1 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Today's classic is one of my personal favorites. 2 00:00:06,880 --> 00:00:09,479 Speaker 1: Say shan Agone, who served as a lady in waiting 3 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:12,000 Speaker 1: for the Empress of Japan and wrote a book that 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: became one of our best sources on what life was 5 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:18,080 Speaker 1: like in the Japanese royal court in the eleventh century. 6 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:21,959 Speaker 1: And her book was also very snarky, so we have 7 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:24,800 Speaker 1: some fun with how judgmental and backhanded some of her 8 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: observations are, and also just how much she disliked babies. 9 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in history class from how 10 00:00:42,760 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcomed the podcast. I'm 11 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: Tracy and I'm Holly Fry and today we're gonna talk 12 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,440 Speaker 1: about the Middle Ages, but maybe not as you expect. Yeah, 13 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: I think most people think of the Middle Ages and 14 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: they get a very kind of European view. Yes, their 15 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: mind conjures those images. Well, especially since that I've been 16 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 1: looking at sort of the numbers of where our listeners 17 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: are overwhelmingly United States, and then if you add in 18 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 1: like the UK, Australia and Canada, that's like n of 19 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 1: listeners and I would imagine that giant chunk of listeners 20 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: has probably mostly heard about the Middle Ages in the 21 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: context of Europe, which did give us some pretty cool 22 00:01:27,120 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: things like the Book of Kells in the Baiou Tapestry, 23 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: both of which have episodes in the archive. Also Courtly Love, Bayowulf, 24 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: Canterbury Tales, Song of Roland, lots of interesting and cool 25 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: literature and art and architecture. But really, other than that, 26 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,400 Speaker 1: the Middle Ages have this reputation for being this depressed, 27 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: war torn, disease written, generally filthy part of history that 28 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 1: borrowed most of its advancements from other cultures. And then 29 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: on top of that there were the Crusades and the 30 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: Black Death. So while interesting things happened, very few people, 31 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: if they could time travel, would be like Middle Ages 32 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 1: or where it's that for me totally going there. But 33 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: so number one, that's that perception is not really true 34 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:08,079 Speaker 1: of the entirety of the Middle Ages. And number two, 35 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,919 Speaker 1: that really was the situation in Europe. The same period 36 00:02:11,960 --> 00:02:14,360 Speaker 1: of time was really different for other parts of the world. 37 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:16,519 Speaker 1: And today we're going to talk about the hay On 38 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,079 Speaker 1: Period in Japan, which spanned from seven ninety four to 39 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 1: eleven eighty five, so kind of a chunk right in 40 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: the middle of the Middle Ages. The hand period started 41 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,800 Speaker 1: when Japan moved its capital from Nara, which is the 42 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: nation's first permanent capital, to hay On q which later 43 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: became QO two. During this period, China had a really 44 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 1: heavy influence on Japanese culture, and we have a really 45 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: good idea of what that culture was like, especially within 46 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:47,840 Speaker 1: the context of the Imperial Court, thanks to a woman 47 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: known as say shann Agone, and she served as a 48 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:53,799 Speaker 1: lady in waiting to the Emphassis court and kept a 49 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: book of observations and lists and other assorted snippets that 50 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: were about her time there. That's what we're gonna talk 51 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:05,360 Speaker 1: about today. So people who keep asking for more royalty, 52 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: here you go. We have some more royalty, but maybe 53 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: not the royalty that you were expecting. Well, but we've 54 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: also gotten requests for non European royalty indeed covering it. Yes. 55 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,320 Speaker 1: Uh so just for backgrounds, Say Shonagone was born around 56 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,960 Speaker 1: nine and that isn't actually her name. Shonagon is a 57 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: rank which means minor counselor, and Say is a reference 58 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: to her father's name, So what her actual name that 59 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: her family called her at birth was is completely unclear 60 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:35,920 Speaker 1: in the historical record. Yeah, we did know who her 61 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: father was. Her father was Kiowara no Moto Suke. He 62 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: was a prominent and highly respected poet and a minor 63 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: public official. We're not totally sure who her mother was, 64 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: though one contemporaneous source suggests it was a woman named 65 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:56,080 Speaker 1: Hagaki who was a poet and possibly also a prostitute. 66 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: But in spite of having one or possibly two poet parents, 67 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:04,760 Speaker 1: Shanagan didn't really have a reputation for being a good 68 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: poet herself, and she insisted herself that she was terrible 69 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:13,800 Speaker 1: at poetry. Another prominent writer at the time, Murasaki Shikibou, 70 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: author of The Tale of Genji, which most people have 71 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 1: heard of, uh, seems not to have liked her, writing 72 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:23,920 Speaker 1: in her own diary that Shanagan was gifted but presumptuous 73 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 1: and was basically a frivolous woman who liked to put 74 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:30,559 Speaker 1: on airs. As a side note of Murasaki Shikiboo also 75 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:33,679 Speaker 1: served in the court of Empress Shoshi, who was Empress 76 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: She's rival. And that's a whole story that we're going 77 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: to get into, and you're gonna get the the back 78 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:43,360 Speaker 1: story on that bit of drama coming up, yes, because 79 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: there is a lot of dramatic conflict in this story. 80 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 1: In Shanagan went to serve in the court of Empress Tashi, 81 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: who we just mentioned. She was also known as Empress Sodoko. 82 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:01,160 Speaker 1: Some accounts say that Shanegone had been married and divorced 83 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:04,799 Speaker 1: before entering service, and that her only other two options 84 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:07,719 Speaker 1: at that point were either to join a Buddhist convent 85 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:11,719 Speaker 1: or to remarry. We don't really know if that's completely accurate, 86 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: but regardless of the reason, she wound up serving in 87 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: court for about ten years, and she documented a lot 88 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:21,760 Speaker 1: of that time in her pillow book, and in Japanese 89 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 1: this book pillow book is known as Makura Nososhi or 90 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 1: random pillow notes, and Shonagon started writing hers towards the 91 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:32,480 Speaker 1: end of her time at court. But there's a story 92 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:35,559 Speaker 1: to how this actually happened. Paper was at that time 93 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 1: really expensive. Shonagon wrote that the minister of the center, 94 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: whose name was Corey Chica, who was also Tait's brother, 95 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 1: brought the Empress a gift of paper and asked her 96 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:49,480 Speaker 1: what books she would like to have copied onto it. 97 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:51,919 Speaker 1: Shanagan said that they should make it a pillow and 98 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,840 Speaker 1: there's all kinds of academic discussion about what she actually 99 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:56,800 Speaker 1: meant by that, whether it was a joke or a pun, 100 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,359 Speaker 1: or whether it referred to pillar pillow books that people 101 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,640 Speaker 1: kept as a matter of course, or whether it referred 102 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,400 Speaker 1: to the hard pillows that people in Japan were using 103 00:06:06,440 --> 00:06:09,840 Speaker 1: at that time. But regardless, t she gave shown a 104 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: go in the paper, and showing a goan wrote whatever 105 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: she wanted to do on it. And there's been a 106 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:18,040 Speaker 1: fair amount of debate about whether shan Agon ever intended 107 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:20,400 Speaker 1: for her work to be read by other people or 108 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,839 Speaker 1: if it was just for her. Uh. Given how expensive 109 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 1: paper was and that this paper was actually given to 110 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:28,800 Speaker 1: the Empress to provide her with a book for her 111 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,279 Speaker 1: own library, there is, you know, a logical conclusion that 112 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: what Shanagan wrote was always supposed to be public. The 113 00:06:36,200 --> 00:06:39,520 Speaker 1: writing itself also has a tone that kind of hints 114 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: that there was a reader in mind. It wasn't just 115 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: personal inward reflections, uh, in diary form like people would 116 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:47,840 Speaker 1: normally write if they thought no one was going to 117 00:06:47,920 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: look at it. Right. But at the same time, Shanaghan 118 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: also wrote about being extremely embarrassing, uh when somebody took 119 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 1: the book and then passed it around at Court. In 120 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,080 Speaker 1: the section called it is getting so dark, which is 121 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 1: how the addition that I have of it concludes, she 122 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,279 Speaker 1: also says that she regrets that the book ever came 123 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 1: to light. The end product of this gift of paper 124 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:16,200 Speaker 1: and Shanagans writing is a collection of observations, poems, lists, 125 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 1: and other really interesting snippets of life at court. It's 126 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 1: part diary, it's part commonplace book. To some degree, it's 127 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: an essay collection. And one dred and sixty four of 128 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: the things in the book are just lists, lists of 129 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: hateful things, depressing things, things, things that make one's heartbeat faster, 130 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 1: regrettable things. And some of these lists are really just 131 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: uncannily evocative. Yeah today, How all of these different things 132 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 1: are arranged in the edition that you read really varies 133 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 1: wildly depending on the translation and how it's been edited. 134 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: We don't really know how they were originally presented, because 135 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:58,200 Speaker 1: all of the surviving editions of this book are copies 136 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 1: from at least five hundred years after on agnes death, 137 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: So you can get a really different experience depending on 138 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: how the person doing the editing has arranged all these 139 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: different bits. And in spite of you know, these outstanding 140 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:17,120 Speaker 1: questions of how it originally was arranged and ordered. Uh. 141 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: The book has survived in one form or another for 142 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,640 Speaker 1: more than one thousand years, and today it's considered both 143 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: a work of art and a historical document. One of 144 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: the first episodes that Holly and I worked on together 145 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,040 Speaker 1: was on Marjorie Kemp and her autobiography, which gave a 146 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:34,080 Speaker 1: lot of insight into middle class life in medieval England. 147 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:38,040 Speaker 1: And similarly, Shanna Goings Pillow book has become a primary 148 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,280 Speaker 1: source of information about court life and hay on Japan. 149 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: Her book, as we said before, covers about ten years 150 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:49,320 Speaker 1: that she spent in service there. So the basics on 151 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:53,040 Speaker 1: the environment of the book, The Empress and her ladies 152 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: in waiting spent a lot of their time in a 153 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: salon behind screens, curtains, grates, and wall hangings that were 154 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:03,240 Speaker 1: all to keep men and strangers from seeing them. So 155 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,480 Speaker 1: they spent a lot of time within the confines of 156 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: these portable curtains that kept them from view. And they 157 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 1: were layers of dresses and robes with skirts and pants underneath. Yeah, 158 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: I think if you look at historical pictures sometimes you'll 159 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: see the many, many robes, one on top of each other, 160 00:09:19,520 --> 00:09:21,600 Speaker 1: and so I always think, who that looks beautiful, while 161 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:23,959 Speaker 1: other people go, I could never live in that. Yeah, well, 162 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:27,200 Speaker 1: it was also a progression of of fashion, like it 163 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:30,720 Speaker 1: has sort of started as address with comfy pants under 164 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: and then gradually the fashion trend in toward more and 165 00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:37,520 Speaker 1: more layers, and because you had to show more and 166 00:09:37,559 --> 00:09:41,959 Speaker 1: more beautiful and expensive and luxurious fabric. Yes, that was 167 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 1: the whole point. I get so excited. Yeah, there are 168 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: several things in this but that are totally a poly's alley. 169 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:50,560 Speaker 1: In addition to the pretty fabric, their stuff about sewing 170 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:55,400 Speaker 1: and cats. Unsurprisingly, there's also a big focus on manners 171 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:59,400 Speaker 1: and etiquette and gossip. And on that last point, Shona 172 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: goes pain in was that people should not be angry 173 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:05,240 Speaker 1: when they are gossiped about, because they also gossip about 174 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:07,400 Speaker 1: other people. So basically, don't dish it out if you 175 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: cannot take it. That's kind of my stance, but also 176 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:12,040 Speaker 1: just that that's part of the contract you make being 177 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:14,800 Speaker 1: part of a society that people will discuss other people, 178 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: and it's not even always in a negative way, and 179 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 1: some people really abhor the concept that other people are 180 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: talking about them when they're not present. Yeah, we like 181 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:23,960 Speaker 1: that that's going to happen. That's just part of the 182 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,640 Speaker 1: deal living with other people. We had a whole episode 183 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:29,840 Speaker 1: on the culture of gossip in our prior podcast stuff. 184 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: So many of the passages in this book detail the 185 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 1: comings and goings of the Emperor and Empress and the 186 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:47,080 Speaker 1: other officials, uh and whatnot from the court. There are 187 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:52,040 Speaker 1: also religious observances noted in it, the primary religious influences 188 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:56,040 Speaker 1: being Buddhism and Shinto. Days of abstinence are noted, and 189 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 1: all kinds of just everyday happenings. One of the themes 190 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 1: comes across in the Pillow Book that's also common in 191 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:06,440 Speaker 1: writing about royal and aristocratic life in the West is 192 00:11:06,480 --> 00:11:10,840 Speaker 1: that it can be deeply painfully boring. There's a lot 193 00:11:10,960 --> 00:11:13,320 Speaker 1: of coming up with something to do just to have 194 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,720 Speaker 1: something to do, and ladies would sometimes do things like 195 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: go on religious pilgrimage more for the sake of having 196 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,200 Speaker 1: an outing than for their own spiritual development. So some 197 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: of the things that she documents in this book lots 198 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 1: and lots of festivals and rituals. For example, the first 199 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:32,960 Speaker 1: month after the new year at all kinds of festivals 200 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:36,559 Speaker 1: and celebrations. One of these was the Festival of Blue Horses, 201 00:11:36,600 --> 00:11:39,439 Speaker 1: which was a tradition that they borrowed from China. Uh 202 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: and that is a parade of twenty one horses for 203 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:45,440 Speaker 1: the emperor, which sounds sort of beautiful. Originally these horses 204 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:48,080 Speaker 1: had been gray, but by the time of Shonagones writing, 205 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 1: white horses were actually used, and white is the color 206 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:54,640 Speaker 1: of purity in the Shinto religion, and the gray horses 207 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:57,480 Speaker 1: were also too rare for that to really be a 208 00:11:57,559 --> 00:12:00,360 Speaker 1: doable thing to herd up twenty one of them to 209 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 1: parade along. Yeah, the idea of twenty one incredibly rare 210 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: horses is nice and theory see why that would be 211 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 1: a parade honoring a high official. There's also the Festival 212 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:14,280 Speaker 1: of Full Moon Gruel, and that is when people of 213 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:17,640 Speaker 1: the court would conceal gruel sticks about their persons to 214 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 1: hit one another with. This came from a belief that 215 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 1: being hit in the thighs with the stick that was 216 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:25,960 Speaker 1: used to stir the gruel would lead a woman to 217 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:28,440 Speaker 1: give birth to a baby boy. And this is a 218 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,000 Speaker 1: tradition that wasn't unique to the Imperial court, and it 219 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: continued in more rural parts of Japan for a really 220 00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 1: long time. I'm just processing the whack a mole element 221 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:44,439 Speaker 1: of like determining your baby six well, and also of 222 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 1: of that you're concealing a stick and your sleeve or 223 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:52,200 Speaker 1: whatever so that you can whack people with it. And yes, well, 224 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 1: but it's it's really only in some contexts is a 225 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: good thing. There's a whole passage about the scandalous nous 226 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:01,520 Speaker 1: of of when a gentle when whacked a lady with 227 00:13:01,559 --> 00:13:05,200 Speaker 1: the girls stick that was not okay. It's like um 228 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:14,160 Speaker 1: baby predictor fight club. Yes. Uh. Also noted in this 229 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:18,280 Speaker 1: book are hookups. Speaking of where babies come from, there 230 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: were many, many hookups. Uh. There is a passage which 231 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:24,440 Speaker 1: is entitled it is so stifling Lee Hot, and it 232 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 1: starts out being about how hot it is, which prompts 233 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 1: everyone to leave their blinds and sliding doors open, and 234 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:33,000 Speaker 1: then it quickly she has to talking about a number 235 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:35,560 Speaker 1: of lovers sneaking away in the morning in full view 236 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 1: of everybody thanks to the heat causing all of those 237 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:42,160 Speaker 1: doors to be open. Yeah, that's not the only place 238 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:43,960 Speaker 1: that that comes up in the book. From her list 239 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:47,320 Speaker 1: of depressing things, one of the items is it is 240 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:50,319 Speaker 1: quite late at night and a woman has been expecting 241 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: a visitor, hearing finally a stealthy tapping, She sends her 242 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:57,840 Speaker 1: maid to open the gate and lies waiting excitedly. But 243 00:13:57,880 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: the name announced by the maid is that of someone 244 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:03,640 Speaker 1: with whom she has absolutely no connection. Of all the 245 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:09,680 Speaker 1: depressing things, this is by far the worst and from 246 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: her list of hateful things. An admirer has come on 247 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:16,240 Speaker 1: a clandestine visit, but a dog catches sight of him 248 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:20,200 Speaker 1: and starts barking. One feels like killing the beast. Really, 249 00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: A lot of the hateful things are about male visitors 250 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 1: making noise or otherwise drawing attention to themselves, or acting 251 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:30,800 Speaker 1: in a way that was coarse or unseemly. None of 252 00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:33,400 Speaker 1: this is really surprising considering that a lot of the 253 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 1: interior walls in the palaces were basically paper partitions in 254 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:42,080 Speaker 1: bamboo screens. So while all of these hookups were happening 255 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:44,320 Speaker 1: and everyone knew that they were happening, they were also 256 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: meant to be happening discreetly, making the need for silence 257 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: and discretion very important. So if you were a guy 258 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:54,520 Speaker 1: and you rattled the screen on your way out, people 259 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 1: would be young and yes. Uh. Overall, the lists of 260 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,800 Speaker 1: pressing in hateful Things are quite long, but big chunks 261 00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:06,800 Speaker 1: of them are kind of mundane in a little bit petulant, 262 00:15:07,040 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 1: and they sum out to Tracy describes it as they 263 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:12,840 Speaker 1: are out of salted caramel at Starbucks, that today is 264 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 1: the worst day ever. Like they're really just complaints about 265 00:15:15,920 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 1: pretty mundane happenings. Yeah, one of the hateful things is 266 00:15:19,840 --> 00:15:22,280 Speaker 1: one is just about to be told some interesting piece 267 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:27,880 Speaker 1: of news when a baby starts crying. They're kind of 268 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:32,960 Speaker 1: ridiculous and awesome and also ridiculous petulant, but there are 269 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:36,600 Speaker 1: also other much less awful uh things in them. One 270 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: of the depressing things is a lying in room when 271 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:43,560 Speaker 1: the baby has died, so obviously that has a much 272 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:46,600 Speaker 1: greater emotional depth than just complaining about things like noise. 273 00:15:47,320 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 1: Another is a lengthier description of someone who has gathered 274 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:52,840 Speaker 1: his family to wait with him on the day when 275 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:56,200 Speaker 1: the official appointments are made, but he does not get one, 276 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: and they all gradually leave in ones and twos until 277 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: he's all alone. They were expecting good news and did 278 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:04,160 Speaker 1: not get it. Yeah, there are things on on the 279 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 1: lists that are legitimately bad and not just kind of 280 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:14,000 Speaker 1: whining bad. Um. The unsuitable things list, though, is particularly 281 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:18,560 Speaker 1: revealing of aristocratic attitudes about the lower classes. One of 282 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:22,080 Speaker 1: the unsuitable things is snow on the houses of common people. 283 00:16:22,520 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: This is especially regrettable when moonlight shines down on it. 284 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:30,640 Speaker 1: This is because those common people in air quotes could 285 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 1: not fully appreciate how lovely all of that was, and 286 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:37,320 Speaker 1: so therefore the moon shining on snow was wasted. Beauty 287 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: she is an offensive idea. It is well. It also 288 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: sort of auto discredits the writer, like to say that 289 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:50,920 Speaker 1: it was wasted because she's enjoying it, you know, But 290 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,000 Speaker 1: it's on a poor person's house, Holly, it's still pretty. 291 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:57,200 Speaker 1: There's also love mentioned in this book, and things that 292 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 1: cannot be compared. It goes from the relati heavily prosaic 293 00:17:01,400 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: summer and winter, night and day, rain and sunshine too. 294 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: When one has stopped loving somebody, one feels that he 295 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:10,639 Speaker 1: has become someone else, even though he is still the 296 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:14,960 Speaker 1: same person. The book also shows a lot of communicating 297 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:19,600 Speaker 1: with people through poetry. In many situations, direct communication was 298 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:24,080 Speaker 1: socially unacceptable, but exchanging poems was totally allowed, So people 299 00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:26,760 Speaker 1: would veil what they wanted to say in poetry and 300 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: send their thoughts that way, one of the lists in 301 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:33,000 Speaker 1: the book is also just a list of poetic subjects. Also, 302 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:36,800 Speaker 1: games and other amusements are mentioned, like backgammon or the 303 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:40,199 Speaker 1: Chinese board game Go or building a giant mountain of 304 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:42,479 Speaker 1: snow as high as they possibly could in winter, so 305 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:46,680 Speaker 1: kind of joyous fun activities. There are also many, many 306 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:50,240 Speaker 1: descriptions of plants and flowers, so what's in bloom, what's growing, 307 00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:54,199 Speaker 1: what the foliage looks like. Similarly, there are descriptions of 308 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:58,600 Speaker 1: beautiful fabrics, art, and clothing. There's really a huge focus 309 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 1: on what is beautiful and what brings shown go in delight, 310 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:05,399 Speaker 1: and a lot of these descriptions tie in closely, of course, 311 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:09,360 Speaker 1: to Japanese aesthetics. There's a a which is a sort 312 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:13,280 Speaker 1: of pathos or emotional response that comes from fading beauty, 313 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,159 Speaker 1: like scattering cherry blossoms or the fading noise of a 314 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:20,280 Speaker 1: bell and things of that nature. And there's also okashi, 315 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: which relates to a more fleeting delight or pleasure, and 316 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: the Pillow Book overall is more about okashi than aware. Yeah, 317 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:32,240 Speaker 1: if we've mentioned the Tale of Genji earlier, that one 318 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: is more about the sad part, especially by the end 319 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:38,280 Speaker 1: um and so as the comparison goes, this is sort 320 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 1: of the happy elements of court life, mostly as opposed 321 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:48,160 Speaker 1: to the tragically sad, despairing ones that are more present 322 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:51,880 Speaker 1: in the Tale of Genji. Maybe the most say show 323 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:55,719 Speaker 1: Negon East passage in This Whole Thing comes at the 324 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: end of a passage about how much she loves the 325 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:03,800 Speaker 1: hotel to Jisu, which is a type of bird. She says, 326 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:07,000 Speaker 1: and I do not love the hototo g suit alone. 327 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:11,680 Speaker 1: Anything that cries out at night delights me, except babies. 328 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,480 Speaker 1: We have both the things that delight her and the 329 00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:21,679 Speaker 1: fact that she could be kind of petty and the 330 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 1: things that annoyed her. She seemed to not be big 331 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:27,880 Speaker 1: on the baby. And before we talk about the sort 332 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:32,240 Speaker 1: of circumstances that led to the end of this court 333 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 1: life for showing Agin, let's take a minute and talk 334 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 1: about our sponsor. Now back to the story of Say 335 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:50,280 Speaker 1: shown Agone. So sadly, the story of Say show Agone 336 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,240 Speaker 1: in her pillow book does not have a very happy ending. 337 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 1: We talked about how say shan Agon was in service 338 00:19:56,800 --> 00:20:00,639 Speaker 1: to the Empress Tsi and Uh the Empress had become 339 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:05,000 Speaker 1: consort to Emperor Ichijo when she was fourteen and he 340 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:10,240 Speaker 1: was ten, and during this period, the Fujiwara clan was 341 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: heavily influential in Japanese politics. Women from the Fujiwara clan 342 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: would marry the emperor and then their fathers would rule 343 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 1: as regents and chancellors. The emperor was still the emperor, 344 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:25,200 Speaker 1: but the Fujiwaras were really running the show. Yeah Ti, 345 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: She's father, Fujiwara no Michi Taka, died during an epidemic 346 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:35,359 Speaker 1: in and with his death he she's only real protection 347 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:40,359 Speaker 1: was her brother Koori Chika, but her father's brother, Michi Naga, 348 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:44,199 Speaker 1: wanted his own children in power and not his brother's children, 349 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:48,000 Speaker 1: and Michi Naga used his political whiles to ease the 350 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:52,560 Speaker 1: reins away from Korachika. Then uh Koachika wound up being 351 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:56,440 Speaker 1: exiled from the capital after an escalating misunderstanding with an 352 00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:00,080 Speaker 1: ex emperor who Korachika had thought was making move is 353 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:05,240 Speaker 1: on his lady. So it was a big romantic misunderstanding 354 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: uh and this left Hashi with no real backing at court, 355 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:11,880 Speaker 1: and it opened the door for Michi Naga to position 356 00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:16,440 Speaker 1: his own daughter, Fujiwara no Akiko also known as Shoshi 357 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:20,479 Speaker 1: as a new favorite to Emperor Ichijo. So with the 358 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:24,400 Speaker 1: Fujiwara clan lined up against him, even the Emperor could 359 00:21:24,440 --> 00:21:27,879 Speaker 1: not really do much to help Taishi, especially since the 360 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:32,680 Speaker 1: Empress Dowager his own mother also joined in encouraging him 361 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:35,840 Speaker 1: to favor show She instead. And even though it was 362 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:39,560 Speaker 1: unheard of for one emperor to have two empresses, Mitchi 363 00:21:39,640 --> 00:21:43,320 Speaker 1: Naga successfully argued that Taishi and show She could have 364 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:46,479 Speaker 1: two different titles and two different roles in court, and 365 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:50,560 Speaker 1: that Emperor Ichijo was totally justified in having them both. 366 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:54,600 Speaker 1: So show She came to the Imperial Palace in and 367 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:57,680 Speaker 1: was named second Empress in the year one thousand. Say 368 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:02,080 Speaker 1: Shanaghan's own loyalty during time was called into question because 369 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:04,480 Speaker 1: she had been fond of meet Naga before this whole 370 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 1: business started, and that year Tay she moved to another 371 00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:11,600 Speaker 1: palace because she was pregnant uh and this was tradition, 372 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:13,920 Speaker 1: and tay she had spent large parts of her two 373 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:18,600 Speaker 1: other pregnancies elsewhere, but this time this all transpired while 374 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:22,199 Speaker 1: she was clearly being pushed aside at court, and on 375 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:24,960 Speaker 1: top of that, the other palace where she would normally 376 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:28,480 Speaker 1: have gone during a pregnancy had burned down, and instead 377 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,200 Speaker 1: she had to stay in the home of a senior steward, 378 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:34,960 Speaker 1: which obviously paled in comparison to a second palace that 379 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 1: she could visit. Her ladies in waiting started to leave 380 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,399 Speaker 1: her service, and she ended up dying in childbirth, and 381 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:43,919 Speaker 1: she was only twenty four at the time. Most of 382 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:47,640 Speaker 1: Shanaghan's actual writing of The Pillow Book happened during this 383 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:51,040 Speaker 1: period of instability, although it's hard to see that in 384 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:53,280 Speaker 1: the text even if you already know that part of 385 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:56,119 Speaker 1: the story and are looking for it. So while a 386 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:58,600 Speaker 1: lot of the Pillow Book gives us a window into 387 00:22:58,640 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 1: the life of imperial during t She's glory days, it's 388 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:05,080 Speaker 1: not so much an actual reflection of the real political 389 00:23:05,119 --> 00:23:09,199 Speaker 1: situation that was going on while Shaunagan was physically writing it. 390 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:14,960 Speaker 1: And say Shawnagon died around ten twenty five, Basically nothing 391 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,080 Speaker 1: is known about the time between when she left the 392 00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:20,640 Speaker 1: court and when she died, although the lore is that 393 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:23,520 Speaker 1: she was lonely and miserable because she had been so 394 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,960 Speaker 1: catty and uh kind of petulant at court. In the 395 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 1: rest of Japan, the Fujiwara clan's influence started to wane 396 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,640 Speaker 1: in the middle eleven hundreds. Then in eleven eighty five, 397 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:38,880 Speaker 1: one of the most powerful warrior clans called the Genji, 398 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,720 Speaker 1: defeated another powerful clan and also their main rivals, that 399 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:48,960 Speaker 1: hey K. The Genji then established the first Showgun government, 400 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:52,639 Speaker 1: and the Showgun military rule over Japan lasted until eighteen 401 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:57,320 Speaker 1: sixty seven today. Uh. To sort of liken it to 402 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,240 Speaker 1: modern life, sometimes people like to say that shown ago 403 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:04,320 Speaker 1: in Israelly the first blogger. Uh. And they also sometimes 404 00:24:04,359 --> 00:24:07,200 Speaker 1: like to say that the Pillow Book is the first tumbler, 405 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 1: which makes a bit of sense, Yeah, considering how much 406 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:15,480 Speaker 1: trying to identify ancient concepts with modern yeah happening, considering 407 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,280 Speaker 1: how much of it is sort of random stuff put 408 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,360 Speaker 1: together and in no real order as she saw it, 409 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:25,720 Speaker 1: uh together. Um, And and kind of an amusing side 410 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:28,840 Speaker 1: note when I the day that I started doing the 411 00:24:29,160 --> 00:24:32,080 Speaker 1: research for this podcast, and you know, I typed, say, 412 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:35,240 Speaker 1: shown a going into my search bar, you know how 413 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:37,840 Speaker 1: like a Wikipedia result will come up to the right 414 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:41,440 Speaker 1: of your search results. Um, it was, you know, blah blah, 415 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:43,440 Speaker 1: say shown ago and blah blah. I wrote the Pillow 416 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:45,879 Speaker 1: Book and then it said she was also kind of 417 00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:50,680 Speaker 1: a b except that didn't say b uh. That has 418 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,159 Speaker 1: since been edited out of the Wikipedia article, so it 419 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,320 Speaker 1: doesn't say that anymore. So this was probably because she 420 00:24:57,480 --> 00:24:59,960 Speaker 1: was opinionated and she teased people who got their etiquet 421 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:03,040 Speaker 1: uh and ceremony wrong. She was really pretty scornful of 422 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:06,120 Speaker 1: the lower classes. And you know, her book is full 423 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:10,200 Speaker 1: of these lists of hateful and depressing and annoying things 424 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,399 Speaker 1: that a lot of people on Twitter would probably hashtag 425 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:17,880 Speaker 1: first world problems. Yeah, definitely speaking from a position of 426 00:25:18,760 --> 00:25:22,880 Speaker 1: privilege being annoyed by things that are really not real issues. 427 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:26,879 Speaker 1: I had forgotten how how really a lot of the 428 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:28,720 Speaker 1: things that are in her list to like me, Like, 429 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:32,160 Speaker 1: it had been fifteen or so years since I read 430 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,359 Speaker 1: the whole book, and when I reread it, I I 431 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:38,840 Speaker 1: really I had forgotten how many of the lists of 432 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:43,320 Speaker 1: things are extremely funny to me. Yeah, they're one, they're 433 00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:46,679 Speaker 1: hilarious viewed through a modern lens. But also it's just 434 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:50,400 Speaker 1: I can't help but picturing this woman just sitting there 435 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:54,040 Speaker 1: in the salon kind of recording these random things like man, 436 00:25:54,080 --> 00:25:57,399 Speaker 1: my gossip got interrupted. Yeah, it becomes very very witty 437 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,399 Speaker 1: in its own well. And one of the trans lations 438 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:03,119 Speaker 1: about the uh, what you know you're getting ready to 439 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:05,760 Speaker 1: hear something interesting is and then the baby starts crying. 440 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:09,680 Speaker 1: One of the other translations of it is that specifically, 441 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:11,560 Speaker 1: you were talking to the mother of the baby and 442 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:13,639 Speaker 1: she is about to tell you something interesting and her 443 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:16,800 Speaker 1: baby starts crying, which is even more like pointed in 444 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:22,280 Speaker 1: the whole Hatred of Babies. UM. If you are interested 445 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 1: in reading this book, I highly recommend unless you are 446 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:29,320 Speaker 1: already really well steeped in Japanese culture, and particularly Japanese 447 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:31,920 Speaker 1: culture during this period, I recommend getting one that has 448 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:36,359 Speaker 1: roughly as many notes as the book is long, like UH. 449 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:40,680 Speaker 1: Mine that I have is edited by Ivan Morris, and 450 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 1: it is almost the same length of text versus notes. UM. 451 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,639 Speaker 1: And it is that one also excludes some of the 452 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:51,360 Speaker 1: more really really mundane lists that are like lists of nouns. 453 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:54,439 Speaker 1: I don't think that's a real one, but um, that 454 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:59,639 Speaker 1: one includes mostly the more evocative lists. So that is 455 00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,720 Speaker 1: the or of say, shown aging in a little glimpse 456 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:09,240 Speaker 1: of what aristocratic imperial court life was like uh in Japan. 457 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:14,000 Speaker 1: While as my medieval literature professor said, everyone when I 458 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:17,159 Speaker 1: was in college while Europe was having fleas and wearing skins. 459 00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,200 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us for this Saturday classic. 460 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:29,680 Speaker 1: Since this is out of the archive, if you heard 461 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:32,000 Speaker 1: an email address or a Facebook U r L or 462 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:34,920 Speaker 1: something similar during the course of the show, that may 463 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:38,720 Speaker 1: be obsolete now, so here's our current contact information. We 464 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: are at History Podcast at how stuff works dot com, 465 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,360 Speaker 1: and then we're at Missed in the History. All over 466 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:48,520 Speaker 1: social media that is our name on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, 467 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:54,840 Speaker 1: and Instagram. Thanks again for listening. For more on this 468 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics. Is it how stuff works 469 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:06,160 Speaker 1: dot com.