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Suetsumuhana
is the archaic Japanese word for the safflower. It is known now as . It is also the name of a female character in Murasaki Shikibu's epic novel ''The Tale of Genji''. The sixth chapter of it is named after her. She is also known as the Safflower Princess. In some English translations she appears as Princess Hitachi. Prince Genji was briefly attracted to her, until she lowered her fan to reveal her nose. However, he eventually felt sorry for her and helped support her. She is noted to be one of the most loyal ladies in the ''Tale of Genji'', pining and waiting for Genji till he reciprocates her love. This is in part due to her unending loyalty to him, and that he is her first, and possibly, last man. She is invited to the palace, known also as the "Palace in the Sixth Ward", that Genji has built for all his women, and is taken care of for the rest of her life. The incident with the Safflower Princess's nose has always been a source of comic relief for readers of the "Tale of Ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Safflower
Safflower (''Carthamus tinctorius'') is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual plant in the family Asteraceae. It is commercially cultivated for vegetable oil extracted from the seeds and was used by the early Spanish colonies along the Rio Grande as a substitute for saffron. Plants are tall with globular flower heads having yellow, orange (colour), orange, or red flowers. Each branch will usually have from one to five flower heads containing 15 to 20 seeds per head. Safflower is native to arid environments having Wet season, seasonal rain. It grows a deep taproot which enables it to thrive in such environments. Biology Plant morphology Safflower is a fast growing, erect, winter/spring-growing Annual plant, annual herb, that resembles a thistle. Originating from a leaf Rosette (botany), rosette emerges a branched central stem (also referred to as terminal stem), when day length and temperature increase. The main shoot reaches heights of . The plant also develops a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Safflower
Safflower (''Carthamus tinctorius'') is a highly branched, herbaceous, thistle-like annual plant in the family Asteraceae. It is commercially cultivated for vegetable oil extracted from the seeds and was used by the early Spanish colonies along the Rio Grande as a substitute for saffron. Plants are tall with globular flower heads having yellow, orange (colour), orange, or red flowers. Each branch will usually have from one to five flower heads containing 15 to 20 seeds per head. Safflower is native to arid environments having Wet season, seasonal rain. It grows a deep taproot which enables it to thrive in such environments. Biology Plant morphology Safflower is a fast growing, erect, winter/spring-growing Annual plant, annual herb, that resembles a thistle. Originating from a leaf Rosette (botany), rosette emerges a branched central stem (also referred to as terminal stem), when day length and temperature increase. The main shoot reaches heights of . The plant also develops a ... [...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] |
Prince Genji
is the protagonist of Murasaki Shikibu's important Heian-era Japanese novel '' The Tale of Genji''. The story describes him as a superbly handsome man and a genius. Genji is the second son of a Japanese emperor, but he is relegated to civilian life for political reasons and lives as an imperial officer. The first part of the story concentrates on his romantic life, and in the second, his and others' internal agony is depicted. He appears from the first volume "Kiritsubo" to the 40th volume "Illusion". " Genji" is the surname as a noble demoted from royalty. His true given name is never referred to in the story, like most other characters. "Hikaru" means "shining", which is a nickname deriving from his appearance. He is also referred to as , sometimes abbreviated as . He is often called Genji when speaking of the story. It's implied that Hikaru Genji was extremely attractive and talented, easily gaining the favor of those around him at a young age. Describing his superlative ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is used in Japan to refer to both comics and cartooning. Outside of Japan, the word is typically used to refer to comics originally published in the country. In Japan, people of all ages and walks of life read manga. The medium includes works in a broad range of genres: action, adventure, business and commerce, comedy, detective, drama, historical, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction and fantasy, erotica ('' hentai'' and ''ecchi''), sports and games, and suspense, among others. Many manga are translated into other languages. Since the 1950s, manga has become an increasingly major part of the Japanese publishing industry. By 1995, the manga market in Japan was valued at (), with annual sales of 1.9billion manga books and manga magazi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koto (musical Instrument)
The is a Japanese plucked half-tube zither instrument, and the national instrument of Japan. It is derived from the Chinese and , and similar to the Mongolian , the Korean and , the Vietnamese , the Sundanese and the Kazakhstan . Koto are roughly in length, and made from Paulownia wood (''Paulownia tomentosa'', known as ). The most common type uses 13 strings strung over movable bridges used for tuning, different pieces possibly requiring different tuning. 17-string koto are also common, and act as bass in ensembles. Koto strings are generally plucked using three fingerpicks (), worn on the first three fingers of the right hand. Names and types The character for ''koto'' is , although is often used. However, (''koto'') is the general term for all string instruments in the Japanese language,(jaKotobank koto/ref> including instruments such as the , , , , , and so on. When read as , it indicates the Chinese instrument . The term is used today in the same way. The term ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jūnihitoe
The , more formally known as the , is a style of formal court dress first worn in the Heian period by noble women and ladies-in-waiting at the Japanese Imperial Court. The was composed of a number of kimono-like robes, layered on top of each other, with the outer robes cut both larger and thinner to reveal the layered garments underneath. These robes were referred to as , with the innermost robe – worn as underwear against the skin – known as the . were also worn as underwear with the ; over time, the two would gradually become outerwear, with the eventually developing into the modern-day kimono. Despite the name, the varied in its exact number of layers. It also featured an (belt), though unlike modern , this was little more than a thin, cordlike length of fabric. The number of layers, and the type of layers, could alter the formality of a outfit, with some accessories, such as overcoats and a long, skirt-like train (known as the ) only worn for special, formal occasion ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sudare
are traditional Japanese screens or blinds, made of horizontal slats of decorative wood, bamboo, or other natural material, woven together with simple string, colored yarn, or other decorative material to make nearly solid blinds can be either rolled or folded up out of the way. They are also sometimes called , particularly if they have a green fabric hem. , non-hanging , are made of vertical slats of common reed and used as screen. are used in many Japanese homes to shield the verandah and other openings of the building from sunlight, rain, and insects. They are normally put up in spring and taken down again in autumn. Their light structure allows breezes to pass through, a benefit in the hot Japanese summers. Since the building materials are easy to find, can be made cheaply. Elaborate for palaces and villas used high-quality bamboo, with expensive silk and gold embroidery worked in. Sometimes they featured paintings, most often on the inside; some Chinese screens had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Window Screen
A window screen (also known as insect screen, bug screen, fly screen, flywire, wire mesh, or window net) is designed to cover the opening of a window. It is usually a mesh made of metal, fiberglass, fibreglass, plastic wire, or other pieces of plastic and stretched in a Frame and panel, frame of wood or metal. It serves to keep leaves, debris, bugs, birds, and other animals from entering a building or a screened porch, screened structure such as a porch, without blocking fresh air-flow. Most houses in Australia, the United States and Canada and other parts of the world have screens on windows to prevent entry of flying insects such as Mosquito, mosquitoes, flies and Wasp, wasps. In some regions such as the northern United States and Canada, screens were required to be replaced by glass storm windows in the winter, but now combination storm and screen windows are available, which allow glass and screen panels to slide up and down. For screens installed on aluminium frames, the m ... [...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] |
Sleeve
A sleeve ( ang, slīef, a word allied to ''slip'', cf. Dutch ) is the part of a garment that covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The sleeve is a characteristic of fashion seen in almost every country and time period, across a myriad of styles of dress. Styles vary from close-fitting to the arm, to relatively unfitted and wide sleeves, some with extremely wide cuffs. Long, hanging sleeves have been used variously as a type of pocket, from which the phrase "to have up one's sleeve" (to have something concealed ready to produce) comes. There are many other proverbial and metaphorical expressions associated with the sleeve, such as "to wear one's heart upon one's sleeve", and "to laugh in one's sleeve". Early Western medieval sleeves were cut straight, and underarm triangle-shaped gussets were used to provide ease of movement. In the 14th century, the rounded sleeve cap was invented, allowing a more fitted sleeve to be inserted, with ease around the sleeve he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
