EALL 271 1 13 17 - Discussion on Kojiki Reading; Nihon Shoki PDF

Preview

Summary

Discussion on Kojiki Reading; Nihon Shoki...

Description

Friday, January 13, 2017

EALL 271 Announcements

- For Presentations: • Wants to learn about things that you think are interesting about your assigned topic/interesting facts

• Doesn’t want a short version of what’s on the handout Homework

- Read poems from Man’yoshu (assigned reading on schedule)

Today

- Kojiki Reading • What is Kojiki? - Japan’s oldest extent chronicle recording events from the mythical age of the Gods up to the time of Empress Suiko

• Good to remember the name of the god Ninigi-no-Mikoto (grandson of Amaterasu) and how he was sent down to rule the land

- Contrasts sharply with Nihon Shoki (720) - Places emphasis on myths, legends, historical narratives, written in Kambun (annotated Classical Chinese that is then read in Japanese)

• Passage from the Kojiki: - Opening paragraph: What do we understand through this passage? • The prominent myth about the creation of Japan • 2 deities: Izanagi and Izanami (man and woman) bring life to the land • Made the lands from brine and a spear - Brine is feminine symbol, while the Spear is a masculine symbol • Heavenly floating bridge: arch-shaped bridge 1

Friday, January 13, 2017

- Symbol of a tortoise’s shell - Legend about if a woman stands on the tortoise, she gets pregnant or is able to conceive

- Japanese stories: Symbols are never platonic stories; usually a poetic version of sex

- This passage will most likely come up on one of the exams

- Nihon Shoki: • Differs from the earlier Kojiki, as it incorporates segments from Chinese and Korean historical works.

• Also focuses more on recent rather than mythical events • Main passage from Nihon Shoki: - Little different from the Kojiki, but talks about the same thing: The creation of Japan

- Masculine Heaven created first and Feminine Earth created after much difficulty - Creation of Gods and description of the Japanese islands • Story of Amaterasu: - What is the story about? • Explanation of solar eclipses in Japan - Amaterasu (sun goddess) shut herself in a cave - Causes constant darkness = solar eclipse - Other gods are troubled and plan to lure her out of the cave by having a big party/creating loud noise right outside her cave

- She wonders why there’s so much noise and why everyone is having so much fun

- When she peeks out of her cave, the other gods pull her out - Some scholars believe that this myth and the dance they performed outside of her cave is still performed in Noh plays 2

Friday, January 13, 2017

- Poem Song of a Lady from Mie (from Kojiki) • What do we get out of this poem? What was important? - She is sucking up to whoever she is talking to by praising the imperial system - Cypress trees: symbol of eternity - Full roots/Trees crawling/flourishing: symbol of full-of-lifeness/fruitfulness - Branches: symbol of hierarchy in the palace • Shows that the branches and leaves are a system • Praises system by comparing it to a great tree • Leaf falling in the cup: allusion to Kojjiki tale of creation (water=feminine, pointy leaf=masculine)

- By praising the hierarchy: • She makes it seem like the ideal system led by the Emperor (top leaf) • He is the person to take care of the people, he is divine, etc. • It makes it clear she knows that people have their place in society and that it’s good to have a place in society

• Because she praised him/the system, she is forgiven • A lot of repetition • Parallelism - Leaf to branch - Branch to leaf - Leaf to cup

Poetic Forms

- Kojiki 35 3

Friday, January 13, 2017

• What do yo think this poem is about? - Traveling by foot instead of flying - Reference to the imperial family/Gods • Everything about the clouds, heavens, sky = divine being • They travel on foot (unlike the Emperor) because they are not divine - Nihon Shoki 11 • Meaning of the poem? - Fighting poem about a powerful barbarian who won’t fight - Barbarian = outsider/not part of the system - Kojiki 15 • Meaning? - Emperor is being told he can pick a girl in the fields of Yamato - Meeting a girl in a field is a very common way to approach a girl • Implied political situation - “Which daughter of the local lords will you choose to have political relations with?”

- Which girl is important for political/power reasons? - MYS (Man’yoshu) • Meaning? - “Kimi”: Endearing way to call husband in classical Japanese - “My lord” can translate to = you, my husband - “Imo”: Endearing way to call wife in classical Japanese • May symbolize wife encouraging husband to come by and visit her newly finished house

- Men come visit wives/girls that they’re interested in, they don’t usually live together even after marriage

4

Friday, January 13, 2017

• She is encouraging him to visit by saying that she’ll be an obedient wife (yielding grass)

- Grass/overgrown grass = symbol of female love that may or not be uncontrolled

- Long grass = clingy, jealous - Yielding grass = obedience

5...