A life-affirming collection of Japanese writing and poetry from the 11th Century AD. Written by aristocratic ladies in waiting to the empress of Japan they reflect the preoccupations, passions and obsessions of women born long long ago. Yet their ways of thinking and ideas could be the same as any modern women. This is fascinating glimpse into the lives of women from long ago.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Genre: Japanese history, Japanese poetry, non-fiction
Publisher: Dover Publications Inc.
Review in one word: Transcendental
What an astonishing realisation! I feel a bit foolish that I thought otherwise. That court ladies of old Japan from over a thousand years ago should be so alike to me and so many other woman across barriers of language, culture and thousands of years. The classic book Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan was originally published in 1920 and features the diaries of three aristocratic court ladies:
- Lady Sarashina, circa 1021 A.D
- Lady Murasaki Shikibu, circa 1008 to 1010 A.D
- Lady Izumi Shikibu circa 1003 to 1004 A.D.
In Gods-absent month I went again, and the mountain views along the way were more beautiful than before, the mountain-side brocaded with the autumn colours.
The stream, rushing headlong, boiled up like molten metal and then shattered into crystals.
Linger in the field where flower-maidens are blooming
And your name will be tarnished with tales of gallantry.
Book Review: Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan by Shikibu Murasaki
In these diaries the court ladies write in a flowery and poetic way that many people do when they are young.
Lady Sarashina writes about her hopes to find a wonderful shining prince who will marry her and of an obsessive love for the romance The Tale of Genji. The narrative shifts from when she was younger towards her old age as she grapples with grief and a fading chance at romance. As she grows older she turns more towards religious piety.
In one of the most mesmerising excerpts Lady Sarashina recalls how a cat was thought to be the reincarnated spirit of a beloved nobleman come back from the dead to visit her sick sister.
“Once in the Rice-Sprout month, when I was up late reading a romance, I heard a cat mewing with a long-drawn-out cry. I turned, wondering, and saw a very lovely cat.
“Whence does it come?” I asked. “Sh,” said my sister, “do not tell anybody. It is a darling cat and we will keep it.”
The cat was very sociable and lay beside us. Some one might be looking for her [we thought], so we kept her secretly.
She kept herself aloof from the vulgar servants, always sitting quietly before us. She turned her face away from unclean food, never eating it. She was tenderly cared for and caressed by us.
Once sister was ill, and the family was rather upset. The cat was kept in a room facing the north [i.e. a servant’s room], and never was called. She cried loudly and scoldingly, yet I thought it better to keep her away and did so.
Sister, suddenly awakening, said to me, “Where is the cat kept? Bring her here.” I asked why, and sister said:
“In my dream the cat came to my side and said, ‘I am the altered form of the late Honoured Daughter of the First Adviser to the King. There was a slight cause [for this]. Your sister has been thinking of me affectionately, so I am here for a while, but now I am among the servants. O how dreary I am!’
So saying she wept bitterly. She appeared to be a noble and beautiful person and then I awoke to hear the cat crying! How pitiful!”
The story moved me deeply and after this I never sent the cat away to the north-facing room, but waited on her lovingly. Once, when I was sitting alone, she came and sat before me, and, stroking her head, I addressed her: “You are the first daughter of the Noble Adviser? I wish to let your father know of it.” The cat watched my face and mewed, lengthening her voice.
It may be my fancy, but as I was watching her she seemed no common cat. She seemed to understand my words, and I pity her.
Book Review: Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan by Shikibu Murasaki
Lady Murasaki Shikibu’s diary is the most well known and was written between 1008 and 1010. She offers a critical and often sharp dissection of court life and the protocols and procedures that were expected of her along with the pressures and challenges of being a noblewoman.
Lastly, the diary of Izumi Shikibu reflects her immense talent for poetry and passionate nature. The diary captures only a short period of 1003-1004 and features waka poetry between Izumi and her lover Prince Atsumichi. It chronicles the intense, secretive, and often scandalous nature of their affair following the death of his brother (who was also her lover).
In the Japanese courts, one’s political standing and chances at romance were tied closely to how skilled they were at writing and interpreting poetry. As a result we have some magnificent examples in this book!
When the evening sun descends behind the mountain peak,
Will you forget that it is I who gaze with longing
Towards the place where you are?
Undying affection!
Can it end at last, overlaid with time
Even as snow covers the land in the Northern Province?
Even a little pebble does not cease to be
Though pressed under the snow of Hakusan
So is my affection even though hidden.
I yearn for a tranquil momentTo be out upon the sea of harmony,
In that enchanted boat.
Oh, boatman, do you know my heart?”
Content Catnip 