that point, Emperor Ichijo had died and 160 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 1: Morisaki had moved from one residence to another with the 161 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 1: Empress and the rest of her court. Marisaki's brother died 162 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:35,880 Speaker 1: in ten fourteen and her father died in ten twenty nine. 163 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:40,600 Speaker 1: Sources put her death anywhere between ten fourteen and ten five. 164 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,319 Speaker 1: Her daughter died in ten eighty. We will get to 165 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:53,959 Speaker 1: the Tale of Genji after a quick sponsor break. Although 166 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 1: the Tale of Genji is a work of fiction, it's 167 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,199 Speaker 1: also regarded as a look at what life was like 168 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: for the heiress Doocracy and the Imperial court in hay On, Japan, 169 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:07,439 Speaker 1: at least, a very fictionalized, highly romanticized look. It's a 170 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 1: long romance with fifty four chapters that spanned about seventy 171 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: five years, featuring at least four hundred characters, and running 172 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: for more than a thousand pages when translated into English, 173 00:10:18,559 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: it's an early precursor to George RR. Martin. Yes, I 174 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 1: had that thought a couple of times. There's not as 175 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:31,160 Speaker 1: much murdering, but it is very long and uh and convoluted. 176 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: Because it's a long work of narrative prose presenting realistic 177 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:37,800 Speaker 1: characters in a fictional story, and it's likely the oldest 178 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:40,559 Speaker 1: work that we know about that fits that description. It 179 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: is often called the world's first novel, although that designation 180 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:47,800 Speaker 1: is not universally agreed upon. Sometimes it is also described 181 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: as the first historical novel because it seems to depict 182 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:53,559 Speaker 1: a time between seventy five and one years before it 183 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:56,559 Speaker 1: was written, and it treats that earlier era with some 184 00:10:56,679 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: degree of nostalgia. If you care about spoilers and a 185 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:02,640 Speaker 1: housan plus year old piece of fiction, we're about to 186 00:11:02,720 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: give a brief overview of what this book is about, 187 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:08,439 Speaker 1: along with various ways that it reflected or depicted high 188 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:11,120 Speaker 1: on court culture, and just to be really clear, like 189 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:13,920 Speaker 1: most of the literature and art that came out of 190 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 1: the Imperial court. This was focused on court culture, meaning 191 00:11:17,800 --> 00:11:20,959 Speaker 1: that it was about Japan's richest and most powerful people, 192 00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:24,720 Speaker 1: not the ordinary Japanese population. Like it was not about 193 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: the Japanese one percent, it was like the Japanese hundredth 194 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 1: of one. And as its name suggests, the book tells 195 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:35,440 Speaker 1: the story of a man called Genji, and his mother 196 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:38,120 Speaker 1: is one of the emperor's intimates, so she is in 197 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,839 Speaker 1: a lower tear in the Emperor's hierarchy of wives. The 198 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:44,719 Speaker 1: Emperor is quite fond of her, but that affection just 199 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:47,200 Speaker 1: is not enough to change her place in the order 200 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:50,600 Speaker 1: of things, and she also dies when Genji is very young. 201 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: Genji is just so beautiful and intelligent. In translations, he's 202 00:11:56,040 --> 00:12:00,400 Speaker 1: also called Shining Genji or the Shining Prince. As father, 203 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: the Emperor wants to make him heir to the throne, 204 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 1: but as had been the case with Genji's mother, the 205 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:08,760 Speaker 1: Emperor's wishes alone are just not enough to do that. 206 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:11,880 Speaker 1: Genji is not nearly high enough in rank for the 207 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:14,640 Speaker 1: rest of the court to accept him as the heir apparent, 208 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:17,640 Speaker 1: so the Emperor does what he can to set Genji 209 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,679 Speaker 1: up for a life of wealth and privilege, but one 210 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:24,200 Speaker 1: that is outside of the imperial family. He gives Genji 211 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:27,839 Speaker 1: the surname Minamoto, making him a commoner, although he was 212 00:12:27,880 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: still a commoner of very high rank and able to 213 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:35,320 Speaker 1: hold high level offices. Genji grows up to be handsome, adventurous, 214 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:38,199 Speaker 1: and very sensitive, and much of the book is about 215 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:41,680 Speaker 1: his love life. Some of the women involved are Genji's wives. 216 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:44,199 Speaker 1: The first woman that he marries is the Minister of 217 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 1: the Left daughter. The Minister of the Left was one 218 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:50,840 Speaker 1: of the highest ranking imperial counselors. Another wife is known 219 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:54,200 Speaker 1: as the Third Princess, who Genji marries when he's forty. 220 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:58,199 Speaker 1: That happens after her father he's a retired emperor, and 221 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 1: thus Genji's half brother decides to become a monk and 222 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:04,880 Speaker 1: asks Genji to take care of her. In between those years, 223 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 1: there is the character of Murasaki, who Genji first sees 224 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:10,440 Speaker 1: when she is only ten and living with her grandmother. 225 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:13,679 Speaker 1: She reminds him of his late mother, and after her 226 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 1: grandmother dies, he takes custody of her, basically by kidnapping 227 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:20,560 Speaker 1: her while her family is distracted, and then he grooms 228 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 1: her to be his wife. Although she is too low 229 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:26,240 Speaker 1: in rank for Genji to name for his primary wife. 230 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: Of all the women in his life, she is the 231 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: one that he seems to feel the most deeply for, 232 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:35,840 Speaker 1: and her death devastates him. Genji also has a lot 233 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:39,760 Speaker 1: of affairs, something that wasn't necessarily frowned upon in hay On, Japan. 234 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:43,680 Speaker 1: Polygamy was expected for men, and people also took lovers 235 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:47,600 Speaker 1: outside of those marriages, so a man could have multiple wives, 236 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:50,720 Speaker 1: but a woman couldn't have multiple husbands, although she could 237 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: take lovers if she chose, as long as the husband 238 00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:57,320 Speaker 1: acknowledged the children that his wife gave birth to. Those 239 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: children were considered to be legitimate. However, although all of 240 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:04,079 Speaker 1: this was pretty much expected, it did not at all 241 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: translate into a lack of possessiveness or jealousy. Jealousy and 242 00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:12,280 Speaker 1: envy are very present themes in the Tale of Genji. 243 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:16,160 Speaker 1: Just a couple of highlights of Genji's affairs. He fathers 244 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:19,440 Speaker 1: a secret baby with the Emperor's wife, Fujitsubo, who is 245 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 1: another woman in this story who is said to resemble 246 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: Genji's late mother. That baby goes on to become emperor. 247 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:29,480 Speaker 1: At one point, Genji goes into exile after being caught 248 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:31,880 Speaker 1: in an affair with the daughter of a political rival, 249 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:35,680 Speaker 1: and he pursues other affairs while he is exiled. Since 250 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:38,000 Speaker 1: the Tale of Genji was a reflection of the court 251 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:40,400 Speaker 1: culture of the time, all of these affairs can make 252 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 1: it seem like the hayn Court was just a total 253 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: hotbed of steamy licentiousness, but really these relationships were carried 254 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 1: out with just an incredible amount of discretion. In the 255 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 1: Imperial Court, women were housed separately for the men, including 256 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 1: with married couples. Wives had their own homes and their 257 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:00,760 Speaker 1: husbands and lovers came to visit them, and there were 258 00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 1: a lot of barriers, both physical and cultural, between potential partners. 259 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: Women's attire also involved layers and layers of clothing. The 260 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:13,680 Speaker 1: number could vary, but an ideal number of layers was twelve. 261 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:19,320 Speaker 1: A typical outfit included, at minimum trouser skirts and unlined dress, 262 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 1: lined robes, a gown, a mantle, a train, and a jacket, 263 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,680 Speaker 1: so total nudity was not common, even in explicit artwork 264 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:32,000 Speaker 1: or literature. These clothes and their materials, patterns, and colors 265 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:35,240 Speaker 1: are a big part of the Tale of Genji. Curtains 266 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 1: and screens also physically separated women from their male visitors, 267 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: and to move these curtains or screens aside to see 268 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 1: a woman was essentially a promise of commitment. The idea 269 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 1: of just glimpsing someone through a gap in the screen 270 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:52,720 Speaker 1: is another big theme in the Tale of Genji and 271 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:57,200 Speaker 1: in classical Japanese literature in general, and even though Genji's 272 00:15:57,280 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 1: physical relationships are a huge part of the book, actual 273 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 1: physical encounters are hardly ever mentioned. In some cases, they're 274 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 1: barely hinted at or alluded to, and a lot of 275 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 1: this intimacy just happens in between the lines. Although emotional 276 00:16:11,040 --> 00:16:14,480 Speaker 1: sensitivity was a hallmark of hay On Court culture, people 277 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 1: also did not talk about their feelings to each other directly. 278 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,040 Speaker 1: Poetry was the most acceptable way for people to communicate 279 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 1: their most personal thoughts, but they were poems, so they 280 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:27,840 Speaker 1: tended to be veiled rather than direct, and even these 281 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:31,080 Speaker 1: poems had to be delivered by a go between rather 282 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: than straight from the writer to the recipient. The Tale 283 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: of Genji contains nearly eight hundred poems. To add to 284 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 1: all this, there was virtually no privacy in the hay 285 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 1: On Court. High ranking women were always surrounded by ladies 286 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:49,840 Speaker 1: and waiting servants and staff who all naturally knew everybody's business. 287 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: But it only really mattered if you were caught by 288 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:56,040 Speaker 1: someone else of rank doing something that was questionable. We 289 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:58,440 Speaker 1: should also note that all of the women that Genji 290 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,680 Speaker 1: pursues in the book are full realized characters of their own, 291 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:05,640 Speaker 1: with the novel exploring their feelings and motivations and internal 292 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:09,520 Speaker 1: psychological lives. Some critics argue that the work is really 293 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:11,920 Speaker 1: their story as much as it is Genji's, and that 294 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 1: if it wasn't the first novel period, it would at 295 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:18,120 Speaker 1: least be the first psychological novel. So to get back 296 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: to the plot of the book, Genji rises through the ranks, 297 00:17:21,680 --> 00:17:26,080 Speaker 1: becoming wealthier and more prominent. Eventually he has multiple households. 298 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:30,159 Speaker 1: After his secret son the Emperor, learns his true parentage, 299 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:34,360 Speaker 1: he names Genji the Honorary Retired Emperor, which is essentially 300 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: the highest honor that Genji could ever hope to attain 301 00:17:37,119 --> 00:17:40,320 Speaker 1: as a commoner. But in his last years, after the 302 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,920 Speaker 1: character of Mirisaki's death, a grief stricken Genji becomes really 303 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:47,720 Speaker 1: lonely and wistful, and ultimately decides to take religious vows 304 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: and live his last year's in seclusion. But the book 305 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 1: does not end with Genji's death. It continues on with 306 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: a mostly new cast of characters. It's last third tells 307 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,160 Speaker 1: the story of Koru, who is sent it as Genji's son, 308 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:05,040 Speaker 1: but it's really his best friend's grandson, plus Koro's friend 309 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: n Know, who is Genji's grandson. Like Genji, they have 310 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:12,400 Speaker 1: a series of relationships, affairs, and seductions, some of which 311 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 1: can have a similarly soapy tone to modern Western audiences. 312 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:19,480 Speaker 1: For example, there is a whole love triangle that also 313 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:23,359 Speaker 1: involves an apparent death, a case of amnesia and exorcism Woho, 314 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 1: and the decision to become a nun. The book also 315 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:29,879 Speaker 1: ends on an ambiguous note, which doesn't resolve a lot 316 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:34,359 Speaker 1: of these earlier threads. So that very brief overview seems 317 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 1: pretty straightforward, But the novel itself really isn't. It contains 318 00:18:38,080 --> 00:18:40,240 Speaker 1: a lot of little snippets, some of which seemed like 319 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: abandoned threads of the story, Along with shifts in the 320 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:48,400 Speaker 1: point of view, character's interior monologues, authorial asides, and those 321 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:51,919 Speaker 1: nearly eight hundred poems that we mentioned earlier, it can 322 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:55,040 Speaker 1: be challenging to read and absorb any work that was 323 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 1: written in another language as a reflection of another culture, 324 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:01,200 Speaker 1: and even for Japanese speakers. The Tale of Genji is 325 00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:05,920 Speaker 1: typically translated from hay On Japanese to modern Japanese. But 326 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:08,280 Speaker 1: the Tale of Genji has some traits that make it 327 00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:13,439 Speaker 1: particularly challenging for modern readers and translators. Especially For one thing, 328 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:17,400 Speaker 1: it contains a lot of references and allusions to historical 329 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 1: people and events from hay On Japan, including many, many 330 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:24,119 Speaker 1: references to the literature of the time. So there is 331 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:26,760 Speaker 1: a lot of nuance that a well read person in 332 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:30,160 Speaker 1: eleventh century Japan would easily grasp. But it's just about 333 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,080 Speaker 1: invisible if you are a Westerner whose only experience with 334 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: hay On literature is the Tale of Genji and maybe 335 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: say shonagons Pillow book. Yeah, there are the two things 336 00:19:40,119 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 1: that I think it read the most often among English speakers. 337 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:47,159 Speaker 1: And on top of that, we talked about how relationships 338 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 1: in the court of hay On Japan were carried out 339 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:53,280 Speaker 1: with layers and layers of discretion. The book itself is 340 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:57,040 Speaker 1: also written that way. Hay On Japanese as a language 341 00:19:57,119 --> 00:20:01,600 Speaker 1: didn't always clearly connect things like subject and objects. Often 342 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:05,399 Speaker 1: these kinds of linguistic relationships were denoted through very subtle 343 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:09,280 Speaker 1: shifts in verb conjugation. To add to that, most of 344 00:20:09,359 --> 00:20:11,879 Speaker 1: the characters in the book are not directly named. They 345 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:15,239 Speaker 1: are mentioned by title or rank. In some cases, there 346 00:20:15,280 --> 00:20:19,280 Speaker 1: are duplicates among these titles or characters. Titles change over time. 347 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:21,959 Speaker 1: People who were part of the hay On court, who 348 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:24,119 Speaker 1: were immersed in a culture that was threaded through with 349 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,119 Speaker 1: all of these hierarchies and ranks probably would have been 350 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,639 Speaker 1: able to tell who was who without a lot of difficulty, 351 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:32,879 Speaker 1: But translations of the work often end up deriving various 352 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 1: nicknames for the characters to make things more intelligible to 353 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:39,520 Speaker 1: readers who don't have that background. All of this adds 354 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:41,160 Speaker 1: up to a work that a lot of critics think 355 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 1: was meant to be read and re read over and over, 356 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:47,120 Speaker 1: because it's only after rereading it that a reader could 357 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,920 Speaker 1: possibly pick up on all of those illusions and subtexts 358 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,000 Speaker 1: and connections involved. We'll talk about the ongoing influence of 359 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:57,680 Speaker 1: this book after we first pause for a sponsor break. 360 00:21:05,480 --> 00:21:09,359 Speaker 1: As we said earlier, it's not entirely clear when Miasaki 361 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: Shikibu wrote Genji Monogatari. It's not even clear what order 362 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 1: she wrote the chapters in, or whether those chapters were 363 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,439 Speaker 1: originally read in the same order that they are today. 364 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:23,159 Speaker 1: One chronicle written in the fourteenth century suggests that Miurasaki 365 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:25,760 Speaker 1: went on a pilgrimage to a temple not far from 366 00:21:25,880 --> 00:21:29,200 Speaker 1: Kyoto after a princess asked the empress for a new story. 367 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,639 Speaker 1: The empress commissioned one from Miurasaki, and then while she 368 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: was at this temple, Miasaki had a vision of an 369 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: older Genji in exile, and that prompted her to write 370 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:41,879 Speaker 1: chapters eleven and twelve first. It's not really clear, though, 371 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,159 Speaker 1: how much truth there is to this story. There has 372 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,880 Speaker 1: also been some debate about whether Motasaki was the sole 373 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:50,040 Speaker 1: author of the entire work, with some people speculating that 374 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:53,840 Speaker 1: some chapters, in particular those last ones after Genji's death, 375 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:57,080 Speaker 1: may have been written by her daughter, and there's really 376 00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:59,640 Speaker 1: no clear evidence of this one way or the other, 377 00:21:59,800 --> 00:22:02,960 Speaker 1: but there is some suggestion that Murasaki may have had 378 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 1: an editor who helped shape a sprawling, very complex work 379 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:10,800 Speaker 1: into its final form. The whole authorship debate is like 380 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:14,919 Speaker 1: mostly people reading it incredibly closely trying to pick up 381 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 1: clues as to whether her daughter may have picked up 382 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:21,720 Speaker 1: part of it. Within decades of Miurasaki Shikibu writing the 383 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,440 Speaker 1: Tale of Genji, though people in Japan were recognizing it 384 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 1: as a classic. Fujiwara No Shunzi, who was an influential 385 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 1: poet and critic in the late twelfth century, called Genji 386 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:35,880 Speaker 1: monogatari indispensable, especially for people who wanted to study poetry. 387 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:39,159 Speaker 1: The earliest surviving version we have of the Tale of 388 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,680 Speaker 1: Genji is an incomplete set of illustrations from about the 389 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: same time. At court, empresses didn't typically read work to themselves, 390 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:50,359 Speaker 1: it was read allowed to them, with the empress following 391 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:54,399 Speaker 1: along with illustrations on a scroll. The remaining fragments of 392 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:57,920 Speaker 1: this twelfth century scroll are considered a Japanese national treasure 393 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 1: and are housed in two different museums in Japan. Although 394 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:05,000 Speaker 1: movable type was being developed in China around the time 395 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: that Murasaki Shikibu lived, it didn't become widely used or 396 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,760 Speaker 1: spread to Japan until later, so the Tale of Genji 397 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,800 Speaker 1: was mainly copied by hand for the first centuries of 398 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:18,119 Speaker 1: its existence. That meant that by the thirteenth century, or 399 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,760 Speaker 1: so there were lots of copies floating around, with all 400 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:24,040 Speaker 1: kinds of variations starting to crop up, people started making 401 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:28,000 Speaker 1: an effort to identify and preserve the original text. One 402 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:31,040 Speaker 1: of these was Minamoto no Mitsuyuki, who were to his 403 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: son Chikayuki, with Chikayuki probably finishing their work after his 404 00:23:34,920 --> 00:23:39,360 Speaker 1: father's death. Mitsuyuki was the governor of Kawachi, so their 405 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:43,040 Speaker 1: version is known as the Kawachi Text. Poet and calligrapher 406 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 1: Fujiwara no Taika was doing similar work at about the 407 00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 1: same time. He compiled the aob Yoshi Bone, or the 408 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:53,479 Speaker 1: blue cover text version of the book. Until twenty nineteen, 409 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: they were believed to be four surviving chapters of this 410 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,639 Speaker 1: version that he wrote in his own hand, and we 411 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:01,560 Speaker 1: talked about the newly discover fifth chapter in our year 412 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:05,440 Speaker 1: in Unearthed in twenty nineteen. There's also one other set 413 00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,040 Speaker 1: of early copies of the Tale of Genji that's grouped 414 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:13,119 Speaker 1: together basically as other texts, but Fujiwara no Taika's compilation 415 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:16,800 Speaker 1: was regarded as standard by the fourteenth century, and today 416 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,639 Speaker 1: most translations from hay On Japanese use his version as 417 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 1: a starting point. The Tale of Genji continued to be 418 00:24:23,640 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 1: read in Japan and the centuries after it was written, 419 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 1: growing more popular during the Muromachi period from about thirteen 420 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,280 Speaker 1: thirty eight to fifteen seventy three and then during the 421 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:37,040 Speaker 1: Edo period from about sixteen o three to eighteen sixty eight. 422 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,600 Speaker 1: In addition to adaptations of the work into other media, 423 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:44,439 Speaker 1: Murasaki Shikibu became a character and various works of fiction 424 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 1: during these periods. Several satirical versions of the Tale of 425 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:51,480 Speaker 1: Genji were written during the Edo period as well. We 426 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 1: talked about the Edo period and its culture more in 427 00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:57,560 Speaker 1: our previous episode on Katsushika Hokusai, which were also going 428 00:24:57,600 --> 00:24:59,680 Speaker 1: to put out as a Saturday classics soon. By the 429 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:03,000 Speaker 1: ear twentieth century, the Tale of Genji was still regarded 430 00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:06,080 Speaker 1: as a classic work of Japanese literature, but it wasn't 431 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:10,520 Speaker 1: necessarily beloved by Japanese readers. The one thousand year old 432 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:13,359 Speaker 1: Japanese it was written in was just too inscrutable for 433 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:17,720 Speaker 1: most people to read and enjoy. Then poet Yosano Akiko 434 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:22,119 Speaker 1: published a four volume translation into modern Japanese in nineteen 435 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,760 Speaker 1: twelve and nineteen thirteen. Her translation made the work far 436 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:29,359 Speaker 1: more accessible to Japanese readers. It was well reviewed, and 437 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:31,679 Speaker 1: it sold well in spite of what was regarded as 438 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 1: a pretty expensive price tag. Many other translations into modern 439 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 1: Japanese have followed. The first translations of The Tale of 440 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:41,720 Speaker 1: Genji into English were created at the end of the 441 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 1: nineteenth century. The first translation of the entire work was 442 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:49,000 Speaker 1: by Arthur Whaley, who published a six volume work volume 443 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:53,120 Speaker 1: by volume in the nineteen twenties and thirties. Wale's work 444 00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: was generally regarded as a huge achievement in the English 445 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:00,800 Speaker 1: speaking literary world, although it did have some shortcomings. There 446 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,560 Speaker 1: is some degree of subjectivity in translating any work, but 447 00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 1: Wiley in particular seemed more focused on trying to preserve 448 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:11,880 Speaker 1: what he saw as the beauty of Miasaki's language rather 449 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,280 Speaker 1: than the accuracy of the story as she wrote it. 450 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:18,040 Speaker 1: He basically left out parts that he thought were uninteresting 451 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: or obscure, and sometimes he wrote passages that he thought 452 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,919 Speaker 1: sounded as beautiful as the original, whether or not they 453 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,280 Speaker 1: conveyed sort of the same meaning as the original. He 454 00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: also simultaneously tried to make all the dialogue sound like 455 00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:35,200 Speaker 1: things that English speakers would actually say in conversation. Rather 456 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:38,960 Speaker 1: than reflecting the flavor of Mirasaki's prose dialogue or the 457 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:42,200 Speaker 1: many layers of discretion that were part of hay On 458 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:46,480 Speaker 1: Court culture. Even so, his translation made the book accessible 459 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:49,600 Speaker 1: to the world of Western literature before he had even 460 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 1: finished it. When he still had two volumes left to go, 461 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:54,480 Speaker 1: the Tale of Genji was being called one of the 462 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:58,680 Speaker 1: masterpieces of world literature, with people comparing it to everything 463 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:00,520 Speaker 1: from the Iliad and The Odd to See to the 464 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:05,399 Speaker 1: works of Shakespeare, Flowbear, and Tolstoy. Wales's translation, rather than 465 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:08,760 Speaker 1: the original hand Japanese, also became the starting point for 466 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:13,400 Speaker 1: other translations into other languages, meaning that Wales's editorial decisions 467 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:16,280 Speaker 1: influenced how The Tale of Genji was translated into other 468 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:20,440 Speaker 1: languages as well. Other English language translations since then have 469 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,320 Speaker 1: tried to, in one way or another, improve on or 470 00:27:23,400 --> 00:27:27,520 Speaker 1: correct Wali's work. Later English translations are by Edward Side 471 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,840 Speaker 1: and Sticker in nineteen seventy six, Royal Tyler in two 472 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:36,200 Speaker 1: thousand one, and Dennis Washburn in Helen McCullough also translated 473 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:39,359 Speaker 1: a selection of earlier chapters in nineteen nine four, and 474 00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: these translations are all very different from one another. Yeah 475 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:45,639 Speaker 1: You can read whole papers that are devoted to looking 476 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,600 Speaker 1: at the same passage from hay On Japanese and how 477 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:50,840 Speaker 1: each of these people translated it, and with the subtled 478 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:53,959 Speaker 1: differences or dramatic differences, and all of those translations are 479 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,000 Speaker 1: Some of these differences just come with the territory of 480 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:01,760 Speaker 1: translating any work into another language, especially when that work 481 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,600 Speaker 1: is so different in terms of both time and place, 482 00:28:05,200 --> 00:28:08,200 Speaker 1: But translating the Tale of Genji can be particularly challenging. 483 00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:11,480 Speaker 1: It's a book that involves a lot of romantic entanglements 484 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:16,399 Speaker 1: and seductions and other deeply personal human encounters, written during 485 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:18,680 Speaker 1: and about a time and place that had a very 486 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:22,520 Speaker 1: different set of more as and expectations for behavior than 487 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 1: most people are living under today. And on top of that, 488 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:27,440 Speaker 1: as we touched on earlier, it was written in a 489 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:30,680 Speaker 1: language and style that obfuscated a lot of the details 490 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:33,560 Speaker 1: about all these things. So apart from how they've handled 491 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:37,080 Speaker 1: things like the sound of the language, different translators have 492 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:41,080 Speaker 1: come away with very different interpretations of characters, actions and 493 00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:44,360 Speaker 1: reactions and feelings. On top of that, when it comes 494 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:48,440 Speaker 1: to translations into English, the major translations we have today 495 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 1: have all been by people who were from the United 496 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:54,080 Speaker 1: States or the United Kingdom. So in addition to all 497 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,479 Speaker 1: those other challenges, these translators have also had to contend 498 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,360 Speaker 1: with the cultural baggage that comes from center reas of 499 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:05,080 Speaker 1: Western fascination for and objectification of Asian nations and cultures. 500 00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:09,440 Speaker 1: In addition to its reputation as a masterpiece and world literature, 501 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,680 Speaker 1: the Tale of Genji was part of the earliest evolution 502 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:17,520 Speaker 1: of Japanese literature in Japanese, and that evolution was largely 503 00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:20,320 Speaker 1: the work of women. As we said earlier on the show, 504 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:24,200 Speaker 1: when Miurasaki Shikibu was living, Chinese was the official language 505 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 1: of the Japanese Imperial Court, and so called serious literature 506 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:31,200 Speaker 1: was being written and read in Chinese. Women, on the 507 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 1: other hand, were writing in Japanese using a style of 508 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:38,440 Speaker 1: cursive writing called hiragana, which was so associated with women 509 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:41,080 Speaker 1: that it was nicknamed the women's hand. So in a 510 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,320 Speaker 1: lot of ways, Hayon Court women lay the groundwork for 511 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:48,200 Speaker 1: later Japanese literature, and that brings up another point about 512 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:52,280 Speaker 1: the Tale of Genji's translations. Miasaki Shikibu was a woman 513 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:54,960 Speaker 1: writing a work that was being read or read aloud, 514 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:59,040 Speaker 1: mostly for an audience of women. The translator that finished 515 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:02,320 Speaker 1: the first translation into modern Japanese was also a woman, 516 00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: But as far as English translations, when it comes to 517 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,240 Speaker 1: translations of the entire work, all the English language versions 518 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:11,720 Speaker 1: are by men. If you remember that one woman that 519 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:14,880 Speaker 1: we mentioned, she only translated a portion of it. And 520 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:16,760 Speaker 1: that's not to say that men are not capable of 521 00:30:16,840 --> 00:30:19,560 Speaker 1: translating work by women. But for a work that has 522 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:22,520 Speaker 1: so much focus on women's inner lives and feelings, it 523 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:24,840 Speaker 1: would be really interesting to have a woman's take on 524 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:27,880 Speaker 1: the whole thing in English. Yeah, I personally like my 525 00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:30,440 Speaker 1: fantasy wish list. If I could just snap my fingers 526 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:32,960 Speaker 1: and have some kind of piece of literature at my 527 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:36,480 Speaker 1: immediate disposal, it would be a translation of the Tale 528 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:39,800 Speaker 1: of Genji into modern English by a Japanese woman. I 529 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,680 Speaker 1: think that would be amazing. I'm sure it will happen 530 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:46,040 Speaker 1: at some point, at some point suhere. Yeah. So Apart 531 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:48,360 Speaker 1: from all of these translations, there have also been so 532 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 1: many adaptations of the Tale of genjians you every conceivable medium, 533 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:57,280 Speaker 1: including movies, radio plays, TV cereals, manga, would black prints, 534 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:00,520 Speaker 1: and kabuki plays. In two thousand eight, even appeared as 535 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 1: a Google Doodle in Japan for the one thousandth anniversary 536 00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:07,760 Speaker 1: of the text, and that is the now at this point, 537 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:13,760 Speaker 1: six year delayed episode. Uh, do you have listener mail 538 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:18,400 Speaker 1: that is not six years delayed? H, It's not delayed 539 00:31:18,440 --> 00:31:21,880 Speaker 1: at all. Um. We're recording this on December twenty three, 540 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,440 Speaker 1: and this came December twenty seems very timely to me. 541 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,040 Speaker 1: It is from Erica. Uh. And Erica wrote about the 542 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:32,320 Speaker 1: Italian Hall disaster and says, Hello, I was shocked and 543 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,240 Speaker 1: excited to see that you were doing an Italian Hall episode. 544 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:38,200 Speaker 1: I'm from Dollar Bay, Michigan, a couple of miles south 545 00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:40,560 Speaker 1: of Calumet. I've been a history nerd my whole life, 546 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:43,080 Speaker 1: and local history is a huge part of that. When 547 00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:45,960 Speaker 1: I took part in the Local History SmackDown, we named 548 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:48,480 Speaker 1: our team the Big Annies. There are some points that 549 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:51,120 Speaker 1: are well known around the area. The one Man Drill 550 00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,480 Speaker 1: is referred to as the widow Maker because of the 551 00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:56,600 Speaker 1: fear of being alone in that environment. The kew I 552 00:31:56,680 --> 00:31:59,560 Speaker 1: Brewing Company has a dark beer called the widow Maker 553 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:02,560 Speaker 1: Black Ale. It's delicious, though if you don't like dark beers, 554 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: it's probably not for you. You briefly mentioned the Quincy 555 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:10,120 Speaker 1: Mine that side of a National Historic Landmark district and 556 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:13,440 Speaker 1: the Quincy Mine Hoist Association runs tours from April to 557 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:17,040 Speaker 1: late Fall, usually with themed Halloween tours. Check out their 558 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:20,040 Speaker 1: instagram for fun pictures. I worked here in high school 559 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 1: and college. I love it so much I convinced my 560 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:25,080 Speaker 1: now husband that we should get married there. The Quincy 561 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:27,800 Speaker 1: Number two shaft houses an iconic piece of the landscape. 562 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:32,120 Speaker 1: Nordberg Steam Hoist is the largest steam powered hoist engine. 563 00:32:32,880 --> 00:32:35,360 Speaker 1: Attached some of our wedding photos for context. Thanks for 564 00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:37,440 Speaker 1: all you do and bringing stories like this to a 565 00:32:37,560 --> 00:32:40,200 Speaker 1: wider audience. Erica, Thank you so much, Erica for this 566 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:44,200 Speaker 1: awesome uh, this awesome email, and for sending the pictures. Um. 567 00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:47,360 Speaker 1: I had found the Widowmaker nickname in the research and 568 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:49,160 Speaker 1: it just did not make it into the episode for 569 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:52,400 Speaker 1: whatever reason. But if I'm ever in the area, I 570 00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:55,920 Speaker 1: will super try that uh that dark beer, because I 571 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:58,520 Speaker 1: do love a very dark beer. If you would like 572 00:32:58,600 --> 00:33:00,120 Speaker 1: to write to us about this or any of our 573 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:03,200 Speaker 1: podcast or history podcast at I heart radio dot com. 574 00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:06,680 Speaker 1: We're also all over social media. Missed in History. That's 575 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:09,600 Speaker 1: where you will find our Facebook Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. 576 00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:12,880 Speaker 1: And you can subscribe to our show on Apple podcast 577 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:16,040 Speaker 1: the I heart Radio app, and anywhere else you get podcasts. 578 00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:23,400 Speaker 1: Stuff you Missed in History Class is a production of 579 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:26,520 Speaker 1: I heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more podcasts, for 580 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:29,760 Speaker 1: my heart Radio visits, I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 581 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:31,840 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.