Genji's Comments on Japanese Stories

The ups and downs of the world are impermanent, as if it were true or unreal. Only when dreams are driven away by the flowing water of Qinghe River can we know how sad the world is. A picture depicting ancient Japanese court life, a sad song of a weeping woman, and a masterpiece of Japanese history and culture. When the prosperity of ancient times came to an end, the sadness in the chest lingered for a long time, and the sad feelings were like cherry blossoms. Author Murasaki shikibu, whose real name is Fujiwara, was born in a middle-class aristocratic family in heian period. He was familiar with China ancient literature since he was a child, and especially liked Bai Juyi's poems. At the same time, he is very familiar with music, Buddhism and Japanese calligraphy. When he was young, he married Fujiwara, who was more than 20 years older than her, and gave birth to a daughter. Her husband died three years later. After entering the palace, any female official of Empress Akiko wrote The Tale of Genji when she lived in the widowed palace. The word "love" maintains the world, and the word "love" washes the white and dries the Kun. Love is always an endless topic for human beings. "Ask the world, what is love? "Ask a thousand years (quoted from Jiang)". Only after reading this book do we know that Genji is the only philanthropist in the world. At first glance, The Tale of Genji is only an affectionate species, but after careful reading, we know that its taste lies not in the shame of ill feelings, but in the preciousness of exclusive feelings. At that time, the virtue of exclusive love seemed to be possessed only by women. Xun Jun was a rare spoony man in that era. His behavior is shocking, but he is too cautious. God never takes care of people who are slow to move. He lost his beloved woman because of anxiety, and he saw through the world of mortals because of the sadness of his beloved woman's disappearance, lamenting the true feelings and the selfishness. Have men been selfish in love since ancient times? In ancient times, Japanese women's status was low, even princesses from the royal family could not be casual. In feudal forces, men can have wives and concubines in droves, while women will not be laughed at by the world because of their loyalty. A spoonful of water is 3 thousand, which seems to be dedicated to women of that era. However, Genji is not absolutely without any merits. One person is above ten thousand people, but the ruling and opposition parties are never domineering. He is considerate and generous to others, and all the women who have had emotional entanglements with him live comfortably by his kindness. This is a special advantage given to him by power and wealth. Genji is lewd, but not ruthless. The women in his eyes have their own loveliness. His wife, Ji Zi, is noble, elegant, beautiful, proficient in calligraphy, intelligent, gentle, generous and capable, and won the favor of Genji. She is Genji's own great companion. She and two of a kind, many years younger than Genji. Genji has the deepest feelings for his wife. After her death, Genji often blames himself: "... why should I do these things that hurt her heart, whether it's taking part in accidental amusement or having to?" ..... "It is painful to be ashamed of regret. Perhaps sentimental people have suffered a lot since ancient times. I guess how cute this perfect woman should be. Maybe it's the shadow of the author. She is the embodiment of beauty. Empty cicada has the most distinctive personality, aloof, lofty and beautiful, and stands out among many women. What a pity that Genji failed to get what he wanted after all kinds of pursuits. At that time, he was the most handsome man in the world, the first gifted scholar and a senior official of the court, but he could not impress a woman. It can be seen that the temperament of empty cicadas is arrogant and hard to find. Akashi Ji, a rural woman, met Genji during his exile. This quiet, beautiful and kind beauty has not escaped Genji's love. Fortunately, she has self-knowledge and knows that her position can't be compared with others. She has always been cautious, never jealous, and is taken good care of and loved by Genji. Later, because her daughter was honored as a queen, she was honored to get together, and her dull mentality also enabled her to live a long life. Picking flowers at the end of the ugly, talented but virtuous, helping Genji take care of the sons born to Genji and Shibai, with no regrets. She was grateful to Genji, and Genji was moved by this affectionate and loyal woman, so she was full of respect and care. The barnacle queen, the wife of Genji's father, and Genji's mother died young. She took care of Genji when he was growing up. In fact, Genji was an Oedipus complex to her, and later gave birth to a son with her. Later, she was promoted to prince. However, the barnacle queen felt guilty and regretted it, and she was in a state of anxiety. Later, she devoted herself to Buddhism and spent her short life. There are other women who are entangled with Genji, so I won't go into details one by one, and the details are similar. Tolstoy said: happy families are all the same; Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. So happy women are all the same, and unhappy women are unhappy in their own way. The relationship between the characters in this book is complicated, and there are many things against one's will, which reflects the luxurious and chaotic living conditions of the imperial nobles at that time. For example, the Mayfly "seems to have nothing", leading a luxurious life, and consuming a short and elegant life in lamentation and sadness. The beauty of things runs through the book. Interestingly, in Chapter 41, the author casually titled it "Yunyin" without the text. Yunyin is seclusion, and people don't know how Genji died. As for the reasons why there are no words, scholars have different opinions for thousands of years, which can be roughly divided into four types. One said that there were words, which were lost for some reason; Second, the author intended to write the text, but gave up for some reason; Third, the author deliberately does not write the text, leaving blank; Fourth, there is not even a title, let alone a text. Generally speaking, I believe in the third statement, because the death of Mrs. Zi was written with special sadness and pain, and if the death of the protagonist is written again, the author will be miserable, so he only writes the title without writing the text, and only gives readers tips. (This passage is taken from Genji Tale No.41Note). There is no doubt that Japanese culture originated in China. Just looking at the characters on the exquisite picture scroll, we can know that Japan's cultural life was deeply influenced by the Tang Dynasty. It was a leisurely aftertaste. After a thousand years, I met you in the spring of this life, touching the tenderness of those beautiful women who had already passed away, leaving only sadness and sigh.