The Bluebell (Asagao) from the "Tale of Genji"

Category

Library Item

Item no

16507

Title

The Bluebell (Asagao) Chapter 20 from the "Tale of Genji" inspired series "Murasaki Shikibu Genji Cards"

Description

A Japanese lady stands beside Prince Mitsuuji, who is kneeling on the floor holding an unsheathed sword. The woman is wearing a pink kimono and has a string of prayer beads in her hands. Another sword lies on the floor in front of Prince Mitsuuji. Behind them is a painted screen, a small shrine and incense burners. Outside the walls of the house the snow is falling thickly on the ground and lying on the branches of the trees.

Artist / maker

Kunisada II

Date

1857

Size

36 x 25 cm

Type

Wood cut

Location

Art and Design Library

From an album of printed illustrations inspired by the "Tale of Genji" (Genji Monogatari), an 11th-century portrait of life in the medieval Japanese court by Lady Murasaki Shikibu. Murasaki was the daughter of a provincial governor, and belonged to the second rank of the court aristocracy. Her work has been described as the world's first novel, but was actually written in instalments. The novel comprises of 54 chapters which describe the life of a son of a Japanese emperor, known as Hikaru Genji, or Shining Genji. For political reasons, Genji loses his royal status and begins a career as an imperial officer. The tale focuses on his relationships with various women and life in the aristocratic society of the time. The enduring popularity of this classic led to the production of many adaptations during the Edo period.
This printed series by Kunisada II is a parody of the "Tale of Genji" in which Prince Genji has been replaced with the character of Prince Mitsuuji, the hero of the Ryutei Tanehiko's serial novel "Fake Murasaki and a Rustic Genji" (Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji). The refashioning of Prince Genji as Prince Mitsuuji enabled Edo period artists a greater degree of freedom from official censors in the retelling of the Genji tales. The original publications of "Fake Murasaki and a Rustic Genji" were illustrated by Utagawa Kunisada between 1828 and 1842. The novel's extraordinary success created a fashion for Genji designs and in 1851 two Genji-related Kabuki plays were performed. The Kunisada School exploited the public's enthusiasm for Genji pictures by issuing thousands of Genji-related prints. "Murasaki Shikibu Genji Cards" (Murasaki Shikibu Genji Karuta) designed by Kunisada's successor, Baichoro Kunisada II, were printed in this period.
Each print is inset with an illustration of a pair of clam shells, decorated on one half with a symbol known as a genji-ko (genji crest) composed from an arrangement of incense sticks. In total there are 54 genji-ko, as many as there are chapters in the original "Tale of Genji". The double shell motif refers to the courtly game of 'shell matching' (kai awase) in which the two halves of a clam shell, usually inscribed with a poem, needed to be quickly matched by contestants.

Date/censorship seals: 1857 (Snake Year, Shogatsu, 1st month); aratame

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Related subjects

Clothing and dress > Garments > Kimonos

Military > Arms and armament > Daggers and swords

Natural phenomena > Weather > Snow

People > Adults > Men

People > Adults > Women

Places > Asia > Japan

Religion > Religious articles > Prayer beads

Sport and leisure > Activities > Reading and books

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