The Diary of Lady Murasaki

Murasaki Shikibu was one of the women renowned for producing Japanese literature during the Heian Era. She is the author of the famous <i>Genji Monogatari</i>, and by the time this diary was written, she had already become famous as an author. As a lady in waiting to Empress Shoshi, Murasaki writes about the birth of Shoshi's second son, Atshuhira, in <i>The Diary of Lady Murasaki</i>. <br /><br />The translation of my edition is done by Richard Bowring, a British historian specialising in Japanese history and culture. He has done a highly commendable job. Without the detailed introduction provided by the translator, putting everything into context, I would not have enjoyed the book as much as I did. <br /><br />However, some confusions remain. For instance, I frequently had no idea who was who and how they were related. There were times when there was a list of names and while it might have made sense to contemporaries, many of these names are now almost obscure. Also, whom did 'Her Majesty' and 'Her Excellency' refer to? One of them definitely refers to Empress Shoshi, but which one? And it's a mystery who the other woman is. It could be Ichijo's mother or his first wife. <br /><br />The first half of the diary is a detailed description of the ceremonies taking place after the birth. Then at some point, the tone of the diary changes to become much more personal. As mentioned in the introduction, it does appear that only fragments of the original diary have remained. But though the rows of names and descriptions of robes does pall after a while, there are some interesting insights to the culture. <br /><br />It was amusing to read how much Murasaki appeared to despise Sei Shonogan, the author of the famous <i>The Pillow Book</i>. I wondered why until I did some research and realised that it made sense since Sei Shonogan served Empress Teishi, first wife of Emperor Ichijo, while Murasaki served Empress Shoshi, the second wife and consort. This speaks of interesting court intrigues but sadly, Murasaki doesn't get into any particulars.<br /><br />Murasaki tends to be rather morose and depressed for most of the narrative when she is not in description mode. One does wonder what her story was. There was a time when she mentions holding Chinese books collected by someone close to her. Husband or father? Did she miss him badly and hence was so depressed? The book has left me intensely curious about this lady and her life!

It has come to my attention through Goodreads that I’m quite the slow reader nowadays. Personally I blame the Internet, or rather I spend a great deal of time reading, but more of it turns out to be silly digital articles than books. <br /><br />The upside of all this that when I do finish a book it becomes quite a significant milestone in my mind. This would explain why I feel there is so much to say about this rather slim thing of a diary left to us by Lady Murasaki, author of <i>The Tale of Genji</i> and court lady and tutor to an empress.<br /><br />It is so slim in fact that many academics, as mentioned in the excellent foreword, keep having this nagging suspicion that this is a re-written version and perhaps just a fragment of the original. It sad to think of how much that is probably lost, that this sliver is so filled with so many descriptions of court life when you long to know more of the inner life of Murasaki. <br /><br />Although, or perhaps because of, being a novice to all things Heian Period (794 - 1192), or Japanese history in general (I’m reading this in part due to my interest in women’s history and in part as preparation to someday reading the intimidating <i>The Tale of Genji</i>), I found that the descriptions of court life and ceremonies quite intriguing. At one moment it all seems impossibly stiff and otherworthly, the next moment the very same people are drunk and crying at the sight of their son or flirting shamelessly with the closet person in sight. <br /><br />My enjoyment of the court descriptions probably has to do with Murasaki’s reflective style. When I compare her to the very formal diaries, all written in the male only Chinese, included in the Appendix, I realize how lucky we are to have her records. <br /><br />That is not to say that reading her is a laugh-riot. She is somber and pensive to say the least. At the moment I’m telling myself that I have to finish this review before getting further along with <i>The Pillow Book</i>, the exuberant diary/notebook/list-fest of her contemporary Sei Shonagon. It appears that <i>The Pillow Book</i> is far more popular among the Goodread crowd and it’s supposed to be a more lust filled and engaging read. To me it appears to be a question of different but equally intriguing styles. Murasaki is melancholy sure, but it is a beautiful melancholy with an incredible eye for pointing out the follies of those around her. <br /><br />The tone almost reminds me of one of my first loves, Austen: <br /><br /><blockquote>”Lady Koshosho is so indefinably elegant and graceful she reminds one of a weeping willow in spring. She has a lovely figure and a charming manner, but is far too retiring, diffident to the point of being incapable of making up her mind about anything, so naïve it makes one want to weep. Whenever someone unscrupulous tries to take advantage of her or spreads rumors, she immediately takes it all to heart. She is so vulnerable and so easily dismayed that you would think she was on the point of expiring. I do worry about her.”</blockquote><br /><br />Doesn't that just sound like a description of Jane Bennet ?Though of course most of this book is in the tone of the later Austen, the Mansfield Park and Persuasion Austen. The seclusive Murasaki constantly withdraws from the court festivities she describes in such detail: <br /><br /><blockquote>"Realizing that it was bound to a terribly drunken affair this evening, Lady Saisho and I decided to retire once the formal part was over. We were just about to leave when His Excellency’s two sons, together with Kantetaka and some other gentleman, came into the eastern gallery and started to create a commotion. We hid behind the dais, but his Excellency pulled back the curtains and we were both caught. <br />’A poem each for the Prince!’ he cried. ’Then I’ll let you go!’”<br /><br />”I felt quite depressed and went to my room for a while to rest. I had intended to go over later if I felt better, but then Kohyoe and Kohobu came in and sat themselves down by the hibachi. ’It’s so crowded over there, you can hardly see a thing!’ they complained. His Excellency appeared. ’What do you think you’re all doing, sitting around like this?’ he said. ’Come along with me!’”</blockquote><br /><br />Of course, being a very reflexive person she’s well aware of her own rather gloomy aura: <br /><br /><blockquote>"And when I play my koto rather badly to myself in the cool breeze of the evening, I worry lest someone might hear me and recognize how I am ’adding to the sadness of it all’, how vain and sad of me.”</blockquote><br /><br />This and similar reflections saves her from sounding all too bitter and self indulgent. And as a reader how can one not feel for her when all she tries to do is to be alone with her books: <br /><br /><blockquote>"Whenever my loneliness threatens to overwhelm me, I take out one or two of them to look at; but my women gather together behind my back. ’It’s because she goes on like that she is so miserable. What kind of lady is it who reads Chinese books?’ they whisper. ’In the past it was not even the done thing to read sutras!’ ’Yes,' I feel like replying, ’but I’ve never met anyone who lived longer just because they believed in superstitions!’”</blockquote><br /><br />We also learn a bit about how she became a learned lady, the teacher to the empress and her feelings of being an author: <br /><br /><blockquote>"When my brother,…, was a young boy learning the Chinese classics, I was in the habit of listening with him and I became unusually proficient at understanding those passages that he found too difficult to grasp and memorize. Father a most learned man, was always regretting the fact: ’Just my luck!’ he would say. ’What a pity she was not born a man!’ But then I gradually realized that people were saying ’It’s bad enough when a man flaunts his Chinese learning; she will come to no good,’ and since I have avoided writing the simplest character.” (my feminist hearts bleed for her)<br /><br />"Then Her Majesty asked me to read with her here and there from the Collected Works of Po Chü-i, and because she evinced a desire to know more about such things, to keep it secret we carefully chose times when other women would not be present, and, from the summer before last, I started giving her informal lessons on the two volumes of ’New Ballads’. I hid this fact from others, as did Her Majesty, but somehow both His Excellency and His Majesty got wind of it and they had some beautiful copies made of the various Chinese books, which His Excellency then presented to her.”<br /><br />”I tried reading the Tale [of Genji] again, but it did not seem to be the same as before and I was disappointed. Those with whom I had discussed things of mutual interest - how vain and frivolous they must consider me no, I thought; and then ashamed that I could even contemplate such a remark, I found it difficult to write to them.” </blockquote><br /><br />There is something about this book that sparks my imagination. Perhaps it is the fact that it is written over a thousand years ago and yet I feel like I would connect and be bffs with Murasaki straight away (which is obviously me fangirling, she would at the very least think me very uncultured for not knowing all the Chinese classics, I'll have to work on that). Here are a few of my favorite theories/fan-fiction ideas about this book: <br /><br />- Murasaki is actually lesbian which would explain why she’s constantly trying to withdraw from the public male places and go hang out with only the other court ladies, it would also work nicely with this passage: <br /><br /><blockquote>"In particular I missed Lady Dainagon, who would often talk to me as we lay close by Her Majesty in the evenings. Had I then indeed succumbed to court life? <br />I sent to her the following: <br />How I long for those waters on which we lay<br />A longing keener than the frost on a duck’s wing<br /><br />To which she replied:<br />Awakening to find no friend to brush away the frost<br />The mandarin duck longs for her mate at night<br /><br />(Footnote by the translator: Mandarin ducks were supposed to always go around in inseparable pairs. This common metaphor for lovers originally came from Chinese literature but had by this time become firmly a part of the Japanese poetic vocabulary. These poems should be seen as forming a conventional exchange between close friends - nothing more.)”</blockquote><br /><br />Obviously the translator is trying to destroy my fan fiction right here, but that doesn't really change anything.<br /><br />- Murasaki meets Jane Austen, and perhaps Sai Shonagon, in a parallel universe and they discuss the pro and cons of living in the country side (both Murasaki and Shonagon hade fathers who were provincial governors, but at least Shonagon had a very snobbish attitude towards the countryside, Austen obviously abhors all thing city and/or court), the downside of having to downplay your intelligence and wit as to not offend society, the hilarity in male critics not taking your work seriously because you’re a woman and you mention clothes in your books, the upside in not getting a formal education leaving you entirely free (you’re upper class with time on your hands after all) to make up a much more interesting education on your own, deploring that you all had to rely on getting your education from male classics when you’re well aware (now) that women have been writing since forever (considering asking Edhuanna to join the conversation)

There's no meaning to the star rating here, so I forgo it. <br /><br />This was a very odd reading experience: the editor and translator of the Penguin edition seemed most keen to stop me reading the actual diary itself. He stressed, time and again, that it's very hard to understand what's going on and there's really not that much here etc etc... Well, that's true. On the other hand, the actual diary is very short, Bowring's annotations, introductions and appendices are helpful, and, unless we've all been massively hoaxed, this is a bit of a diary by one of the great writers the human species has ever thrown up (I confess, I say this based on reputation, rather than a thorough knowledge of Genji), and is well worth reading for that alone. Murasaki is a charming diarist, even though she's describing rituals and goings-on that I really do not understand even in the slightest (in brief: a royal baby is born. Much ritual follows). What I do understand, however, is gentle melancholy, which is here in spades, and literary snark, of which there is only half a spadeful, but boy, what a spadeful she drops on Shonagon's head. That's a spat I'd *love* to know more about. <br /><br />I say Bowring's editorial work is helpful, but it isn't that helpful. For instance, people are often referred to by honorary titles ("Her Excellency", "Her Majesty" etc...) But we're never told what those titles might mean. I think I worked it out, but I could easily be wrong. Given that we have multiple architectural diagrams of fairly easy to visualize buildings, the note to read another book to learn about the titles seems a little grudging.

<blockquote>Thus do I criticize others from various angles – but here is one who has survived this far without having achieved anything of note. I have nothing in particular to look forward to in the future that might afford me the slightest consolation, but I am not the kind of person to abandon herself completely to despair. And yet, by the same token, I cannot entirely rid myself of such feelings. On autumn evenings, which positively encourage nostalgia, when I go out to sit on the veranda and gaze, I seem to be always conjuring up visions of the past – ‘and did they praise the beauty of this moon of yore?’ Knowing full well that I am inviting the kind of misfortune one should avoid, I become uneasy and move inside a little, while still, of course, continuing to recall the past.<br>[...]<br>Each one of us is quite different. Some are confident, open and forthcoming. Others are born pessimists, amused by nothing, the kind who search through old letters, carry out penances, intone sūtras without end, and clack their beads, all of which makes one feel uncomfortable. So I hesitate to do even those things I should be able to do quite freely, only too aware of my own servants’ prying eyes. How much more so at court, where I have many things I would like to say but always think the better of it, because there would be no point in explaining to people who would never understand. I cannot be bothered to discuss matters in front of those women who continually carp and are so full of themselves: it would only cause trouble. It is so rare to find someone of true understanding; for the most part they judge purely by their own standards and ignore everyone else.<br><br><img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1519786500i/25134619._SY540_.jpg" width="400" height="400" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> </blockquote><br><br>The timeless nature of this passage is unquestionable and thus rather unsettling; the same concerns for centuries. <br><br><br>Feb 27, 18<br>* Photo credit: Portrait of Murasaki Shikibu by Tosa Mitsuoki / CC<br>** Maybe later on <a href="https://nonbookreviews.wordpress.com/" rel="nofollow noopener">my blog</a>.

Murasaki Shikibu was a contemporary of Sei Shonagon, and writes of the same milieu as described in <i>The Pillow Book</i>: the Heian court. The Heian period was one of relative stability in Japanese history, in which culture and art flourished. Shikibu is primarily known for her novel, <i>The Tale of Genji</i>, one of the most important works of literature in the world. Her diary is a much smaller affair, concentrating on the birth of a child to the empress, and a number of observations on courtly life, and some Buddhist thought. It's interesting to compare this diary to <i>The Pillow Book</i> - reading Sei Shonagon's observations is like talking to a witty and entertaining, but self-absorbed friend, and being completely enthralled, even if she never asks you how you are. When I read it, I feel completely absorbed by her personality. Shikibu's diary is a much cooler work, with less gossip, bitchiness and general chitchat: Shikibu focuses on precise descriptions of the historically significant birth, and the emotional impact it has on her and on everyone in the court. She writes with poetic intensity, and much of her work is very beautiful. It's interesting, too, that the world she describes feels so different to that of <i>The Pillow Book</i> even though it's essentially the same place. It's also worth noting that the diary is understood to be incomplete, and a longer work may have given us a different sense of Shikibu's world. <br /><br />While I don't think Richard Bowring is as bad (i.e. as sexist) as Seidensticker (Sei Shonagon's original translator), I found some aspects of the translation and footnotes to be intrusive or to feel arbitrary. However, I think this is the only complete translation in English and I'm glad to have it.

DNF. Türkçe edisyonu protesto ediyor ve okumayı bırakıyorum. Dipnotları kitabın sonuna değil adı üstünde yer aldığı sayfanın dibine koymayı öğrenin artık. Bu kadar fazla ek bilgi verilmesi gereken tarihi bir metinde sürekli arka sayfalara dönmemiz bekleniyor. İngilizce çevirisinden okuyacağım.

Heian (784-1192) dönemindeyiz.<br />Doğum yapmak dahi kirli bir eylem kadın için..dil öğrenmek,başını gökyüzüne kaldırıp mehtabın ışığına hayranlığı yazmak ise bir o kadar küçük düşürücü..<br />Adından,doğum ve ölüm tarihinden bile emin olmadığımız bir kadın çıkıyor sonra..Elleri mürekkep lekeleriyle doluyor, yazıyor.. sayfalarca..<br />Bir kitabında karakterini şöyle konuşturuyor:<br />“Bir hikayenin ne olduğuyla ve nasıl oluştuğuyla ilgili bir görüşüm var.Roman sadece bir yazarın,diğer bir kişinin maceraları hakkında yazdığı bir öykü değildir.Tam tersine, bu kişinin insana ve eşyaya dair deneyiminden gelir.Bu deneyim o kadar etkileyici ve sarsıcıdır ki,kişi kalbinin sesini durduramaz.Kişinin kendi yaşamında ya da çevresindekilerin yaşamında gördüğü şeyler o kadar önemlidir ki,öylesine unutulup gideceği düşüncesi dayanılmazdır.İnsanların tüm bu şeylerden bihaber olacağı bir zaman gelmemelidir.İşte bence sanat böyle doğmuştur.<br />.<br />Mono no aware,geçiciliğin/eşyanın hüznünü derinlerinde hissediyor o ve bu sert rüzgara karşı unutmamayı siper ediniyor..Söz’ün uçuculuğuna karşı da fırçasını mürekkeple buluşturuyor~ <br />.<br />Murasaki Shikibu’nun günlüğü bir ‘nikki’, evet günlük ama günü gününe alınan kayıtlardan ziyade yaşadıklarının ardından kalan hatıralar demek daha doğru görünüyor. Duyguların demlenmesi beklenilmiş, karşısına çıkan tüm güzellikler sindirilmiş ve bedene dahil edilmişçesine.. Sarayı anlatıyor, o görkemi, çiçeklerin içinde uyandırdığı tomurcukları~<br />Güzeli,güzelliği..<br />Ve en çok renkleri.<br />.<br />Bir eserden keyif almanız için kurguya,büyük sözlere ihtiyacınız yok aslında.. Yazarın dönemine dair naif bir başkaldırışı dahi eseri sahiplenmenizi sağlıyor. Benim için, tam da bu sebeple Murasaki Shikibu’nun kelimeleri değerli. 1000 yıl öncesine dokunmak gibi..<br />Giydiklerimiz, yaşadığımız yerler, baktığımız çiçekler farklı bile olsa~<br />.<br />Eseri değerli kılan biri daha var: Esin Esen. Çevirisiyle, ön bilgilendirmesi ve notlarıyla büyük bir emek gösteriyor Esen.. Büyük şükran doluyum çeviri sanatçılarına.. İyi ki varsınız! Ve iyi ki kurduğunuz köprüler hayatlarımızın uçlarını bir araya getiriyor??

<b> <blockquote><i>suyun üstündeki<br />su kuşlarına<br />nasıl kayıtsız kalayım?<br />ben de geçiriyorum günlerimi<br />dalgalanıp duran bu belirsiz dünyada</i><br /><br />Kuşlar o kadar çok kalpten eğleniyor gibi görünse de, bence kendilerince bu dünyadan acı çekiyorlardır. Elimde olmadan kendimle karşılaştırıveriyorum onları.</blockquote> </b>

<i>Preface<br />A Note on Japanese Names and Dates<br />Introduction (Cultural Background, The Author, The Diary)</i><br /><br />--The Diary of Lady Murasaki<br /><br /><i>Appendix 1: Ground-plans and Map<br />Appendix 2: Additional Sources<br />A Guide to Further Reading</i>

" Good afternoon, Lady Murasaki .<br />I'm glad to meet you in one of the corners of my mind.."<br /><br />" Konnikiwa ! "<br /><br />" Uh... I'm afraid that my knowledge of Japanese is limited to " harakiri " and " anata wa utsukushï me o shite imasu ". ( you have some splendid eyes ). The last one took me three days to pronounce it properly, but I think it's worth, when I'II travel to Japan it will be of real use. I hope.."<br /><br />" Hahaha, m'sieur, I understood that you're French. Are all the Frenchmen so seductive ? "<br /><br />" Aaa...No, actually, I think I'm the only one.. But I'm not trying to seduce you, I just told you my humble knowledge of Japanese. "<br /><br />" Ah...Okay. "<br /><br />" So, Lady Murasaki, your diary provides such a fascinating glimpse into Heian culture. It is a world so different from my own, that I can hardly imagine it. Can you share with me more about life at court ? " <br /><br />" My dear friend, to speak of courtly life in mere words would not do justice to its richness and complexity. It is like describing the beauty of a cherry blossom with a single color. Court rituals and ceremonies were an ever- changing tapestry of colors and sounds, rhythms and textures. Each gesture, each word carried a weight of meaning, steeped in tradition and art. "<br /><br />" Your words are so poetic and beautiful..They remind me of the artistry of Japanese callygraphy and the delicate beauty of bonsai. <br /> Btw, can you explain more about the concept of " mono no aware ? " <br /><br />" Ah..mono no aware...It is a feeling, a sense of the fleeting nature of things. To be aware of the pathos of life, to savor its beauty despite its impermanence. It is like admiring the beauty of a butterfly, knowing that its wings will soon fade, yet cherishing the moment...It is a reverence for nature, for the changing seasons, for the path of the moon..."<br /><br />" I see...Your words are like parables, revealing deeper truths through metaphor and analogy. It is a language that is unlike anything I have heard before. "<br /><br />" Indeed, my friend, Japanese culture is steeped in the beauty of metaphor and the power of symbolism. It is a language that is at once subtle and profound, reflecting the multilayered depths of experience. " <br /><br />" Well, I can't help but quoting Kurosawa, here : " I've forgotten who it was that said creation is memory ". <br /><br />" Great director. And speaking of creation, remember, wise decisions today lead to a better tomorrow. Keep your mind open, your heart kind, and your actions deliberate. Stay focused on your goals, and never stop striving to become the best version of yourself. "