What Is The Relationship Between Genji And Heian Kyo
Genji and Heian-Kyo
“When Emperor Kanmu (737-806) founded Heian-ky6 in 794, the new capital was meant to be the permanent bureaucratic and ritual seat of a strong, centralized, Chinese-style state” (Stavros, 1). Heian-Kyo was the capital of the Japanese empire from 694 to 1184. It had many strong Chinese-inspired architecture and styles, but deviated from the ideal in many ways. The character Genji from The Tales of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu is the son of the Emperor whoose “looks had an indescribably fresh sweetness, one beyond even Fujitsubo’s celebrated and, to the Emperor, peerless beauty, and this moved people to call him the Shining Lord” (13). He too seemed to be the ideal for many, yet seemed to deviate from it in many ways. I argue …show more content…
Genji is caught with Oborozukio, the younger sister of the Kokiden Consort. As the Kokiden Consort was jealous of Genji’s mother and had hated her as well as Genji, she manages to exile him from Heian court. In this society of aristocrats, this is the worst punishment that can be given, as it means that they are away from court. This is because in Heian culture, beauty and aesthetics was very important, and the court was considered to mannerly, graceful, and beautiful; while the country side was considered to be barbaric, rough, and ugly (Long, 2/25/2016). This also meant that he would not be able to see Murasaki, or any of the other women, but misses Murasaki the …show more content…
Genji was meant to be the ideal Heian aristocrat. Reality was that they were both trying to find their place in the world. I argue that the character Genji personifies the real as well as the ideal of Heian-Kyo because Genji is constantly testing, bending, or breaking the rule by going after women that are off limits and by going behind the blinds which separates him from these women. Similarly Heian-Kyo tests boundaries by not having walls around the city, and never actually having the ideal box-shaped city. Another reason Genji personifies Heian-Kyo is because they both face the consequences of their actions—good and bad. Genji is exiled, but also finds his ideal woman in Murasaki. Heian-Kyo is constantly attacked and does not reach its box shaped ideal, but ends up embodying all the aesthetics they value: incompleteness, asymmetry, suggestion, and
“When Emperor Kanmu (737-806) founded Heian-ky6 in 794, the new capital was meant to be the permanent bureaucratic and ritual seat of a strong, centralized, Chinese-style state” (Stavros, 1). Heian-Kyo was the capital of the Japanese empire from 694 to 1184. It had many strong Chinese-inspired architecture and styles, but deviated from the ideal in many ways. The character Genji from The Tales of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu is the son of the Emperor whoose “looks had an indescribably fresh sweetness, one beyond even Fujitsubo’s celebrated and, to the Emperor, peerless beauty, and this moved people to call him the Shining Lord” (13). He too seemed to be the ideal for many, yet seemed to deviate from it in many ways. I argue …show more content…
Genji is caught with Oborozukio, the younger sister of the Kokiden Consort. As the Kokiden Consort was jealous of Genji’s mother and had hated her as well as Genji, she manages to exile him from Heian court. In this society of aristocrats, this is the worst punishment that can be given, as it means that they are away from court. This is because in Heian culture, beauty and aesthetics was very important, and the court was considered to mannerly, graceful, and beautiful; while the country side was considered to be barbaric, rough, and ugly (Long, 2/25/2016). This also meant that he would not be able to see Murasaki, or any of the other women, but misses Murasaki the …show more content…
Genji was meant to be the ideal Heian aristocrat. Reality was that they were both trying to find their place in the world. I argue that the character Genji personifies the real as well as the ideal of Heian-Kyo because Genji is constantly testing, bending, or breaking the rule by going after women that are off limits and by going behind the blinds which separates him from these women. Similarly Heian-Kyo tests boundaries by not having walls around the city, and never actually having the ideal box-shaped city. Another reason Genji personifies Heian-Kyo is because they both face the consequences of their actions—good and bad. Genji is exiled, but also finds his ideal woman in Murasaki. Heian-Kyo is constantly attacked and does not reach its box shaped ideal, but ends up embodying all the aesthetics they value: incompleteness, asymmetry, suggestion, and