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#Murasaki meaning full#

Genji wonders who lives in one of the dwellings, which has “halls and galleries… nicely disposed and… fine trees in the garden.” 5 One of Genji’s companions tells him that it is the house of a bishop ( sōzu) who has lived there in seclusion for the last two years.

5 Edward Seidensticker, trans., The Tale of Genji, p. 85.ĤDuring the preparations for the rite the Prince leaves the cave and sees, from his high vantage point, monastic residences ( sōbō) located on a lower level.

Nevertheless, he agrees to carry out the healing rituals. He is, however, surprised by the visit, since he no longer concerns himself with worldly matters and so has forgotten his magical practices ( ima ha kono yo no koto wo omoi-tamaeneba, gengata no okonai mo sute-wasurete haberu wo ikade kau owasimasituramu).

Genji’s shabby traveling clothes ( ito itau yatsure-tamaeredo) do not deceive the hermit, who realizes that he has an eminent visitor. The visitors are also greatly moved ( ito aware nari) by the hermitage, here called a tera: the holy man lives on a high peak ( mine takaku), in a cave in the living rock ( fukaki iwa no naka ni zo). The countryside, lost in mist ( kasumi), seems to make a deep impression on the Prince, who usually lives in a highly restricted environment ( tokoroseki onmi nite, medurashū obosarekeri).

#Murasaki meaning full#

It is late in the Third Month: though the season for cherry blossoms has ended in the capital, the mountain cherries are in full bloom. Because the holy man ( hijiri) has asserted that he is now too old to leave his hermitage ( muro) far from the outside world ( yaya fukau iru tokoro narikeri), the Prince must go into the hills he does so along with four or five close companions ( mutsumashiki yotari-itsutari). Prince Genji has been advised to go there to be cured of a “high fever” ( warawa-yami) by the conjurations of a “practitioner” ( okonaibito) who is reputed to be highly efficacious. 4 The story is set in one of the “northern hills” ( kitayama) located just beyond the limits of the capital. A brief summary of the first part of the chapter follows.

The opening section of this chapter abounds in references to Buddhism and its texts, and many expressions in the chapter text are familiar to students of Buddhism.

4 The short quotations in the following summary are taken from NKBT vol. 14, pp. 177-180.ģThe passage under consideration appears in Chapter 5, “Wakamurasaki” (Lavender).

This suggests that a Buddhist dimension must be considered in interpreting the work.ĢI will attempt to demonstrate, using a specific example that has apparently not yet been interpreted in this light, that acknowledging the role of Buddhist texts in the Genji yields a more accurate understanding of certain significant episodes. 1 As Kūkai writes at the beginning of his Indications of the Goals of the Three Teachings, “A man writes when moved.” 2 In my own case, I was moved-after having made a cursory reading of the Genji monogatari in the Iwanami Bunko edition, edited by the great scholar Yamagishi Tokuhei 3-to astonishment on discovering numerous, subtle Buddhist allusions embedded in the text. 6 vols.ġThat one as unacquainted with Japanese literature as myself should be participating in a symposium on The Tale of Genji calls for some explanation, if not an apology.

Yamagishi Tokuhei, Iwanami Bunko (Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, 1965-1967).

2 Yoshito S. Hakeda, trans., K ū kai: Major Works (New York: Columbia University Press), 1972, p.

Terada Sumie for her encouragement, corrections, and valuable suggestions.