Takekawa　竹河

KEY WORD :　art history / paintings

A pictorial subject taken from the "Bamboo River" Takekawa, Chapter 44 of GENJI MONOGATARI 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji). After the death of her husband Higekuro 髭黒, *Tamakazura's 玉鬘 eldest daughter joins the retired Emperor Reizei's 冷泉 household, becoming one of his consorts, and her second daughter likewise becomes the reigning emperor's newest consort. *Yuugiri 夕霧 now becomes minister of the Left sadaijin 左大臣, *Koubai 紅梅 minister of the Right which are the two Ministries of State below the Prime Minister udaijin 右大臣, and Kaoru 薫 (see *Kashiwagi 柏木) a Middle Counselor chuunagon 中納言. Scenes frequently chosen for illustration include: 1) The serious Kaoru calls on Tamakazura, and while sitting on the veranda next to a plum tree in first bud with a warbler uguisu 鴬 about to alight, he is teased by some of her ladies who are just behind the blinds. 2) In the Third Month Yuugiri's son, the lieutenant, spies on Tamakazura's daughters playing a game of go 碁, with a blossoming cherry tree in the inner court at stake. 3) Around the Fourth Month Kaoru and Tamakazura's son the Chamberlain, Tou no Jijuu 藤侍従 sit on some mossy rocks and gaze at the wisteria hanging from a pine tree. The first two scenes are found in a section of the earliest illustrated handscroll version of the The Tale of Genji (12c) owned by the Tokugawa 徳川 Art Museum.

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*genji-e 源氏絵.

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