Read across the novel, painted scrolls and illustrated books.
12 cards
An early-eleventh-century Japanese court narrative by Murasaki Shikibu, conventionally in 54 chapters, following Genji and a later generation through relationships, politics and changing inner lives.
The National Diet Library’s set of Genji, compiled by Yamamoto Shunshō, has a postface dated 1650. This early-Edo illustrated edition brings text, pictures and reading aids into a multi-volume book. The copy here is specifically shelfmark 857-120, bibliographic ID 000007284700.
Murasaki Shikibu was a mid-Heian writer, poet and court attendant associated above all with The Tale of Genji. She served Fujiwara no Shoshi and also left a diary and poetry collection; her personal name and birth and death dates remain uncertain.
The National Treasure Genji Monogatari Emaki held by the Tokugawa and Gotoh museums is an early-twelfth-century illustrated work. Selected passages from an earlier novel alternate with paintings. It is neither a complete illustrated novel nor a work painted by Murasaki Shikibu herself.
Yamato-e is a historical category of Japanese painting, understood in relation to imported subjects and styles. What counted as yamato-e changed over time; the name does not designate one unchanging technique.
A Japanese folding screen divides or arranges interior space and may carry painting or calligraphy. It can be moved, folded away and opened at different angles, which also change how the image is seen.
Shodō treats writing as an artistic and educational practice. Japanese calligraphy developed through the transmission of Chinese writing and calligraphy, the growth of kana, and continuing changes in styles and institutions.
