Japanese History

 I know the textbook only has space for a truncated account of Japanese history, but I was still a bit disappointed to see it skimmed over the Heian era. Even though there isn't as much evidence to study for Ancient Japan as there is for the premodern period, I'm super invested in the folklore and traditions of that time. Maybe I'm invested because there isn't as much evidence. It makes what we do know all the more mysterious. I'm especially interested in early Japanese literature. 

Ono no Komachi, a female poet later alluded to in Noh plays and by writers such as Ihara Seikaku

Unfortunately, not a lot of it survives because paper is so delicate, but I learned in Professor Brownstein's Japanese Classics course that poetry was a top priority for the Heian court. Not only were the rules incredibly minute, but it was steeped in word play which is specific to the Japanese language. The most common example would be analogies of words being like seeds which sprout in the heart before growing into complex branches, a pun on 言の葉. Japanese poets believed poetry came from deep within the heart, and while this sentiment is shared in the West, the tree analogy doesn't hit the same without the pun. This kind of layered complexity motivates me to improve my Japanese so I can fully understand each poem's intended meaning.

A depiction of Murasaki Shikibu

Additionally, Heian era literature was uniquely dominated by women. Since Chinese was the language of intellectuals, much of early Japanese literature was written by women, who were not allowed to learn Chinese due to it being too "masculine." The Tale of Genji, one of the most famous Japanese works and posited by some to be the first novel in history, was written by Murasaki Shikibu, a court lady. It's so interesting to read about the storied history of these works and how important women were to the development of the Japanese language. Like with poetry, I hope my Japanese is strong enough to read them in their original forms one day, as much is lost in translation.