Ancient Literature in our Modern World

As with many others my classmates have chosen this piece of artwork depicts a certain scene in The Tale of Genji. In the earlier chapters we see Genji being a womanizer, he was married however decided that he would leave her at home and go with every woman he laid his eyes on. In this picture however we see Genji stoop to the lowest level he can reach. In her mothers arms we see Murasaki a young lady who has no intentions in Genji and is way to young to even be seen around him. Genji however is determined to take Murasaki with him and hold her as either his mistress or his wife. We see the mood in the picture is gloomy and sad. The mother is holding Murasaki and doesn’t to let her go but she knows once Genji comes by he will be taking her with him. On the bottom of the picture we see Genji sweeping in and the mother it seems is saying her final goodbyes.  As seen with many of the pictures regarding Genji the characters are dressed in long skirts and they all have long hair. I think this has to do with when the tale of Genji was written and where it took place in the eastern part of the world. The pictures carefully portrays this scene for us to better understand the book.

Artist: Yamato Wakia

       For this week’s blog post, I chose to do it on a painting that directly relates to the character of Murasaki. The artist has his way by using very bright colors such as ‘yellow’, ‘pink’, and ‘orange’ to bring out the beauty in her. These vibrant colors reflect on how pretty Murasaki is but the painting goes a lot deeper into her character and the story. The pink lotus flowers express the love and affection that exists between Murasaki and Genji but also reflects how Genji has been around with many women but shows her the most love. This image shows Murasaki in her younger age when Genji saw her as his ideal wife. The amount of yellow used in this image initially grabs the attention of the audience. Although parts of the image show the affection and love between the two, the large amount of yellow that is surrounding her in the image represents the sorrow and feeling of betrayal by Genji’s actions of sleeping with other women. If you look closely Murasaki’s eyes are gloomy and shows how much she loves Genji but knows that she can’t control his actions and accepts her fate. On the other hand even though she accepts her fate the orange and blue ribbons represent that she will always be loyal to Genji.

In this painting by Yoshitaka Amano, you can see Genji and Murasaki reaching out for each other. This painting sort of reminds you of “The Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo. There is a central theme of yearning for the love of the other person from each individual. They are both reaching out for each other in a setting that seems to be a dark empty night sky to clearly separate them from their background. Amano uses color to clearly differentiate the two buy giving them clothing in red and yellow. These are two completely different choices in the color spectrum to show there is no link between Genji and Murasaki, yet the universe behind them allows them to find each other in the darkness they are both a part of. Another interpretation of this painting could be the tragic death Murasaki faces at such a young age. Instead of yearning for each other and coming closer, the diagonal linear perspective from the top right to the bottom left emphasizes a sort of outward movement in the painting. The facial features in both figures projects a sorrowful feeling towards the audience. This sorrowful feeling is because of Murasaki’s death and they both have to face the reality that they are being pulled away from each other because of Murasaki’s death. Amano gives Murasaki more designs on her clothing and more detailed facial features than Genji to put more emphasis on her. Amano has also painted a sort of elegant handful of cluster in the bottom right to depict a sense of chaos but at the same time beauty, a reference to the relationship of Murasaki and Genji.

The painting I chose is called The Tale of Genji by Shizuo Nishizawa. The painting is of a young Murasaki  who looks to be still a child. Murasaki has her eyes closed and it’s as though she is feeling the wind in her face. She is wearing a big yellow gown that looks like gold and the most incorporated color in the painting is this golden yellow color. I believe it is to represent wealth and a prosperous time in China. The tree branch next to her looks like it comes from an Empress tree which I assume it’s to represent class and social status. It seems almost like Murasaki is aware of the social impacts and all she craves is freedom. She looks like an angel that’s just trying to escape to a better place. In the background behind her there are a bunch of entangled shapes. I believe that they represent the chaos in her life to come or the chaos that Genji will bring. In reality she doesn’t want any of it and she just wants to be at peace. Murasaki is one of the few characters who stays innocent throughout Tale of Genji and she is the purest soul. She has only good intentions in the book but when Genji kidnaps her she is forced to deal with Genji’s life of casual sexual encounters and lovers. She has been strong from the start and she has stuck through by Genji. She is truly a good person from the inside out.

This image is a representation of Genji’s struggles, emotions and situation with the several women in his life. The tangled ropes symbolize the difficulty in Geniji’s experience with women and how he can’t manage to hold or settle with one. These tangled ropes could lead to Genji’s sorrow. The ropes/strings connected show that the women have a great affect in Genji’s emotions– if the ropes would be pulled away, it would strangle or choke him. The more women are pulling away from him, the more it will make him suffer sadness. This is also supporting the selection of color and texture of this illustration. The image has a black background which represents Genji’s emotions that carry the grunge texture effect of the image. The color black represents Genji’s sorrow, rejection, regret, suffering and all the negativity he feels and experience in the novel. The grunge texture shows a filthy, dirty and messy connection of Genji to women. Some readers consider Genji as disgusting. Genji’s attitude and character reflects his impression in this image. The open spaces between Genji and the women represent how he distance himself to each women in his life. It also heightens the sense of commitment such as marriage, love, affair, fling and relationship he has with different women. This image combines a symmetrical style with women in all the four corners that surrounds him. This is a symbol that Genji has many women in his life that he encounters. It could be easy for him to be chased by women because he is wearing a crown that symbolizes a connection to a high rank family. However, even Genji having a crown and a wealthy life, his face in this picture shows a frowning face that states his emotions towards what he is facing and experiencing. Some woman in this picture are facing him, some are not. This is an interpretation of the different attitudes and emotions of women towards Genji.

Tale of Genji and by Agameishi, bookriot

For this week assignment, I choose a painting that portray a mysterious outlook. The mysterious outlook of this painting is demonstrated through the combinations of lights and curtains. Through my interpretations, I thought the curtains blocking the Genji and the women portrays a blur vision of each other. Therefore, none of them could see what is behind the curtains. The lights presented in the painting on both sides illustrates their curiosity of getting to know each other, yet there is something blocking them. Even though the lights were on she never had the chance to know him. I thought image is also a representation of the gap between the women’s and the husband role. Throughout the novel, there were several times where we were presented with Genji sleeping with multiple women’s and having no clear vision of her physical features. I thought this image connects to the story line through Genji’s perspective because he never got a clear vision of their face. Yet, this blur vision of the woman didn’t seem to bother him as shown in the painting. He  seemed very confident in this painting by the way he posed with the fan. Through this painting it showed Genji’s curiosity of seeing who is behind there by bending getting closer to the curtains. I like the colors that were used in this painting, especially on Genji and the shadows. This painting helps clear my visualization of the gap that always exist between Genji and all the woman he had been with.

While viewing this image initially, it may seem as though it is simply Murasaki sitting alone. Through further interpretation we see how there is a much deeper meaning to the image and the message it portrays. In the image, we see Murasaki is looking out toward open sky, to portray her long time spent looking and waiting for Genji’s arrival. The bright colors used in the make up of the sky symbolize Murasaki’s optimism toward Genji’s eventual arrival. While looking at the image, we see how Murasaki sits expressionless and alone in the room. This portrays how she feels inside, lonely and empty without Genji there by her side. Although bright, the colors in the image are dull and do not have much vibrance. This represents Murasaki’s feelings. While they may be bright and optimistic, she still feels dull and unsettled with the situation that she is in. The elaborate clothing warn by Murasaki in the image are customary for those who are of high status and social class. We also see how there is a red ribbon tied around her, this represents that she is in fact stuck in her current position and is having a hard time getting out. The reason the color of the rope is red is to reflect the difficulty and hardship she is experiencing while being stuck and held back. Although she is experiencing these hardships, Murasaki’s clear face, long hair, and red lips are used to portray her beauty, regardless of her feelings. Lastly, we see in the image how the curtains to the window are rolled all the way up, this represents Murasaki’s willingness to accept Genji upon is arrival. Her arms are fully open, ready to welcome him.

                                            Rokujo Lady by Lin Golden, Flicker-photo sharing

This painting represent the image of one of the major ladies in Genji’s life-Rokujo Lady. At first sight, in the painting we notice Rukoju Lady in her deep anguish as if she is mourning. And mourning she is over her afflicted soul, and also over the deaths of the innocent women who became the victim of her tormented soul.  The fine contrast of black and red color on the background depicts her inner turmoil, rage and above all jealousy. The scattered colors on the right side creates the image of her once reputed, happy and honorable life which is nothing but a distant dream now. Rising from these scattered color is Rokujo herself in a black and grey robe. The bland color outer robe is partially hiding the blood red that she is wearing. The red robe symbolizes her deep resentment towards Genji’s indiffrent behavior, and aggression towards other women who have his attention. The blood red robe also depicts the fire within herself in which she is burning. This fire is the aftermath of all the disgrace and jealousy that she experienced after accepting Genji in her life. As a result of all these torture, her soul rises in an anguished cry which is represented on the left side of the painting in white color. Here, her soul has been portrayed as an wounded animal, in order to emphasize its torment. Also, the red backdrop against white symbolizes the deaths that her soul causes in its agony. However, the most capturing part of the image is Rokujo’s posture. Her bend down poise specifies her defeated stance in life. It also depicts how she is not in control of her life anymore. Instead, she is being controlled by her injured soul which is an aftermath of her bruised heart and pride. Overall, this painting represents Rokujo Lady’s personal hell in which she is being tortured.      

This complex painting reflects one of the main events from chapter 12, where the constant and heavy rain gave Genji an apocalyptic feeling. This work of art is divided in three sections, with each section showing different levels of rain intensity. The leftmost section shows us that they are all trying to escape the rain by getting inside the emperor’s temple; however this part does not show how strong the rain is. And unlike the other women, these two characters are bracing the storm without umbrellas nor footwear. The middle section shows two women running while holding a ripped umbrella; here we see a lot more rain which starts to convey the magnitude of the wind and rainfall. The rightmost section also portrays two persons but unlike the other two sections this one has a child in it. The child is scared and looks like he is about to fall; he is covering his ears to muffle the storm’s noise and is wearing something on his head that protects him from the rain. The woman next to him is looking after him while holding a pair of umbrellas and sandals. The bent tree in the background shows us just how strong this storm is. Blue is clearly the predominant color in this painting. All characters are wearing something blue and the background is depicted with bluish tones. The only thing that is not possible to ascertain is the woman’s ranks since their attire is too similar; they are all wearing multiple layers that have different colors and unique patterns.

For this week’s assignment, I chose this anime representation of Genji, animated by the Japanese animation company Tezuka Productions.  What I find most interesting is how the artist paired the cool tones of the characters’ clothing with the overall warmth and tenderness of the embrace they’re involved in. The duality of warmth and coolness evokes feelings of acceptance, belonging, and comfort.

This artist beautifully portrays Genji’s sensitive nature by capturing his soft and tender facial expression. Genji’s facial expression is juxtaposed with the facial expression of the woman (not named) he is embracing. The woman is expressing a pained look on her face, as if she is hurt emotionally. Some may interpret this as the woman longing for Genji and not wanting him to leave. However, others may interpret her emotion as the pain of knowing that Genji has been unfaithful and going around with other women.

I also find the artist’s choice of using a black background interesting, versus if the artist chose to use an illustrated or plain white background instead. The artist may have decided to use the black background simply because he/she wanted the vibrant blue and pink to be more prevalent and it is easier to do so with a black background. However, I argue that the black background offers a conflicting feeling of darkness to the photo – as if Genji was evil (which some may argue that he is). While it is a good contrast to the vibrance of the blue and pink, one must question the meaning behind the use of the black.