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Kashiwagi 柏木 | ||||||
KEY WORD : art history / paintings | ||||||
A pictorial
subject taken from "The Oak Tree" Kashiwagi, a type of oak, Quercus
deutata, Chapter 36 of GENJI MONOGATARI 源氏物語 (The Tale of
Genji). Suffering remorse over his affair with Genji's wife, the Third Princess
Onna San no Miya 女三宮, Kashiwagi, son of Tou no Chuujou 頭中将 (see *Wakana
若菜), declines into terminal illness. The princess gives birth to Kashiwagi's
son Kaoru 薫, and eventually becomes a nun. Kashiwagi dies after telling
some of the truth to his friend and Genji's son *Yuugiri
夕霧. Kashiwagi asks Yuugiri to look after his official wife
Princess Ochiba, Ochiba no Miya 落葉宮 (also known as the Second Princess).
Scenes frequently chosen for illustration include: (1) Kashiwagi,
in a white robe on his sick bed, reading a brief letter from the Third Princess.
In a different room, his father and an ascetic confer about his condition;
(2) the retired Emperor Suzaku 朱雀, now a monk, visits his distraught daughter,
the Third Princess, after she has given birth to Kashiwagi's son,
thought by the world to be Genji's. The princess pleads to be allowed to
become a nun; (3) Genji (for the world to see) holding his "son" Kaoru in
his arms; 4 Yuugiri visiting Kashiwagi's mother and official
widow, Princess Ochiba, at her Ichijou 一条 mansion, while the cherry trees
are in bloom. Scenes (1)(2) and (3) from this chapter survive in the earliest
illustrated version, the 12c masterpiece, preserved in the Tokugawa 徳川 Art
Museum. |
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*genji-e 源氏絵 | ||||||
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NOTES: | ||||||
(C)2001 Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System. No reproduction or republication without written permission. 掲載のテキスト・写真・イラストなど、全てのコンテンツの無断複製・転載を禁じます。 |
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