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Writing Practice, Chapter 53 (Tenarai)
Kunisada I (Toyokuni III), 1853, Wood cut
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Writing Practice, Chapter 53 (Tenarai)
Writing Practice, Chapter 53 (Tenarai)
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Library Item
Item no
16249
Title
Writing Practice, Chapter 53 (Tenarai) from the series "A Modern Collection of Genji in Colour Prints" ("Ima Genji nishiki-e awase")
Description
A woman is shown kneeling at a desk writing calligraphy while a young boy looks on. In one hand she holds a calligraphy brush and with the other hand she holds the paper in place. On the low writing desk there are several more brushes and an inkstone. The boy carries a booklet of completed calligraphy. The woman wears a purple kimono with a red geometrically patterned obi belt. At the hem of her kimono is the 'crow gourd' pattern introduced in the illustration for the Yugao chapter of the tale. The woman wears decorative hairpins, and the boy is dressed in a blue kimono and has a shaved head. Besides the one golden wall partition, painted with lotus flowers, there are no further screens and the room opens out onto a walkway overlooking the sea. In the background, peasants are busy harvesting the crops.
This image derives from the serial novel or 'gokan', 'A Fake Murasaki and a Rustic Genji' (Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji) written by Ryutei Tanehiko and illustrated by Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III), that was published between 1829-1842. This story reworks elements from the 'Tale of Genji' and transposes the action from the Heian period (794-1185) to the time of the Muromachi era's Onin Wars (1467-1477).
Artist / maker
Kunisada I (Toyokuni III)
Date
1853
Size
27.9 x 19.8 cm
Type
Wood cut
Location
Art and Design Library
Signed: Toyokuni ga
Censors' seals:Aratame
Date seal: Tiger year, 2nd month (1854)
Kyoka poem
Murasaki Shikibu 'Tale of Genji', 'Tenarai', Chapter 53. In this chapter, Ukifune is discovered by a group of pilgrims who are returning from Hatsuse. His Reverence, the Prelate of Yokawa, his younger sister and their aged mother are among the party. When His Reverence's mother takes ill they move her to a deserted villa on the banks of the river. While inspecting the grounds of the villa they discover Ukifune, half dead, beneath the trees. The Reverence's sister, a nun, cares for Ukifune. She still mourns the untimely passing of her own daughter and wonders whether Ukifune is a gift from the Kannon of Hatsuse.
His Reverence performs an exorcism and the spirit that has been afflicting Ukifune passes into the body of a medium. The spirit describes how it tried to kill Ukifune and announces that it claimed the life of Ukifune's half sister, Oigimi. Ukifune refuses to speak about her former life and requests that her existence be kept secret.
The nun's former son-in-law, the Captain, catches sight of Ukifune and presses the nuns to tell him more about her. The Captain sends Ukifune many messages and poems, but Ukifune does not want to form any worldly attachments and remains aloof. Ukifune is steadfast in her decision to reject the world and eventually succeeds in persuading His Reverence to perform the necessary rites. When His Reverence's sister returns from her pilgrimage, she is saddened to discover that in her absence Ukifune has become a nun and received the Precepts. Ukifune writes out poems as a form of calligraphy practice, and this is the only way that Ukifune expresses her inner emotions.
His Reverence treats the First Princess' illness and performs Buddhist rites for her recovery. During this encounter His Reverence describes Ukifune to the Empress and she silently guesses that Ukifune is the missing Hitachi daughter that Kaoru and Niou had been courting. Ukifune is alarmed when the Governor of Kii, a grandson to the old nun, visits the house and mentions Ukifune's mother. He is now in the service of Kaoru, assisting his master with preparations for a dedicatory rite. He asks the nuns to make a set of women's clothes for the ceremony that marks the anniversary of Ukifune's death. Ukifune avoids the task of sewing the garment by claiming that she feels unwell.
Kaoru learns from Kozaisho and the Empress that Ukifune may still be alive and living as a nun in a mountain village. Kaoru wrongly suspects that Niou already knows of her whereabouts. Kaoru decides to investigate and sets off to speak to His Reverence.
Exhibitions with this item
'A Modern Collection of Genji in Colour'
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