Chinese Literary Form in Heian Japan

Chinese Literary Form in Heian Japan PDF Author: Brian Steininger
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 1684175763
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
"Written Chinese served as a prestigious, cosmopolitan script across medieval East Asia, from as far west as the Tarim Basin to the eastern kingdom of Heian period Japan (794–1185). In this book, Brian Steininger revisits the mid-Heian court of the Tale of Genji and the Pillow Book, where literary Chinese was not only the basis of official administration, but also a medium for political protest, sermons of mourning, and poems of celebration.Chinese Literary Forms in Heian Japan reconstructs the lived practice of Chinese poetic and prose genres among Heian officials, analyzing the material exchanges by which documents were commissioned, the local reinterpretations of Tang aesthetic principles, and the ritual venues in which literary Chinese texts were performed in Japanese vocalization. Even as state ideology and educational institutions proclaimed the Chinese script’s embodiment of timeless cosmological patterns, everyday practice in this far-flung periphery subjected classical models to a string of improvised exceptions. Through careful comparison of literary and documentary sources, this book provides a vivid case study of one society’s negotiation of literature’s position—both within a hierarchy of authority and between the incommensurable realms of script and speech."

Chinese Literary Form in Heian Japan

Chinese Literary Form in Heian Japan PDF Author: Brian Steininger
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 1684175763
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
"Written Chinese served as a prestigious, cosmopolitan script across medieval East Asia, from as far west as the Tarim Basin to the eastern kingdom of Heian period Japan (794–1185). In this book, Brian Steininger revisits the mid-Heian court of the Tale of Genji and the Pillow Book, where literary Chinese was not only the basis of official administration, but also a medium for political protest, sermons of mourning, and poems of celebration.Chinese Literary Forms in Heian Japan reconstructs the lived practice of Chinese poetic and prose genres among Heian officials, analyzing the material exchanges by which documents were commissioned, the local reinterpretations of Tang aesthetic principles, and the ritual venues in which literary Chinese texts were performed in Japanese vocalization. Even as state ideology and educational institutions proclaimed the Chinese script’s embodiment of timeless cosmological patterns, everyday practice in this far-flung periphery subjected classical models to a string of improvised exceptions. Through careful comparison of literary and documentary sources, this book provides a vivid case study of one society’s negotiation of literature’s position—both within a hierarchy of authority and between the incommensurable realms of script and speech."

Chinese Literary Forms in Heian Japan

Chinese Literary Forms in Heian Japan PDF Author: Brian Steininger
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674975156
Category : Japanese literature
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Brian Steininger revisits Japan's mid-Heian court of the Tale of Genji and the Pillow Book, where literary Chinese was not only the basis of official administration, but also a medium for political protest, sermons of mourning, and poems of celebration.

Heian Japan, Centers and Peripheries

Heian Japan, Centers and Peripheries PDF Author: Mikael S. Adolphson
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824862813
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 465

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Book Description
"This exceptionally rich set of essays substantially advances our understanding of the Heian era, presenting the period as more fascinating, multi-faceted, and integrated than it has ever been before. This volume marks a turning point in the study of early Japanese culture and will be indispensable for future explorations of the era." —Andrew Edmund Goble, University of Oregon "As a Japanese historian, I enthusiastically recommend Heian Japan, Centers and Peripheries, the first multi-author English-language academic work to offer a synthetic treatment of the Heian period. Japan’s emperor system is the last remaining sovereignty of its kind in human history, and this volume is indispensable when considering what sovereignty itself means in the present. To that end, the classical patterns established in the Heian period are superbly analyzed in this volume through the dual approach of ‘centers and peripheries.’" —Hotate Michihisa, Historiographical Institute, University of Tokyo The first three centuries of the Heian period (794–1086) saw some of its most fertile innovations and epochal achievements in Japanese literature and the arts. It was also a time of important transitions in the spheres of religion and politics, as aristocratic authority was consolidated in Kyoto, powerful court factions and religious institutions emerged, and adjustments were made in the Chinese-style system of ruler-ship. At the same time, the era’s leaders faced serious challenges from the provinces that called into question the primacy and efficiency of the governmental system and tested the social/cultural status quo. Heian Japan, Centers and Peripheries, the first book of its kind to examine the early Heian from a wide variety of multidisciplinary perspectives, offers a fresh look at these seemingly contradictory trends. Essays by fourteen leading American, European, and Japanese scholars of art history, history, literature, and religions take up core texts and iconic images, cultural achievements and social crises, and the ever-fascinating patterns and puzzles of the time. The authors tackle some of Heian Japan’s most enduring paradigms as well as hitherto unexplored problems in search of new ways of understanding the currents of change as well as the processes of institutionalization that shaped the Heian scene, defined the contours of its legacies, and make it one of the most intensely studied periods of the Japanese past. Contributors: Ryûichi Abé, Mikael Adolphson, Bruce Batten, Robert Borgen, Wayne Farris, Karl Friday, G. Cameron Hurst III, Edward Kamens, D. Max Moerman, Samuel Morse, Joan R. Piggott, Fukutò Sanae, Ivo Smits, Charlotte von Verschuer.

The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature

The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature PDF Author: Haruo Shirane
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316368289
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature provides, for the first time, a history of Japanese literature with comprehensive coverage of the premodern and modern eras in a single volume. The book is arranged topically in a series of short, accessible chapters for easy access and reference, giving insight into both canonical texts and many lesser known, popular genres, from centuries-old folk literature to the detective fiction of modern times. The various period introductions provide an overview of recurrent issues that span many decades, if not centuries. The book also places Japanese literature in a wider East Asian tradition of Sinitic writing and provides comprehensive coverage of women's literature as well as new popular literary forms, including manga (comic books). An extensive bibliography of works in English enables readers to continue to explore this rich tradition through translations and secondary reading.

The Tale of Genji and its Chinese Precursors

The Tale of Genji and its Chinese Precursors PDF Author: Jindan Ni
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793634424
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 219

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Book Description
In The Tale of Genji and Its Chinese Precursors: Beyond the Boundaries of Nation, Class, and Gender, Jindan Ni departs from a “nativist” tradition which views The Tale of Genji as epitomizing an exclusively Japanese aesthetic distinct from Chinese influence and Buddhist values. Ni contests the traditional focus on Japanese essentialism by detailing the impact of Chinese literary forms and presenting the Japanese Heian Court as a site of dynamic and complex literary interchange. Combining close reading, the archival work of Japanese and Chinese scholars, and comparative literary theory, Ni argues that Murasaki Shikibu avoided the constraint of a single literary tradition by drawing on Chinese intertexts. Ni’s account reveals the heterogeneity that makes The Tale of Genji a masterpiece with enduring appeal.

The Oxford Handbook of Classical Chinese Literature (1000 BCE-900CE)

The Oxford Handbook of Classical Chinese Literature (1000 BCE-900CE) PDF Author: Wiebke Denecke
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199356602
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 672

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Book Description
This volume introduces readers to classical Chinese literature from its beginnings (ca. 10th century BCE) to the tenth century CE. It asks basic questions such as: How did reading and writing practices change over these two millennia? How did concepts of literature evolve? What were the factors that shaped literary production and textual transmission? How do traditional bibliographic categories, modern conceptions of genre, and literary theories shape our understanding of classical Chinese literature? What are the recurrent and evolving concerns of writings within the period under purview? What are the dimensions of human experience they address? Why is classical Chinese literature important for our understanding of pre-modern East Asia? How does the transmission of this literature in Japan, Korea, and Vietnam define cultural boundaries? And what, in turn, can we learn from the Chinese-style literatures of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, about Chinese literature? In addressing these questions, the Oxford Handbook of Classical Chinese Literature departs from standard literary histories and sourcebooks. It does not simply categorize literary works according to periods, authors, or texts. Its goal is to offer a new conceptual framework for thinking about classical Chinese literature by defining a four-part structure. The first section discusses the basics of literacy and includes topics such as writing systems, manuscript culture, education, and loss and preservation in textual transmission. It is followed by a second section devoted to conceptions of genre, textual organization, and literary signification throughout Chinese history. A third section surveys literary tropes and themes. The final section takes us beyond China to the surrounding cultures that adopted Chinese culture and produced Chinese style writing adapted to their own historical circumstances. The volume is sustained by a dual foci: the recuperation of historical perspectives for the period it surveys and the attempt to draw connections between past and present, demonstrating how the viewpoints and information in this volume yield insights into modern China and east Asia.

No Moonlight in My Cup

No Moonlight in My Cup PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004387218
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 502

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Book Description
No Moonlight in My Cup provides translations and commentaries for more than two hundred Sinitic poems (kanshi 漢詩) from the Nara and Heian courts (710-1185) together with a detailed introduction to this important but relatively little-studied literary genre.

The Heian Court Poetry as World Literature

The Heian Court Poetry as World Literature PDF Author: Edoardo Gerlini
Publisher: Firenze University Press
ISBN: 8866556009
Category : Comparative literature
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
What could be the common points between the Literature produced at the imperial court of 9th-10th century in Japan with the one composed in Italy under the rule of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen? Why the Kokinwakashū in Japan and the Sicilian School of Poetry in Italy have been acknowledged as canons for later literary traditions? How did the political power influence the production of court poetry and the role of poets in the court environment? Why two particular poetic forms like the sonnet in Europe and the waka in Japan succeeded to survive until modern times?

Gale Researcher Guide for: Japan: The Heian Period

Gale Researcher Guide for: Japan: The Heian Period PDF Author: Mark Thomas McNally
Publisher: Gale, Cengage Learning
ISBN: 1535865334
Category : Study Aids
Languages : en
Pages : 8

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Book Description
Gale Researcher Guide for: Japan: The Heian Period is selected from Gale's academic platform Gale Researcher. These study guides provide peer-reviewed articles that allow students early success in finding scholarly materials and to gain the confidence and vocabulary needed to pursue deeper research.

Imagining Exile in Heian Japan

Imagining Exile in Heian Japan PDF Author: Jonathan Stockdale
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824854977
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
For over three hundred years during the Heian period (794–1185), execution was customarily abolished in favor of banishment. During the same period, exile emerged widely as a concern within literature and legend, in poetry and diaries, and in the cultic imagination, as expressed in oracles and revelations. While exile was thus one sanction available to the state, it was also something more: a powerful trope through which members of court society imagined the banishment of gods and heavenly beings, of legendary and literary characters, and of historical figures, some transformed into spirits. This compelling and well-researched volume is the first in English to explore the rich resonance of exile in the cultural life of the Japanese court. Rejecting the notion that such narratives merely reflect a timeless literary archetype, Jonathan Stockdale shows instead that in every case narratives of exile emerged from particular historical circumstances—moments in which elites in the capital sought to reveal and to re-imagine their world and the circulation of power within it. By exploring the relationship of banishment to the structures of inclusion and exclusion upon which Heian court society rested, Stockdale moves beyond the historiographical discussion of "center and margin" to offer instead a theory of exile itself. Stockdale's arguments are situated in astute and careful readings of Heian sources. His analysis of a literary narrative, the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, for example, shows how Kaguyahime's exile from the "Capital of the Moon" to earth implicitly portrays the world of the Heian court as a polluted periphery. His exploration of one of the most well-known historical instances of banishment, that of Sugawara Michizane, illustrates how the political sanction of exile could be met with a religious rejoinder through which an exiled noble is reinstated in divine form, first as a vengeful spirit and then as a deity worshipped at the highest levels of court society. Imagining Exile in Heian Japan is a model of interdisciplinary scholarship that will appeal to anyone interested in the interwoven connections among the literature, politics, law, and religion of early and classical Japan.