Ann Arbor, MI: Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 2008. xiii + 374pp., 62 illustrations. $75.00 cloth, $29.00 paperback. isbn 978-1929280476 (cloth); isbn 978- 1929280483 (paper).
關鍵詞
Buddhist Literature
摘要
The appearance in the year 2000 of Murasaki Shikibu’s image—along with a scene from the Suzumushi chapter of her renowned Genji monogatari—on the 2000 yen note was yet another expression of the persistent appeal of one of Japan’s most famous women authors. Told and retold in versions that run the gamut from scholarly redaction and interpretation to popular renditions in manga and anime, the Tale of Genji enjoys continued popularity to this day. However, Murasaki Shikibu’s reception has been contested more than these recent examples suggest. Fiction was often considered suspect by Buddhists because they viewed the stories as “wild words and fancy phrases” (kyōgen kigo) that led people away from the true teachings of the Buddhist Dharma. By extension, from a Buddhist perspective, writing fiction was a sinful act. From the end of the Heian period, and throughout the medieval and early modern eras, numerous accounts acknowledged the degenerate nature of fiction, and explained the pain and suffering Lady Murasaki experienced in subsequent rebirths as retribution for writing texts like Genji monogatari...
