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49-478: The Pillow Book ( 枕草子 , Makura no Sōshi ) 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 which have little connection to one another except for

98-541: A court lady by a nickname taken from a court office belonging to her father or husband. Sei ( 清 ) derives from her father's family name " Kiyohara " (the native Japanese reading of the first character is kiyo , while the Sino-Japanese reading is sei ), while Shōnagon ( 少納言 , "lesser councilor of state") refers to a government post. Her relationship to this post is unknown, though—neither her father nor either of her two husbands held such

147-449: A daughter, Koma no Myobu, although some evidence suggests she became a Buddhist nun. Hiroaki Sato questions whether Lady Sei and Norimitsu were actually married or just close friends, "the ladies and gentlemen of the court teased them by calling him her big brother and her his little sister." Shōnagon is also known for her rivalry with her contemporary, writer and court lady Murasaki Shikibu , author of The Tale of Genji who served

196-455: A daughter, Princess Kyōshi, and dies two days later. Sei Shōnagon leaves the court. 1011 Emperor Ichijō dies. Succeeded by Sanjō. 1017 Last reference to Sei Shōnagon. Zuihitsu Zuihitsu ( 随筆 ) is a genre of Japanese literature consisting of loosely connected personal essays and fragmented ideas that typically respond to the author's surroundings. The name is derived from two Kanji meaning "at will" and "pen." The provenance of

245-472: A language all their own. Extensive schooling was not necessary in order to describe every feeling on paper; and the syllabic hiragana could note inflections heard in speech, unlike kanji. Educated women, like Shōnagon, did occasionally use kanji. Due to it being considered male writing, for a woman to properly use and understand it demonstrated her years of study. It was a way for Shōnagon to show her intelligence simply through her way of writing. The Pillow Book

294-498: A member of the Heian Imperial Court, kept a private diary of her own observations and musings about courtly life. It is unclear whether or not she intended it to be released to the public (sections of the work suggest that she did not), but the work nevertheless survived and provides an alternate view into life of the era, making it an invaluable literary as well as historical resource. The genre next gained momentum as

343-441: A modern story that references Sei Shōnagon's work. The Pillow Book is also the name of a series of radio thrillers written by Robert Forrest and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 's Woman's Hour Drama . These are detective stories with Sei Shōnagon as a principal character and feature many of her lists. Sei Sh%C5%8Dnagon Sei Shōnagon's actual given name is not known. It was the custom among aristocrats in those days to call

392-676: A poem and she had to turn him away because of his poor writing skills. During the Heian period, women had a role in society, especially those women who were considered to be upper-class. Female authors in Japan during this time were more popular since they wrote in Japanese, which was considered the "people's language," and the male authors wrote in Chinese since that was considered to be of higher status. Since female authors' works were more popular with

441-425: A post. Bun'ei Tsunoda has suggested that it may have belonged to a third husband, perhaps Fujiwara no Nobuyoshi . Her actual name has been a topic of debate among scholars, and the name Kiyohara no Nagiko ( 清原 諾子 ) is a possibility. Little is known about her life except what can be found in her writing. She was the daughter of Kiyohara no Motosuke , a scholar and well-known waka poet, who worked as

490-620: A provincial official. Her grandfather Kiyohara no Fukayabu was also a waka poet. The family were middle-ranking courtiers and had financial difficulties, possibly because they were not granted a revenue-producing office. She married Tachibana no Norimitsu, a government official at 16, and gave birth to a son, Norinaga. In 993, at 27, when she began to serve the Empress Teishi , consort of Emperor Ichijō , she may have been divorced. When her court service ended she may have married Fujiwara no Muneyo, governor of Settsu province , and had

539-543: A respectable form of writing several centuries later in the Kamakura Period . With the depotentiation of the Heian Court and the relocation of the capital to Kamakura , near modern-day Tokyo , many intellectuals, amidst social chaos, grew disillusioned and chose to live in asceticism – a trend that also reflected the growing importance of Pure Land Buddhism . Writing from isolation, these authors reflected on

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588-426: A scholarly foothold, as Japanese classical scholars began customarily writing in the zuihitsu style. Reputable authors from this movement include Motoori Norinaga , Yokoi Yayu , and Matsudaira Sadanobu . As a genre largely focused on personal writing and contemplation, zuihitsu writings tend to explore issues reflective of attitudes pervasive at the time of their composition. Overarching themes, however, include

637-480: Is a part of a large tradition of women's literature. The simplicity and charm of Shonagon's style has been used as an example of the finest Japanese prose to this day. Shōnagon has been described as arrogant and confrontational by many readers, according to Penney and Matthew, though they describe her as freely expressing her feelings with sharp wit. The Pillow Book influenced a genre of Japanese writings known as zuihitsu ('assorted writing'). The Heian period

686-467: Is the fact that she did not invest her time in soul-searching, nor was she searching for the attention or opinions of readers, simply because she did not invest in her writing for others, but only for herself. Shōnagon's focus in The Pillow Book is based on the likes and dislikes of the world, what she is interested in personally, and the delightedness of the world that she viewed and lived in. In

735-431: Is written in brief statements, where the length of one paragraph is relatively short, and it is easy to read the contents, even for modern Japanese speakers. The miscellaneous collection has been arranged loosely into three specific types, while the collection of similar things has been compiled by distinct classification, and this so-called compiling was done afterwards by the hands of people other than Sei Shōnagon. Based on

784-687: The zuihitsu genre. Other major works from the same period include Kamo no Chōmei 's Hōjōki and Yoshida Kenkō 's Tsurezuregusa . Zuihitsu rose to mainstream popularity in the Edo period, when it found a wide audience in the newly developed merchant classes. Furthermore, it gained a scholarly foothold, as Japanese classical scholars began customarily writing in the zuihitsu style. Reputable authors from this movement include Motoori Norinaga , Yokoi Yayu , and Matsudaira Sadanobu . Peter Greenaway released his film The Pillow Book in 1996. Starring Vivian Wu and Ewan McGregor , it tells

833-593: The Empress Shoshi , second consort of the Emperor Ichijō. Murasaki Shikibu wrote about Shōnagon – somewhat scathingly, though conceding Shōnagon's literary gifts – in her diary, The Diary of Lady Murasaki . Shōnagon became popular through her work The Pillow Book , a collection of lists, gossip, poetry, observations and complaints written during her years in the court, a miscellaneous genre of writing known as zuihitsu . Shōnagon's essays describe

882-424: The "exhaustiveness" of the "collection of similar things" and how it is represented by "as for worms", "as for the flowers of trees", " hateful things ", and "things of beauty" – which have been described anachronistically as " Borgesian lists" – author Sei Shōnagon's "Ramblings" observe the nature of everyday life and the four seasons, and describe in diverse sentences "her recollections" (her diary) that look back at

931-467: The Kyoto Journal article, McKinney explains that Shōnagon is "engaging you [the reader], face to face across the centuries, assuming your familiarity with her and her world, compelling you to nod and smile." The selections in this anthology are meant to showcase the variety of Shonagon's musings and anecdotes. The Pillow Book is a collection of anecdotes, lists, and assorted writings that is one of

980-513: The Sankanbon text is divided into 297 sections, with an additional 29 "supplemental" sections which may represent later additions by the author or copyists. Machiko Midorikawa describes McKinney's translation as "much more accurate than Morris's". More generally, a pillow book is a collection of notebooks or notes which have been collated to show a period of someone or something's life. In Japan such kind of idle notes are generally referred to as

1029-417: The beliefs of certain scholars, most of Shonagon's work was written during her time working in the court; however, some of the later entries were written in her later life, and were just based on her memories of the days and moments she experienced previously in the court. An aspect that makes Shōnagon's writing in The Pillow Book different from other written diaries of her period and even modern day journals

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1078-459: The best sources of information concerning the court society of the 10th century and is considered an influential landmark in the history of Japanese literature. The Pillow Book is written entirely in Japanese. During the late 10th and early 11th centuries, Japanese men typically wrote in Chinese, using characters, while Japanese women wrote exclusively in their native tongue, using hiragana, a syllabary derived from Chinese characters. The Pillow Book

1127-467: The capital. ? Governor of Ise Minamoto Tsunefusa visits Sei Shōnagon and discovers and circulates the early draft of The Pillow Book. Teishi gives birth to a daughter, Princess Shūshi. 997 Korechika and Takaie are allowed to return to the capital. 999 Major fire at Imperial Palace. Teishi gives birth to a son, Prince Atsuyasu. 1000 Michinaga’s daughter Shōshi becomes High Consort to Emperor Ichijō, replacing Teishi in his favour. Teishi gives birth to

1176-411: The common people, it is safe to assume that their works influenced society. Despite women in the Heian period still being less socially important than men, the writers studied today for their creativity and wordplay wrote in hiragana . Males tended to use kanji exclusively due to demonstrate their command of a writing system borrowed from their neighbour, China. The newer, exclusively Japanese hiragana

1225-471: The court. Though Shōnagon never intended her work for eyes other than her own, through the centuries it has become a famous work of literature. Six passages from the book were first translated into English in 1889 by T. A. Purcell and W. G. Aston. Other notable English translations have been the partial translation by Arthur Waley in 1928, the first complete translation by Ivan Morris in 1967, and Meredith McKinney's complete translation in 2006. Starting with

1274-492: The degeneracy of their contemporaries, whom they considered philistines, in comparison to themselves, as well as general consideration of the impermanence of the material world. Major works from this period include Kamo no Chōmei's Hōjōki and Yoshida Kenkō ’s Tsurezuregusa . Zuihitsu rose to mainstream popularity in the Edo period , when it found a wide audience in the newly developed merchant classes. Furthermore, it gained

1323-594: The emperor's adviser, Fujiwara no Michitaka (her biological father), as well as the misfortune of both Emperor and Empress Teishi. Both the author's sophisticated sense and her eye for particular things are fused; for if one compares the sentimentality of mono no aware (the Pathos of Things) as found in The Tale of Genji , similar beauty of the world is revealed through the use of the intellectual word okashi ('lovely') in this piece. In general, The Pillow Book

1372-426: The events took place. She was also known to be especially adept at recalling and quoting a classic poem to suit the occasion, even by the standards of a court in which knowledge of the poetry canon was considered an essential skill. The entries in The Pillow Book on rhetoric include advice and opinions on conversation, preaching, and letter writing. Shōnagon advocates pure language and rigorous use of formalities in

1421-466: The fact 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

1470-735: The first consists of narratives, which focus mainly on the events that she witnessed and experienced during her time in the court, the second consists of her own thoughts and opinions on various matters and topics, and the third were the famous lists, or headings, with one example from Shōnagon's writing being "Things That Make the Heart Grow Fonder." The Pillow Book consists of 164 of these lists total, where they range from aesthetically pleasing items to being less diplomatic than Shōnagon's anecdotes. Three types of classification were proposed by Kikan Ikeda. However, there are sections that are rather ambiguous and are difficult to classify (e.g., in

1519-442: The first paragraph of her ramblings, "As for Spring, (it is) the dawn [that is lovely]", there are objections to common opinions of what is actually meant here). It is composed primarily in Japanese hiragana , which is a syllabary that is actually derived from Chinese characters, and generally many of her short stories were written in a witty literary style. This style of writing was the native tongue for women in that time period and

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1568-455: The nature of aristocratic life and its faults as well as the unpleasantries of the world and its denizens. Many of the works feature instances of poetry, often reflecting on typically “Japanese” themes, such as appreciation for the changing of the seasons. Additionally, Kamakura Period zuihitsu , strongly rooted in Buddhist thought, typically contains the author's musings on the impermanence of

1617-452: The prevalent fashion, to have written more passionately would have been considered unstylish. Her writing is considered witty, depicting Teishi's elegant court from a detailed, gossipy perspective. Shōnagon was regarded by contemporary courtiers as having an excellent memory. Her writing includes many reminiscences of events at court, often including precise details such as the clothes people wore, despite being written down several years after

1666-467: The priest is unattractive, but when he is good-looking one remains focused on his face, and as such better experiences the holiness of his sermons. Later, she offers detailed information on letter writing, offering prescriptions for paper, calligraphy, accompanying gift and bearer, and appreciation for the value of letters as gifts of love. In particular, Shōnagon paid special attention to "morning-after letters". In Japanese court society, sex between courtiers

1715-519: The risk of fire, the Imperial family did not live in the Heian Palace . Empress Teishi resided in a part of Chūgushiki , the "Bureau of Serving the (Middle) Empress", and moved to other residences as circumstances changed. Shōnagon writes with apparent lightheartedness about events at court, de-emphasizing or omitting harsh realities such as Teishi's death from childbirth in 1001. According to

1764-496: The sections of advice on conversation, but also offers vignettes showing witty repartee and sociable give-and-take among the empress's ladies and between ladies and gentlemen. Shōnagon also touches upon the topic of preaching; priests who preach should be handsome and well trained in elocution, with excellent memories, and their audiences should be attentive and polite individuals who do not come to services to flirt and show off. She says that one can become distracted and inattentive when

1813-408: The society of the imperial court surrounding Empress Teishi whom she served, among other things. According to Meredith McKinney in the Kyoto Journal article, (who contributed to the translation of The Pillow Book from Japanese into English), The Pillow Book is a special case, and it is a genre-bending miscellany of short, largely unrelated pieces. Shōnagon's writing is categorized into three parts;

1862-583: The term is ultimately Chinese, zuihitsu being the Sino-Japanese reading ( on'yomi ) of 随筆 ( Mandarin : suíbǐ ), the native reading ( kun'yomi ) of which is fude ni shitagau ("follow the brush"). Thus works of the genre should be considered not as traditionally planned literary pieces but rather as casual or randomly recorded thoughts by the authors. Zuihitsu emerged in the Heian Period with Sei Shōnagon 's The Pillow Book . Shōnagon,

1911-601: The text are known to modern scholars. The two considered to be the most complete and accurate are the Sankanbon and Nōinbon texts. Later editors introduced section numbers and divisions; the Sankanbon text is divided into 297 sections, with an additional 29 supplemental sections which may represent later additions by the author or copyists. In The Pillow Book , Shōnagon writes about Empress Teishi, and her disappointment after her father's death when Fujiwara no Michinaga made his daughter Shōshi consort to Ichijō, and then empress, making Teishi one of two empresses at court. Because of

1960-555: The tonsure. 993 Fujiwara Michitaka becomes Chancellor. ? Sei Shōnagon becomes a gentlewoman in Teishi’s court. 994? Fujiwara Korechika (974–1010), Michitaka’s son, presents Empress Teishi with the paper Sei Shōnagon will use for her Pillow Book. 995 Chancellor Fujiwara Michitaka dies. Michitaka’s brother and rival, Fujiwara Michinaga (966–1027), increases his power. 996 Teishi’s brothers Korechika and Takaie (979–1044) attack Retired Emperor Kazan; they are arrested and forced to leave

2009-572: The various daily experiences and customs of the time, and the affairs of the Imperial Court in Kyoto where she lived, from a unique point of view. The Pillow Book was circulated at court, and for several hundred years existed in handwritten manuscripts. First printed in the 17th century, it exists in different versions: the order of entries may have been changed by scribes with comments and passages added, edited, or deleted. Four main variants of

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2058-535: The year 1017, and very few records of her after the death of the Empress Teishi/Empress Sadako in 1000. According to one tradition, she lived out her twilight years in poverty as a Buddhist nun. Another tradition has her marrying Fujiwara no Muneyo, the governor of Settsu province, after her court service ended, and having a daughter, Koma no Myobu. The Pillow Book is thought to have been finished sometime between 1001 and 1010, while Shōnagon

2107-472: Was accidentally revealed to the Court during her life: "she inadvertently left it [her writing] on a cushion she put out for a visiting guest, who eagerly carried it off despite her pleas." She wrote The Pillow Book as a private endeavor of enjoyment for herself; it seemed to be a way for her to express her inner thoughts and feelings that she was not allowed to state publicly due to her lower standing position in

2156-476: Was circulated at court, and for several hundred years existed in handwritten manuscripts. First printed in the 17th century, it exists in different versions: the order of entries may have been changed by scribes with comments and passages added, edited, or deleted. Four main variants of the text are known to modern scholars. The two considered to be the most complete and accurate are the Sankanbon and Nōinbon texts. Later editors introduced section numbers and divisions;

2205-493: Was essential to the aristocratic people. Poetry and vibrant art were a big part in the imperial court, of which Shōnagon was a part. The people in the imperial court were expected to be well educated in writing. Literature was seen as a "key part in social interaction." One's writing skills could make or break their reputation. For example, Shōnagon mentions in The Pillow Book how a courtier asked her for advice for writing

2254-475: Was illicit but happened very often. A social requirement was that the male send a poem on beautiful paper with a decorative flower or branch to the lady, and that she reply. Shōnagon goes in depth about this subject matter in her section called, "Things That Make One Nervous." One of her waka is included in the famous anthology Ogura Hyakunin Isshu as No. 62. There are no details about Shōnagon's life after

2303-1079: Was in retirement. Main background events are included. Names are given in the Japanese order, family name first. 966? Sei Shōnagon born. Father Kiyohara Motosuke, mother’s name unknown. 967 Emperor Murakami, Ichijō’s grandfather, dies. Succeeded by Reizei (950–1011), the second son of Emperor Murakami. 969 Enyū(b. 959), Ichijō’s father, succeeds to the throne. 975 Princess Senshi (964–1035) becomes Kamo High Priestess (until 1031). 977 Fujiwara Teishi born. Father Fujiwara Michitaka (b. 953), mother Takashina Kishi (d. 996). 978 Fujiwara Senshi (962–1001), daughter of Fujiwara Kaneie, becomes Empress of Emperor Enyū. 980 Ichijō born. Father Emperor Enyū, mother Fujiwara Senshi. 984 Emperor Enyū retires and takes Buddhist orders. Succeeded by Kazan (968–1008), eldest son of Emperor Reizei. 986 Emperor Kazan retires and takes Buddhist orders. Succeeded by Ichijō. 990 Teishi becomes High Consort to Emperor Ichijō. Fujiwara Kaneie, Michitaka’s father, becomes Chancellor. 991 Retired Emperor Enyū dies; Empress Dowager, Fujiwara Senshi, takes

2352-432: Was used by women. It used characters for syllables allowing more freedom to express inner thoughts than the logographic kanji. Since women were excluded from public life during the Heian period, upper-class, better-educated women had vast amounts of time to write. This removal from the public sector also sheltered women from political turmoil. Hiragana allowed women to convey their thoughts and feelings regarding their lives in

2401-408: Was used more often by women like Shōnagon. According to Matthew Penney in his critiquing article "The Pillow Book", the only Chinese terms that actually appear in The Pillow Book are in the place-names and personal titles, and the rest is classified as original hiragana. Confessions of her personal feelings are mixed into her writing with occasionally subtle sentimentality that reflects the downfall of

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