Sunday, April 14, 2013

Kiritsubo 1.5

It's great to finally get back to the text!  I haven't done a new sentence since January.

This sentence has a few new symbols that I will explain.  Incidentally, the "1.5" in the title is section 1 sentence 5; Hiromichi uses squares to mark off what he considers significant divisions in the text, and L-shaped figures for even larger divisions.  His text of Kiritsubo contains three large divisions (although the last is just the final sentence), and 12 shorter divisions.

Looking at the picture here, there are three things of interest:
- The open rectangle to the right of なん indicates a 係り結び; the open rectangle pointing the other way on けれ is the 結び part.
- The lines to the right of two phrases show that these phrases connect to each other and what is in between them is a parenthetical remark.  In other words, Hiromichi feels that you should read this as いにしへの人のよしあるにて、何事の儀式をももてなし給ひけれど with the おやうちぐし part as a parenthetical.  The 乙 and 甲 symbols are also supposed to help with this although the 乙 seems misplaced here.  The woodblock print has them in the same place though, and Hiromichi wrote the 版下 for the woodblock print himself so I may just not fully understand how they're used.
- Finally, the black circle to the left of the し in 後見しなければ indicates that it's a 助辞 (which Hiromichi glosses as yasume no kotoba) -- in other words, a particle that adds emphasis without contributing any other meaning.  He says in the intro that he only uses these circles where it might be confusing; I guess here there's the risk of trying to read し as a verb (the conjugation would be wrong in classical but I believe that even in mid-19th century Japanese, しない was the colloquial negative of する.)

My translation:

Her father, a Grand Counselor, had passed away, and her mother, his principal wife, with the refinement of an ancient family, so that [her daughter] would not lag greatly behind even those who had both parents and a brilliant reputation now, prepared [her daughter] for every kind of ceremony, but since [her daughter] had no especially firm backing, in the end she had no one to rely on at important times and appeared lonely.

Now the headnotes:
父の大なごんはなくなりて
 更衣の父按察(あぜち)の大納言の事を、何となき物語りの中に挿(さしはさ)みて、説出だされたり。かくてその委(くは)しきことは更衣の失せ給へる後に著(あらは)されたり。この文法、巻々に多し。心得おくべし。ここよりは、更衣の心づかひの苦(くる)しき有様を委はしく説きはじむるなり。

Hyou: The fact that the Intimate's father is the Azechi Grand Counselor is brought out in middle of the story in an unrelated section. Thus this specific information is not given until after the Intimate's death. This sort of technique appears frequently throughout the story. You should pay attention to it. Starting here, a detailed explanation is given of the Intimate's suffering.

---

I think Hiromichi is reaching a bit here, although he may have just been eager to introduce this general principle.  The information here appears in the Suma chapter, when the Akashi monk is talking about Genji: 故母御息所は、おのが叔父にものしたまひし按察使大納言の娘なり。("His deceased mother, the Haven, was the daughter of my uncle the Azechi Grand Counselor.")  However, the fact that her father is specifically the Grand Counsler of Azechi has no relevance to anything in the story so it's hard to see this as an explicit principle of composition.  Hiromichi seems to be writing under the assumption that Murasaki Shikibu composed the entire story in order from chapter 1 to 54 and had the entire story and characters planned out in advance, which is no longer a widely accepted theory of the Genji's composition.

はゝ北の方なん云々よしあるにて
 「なん」はもてなし給ひけれど、とある「けれ」にて結びて、「ど」と受けたる格なり。「いにしへの人のよしあるにて」は「いにしへのよしある人にて」といふ意なり。小櫛に「にて」は下の「もてなし給ひけれど」といふへつづく詞なり、とあり。標(しるし)の点にて心得べし。

The nan used here connects to the kere below [as kakari-musubi], which is conjugated [in the izenkei form] because of the do.  "inishie no hito no yoshi aru ni te" means "inishie no yoshi aru hito ni te."  The Tama no ogushi says that the ni te here connects to the "motenashi tamahi keredo" below.  I have shown this with my symbols in the text.

---

I'm not entirely certain of Hiromichi's analysis of the inishie phrase here, but the modern editions are rather vague on what it means also.  A number of manuscripts read いにしへ人 instead, which may reflect some confusion over this sentence going back some ways.

Now the vocab notes:

よしある
 「よし」は「ゆゑよし」などいふ「よし」にて、「由緒ある」といふに同じく、種姓(スジャウ)のいやしからぬをいふ。

yoshi is the same as in the word yueyoshi. This is similar to the meaning "venerable [family]", and indicates a family lineage that is high-class.

はなやか
 花のごとくめてたきよしを譬えていふ詞にて、「やか」はそのたとへたる形容の辞なり。

This is a word that metaphorically relates something to the excellence of a flower. The yaka is a suffix that indicates this comparison.

はかばかしき
 「はか」は或る説に「極処(ハテカ)」の意なり、といへるやよろしからん。極処のなきは、ただ弱はしく確かならぬもの故に、確かならぬことを「はかなき」といふ。「はかばかし」はその反(うら)にて、確かなることをいへり。「しき」は例の「しげき」意の形容辞なり。

 シツカリトシタ

A certain theory says that haka is like 極処(hateka) [endpoint], this is perhaps a good theory. So because something without (naki) an endpoint (haka) is weak and uncertain, something that is uncertain is called hakanakiHakabakashi is the opposite of this and means something certain.  shiki is the usual suffix meaning "profusely" derived from shigeki.

Translation: shikkari shita

うしろみ
 後(うしろ)の方は見えぬものなる故に、いとおぼつかなきを傍より見て助くる意なり。今俗字音(もじごゑ)に「こうけん」といふことなり。雅言には「うしろむ」と働かしてもいへり。

Because behind you is something you can't see, it helps you out if someone is beside you watching that indistinct area.  In current vernacular this is also read with on-yomi as kouken. The Yugen shuran says that this also sometimes occurs in verb form asushiromu.

こととある時は
 帚木に「こととあかくなれば」。野分の巻に「こととなれなれしきにこそはあめれ」。家持集に「秋風はこととふききぬ白たへのわがときごろもぬふ人もなし」。椎本に「ことといへばかぎりなき御心のふかきになん」。著問集に「ことといへばあるじながらもえてしがなねはしらねどもひきこころみん」。すべて「ことと」といふ詞はとりたててそのことをするにいふ詞なり。

Genchu yoteki (1830): In the "Hahakigi" chapter it says "It became particularly light." In the "Nowaki" chapter it says "They became particularly friendly." A poem in the Yakamochi-shu [233] says "The autumn wind is blowing particularly strong. There is no one here to mend my tattered clothes." The "Shiigamoto" chapter says "[Kaoru]: 'Based on what you said, there is no limit to the depth of your heart." The Kokoncho monju says "???". In all of these examples, koto to means "especially."

---

The text most often used in modern editions reads ことある instead, although many manuscripts have ことと.  Typically when modern editions deal with this issue they come down on the side of ことある being the correct reading -- that is, this should mean "When there was an event" rather than ことと somehow modifying ある adverbially.

I apologize for leaving out the Kokoncho-monju quote but I was never able to find the passage in the work (since I don't think there's a good search tool for it) and I don't feel confident enough to try to translate that long string of hiragana.

The inclusion of the "Shiigamoto" quote appears to be an error since こと there means 言 rather than "especially."


And finally a short supplemental note:

北の方 
 男は南、女は北に住むべきいふなり。陰陽につかさどる故なり。よりて貴賎ともに妻室を「北の方」と号するなり。后妃を椒房と号するも北向に住み給ふ故なり、云々

Kakaisho (1360's): It is said that men should live in the south and women in the north. This has to do with a balance between the Yin and Yang. Because of this everyone, high and low ranking, calls the dwelling of the wife the kita no kata. This is the same reason why an Empress is called 椒房, because they live facing the north.

---

According to the Koujien, the term 椒房 comes from the Empress' section of the palace being painted with fruit from the 山椒 tree in the Han dynasty.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Chogonka-den (extracts)

As I said before, Hiromichi follows his quotation of the entire 長恨歌 with extracts from a prose story called the 長恨歌伝, which is placed before the 長恨歌 in many manuscripts of Bai Juyi's poems.  It is by 陳鴻, but I don't know much about him.  I suppose this prose story was already appearing in manuscripts in the Heian period so that it would have been read there.

As with the Chogonka, I will use Hiromichi's 訓点 to make a kundoku (although I filled in some of the okurigana I think he just left out as understood).  Each paragraph represents one extract, so between each paragraph there is some omitted material.  Hiromichi's extracts make up about 25-30% of the whole thing -- he seems to cut parts that are in the Chogonka (like the entire episode of the priest visiting Yang Guifei's spirit).  I am not aware of any English translation.

開元中、 泰階平にして、四海(よのうみ)無事(しずかなり)。玄宗、位に在ること歲久しくして、旰(ひたけて)食ひ、宵(よは)に衣るに倦めり。政、大小と無く、始て右丞相に委ぬ。深居游宴して、声色を以て、自ら娛む。

During the Kaiyuan era, the whole populace was content and the land was at peace.  Xuanzong had reigned for a long time, and he had grown tired of governing.  He began to entrust all the matters of state, large and small, to his senior ministers.  He shut himself in his inner chambers and held banquets, pleasuring himself with women.

- The Kaiyuan era was from 731-741.
- 旰食宵衣 literally means to eat late and wear clothes into the night; this is used as an image of a hard-working ruler.

高力士に詔し、潜に外宮を捜て、弘農の楊玄琰が女を寿邸に得たり。既に笄せり。

He issued an order to Gao Lishi, and searched the other palaces (for women), finding a daughter of Yang Xuanyan of Hongnong who was then in the Shoudi (residence).  She had already come of age.

上、甚だ悦ぶ。

The Emperor was exceedingly pleased.

明年、貴妃と冊(なづけて)為。后の服用を半ばにす。是に由て、其の容を冶め、其詞を敏くして、婉孌萬態以て上の意に中つ。上益々嬖す。

The next year she was named Guifei.  She was treated half as an Empress.  Starting from then, she improved her looks and sharpened her diction, and with her lithe seductiveness she won the heart of the Emperor.  He loved her more and more.

- "Guifei" was evidently a name for one of four high-ranking consorts under the Empress.

三夫人、九嬪、二十七世婦、八十一御妻、暨び後宮の才人、楽府の妓女有と雖でも、天子をして顧盼の意無らしむ。 是自、六宮復た幸を進る者なし。徒に殊艷尤態、是を致すのみに、蓋し才智明慧、善巧便佞、意に先ち、旨に希ひ、形容すべからざる者有り。叔父、昆弟、皆列て清貴に在り。爵、通侯為。姊妹、国夫人に封ぜらる。当王室に埒(ひとし)。

Although the palace included three fujin, nine hin, twenty-seven seifu and eighty-one gyosai, not to mention the palace dancers and singers, none of them could make the Emperor so much as glance at them.  But it was not only her exceptional beauty that won the Emperor's heart -- who is able to describe the extent of her skill and diction?  Her male relatives were all given high positions and corresponding rank, and her sisters were made fujin, fit to be with the Emperor in his bedroom.

- I discussed these women in the first sentence, although there it was 女御 rather than 御妻.

入ずるに禁門を出問はず、京師の長、吏為に之目を側(そば)む。

When they went in and out of the palace gates, no one even asked their names, and the officials could only avert their eyes.

天宝の末、兄の国忠丞相の位を盗み、國柄に愚弄す。安祿山兵を引て闕に向ふに及て、楊氏を討するを以て、辞と為。潼關守らず、翠華南に幸す。咸陽の道に出て馬嵬の亭(たびや)に次(やど)る。六軍徘徊して、戟を持て進まず。従官郎吏、上の馬の前に伏して、錯を誅して以て天下に謝せんと請ふ。国忠氂纓盤水を奉して、道の周(ほとり)に死す。左右之意、未だ快らず。上之を問ふ。当時敢て言ふ者、貴妃を以て天下の怨を塞んと請ふ。上免を知ざること、其の死を見るに忍びず,袂を反して、面を掩ひ、之を牽て去らしむ。倉皇展転、竟に就を尺組の下に絶す。 既にして玄宗、成都に狩す。肅宗、禅を霊武に受。明年、大兇元を帰し、大駕都に還る。玄宗を尊て太上皇と為す。南宮に就養す。西内に遷る。

At the end of the Tianbao period (742-756), Guifei's brother Guozhong took the Chancellor's office by force, and misused his political power.  An Lushan took troops from the palace, intent on defeating Guozhong.  They overcame the Tong barrier pass, and the Imperial flag moved south.  The Emperor set out on the Xianyang road and stopped at Mawei station.  The Imperial forces fell prostrate before the Emperor's horse, begging him to defeat Yang Guozhong.  Guozhong, arrayed in humble clothing, was killed on the road.  However, the officials were still not pleased.  The Emperor asked them why, and someone told him that he would have to appease the anger of Heaven by having Yang Guifei killed.  The Emperor saw that he could not avoid this, but he couldn't stand to watch her death.  He covered his face with his sleeves as she was hauled away.  She struggled but was strangled to death with a cord.  Xuanzong then moved to Chengdu, and his son Suzong was made Emperor at Lingwu.  The next year, An Lushan was defeated and they returned to the capital.  Xuanzong was named Retired Emperor, and the south palace was prepared for him, but he went to the Western palace instead.

- This section is a little hard to follow because the account of the rebellion is very compressed and selective.

適々道士有り、蜀より来る。上の皇心、楊妃を念ふことを是の如くなるを知て、自から言ふ、李少君が術有りと。玄宗大に喜び、命して其の神を致さしむ。方士乃ち其の術を竭くし、以て之索むるに、至らず。又能く神を遊し気に馭、天界に出て、地府に没(い)り、以て之を求むるに見えず。

Around that there was a Daoist priest who came from Shu.  When he found out about the Emperor's grief for Yang Guifei, he told the Emperor himself that he knew the arts of Li Shaojun.  Xuanzong was very happy, and charged the priest to go find her spirit.  The priest immediately used his art to search for her, but he couldn't find her.  He used heavenly powers to go to the heavens and the realm of the dead, but though he searched for her, he could not find her.

- Li Shaojun was a Daoist priest during the Han era; the SKT notes say that this is probably meant to evoke Emperor Han's grief for Li Fujin but the reference is wrong.

使者還て奏す、太上皇、皇心震悼。日々豫(たのし)まず。其年の夏四月、南宮に晏駕す。

The priest returned, and Xuanzong was crushed.  He was unhappy, and in the fourth month of that year he went to the Southern palace.

- The den does have the story of the priest finding Guifei's spirit and receiving the mementos, but Hiromichi cuts it entirely.  The extracts here give the impression that the priest just immediately goes back to the Emperor having failed.

So that's the Chogonka-den, and I'm finally done with these stupid things.  Next I can return to the actual Genji.  I'm hoping to do updates about twice a week, probably more like every 4-5 days.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Chogonka part 6

101 情を含み、涕をして、君王に謝す。
She was full of emotion, and she fixed her gaze (on the priest), relaying a message to the King.

102 一別音容両(ながら)、渺茫。
"Since we have parted, your voice and features are far-away and indistinct.

- SKT makes the next lines a quotation of Yang Guifei, while wikisource uses a third-person description.

103 昭陽殿の裏、恩愛絕。
Within the hall of the bright sun, our love has ceased.

- The "Hall of the Bright Sun" is a specific place built during Wu of Han's reign, although later it was part of the palace.

104 蓬萊宮の中日月長し。
The days and months are long in Penglai Palace.

- Mount Penglai is one of the dwelling places of Daoist immortals.

105 頭を回して、下人寰の処を望めば
If I turn my gaze to look at the world of humans,

106 長安を見ずして、塵霧を見る。
I cannot see Chang'an, but only dust and mist.

107 唯旧物を將(も)て、深情を表す。
I can only express my deep affection using old mementos.

108 鈿合金釵、寄(よ)せ將(も)て去(ゆか)しむ。
I will send you away with a gold hairpin and jewel-inlaid box.

109 釵は一股を留め、合は一扇,
I will keep one part of the hairpin, and the clasp of the box.

110 釵は黄金を擘さき、合は鈿を分つ。
 The gold of the hairpin is broken, and the box is divided.

111 但、金鈿の堅きに似たら、心を令む
If we keep our hearts as firm as the gold of the hairpin,

- 但 here means "If..."

112 天上、人間会相見。
We will meet again either in the heavens or on Earth."

113 別に臨て、殷勤に重て詞を寄す。
The priest began to leave, but she urgently asked him to convey a message.

114 詞の中に誓ひ有り、両(ふた)りの心にのみ知れり。
The message contained a pledge that only the two of them knew in the depths of their heart.

115 七月七日長生殿,
On the seventh day of the seventh month, in the Changsheng hall,

- The "Changsheng hall" is a hall in the Huaqing Palace, where Guifei bathed.

116 夜半人無して、私語(ささめごと)時。
In the middle of the night when no one was around, they whispered the pledge to each other.

117 天に在らば、願くは比翼の鳥と作らん,
"If we are in the heavens we will be like birds flying with wingtips together

- Although the SKT translation has the above, their notes seem to indicate that this 比翼鳥 is a specific legendary bird that shared a wing.  In this case the 比 does not mean "like..."

118 地に在らば、願くは連理の枝と為んと。
If we are on earth we will be intertwined branches of a tree.

- Or perhaps "of two trees"; trees that have different trunks but their branches intertwine.

119 天長地久時有て尽るとも,
The eternal heavens will come to an end some day,

120 此の恨綿々として絶る期無らん。
But this sorrow will go on forever.

So that's the Chogonka, finally.  I'll do the Chogonka-den passages tomorrow, hopefully as one long post.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Chogonka, part 5

I'm back in the US so I should be able to do more regular updates now.  Two more Chogonka posts and then 1 or 2 for the Chogonka-den and we'll be back to the actual Genji; hopefully my readership will go above 1 view per post after that. :-)  I will try to get the last Chogonka posts up relatively quickly.

81 上は碧落を窮はめ、下は黄泉。
(The Daoist priest) searched up in the blue sky, and down in the yellow springs.

82 両つの処、茫々として皆見えず。
But in the vastness of both places, he did not see her anywhere.

83 忽ち聞く海上に仙山有りと,
Just then he heard about a mountain of sages above the sea,

- 仙 here is probably more specifically the Daoist "immortals" or supernatural beings.

84 山は虚無縹緲の間に在。
The mountain was in the far off distance, barely visible.

85 楼閣の玲瓏として五雲起き、
 A tower rose brilliantly through the five-hued clouds,

86 其の中に綽約たる仙子多し。
In there, there were many beautiful immortals.

87 中に一人有り、字は太真。
Among those, one had the style name of Taizhen.

- The "style name" is given to someone upon attaining adulthood; Taizhen was Yang Guifei's style name (Wikipedia says it was associated with her status as a Daoist nun before she became Xuanzong's consort).  SKT emends the text here (from other manuscripts) to 名玉妃 ("her name was Yufei"); Yufei seems to be a combination of her other names.

88 雪の膚、花の貌、参差として是なり。
She had white skin, and a beautiful face -- this almost had to be her.

89 金闕の西の廂に玉扃を叩けは,
The priest tapped on the jeweled door of the western wing of the gold watchtower,

- The images here are taken from traditional Daoist ideas of what the lands of the immortals looked like.

90 転(うた)、小玉をして双成を報ぜしむ。
Now then, he had Xiaoyu relay a message to Shuangcheng.

- These are traditional female immortals.

91 聞道(きくならく)、漢家天子の使なり。
They heard that this was a messenger from the Son of Heaven of the House of Han.

- Another example of Bai Juyi concealing Xuanzong's name by evoking Emperor Wu of Han.

92 九華帳の裏、夢魂驚く。
From inside the nine-flowered curtain, she was startled awake from her dream.

- I'm not sure what 魂 does here; it's in Hagiwara and wikisource.  SKT has 夢中 instead (without comment), which makes more sense.

93 衣を攬(かひと)り枕を推て、起て徘徊す。
She reached for her clothes and pushed aside her pillow, rising in a daze.

94 珠の箔(すだれ)、銀の屏、邐迤として開く。
The pearl curtains and the silver door opened as she went through.

95 雲の鬢(びんつら)、半ば偏(みだれ)て、新睡して覚たり。
Her cloud (dark) hair was half-disturbed; she had just awakened from sleep.

- The function of 新 here is to express the idea of having just done some action.

96 花の冠、整へずして、堂を下り来る。
She went down into the main hall, her headpiece not adjusted.

97 風仙袂を吹て、飄々として舉かる。
The wind blew her celestial sleeves, making them flutter.

98 猶、霓裳羽衣の舞に似たり。
Indeed it resembled the dance of rainbow skirts and feather robes.

- This is a reference back to line 32.

99 玉の容寂寞として涙闌干たり。
Her jeweled face was sad, and splotched with tears.

100 梨花一枝春雨を帯たり。
(Just like) A single branch of pear blossom, wreathed in spring rain.