Temple University June 3, 2009
Susan Blakeley Klein
"Rokujô in Tale of Genji and Aoi no Ue"
Class focus: the representation of Rokujo in two different periods and genres, to see how her representation is changed and how those changes might reflect changes in society and attitudes towards women
I. Background
A. Basic critical analysis that will help us understand who controls the representation of women
1. Who is it written by? (male? female? upper/lower class? etc )
2. Who was it written for? (What was the intended audience? Was there a patron?)
3. What were the goals? (Entertainment? Didactic? Both?)
4. What was the historical context? (economic, political, religious)
5. What are the genre/narrative constraints? (Is it a novel, a poem, a play, an image? What are the structural elements that define the genre that might limit representation? What narrative elements are necessary to make the story work?)
VIDEO
"The Tradition of Performing Arts in Japan: The Artistry of Kabuki, Noh and Bunraku"
II. Religious background of Tale of Genji and Noh theater.
A. Belief in angry spirits called onryô (can be living or dead) who can attack the living and make them sick
1. Two kinds of possession:
a. etiological possession (possession illness, mononoke): symptoms of nausea, shortness of breath, loud wailing sobs
b. hysterical possession (channelling): shamanic medium goes into trance, identifies and speaks for the possessing spirit
1) main goal of exorcism ritual is to get the possessing spirit to identify itself
B. In Heian period pregnant women were seen as particularly vulnerable to mononoke possession illness. Many historical descriptions. Why?
C. Gender split: female shaman mediums can call these onryô up, male Buddhist priest are able to pacify or exorcise them
a. Note that in the Heian period, spirits did not appear visibly, only through hysterical possession of a shamanistic medium
2. Certain categories of Noh plays developed out of the theatricalization of exorcism rituals to pacify those ghosts.
a. Ghosts become visible around the same time as Noh develops-- coincidence?
3. Adachigahara/Kurozuka and Aoi no Ue: theatrical performances of exorcism ritual
III. Review of Rokujô in Tale of Genji
A. Who is she?
1. Genealogy
B. What is her problem with Genji?
C. Character traits?
1. Positive:
2. Negative:.
D. Why is she angry at Aoi no Ue? (Kamo festival incident image)
E. Possession scene in Genji
1. combines hysterical and etiological (mononoke) possession when Rokujo possesses Aoi no Ue directly to speak to Genji
2. no historical examples of this -- so why did the author do this?
F. Do we sympathize with Rokujo? Why is that important?
G. What happens to her later in Genji? What does she represent for all the women in the novel?
IV. Basic Plot of Aoi no Ue: Rokujô, Aoi no Ue, shamaness (Teruhi); famous mountain priest Little Ascetic of Yokowa (Yokowa no Kohijiri)
VIDEO: Aoi no Ue
A. 2 versions:
1. early version with carriage, Rokujô and accompanying maid
2. later version without carriage or maid (explains sometimes strange assignment of lines)
V. Comparison of Rokujô in Tale of Genji and Aoi no ue
A. Critical Analysis of Tale of Genji and Noh play
1. Authorship:
Tale of Genji: Written by a lady-in-waiting to Empress Shôshi in 1000 CE, known as Murasaki Shikibu.
Aoi no Ue: anonymous male Noh actor (probably revised by the founder of Noh, Zeami)
2. Patronage:
Tale of Genji: Fujiwara no Michinaga (father of the Empress) hired Murasaki Shikibu and provided paper
Aoi no Ue: probably a Buddhist temple
3. Audience:
Tale of Genji: very elite: Imperial Court; Empress Shôshi's salon
Aoi no Ue: mixture of popular and elite
4. Purpose:
Tale of Genji: entertainment; criticism of marriage politics
Aoi no Ue: didactic (show power of Buddhism); entertainment
5. Influence of historical context:
Tale of Genji: Heian period marriage politics central to women's lives; religious beliefs about angry spirits (but religion NOT central to lives of characters)
Aoi no Ue: marriage politics no longer a concern; religious focus VERY important
6. Genre/narrative constraints:
Tale of Genji: Heian period conventions of "romance"; plot of story (what happens later)
Aoi no Ue: theatricalization of ritual exorcism; Noh's highly simplified aesthetics
VI. Differences between the two versions
A. What is the central conflict?
►Tale of Genji:
►Aoi no Ue:
2. Rokujo's ambivalence in two versions:
3. Example of how precipitating conflict in Tale of Genji is transformed into imagery in Noh
a. Original event: carriage incident at the Kamo Parade (image)
b. Why it is important
4. Imagery in the play: carts/carriages/vehicles, wheels of karmic retribution
a. p 17 Teruhi describes seeing Rokujo enter riding in a broken carriage with a maid-in-waiting clutching at the shaft of their ox-less carriage weeping :
Rokujo says:
Riding the Three Vehicles down the Path of the Law
one might yet escape through the gate of the Burning House.
But my cart is in shambles, like Yugao's dwelling,
without direction or recourse; and I miserable.
My wretched world like the little ox cart wheels
round and round in irrevocable retribution.
b. Teruhi remonstrates with Rokujo but at the end of the first half Rokujo attempts to drag Aoi no ue into her carriage and take her away
5. Parable of the Burning House (1, 2)from the Lotus Sutra:
a. three carts represent the three possible vehicles of Buddhist enlightenment; the large cart drawn by the ox represents the “Great Vehicle” of Mahayana Buddhism
6. What has the carriage of the carriage incident at the Kamo parade now being transformed into? Did it have any of these meanings in the original text of Tale of Genji?
7. Why the differences?
a. Buddhist didactic message
b. Noh imagery
B. Is Rokujô alive or dead?
►Tale of Genji:
►Aoi no Ue:
p. 3 Rokujo:
Riding the Three Vehicles down the Path of the Law/one might escape through the gate of the Burning House.
But my carriage is in shambles, like Yugao 's dwelling,/Without direction or recourse; and I am miserable.
My wretched world like the little ox cart wheels/ The wretched world like the little ox cart wheels
Round and round in irrevocable retribution.
p. 27 Rokujo and Teruhi:
…the spirit ( onryo怨霊) of Rokujo no Miyasudokoro bent on evil./Not long ago, when I counted in the world
I banqueted under the cherries (hana no en 花の宴) at the Imperial Palace/ entertained on spring mornings with music and dance./ I enjoyed the maples (momiji 紅葉) at the retired emperor's villa/ frolicking under the autumn moonlight in color and fragrance./My life was resplendent , but now/ like the morning glory (asagao朝顔 ) that awaits the rising sun/ I have withered.
p. 35 Chorus:
While I a brooding mugwort (yomogiu蓬生)/ am desolate. Gone, all is gone:/
I shall evaporate like dew on a leaf-tip.
This I resent most./
Not even in dreams/
does he return to renew our bond/
an old story.
p. 55 Chorus:
Hearing the sounds of the sutra/ the demon heart softens.
In the form of mercy and forebearance/ the host of bodhisattvas descend
to bear her to Buddhahood/ freed of delusion
1. Why the difference?
C. Who does Rokujo appear to? What role do the priests play?
►Tale of Genji:
►Aoi no Ue:
1. Why the difference?
D. Is Rokujô conscious of what she is doing?
►Tale of Genji:
►Aoi no Ue:
1. Why the difference?
E. Does she kill Aoi no Ue?
►Tale of Genji:
►Aoi no Ue:
1. Why the difference?
F. Does Rokujô get enlightenment?
►Tale of Genji:
►Aoi no Ue:
a. Why the difference?
G. Summary: