JAPAN 7A by Elise Park https://padlet.com/elisepark3/ifqgubl50q89zgcg en-us 2021-09-06 06:38:47 UTC 2023-04-14 07:01:33 UTC hello@padlet.com Heian Period - 11th Century elisepark3 https://padlet.com/elisepark3/ifqgubl50q89zgcg/wish/1735186404 Citation for External Source:
Fragment from the Hon'ami Edition of Kokin Wakashu
National Institutes for Cultural Heritage
https://emuseum.nich.go.jp/detail?langId=en&webView=null&content_base_id=101056&content_part_id=0&content_pict_id=0

Quotation: “In the course of this, written Chinese assumed enormous importance in matters of state, philosophy, and religion. Any serious engagement with such matters required knowledge of written Chinese and for some time writing was equivalent with writing in Chinese…reading and interpretation of Chinese canonical texts came to assume great importance,  both within Buddhism and in government administration.” Bjarke Frellesvig, A History of the Japanese Language, p. 11.

I thought this quotation was interesting in the context of the Heian-era scroll (Fragment from the Hon'ami Edition of Kokin Wakashu) presented on the NICH website. As the quote indicates, China’s influence on premodern Japan in a myriad of ways - in politics, in religion, and in the physical literature from the premodern era. In the 8th century, Japanese writing was wholly represented by Chinese characters. However, in the scroll, one can see the usage of native Japanese characters. While the poem is physically written on imported Chinese paper, the stylistic choices of the calligraphy seem to indicate the development of a uniquely Japanese artistry. This points to the liminal status of Japan in the 11th century - still influenced by China, and yet developing its own identity.
]]> 2021-09-13 06:26:53 UTC https://padlet.com/elisepark3/ifqgubl50q89zgcg/wish/1735186404 Heian Period - 11th Century elisepark3 https://padlet.com/elisepark3/ifqgubl50q89zgcg/wish/1770266066 Citation for External Source:
Genji espies Murasaki for the first time, from the Wakamurasaki chapter of The Tale of Genji
UMMA Exchange
https://exchange.umma.umich.edu/resources/30246/view#

Quotation: "Anyway, the really fascinating girl is the one of whom no one has ever heard, the strangely appealing one who lives by herself, hidden away in some ruinous, overgrown old house." Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji, p. 24.

I thought this direct quote and this artistic depiction of a scene from The Tale of Genji provided an interesting juxtaposition between the perspective of women and romance as seen in the novel versus what was commonly popularized amongst the aristocracy. While the direct quote provides interesting nuance on what the ideal woman looks like, more commercial scenes of beautiful women and blossoming romance seem to be depicted in paintings and drawings. To me, this is an example of commercialization - something I would not have expected to see in premodern Japan.]]> 2021-09-27 06:59:45 UTC https://padlet.com/elisepark3/ifqgubl50q89zgcg/wish/1770266066 Kamakura Period - 13th Century elisepark3 https://padlet.com/elisepark3/ifqgubl50q89zgcg/wish/1788654171 "The heyday of the heikyoku tradition was the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries...During the sixteenth century the artform diminished in popularity, and most blind musicians of the Tôdôza fumed to more contemporary forms of music, in particular music of the koto and shamisen, as a mainstay for their livelihoods...The tradition continued until the early Meiji Period (1868-1912), when the Tôdôza was banned by the new government."

Citation for External Source:
HEIKYOKU or HEIKEBIWA
Global Performing Arts Consortium
http://www.glopac.org/Jparc/HEIKYOKU/tale-of-heike.html

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Quotation from in-class reading: "The Jetavana bells ring the passing of all things. Twinned sal trees, white in full flower, declare the great man's certain fall. The arrogant do not long endure: They are like a dream one night in spring." Royall Tyler, translator. The Tale of the Heike, p. 1.

The famous opening lines of Heike Monogatari echo the Buddhist concept of impermanence, a theme strongly associated with the epic. When reading the external source, I was intrigued by how the trajectory of Heike as an art form seemed to parallel this theme of transience - just as man must fall, so too must their stories. With this, I wonder if the traditional telling of Heike - through oral tradition and song - was done in an intentionally transient medium so as to reflect the Buddhist principles that shape the story.]]> 2021-10-04 06:00:33 UTC https://padlet.com/elisepark3/ifqgubl50q89zgcg/wish/1788654171 Edo Period - 18th Century elisepark3 https://padlet.com/elisepark3/ifqgubl50q89zgcg/wish/1863855151 Quotation from in-class reading: "They embrace, flesh to flesh, then fall to the group and weep -- how pitiful they are! Their strings of tears unite like entwining branches, or the pine and palm that grow from a single trunk, a symbol of eternal love. Here the dew of their unhappy lives will at last settle."

Something I noticed while reading the Chikamatsu plays was that movement, description, characterization, and plot was a lot more fleshed out than what we had read previously - theatricality seems a lot more present, and I think that this quote demonstrates the nuance required of these performances. In the quote, something as simple as an embrace indicates pity while simultaneously acting as a symbol of eternal love. This is further reflected in the external source - the joruri expert describes the subtlety in movement that is required to convey emotion, gender, and character elements. The theatricality, to me, is reminiscent of modern theatrical performances, and is an evolution from the longer, more traditional Noh theatre of prior eras.]]> 2021-11-03 06:55:49 UTC https://padlet.com/elisepark3/ifqgubl50q89zgcg/wish/1863855151