|
Murasaki
''Murasaki'' refers to the heroine of '' The Tale of Genji'' (), after whom the book's author, Murasaki Shikibu, was named by her contemporaries. She was a lady in waiting at the Imperial Court of Japan, around the year 1000. Murasaki Shikibu's given name remains unknown to this day. The word Shikibu is actually no name, but refers to the rank of her father, who was in the Emperor's service as provincial governor. The Name Murasaki The name remained a pseudonym, as due to court manners of the author's time (the Heian period, 794–1185), it was considered unacceptably familiar and vulgar to freely address people by either their personal or family names; within the novel, the character herself, too, is unnamed, as most of the book's characters are never identified by any name, but by their rank and title (in the case of male persons), the rank and title of their male relatives (in the case of female persons), or after the name of their habitation (in the case of the great cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Murasaki Shikibu
was a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court in the Heian period. She is best known as the author of '' The Tale of Genji,'' widely considered to be one of the world's first novels, written in Japanese between about 1000 and 1012. Murasaki Shikibu is a descriptive name; her personal name is unknown, but she may have been , who was mentioned in a 1007 court diary as an imperial lady-in-waiting. Heian women were traditionally excluded from learning Chinese, the written language of government, but Murasaki, raised in her erudite father's household, showed a precocious aptitude for the Chinese classics and managed to acquire fluency. She married in her mid-to late twenties and gave birth to a daughter before her husband died, two years after they were married. It is uncertain when she began to write ''The Tale of Genji'', but it was probably while she was married or shortly after she was widowed. In about 1005, she was invited to serve as a lady-in-wait ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heian Period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. It is a period in Japanese history when the Chinese influences were in decline and the national culture matured. The Heian period is also considered the peak of the Japanese imperial court and noted for its art, especially poetry and literature. Two types of Japanese script emerged, including katakana, a phonetic script which was abbreviated into hiragana, a cursive alphabet with a unique writing method distinctive to Japan. This gave rise to Japan's famous vernacular literature, with many of its texts written by court women who were not as educated in Chinese compared to their male counterparts. Although the Imperial House of Japan had power on the surface, the real power was in the hands of the Fujiwara clan, a powerful aristocratic f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Poetry
Japanese poetry is poetry typical of Japan, or written, spoken, or chanted in the Japanese language, which includes Old Japanese, Early Middle Japanese, Late Middle Japanese, and Modern Japanese, as well as poetry in Japan which was written in the Chinese language or '' ryūka'' from the Okinawa Islands: it is possible to make a more accurate distinction between Japanese poetry written in Japan or by Japanese people in other languages versus that written in the Japanese language by speaking of Japanese-language poetry. Much of the literary record of Japanese poetry begins when Japanese poets encountered Chinese poetry during the Tang dynasty (although the Chinese classic anthology of poetry, ''Shijing'', was well known by the literati of Japan by the 6th century). Under the influence of the Chinese poets of this era Japanese began to compose poetry in Chinese '' kanshi''); and, as part of this tradition, poetry in Japan tended to be intimately associated with pictorial painting, p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Seidensticker
Edward George Seidensticker (February 11, 1921 – August 26, 2007) was an American noted post-World War II scholar, historian, and preeminent translator of classical and contemporary Japanese literature. His English translation of the epic '' The Tale of Genji,'' published in 1976, was especially well received critically and is counted among the preferred modern translations. Seidensticker is closely associated with the work of three major Japanese writers of the 20th century: Yasunari Kawabata, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, and Yukio Mishima. His landmark translations of novels by Kawabata, in particular ''Snow Country'' (1956) and ''Thousand Cranes'' (1958), led, in part, to Kawabata being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968. Biography Early years Seidensticker was born in 1921 on an isolated farmstead near Castle Rock, Colorado. His father, also named Edward G. Seidensticker, was the owner of a modest ranch that struggled financially during the 1920s and early 1930s. His ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lady Fujitsubo
is a fictional character in Murasaki Shikibu's '' The Tale of Genji'' (). Biography Daughter of a previous emperor and thus imperial princess, Fujitsubo enters the service of Kiritsubo Emperor at age 16, mainly because of her resemblance to the deceased Kiritsubo Consort. She soon becomes an imperial favorite, but also Genji's childhood crush and later lifelong obsession. By chapter seven, it becomes obvious that Fujitsubo and Genji are already involved in an illicit love affair (although the author does not describe it, but rather implies the beginning of the relationship), the result of which is the birth of Reizei (the future emperor) whom everyone, except the two lovers, believes to be the son of the Kiritsubo Emperor. Elevated to the rank of Empress and having her son named Heir Apparent (Reizei is supposed to succeed Suzaku), Fujitsubo gradually grows more and more troubled by guilt and the fear of having her secret exposed. Once Genji's advances intensify and, in the pu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyakuninisshu 057
is a classical Japanese anthology of one hundred Japanese ''waka'' by one hundred poets. ''Hyakunin isshu'' can be translated to "one hundred people, one poem ach; it can also refer to the card game of ''uta-garuta'', which uses a deck composed of cards based on the ''Hyakunin Isshu''. The most famous and standard version was compiled by Fujiwara no Teika (1162–1241) while he lived in the Ogura district of Kyoto. It is therefore also known as . Compilation One of Teika's diaries, the ''Meigetsuki'' (明月記), says that his son Tameie asked him to arrange one hundred poems for Tameie's father-in-law, Utsunomiya Yoritsuna, who was furnishing a residence near Mount Ogura; hence the full name of ''Ogura Hyakunin Isshu''. In order to decorate screens of the residence, Fujiwara no Teika produced the calligraphy poem sheets. Hishikawa Moronobu (1618–1694) provided woodblock portraits for each of the poets included in the anthology. Katsukawa Shunshō (1726–1793) designed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's own. Many pseudonym holders use pseudonyms because they wish to remain anonymous, but anonymity is difficult to achieve and often fraught with legal issues. Scope Pseudonyms include stage names, user names, ring names, pen names, aliases, superhero or villain identities and code names, gamer identifications, and regnal names of emperors, popes, and other monarchs. In some cases, it may also include nicknames. Historically, they have sometimes taken the form of anagrams, Graecisms, and Latinisations. Pseudonyms should not be confused with new names that replace old ones and become the individual's full-time name. Pseudonyms are "part-time" names, used only in certain contexts – to provide a more clear-cut separation between o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Purple
Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, purples are created with a combination of red and blue pigments. In the CMYK color model used in printing, purples are made by combining magenta pigment with either cyan pigment, black pigment, or both. Purple has long been associated with royalty, originally because Tyrian purple dye, made from the mucus secretion of a species of snail, was extremely expensive in antiquity. Purple was the color worn by Roman magistrates; it became the imperial color worn by the rulers of the Byzantine Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, and later by Roman Catholic bishops. Similarly in Japan, the color is traditionally associated with the emperor and aristocracy. According to contemporary surveys in Europe and the United States, purple is the color most ofte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lavender (color)
Lavender is a light shade of purple or violet. It applies particularly to the color of the flower of the same name. The web color called lavender is displayed at right—it matches the color of the very palest part of the lavender flower; however, the more saturated color shown below as '' floral lavender'' more closely matches the average color of the lavender flower as shown in the picture and is the tone of lavender historically and traditionally considered ''lavender'' by the average person as opposed to those who are website designers. The color lavender might be described as a ''medium purple'' or a ''light pinkish-purple''. The term ''lavender'' may be used in general to apply to a wide range of pale, light or grayish-purples but only on the blue side. Lilac is pale purple on the pink side. In paints, the color lavender is made by mixing purple and white paint. The first recorded use of the word ''lavender'' as a color term in English was in 1705. Historical developme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Violet (color)
Violet is the color of light at the short wavelength end of the visible spectrum, between blue and invisible ultraviolet. It is one of the seven colors that Isaac Newton labeled when dividing the spectrum of visible light in 1672. Violet light has a wavelength between approximately 380 and 435 nanometers. The color's name is derived from the violet flower. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, violet is produced by mixing red and blue light, with more blue than red. In the RYB color model historically used by painters, violet is created with a combination of red and blue pigments and is located between blue and purple on the color wheel. In the CMYK color model used in printing, violet is created with a combination of magenta and cyan pigments, with more magenta than cyan. Violet is closely associated with purple. In optics, violet is a spectral color (referring to the color of different single wavelengths of light), whereas purple is the color of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithospermum Purpurocaeruleum
''Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum'' (syn. ''Buglossoides purpurocaerulea''), the purple gromwell, is a herbaceous perennial rhizomatous plant of the genus ''Lithospermum'', belonging to the family Boraginaceae. Etymology The Latin name of the species, , means 'purple and blue', referring to the changing colour of the flowers with the progress of flowering. Description ''Lithospermum purpurocaeruleum'' is a bushy plant that reaches on average of height, with a maximum of . The stem is hairy, erect and unbranched. Leaves are dark green and lanceolate to narrow elliptic, with a prominent midrib on the underside. Flowers are hermaphroditic, funnel-shaped, long and of diameter, clustered in a racemose inflorescence. The blossoms are purple-reddish, then the color of the flowers turns into a deep blue. The flowering period extends from April to June. The fruits are bright white capsules, long, with a glossy surface. They are very hard (hence the genus synonym ''Lithospermum'', mea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
