Tokonatsu　常夏

KEY WORD :　art history / paintings

Lit. everlasting summer. A pictorial subject taken from the "Wild Carnations," Chapter 26 of GENJI MONOGATARI 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji). Tokonatsu, is an old name for "nadeshiko" 撫子, a late summer/autumn flower, often rendered as "wild pinks." This chapter concerns the problems arising from the introduction into the household of an illegitimate, long-lost daughter of Tou no Chuujou 頭中将, Genji's old friend and rival. The girl's country ways are unrelieved by the beauty and ability of *Tamakazura 玉鬘, being in fact emphasised by comparison. Scenes chosen for illustration tend to focus on the more elegant sub-plots: Genji and other courtiers have a picnic in the fishing pavilion tsuridono 釣殿 on a hot summer day and enjoy cooked trout or white fish, ayu 鮎; or Genji teaching Tamakazura to play the koto 琴 (Japanese zither) in autumn, when wild carnations bloom in the garden.

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*genji-e 源氏絵.

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