Asian Love

Hishida Shunso

Black Cat

Asakusa Rice Fields and Torinomachi Festival (Asakusa tanbo Torinomachi mode), from the series “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)” 1857

The Pillow Book

The Pillow Book (Makura no Soshi) is a personalised account of life at the Japanese court by Sei Shonagon which she completed c. 1002 CE during the Heian Period. The book is full of humorous observations (okashi) written in the style of a diary, an approach known as zuihitsu-style (‘rambling’) of which The Pillow Book was the first and greatest example.

Sei Shonagon

Sei Shonagon was a lady of the Japanese imperial court. Her surname is not her actual name but refers to her role, or more likely the role of her husband, as a ‘lesser counsellor’ or shonagon. Her family name was Kiyohara, her father being Kiyohara no Motosuke (908-990 CE) who was himself a waka poet of some repute and co-author of Gosenshu, an imperial anthology. Her grandfather, Kiyohara no Fukayabu, was an even more renowned poet. Sei Shonagon was born c. 966 CE, was married at least twice and was known to have visited certain Buddhist and Shinto sacred sites and temples.

Sei Shonagon was part of a wider group of literary ladies employed to educate Teishi (976-1001 CE), one of the wives of Emperor Ichijo. Sei Shonagon joined the court in 993 CE, and she describes her early experience there as follows:

When I first went into waiting at Her Majesty’s Court, so many different things embarrassed me that I could not even reckon them up and I was always on the verge of tears. As a result I tried to avoid appearing before the Empress except at night, and even then I stayed hidden behind a three-foot curtain of state. (Keene, 413)

One of Shonagon’s literary rivals and lady at the second imperial court, that of Shoshi (Akiko), was Murasaki Shikibu, authoress of the classic Tale of Genji. Shikibu was scathing of Shonagon’s literary skills in her own diary: “She thought herself so clever, and littered her writings with Chinese characters, but if you examined them closely, they left a great deal to be desired” (Ebrey, 199). Still, Shikibu was not above borrowing images and scenes from The Pillow Book for her own work. It is conceivable that Genji was a response to Shonagon’s work given the rivalry between the two royal courts when, unusually, there were two reigning empresses.

Fujiwara Clan

The Fujiwara Clan (Fujiwara-shi) was a powerful extended family group which dominated all areas of Japanese government during the Heian Period (794-1185). Founded by Fujiwara no Kamatari in 645 CE, male members held on to key official positions, many acting as regents to the emperor, and ensured their daughters married into the imperial line. By the 12th century CE, Fujiwara power declined as successive emperors abdicated in favour of their own chosen heir while still maintaining their hold on power in retirement. The Fujiwara were ultimately replaced by the rival Taira and Minamoto clans.

Fujiwara no Kamatari

In the 7th century CE the court official Nakatomi, later to become Fujiwara no Kamatari (614-669 CE), became a useful ally to Prince Naka no Oe, and together they staged a coup in 645 CE which deposed the powerful Soga clan who had hitherto dominated government positions and were threatening to usurp the power of the emperor. A series of political reforms were then initiated, known as the Taika Reforms (Taika No Kaishin). These reforms were based on the Chinese model of strong central government and they nationalised land, reorganised the court ranking system, forbade the ownership of unauthorised weapons, and attempted to root out corruption. When the Prince became Emperor Tenji (661-671), he gave Nakatomi and his descendants the surname Fujiwara and made him his special minister.

Kamatari’s son Fubito (aka Fuhito, 659-720 CE) married the daughter of Emperor Mommu, and his four grandsons each formed the four branches of the Fujiwara clan: Nanke (Southern House), Hokke (Northern House), Shikike(Ceremonials House), and Kyoke (Capital House). The Fujiwara line was now firmly established and they would keep a tenacious grip on power as they not only dominated policy and government bodies such as the household treasury office (kurando-dokoro) and Council of State but also managed to marry off their daughters to emperors.

Further weakening the royal position was the fact that many emperors took the throne as children and so were governed by a regent (Sessho), usually a representative of the Fujiwara family. In total there would be 21 Fujiwara regents from 804 CE to 1238 CE. Even when the emperor reached adulthood, he was still advised by a new position, the Kampaku, which ensured the Fujiwara maintained their influence. To guarantee this situation was perpetuated new emperors were nominated not by birth but by their sponsors and encouraged or forced to abdicate when in their thirties in favour of a younger successor. Thus, for example, between 858 and 956 CE there were 10 different emperors. As a consequence, key Fujiwara members could act as regent to three or four successive emperors in their own lifetime.

PEOPLE OF THE ANCIENT WORLD: Tenman Tenjin (Japanese Scholar & Poet) 

SUGAWARA no Michizane, aka Tenman Tenjin (845-903 CE), was a scholar, poet, and high-level administrator in the Japanese court during the Heian Period. Badly treated and exiled, he would gain a spectacular revenge on his political rivals from beyond the grave when he was deified following a series of disasters thought to be a product of Tenjin’s anger. He became the patron god of scholarship and education, and a shrine was built in his honour at Kyoto, the then capital.

Sugawara no Michizane was born into a family of modest standing in 845 BCE, although his grandfather and father had both been scholars of note. Despite his lack of rank, Michizane rose to an unusually high position in the state administrative apparatus thanks to his uncanny talents. He was said to have written his first poem in Chinese at the tender age of ten. At age 12 Michizane embarked on his career as a bureaucrat at the lowest entry rank of six. At 18 he passed the examination of the Ministry of Ceremonial and became a monjosho or Scholar of Letters. In 877 CE he became a professor of Chinese literature.

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