Worlding Sei Shônagon: The Pillow Book in Translation

Introduction

1 Introduction In 1889, one of the very first scholarly articles ever written in English on the subject provided a highly laudatory, albeit significantly orientalizing, depiction of what Western readers would discover in an encounter with Classical Japanese literature: Gentleness and grace and a vein of playful humour are its chief characteristics. We look in vain for the bold, irregular flights of imagination, or for that rude, untutored vigour which we are accustomed to associate with the first literary efforts of a nation just emerging from barbarism. Instead of war and rapine, of deeds of daring and revenge, the gentler muse of Japan at this time loved to dwell on nature in her varied aspects, to watch the moon rising over the mountains, or to listen to the hum of insects in the dusk of summer evenings. (Purcell and Aston 216) The implicit reference here is to the specific passage with which this volume is concerned, namely the much loved opening section1 of the late tenth- or early eleventh-century Makura no Sôshi, now widely known in English as The Pillow 1 Although this passage appears first in most editions of the text, the original ordering is, in fact, unknown. The division into distinct passages and the ascription of titles also appear to be a function of later editing. introduction 2 Book. Beginning with the phrase haru wa akebono [spring, dawn], Sei Shônagon describes what she finds most attractive or striking about each of the four seasons, sharing with readers past and present an aesthetic response that, for all its particularity, has been found to have a universal appeal. The apparent simplicity of this and the over three hundred subsequent passages belies a profound sensitivity to the world, both natural and social, a vivid attention to detail, and an ability to cut directly to the heart of things. The Author, Sei Shônagon (born ca. 966; died no earlier than 1017) As difficult to categorize as her masterpiece, Sei Shônagon has always meant different things to different people. In Japan she is a major and well-loved author who lived in the Heian period (794–1186 CE), a time of great cultural flourishing . In addition to the incomparable Pillow Book, she left behind some fifty waka or Japanese poems of thirty-one syllables, and indeed she numbers among the Late Classical Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals. One of her poems was included in the Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each),2 a famous collection first compiled in the ear2 This poem, number 62 in the collection, is in fact drawn from The Pillow Book: Yo o komete tori no sora ne wa hakaru tomo yo ni Ausaka no seki wa yurusaji. McKinney translates this as: “That innocent guard/ hearing the night’s deceptive call/ opened and let them through—/ but, my friend, this lover’s gate/ will fall for no such ruse” (McKinney 135). The poem appears as part of an exchange between Sei Shônagon and Yukinari, a courtier with whom she enjoys a flirtatious relationship. As Joshua S. Mostow explains, this is one of three Hyakunin Isshu verses “intended to show the quick wit of court women” (Mostow 326). Mostow’s own translation reads: “Although, still wrapped in night,/ the cock’s false cry/ some may deceive,/ never will the Barrier/ of Meeting Hill let you pass” (235). introduction 3 ly thirteenth century and which remains very much alive in the public consciousness via a popular card-matching game traditionally played at the New Year. Outside of her native country, she is increasingly called upon to play a broader, less obvious role. One recent American anthology includes Sei Shônagon among a long line of women rhetoricians (Donawerth 2002), for example, while others rank her among history’s social and political theorists (Smith and Carroll 2000; Weiss 2009), and yet another includes her among travel writers who display “meticulousness in noting details and noticing the unfamiliar” (Khair 2006, xii). Granted, although the travels of our author were in fact limited to the occasional pilgrimage to Buddhist temples and Shintô shrines near the capital city of Heian-kyô (presentday Kyôto), she certainly is meticulous in detail and does relish any opportunity for advising others on how to handle relationships or situations of any type, as well as on the proper way to speak and to write. Her talents in the latter case...