220. Enter Murasaki, exit Aoi

Link to Table of Contents

The Lady of the Evening Faces

Still Genji
Such a convoluted and silly story, with women suddenly taking ill and dying for no apparent reason. Now if this were set in a Frankish court, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, I would think this was the result of poisoning that they are not mentioning for some reason. And as silly as it is, and even as the tragic deaths pile up, I do find myself being sucked in. The allure of Story. Just as no religious dogma seems to be too unbelievable, so it would seem that even the most bazaar characters and culture can still pull you in and lead to identification. 

And Genji is no odder than O. 



It turns out The Tale of Genji is not a feminist screed.

p62 [After the sudden, inexplicable death of a young woman whose name we don't even know -- she is referred to as The Lady of the Evening Faces (Evening Faces being a kind of flower). Genji:] "How old was she? She seemed so delicate, because she was not long for this world, I suppose."

[Ukon:] "Nineteen, perhaps? My mother, who was her nurse, died and left me behind. Her father took a fancy to me, and so we grew up together, and I never once left her side. I wonder how I can go on without her. I am almost sorry that we were so close. She seemed so weak, but I can see now that she was a source of strength."

"The weak ones do have a power over us. The clear, forceful ones I can do without. I am weak and indecisive by nature myself, and a woman who is quiet and withdrawn and follows the wishes of a man even to the point of letting herself be used has much the greater appeal. A man can shape and mold her as he wishes, and becomes fonder of her all the while."

Jane Austen wrote almost the same thing in Northanger Abbey, but she was being arch.

p63 "She was exactly what you would have wished, sir." Ukon was in tears. "That thought makes the loss seem greater."

The sky had clouded over and a chilly wind had come up. Gazing off in the distance, Genji said softly:

p64 "One sees the clouds as smoke that rose from the pyre,
And suddenly the evening sky seems nearer."

"In the Eighth Month, the Ninth Month, the nights are long" he whispered, and lay down.

So far, Ukon is the character who interests me most, but I see she isn't mentioned in the list of Principle Characters. I guess she isn't going to turn into an East Asian Francoise.

What interests me about this novel is that it dates from the 10th and 11th centuries, so pre-Tokugawa shogunate. It's my belief that the Tokugawas did a masterful job of social engineering that made it easier for them to maintain control of Japan, while setting the stage for the disaster of the Pacific War. I would hope to find some support for that view here, but I can't say I expect this author to cover such things. I hope I'm underestimating her.

Murasaki

This new relationship with Murasaki (a girl of about ten or maybe eleven) is more than a little disturbing. Genji is taken with her because he’s in lust with her aunt (Fujitsubo) and literally carries her off to his palace against everyone’s wishes. And then we get this,

P105 ...She was by now extremely fond of her new father [Genji]. She would be the first to run out and greet him when he came home, and she would climb on his lap, and they would talk happily together, without the least constraint or embarrassment. He was delighted with her. A clever and watchful woman can create all manner of difficulties. A man must be always on his guard, and jealousy can have the most unwelcome consequences. Murasaki was the perfect companion, a toy for him to play with. He could not have been so free and uninhibited with a daughter of his own. There are restraints upon paternal intimacy. Yes, he had come upon a remarkable little treasure.


I could be reading this wrong due to the cultural norms of this time in Japan, but it sounds at least  selfishly manipulative. Plus, about five minutes ago he was talking about taking care of the daughter of The Lady of the Night Faces, but that seems to have been entirely forgotten after he first caught sight of Murasaki. 

Fujitsubo

There is an entertainment where Genji dances,
p108 "Surely the gods above are struck dumb with admiration," Lady Kokiden, mother of the crown prince, was heard to observe. "One is overpowered by such company."

Some of the young women thought her rather horrid.

To Fujitsubo it was all like a dream. How she wished that those unspeakable occurrences had not taken place. Then she might be as happy as the others.

She spent the night with the emperor.

Was there ever a time when the young women did not find some of their elders "rather horrid?"

Fujitsubo has taken the place of Genji's mother in the life of the emperor, and "unspeakable occurrences" refers to her getting knocked up by Genji.

Genji is the son of the emperor, though of an insignificant family, and seems to embody all the masculine virtues of the age -- dancing, music, communicating primarily in veiled references to lines of poems (this works a bit like Cockney rhyming slang as you don't speak the key line), also looks -- so it's hard to judge how "normal" his affairs with women are. But it appears that a fine young man of rank was expected to take what he wished... rather like the Japanese army in China during the war. 

At the moment he's still lusting after Fujitsubo (now the empress) while raising Murasaki in his home and mostly neglecting his wife, who lives with her family. And, he's just learned which of the princesses is his most recent conquest in the dark. And there has been nothing in the book so far aside these personal affairs. You would think this was the palace of the emperor during the shogunate, when the actual governing of the state occurred elsewhere. 

Aoi

p160 This section is interesting mostly as it concerns what seems to be a popular belief at the time, that a person's health can be undermined by another's hatred. Genji's wife, Aoi,  is having difficulties in her pregnancy and the blame is attributed to a number of ladies Genji is involved with (or their fathers). This Voodoo like system is presented as so prevalent that one of the other ladies suspects that she is indeed at fault though against her will. What is ignored is that if this was indeed the cause of his wife's distress she would be dead, there are so many of his conquests wishing her ill. Literally.

This idea has come up before with regard to Genji himself when the emperor (now the old emperor) was concerned that Genji was, in effect, attracting the evil eye.

Here is what must be the climax of this part of the story,

p161 It was still too early for Aoi [Genji's wife] to be delivered of her child. Her women were less than fully alert; and then suddenly, she was seized with labor pains. More priests were put to more strenuous prayers. The malign spirit refused to move. The most eminent of exorcists found this stubbornness extraordinary, and could not think what to do. Then, after renewed efforts at exorcism, more intense than before, it commenced sobbing as if in pain.

"Stop for a moment, please. I want to speak to General Genji." [This is Aoi.]

It was as they had thought. The women showed Genji to a place at Aoi's curtains. Thinking -- for she did seem on the point of death -- that Aoi had last words for Genji, her parents withdrew...

He took her hand. "How awful. How awful for all of us." He could say no more.

Usually so haughty and forbidding, she now gazed up at him with languid eyes that were presently filled with tears. How could he fail to be moved? This violent weeping, he thought, would be for her parents, soon to be left behind, and perhaps, at this last leave-taking, for him too.

"You mustn't fret so. It can't be as bad as you think. And even if the worst comes, we will meet again. And your mother and father: the bond between parents and children lasts through many lives. You must tell yourself that you will see them again."

p162 "No, no. I was hurting so, I asked them to stop for a while. I had not dreamed that I would come to you like this, it is true: a troubled soul will sometimes go wandering off." The voice was gentle and affectionate.

"Bind the hem of my robe, to keep it within, 
The grieving soul that has wandered through the skies."

It was not Aoi's voice, nor was the manner hers. Extraordinary -- and then he knew that it was the voice of the Rokujo lady [a jealous conquest]. He was aghast. He had dismissed the talk as vulgar and ignorant fabrication, and here before his eyes he had proof that such things did actually happen. He was horrified and repelled.

"You may say so. But I don't know who you are. Identify yourself."

It was indeed she. "Aghast" -- is there no stronger word? He waved the women back.

Thinking that these calmer tones meant a respite from pain, her mother came with medicine; even as she drank it down she gave birth to a baby boy. Everyone was delighted, save the spirits that had been transferred to mediums. Chagrined at their failure, they were raising a great stir, and all in all it was a noisy and untidy scene...

p163 The Rokujo lady received the news with mixed feelings. She had heard that her rival was critically ill, and now the crisis had passed. She was not herself. The strangest thing was that her robes were permeated with the scent of the poppy seeds burned at exorcisms. She changed clothes repeatedly and even washed her hair, but the odor persisted. She was overcome with self-loathing. And what would others be thinking? It was a matter she could discuss with no one. She could only suffer in distraught silence.

Somewhat calmer, Genji was still horrified at the unsolicited remarks he had had from the possessive spirit. He really must get off a note to the Rokujo lady. Or should he have a talk with her? He would find it hard to be civil, and he did not wish to hurt her. In the end he made do with a note. [She has status at court and with his father.]

...Genji had been persuaded to stop his nocturnal wanderings. He still had not really talked to his wife, for she was still far from normal...

Especially around the eyes, the baby bore a strong resemblance to the crown prince, [I think one of Genji's half brothers] whom Genji suddenly felt an intense longing to see. He could not sit still. He had to be off to court.

Aoi dies shortly after Genji and her kinsmen leave for the palace.