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The Pillow Book
is a book of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shōnagon during her time as court lady to Empress Consort Teishi during the 990s and early 1000s in Heian-period Japan. The book was completed in the year 1002. The work is a collection of essays, anecdotes, poems, and descriptive passages that have little connection to one another except for the fact that they are ideas and whims of Shōnagon's spurred by moments in her daily life. In it she included lists of all kinds, personal thoughts, interesting events in court, poetry, and some opinions on her contemporaries. While it is mostly a personal work, Shōnagon's writing and poetic skill makes it interesting as a work of literature, and it is valuable as a historical document. Shōnagon meant her writing in ''The Pillow Book'' for her eyes only, but part of it was accidentally revealed to the Court during her life: "she inadvertently left it er writingon a cushion she put out for a visiting guest, who eagerly carried it of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Pillow Book (film)
''The Pillow Book'' is a 1996 erotic drama film written and directed by Peter Greenaway, which stars Vivian Wu as Nagiko, a Japanese model in search of pleasure and new cultural experience from various lovers. The film is a melding of dark modern drama with idealised Chinese and Japanese cultural themes and settings, and centres on body painting. Plot The film's title, "''The Pillow Book''", refers to an ancient Japanese diary written by Sei Shōnagon, whose actual name is believed to have been Kiyohara Nagiko, from whence the protagonist's name in the film. The film is narrated by Nagiko, a Japanese born model living in Hong Kong. Nagiko seeks a lover who can match her desire for carnal pleasure with her admiration for poetry and calligraphy. The roots of this obsession lie in her youth in Kyoto, when her father would write characters of good fortune on her face. Nagiko's father celebrates her birthday retelling the Japanese creation myth and writing on her flesh in beautiful ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kamo No Chōmei
was a Japanese author, poet (in the waka form), and essayist. He witnessed a series of natural and social disasters, and, having lost his political backing, was passed over for promotion within the Shinto shrine associated with his family. He decided to turn his back on society, took Buddhist vows, and became a hermit, living outside the capital. This was somewhat unusual for the time, when those who turned their backs on the world usually joined monasteries. Along with the poet-priest Saigyō he is representative of the literary recluses of his time, and his celebrated essay ''Hōjōki'' ("An Account of a Ten-Foot-Square Hut") is representative of the genre known as " recluse literature" (sōan bungaku). Early life Born with the name Kamo no Nagaakira, he was the second son of Kamo no Nagatsugu, ''sho-negi'' or superintendent, of the Lower Kamo ( Shimogamo) shrine. He was also known by the title Kikudaifu. The exact year of his birth is unknown, but thought to be either 11 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London. The station controller is Mohit Bakaya. Broadcasting throughout the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands on FM, LW and DAB, and on BBC Sounds, it can be received in the eastern counties of Ireland, northern France and Northern Europe. It is available on Freeview, Sky, and Virgin Media. Radio 4 currently reaches over 10 million listeners, making it the UK's second most-popular radio station after Radio 2. BBC Radio 4 broadcasts news programmes such as ''Today'' and '' The World at One'', heralded on air by the Greenwich Time Signal pips or the chimes of Big Ben. The pips are only accurate on FM, LW, and MW; there is a delay on digital radio of three to five second ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Forrest (dramatist)
Robert Forrest is a Scottish three-time Sony Award winning dramatist (playwright) who has created many radio shows for BBC Radio and a stage play 'Jason and the Argonauts' for children that toured internationally and on Broadway. He has also adapted The Exorcist for BBC Radio 4 (Feb 2014). History and personal life Forrest lives in Strathaven, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Radio adaptations * The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty, BBC Radio 4, February 2014 * The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, BBC Radio 4, 6–13 May 2012 * The Pillow Book by Robert Forrest, BBC Radio 4, 2009–2012 * Journey into Fear by Eric Ambler, BBC Radio 7, 28 February – 4 March 2011 * Adam Bede by George Eliot, BBC Radio 7, 3–17 July 2010 * The Honourable Schoolboy by John le Carré, BBC Radio 4, 24 January – 7 February 2010 * The Secret Pilgrim by John le Carré, BBC Radio 4, 13–27 June 2010 * Smiley's People by John le Carré, BBC Radio 4, 11–25 April 2010 * The Voyage of the Demeter, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to drama and charity. His first professional role was in 1993, as a leading role in the British Channel 4 series '' Lipstick on Your Collar''. He then achieved international fame with his portrayals of heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama films '' Trainspotting'' (1996) and '' T2 Trainspotting'' (2017), Obi-Wan Kenobi in the ''Star Wars'' prequel trilogy (1999–2005), poet Christian in the musical film ''Moulin Rouge!'' (2001), SPC John Grimes in '' Black Hawk Down'' (2001), young Edward Bloom in '' Big Fish'' (2003), Rodney Copperbottom in ''Robots'' (2005), Camerlengo Father Patrick McKenna in '' Angels and Demons'' (2009), "the ghost" in Roman Polanski's political thriller ''The Ghost Writer'' (2010) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vivian Wu
Vivian Wu ( Wu Junmei; ; born February 5, 1967) is a Chinese-American actress.Chen Nan ''China Daily'', 27 April 2007. Her big break came in 1987, appearing in the biographical film '' The Last Emperor''. She later went to starring in films '' Iron & Silk'' (1990), '' The Guyver'' (1991), '' Heaven & Earth'' (1993), '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III'' (1993), '' The Joy Luck Club'' (1993), and most notably playing the leading roles in ''The Pillow Book'' (1996) and '' The Soong Sisters'' (1997). In 2020, she stars as Dr. Lu Wang in the Netflix science fiction drama '' Away''. Early life Wu Junmei was born in Shanghai, China. Wu is the daughter of Zhu Manfang, one of the leading actresses in China during the 1940s and 1950s. She attended Shanghai Shixi High School and began acting at the age of 16 in Shanghai Film Studio.Feng Yi''Vivian Wu: The Shanghainese beauty takes to the silver screen once more'' CNN, 20 June 2011. In 1987, she attended the Hawaii Pacific University, stud ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Greenaway
Peter Greenaway, (born 5 April 1942) is a Welsh film director, screenwriter and artist. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Flemish painting in particular. Common traits in his films are the scenic composition and illumination and the contrasts of costume and nudity, nature and architecture, furniture and people, sexual pleasure and painful death. Early life Greenaway was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales, to a teacher mother and a builder's merchant father. Greenaway's family left South Wales when he was three years old (they had moved there originally to avoid the Blitz) and settled in Chingford, Essex. He attended Forest School in nearby Walthamstow. At an early age Greenaway decided on becoming a painter. He became interested in European cinema, focusing first on the films of Ingmar Bergman, and then on the French '' nouvelle vague'' filmmakers such as Jean-Luc Godard and, most especially, Alain Resnais. Greenaw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matsudaira Sadanobu
was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the mid-Edo period, famous for his financial reforms which saved the Shirakawa Domain, and the similar reforms he undertook during his tenure as chief of the Tokugawa shogunate, from 1787 to 1793. Early life Matsudaira Sadanobu was the seventh son of Tokugawa Munetake, of the Tayasu branch of the Tokugawa clan. The Tayasu was one of the '' gosankyō'', the senior-most of the lesser cadet branches of the Shōgun's family, and was thus the grandson of the reform-minded eighth shōgun Tokugawa Yoshimune. The Tayasu house stood apart from the other cadet branches resident in Edo Castle, living a more austere lifestyle, following the example set by Yoshimune—in Munetake's words, the praise of manly spirit (''masuraoburi'') as opposed to feminine spirit (''taoyameburi''). It also set itself apart from the other branches due to its history of thwarted political ambition—the founder, Munetake, had hoped to become his father's heir but was passed ove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yokoi Yayu
Yokoi is Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Gunpei Yokoi, designer of the Game Boy and other Nintendo products *Hirotaka Yokoi, professional mixed martial arts fighter *Shoichi Yokoi was a sergeant in the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during the Second World War, and was one of the last three Japanese holdouts to be found after the end of hostilities in 1945. He was discovered in the jungles of Guam on 24 January 1972, almos ..., soldier and celebrity * Shonan Yokoi, political reformer * Mitsuo Yokoi, a Japanese voice actor (known as "Tesshō Genda") * Yokoi Yayū, 18th-century poet {{surname, Yokoi Japanese-language surnames ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motoori Norinaga
was a Japanese scholar of ''Kokugaku'' active during the Edo period. He is conventionally ranked as one of the Four Great Men of Kokugaku (nativist) studies. Life Norinaga was born in what is now Matsusaka in Ise Province (now part of Mie Prefecture). His ancestors were vassals of the Kitabatake clan in Ise Province for many generations. However, in the early Edo period they abandoned their samurai status, changing their surname to Ozu, and relocated to Matsusaka, where they became cotton wholesalers. The family initially prospered and had a store in Edo as well. (The film director Yasujirō Ozu was a descendant of the same line). After his elder brother's death, Norinaga succeeded to the Ozu line. At one stage he was adopted out to a paper-making family but the bookish boy was not suited to business. It was at his mother's suggestion that, at the age of 22, Norinaga went to Kyoto to study medicine. In Kyoto, he also studied Chinese and Japanese philology under the neo-C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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