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A Tale of Flowering Fortunes: Annals of Japanese Aristocratic Life in the Heian Period

William H. McCullough (Translator),

Helen Craig McCullough (Translator)

4.15 · Rating details · 13 ratings · 4 reviews

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Unknown Binding, 910 pages

Published January 1st 1980 by Stanford University Press

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May 15, 2020 G.G. added it

Shelves: japanese-history

In fact I have only finished the first volume--428 pages, which includes a 66-page introduction and 68 pages of supplementary notes--of this monumental work, and fear it may be some time before I get to volume II. This translation of Eiga monogatari is one of the few books I’ve read that is often more interesting to read about than to trawl through: along the way, I found Takeshi Watanabe’s Flowering Tales: Women Exorcising History in Heian Japan crucial for understanding just what Eiga is and w In fact I have only finished the first volume--428 pages, which includes a 66-page introduction and 68 pages of supplementary notes--of this monumental work, and fear it may be some time before I get to volume II. This translation of Eiga monogatari is one of the few books I’ve read that is often more interesting to read about than to trawl through: along the way, I found Takeshi Watanabe’s Flowering Tales: Women Exorcising History in Heian Japan crucial for understanding just what Eiga is and what it does.

The first thirty chapters translated by the McCulloughs in these two volumes cover the years 946-1029. The author, noblewoman Akazome Emon (956?-after 1041), focuses on “marriages, pregnancies, births, deaths, and rivalries in the Imperial harem, because those were the things that determined aristocratic status and fortune; festivals, entertainments, pilgrimages to shrines and temples, religious events, literary occasions, Court ceremonies, and individual triumphs and tragedies, because those appear to have been the significant experiences of life for most members of the Court circle.” (Introduction, p.11.)

Mostly it’s the grim fate of so many of the women that sticks in my mind. The narrator does not hold back: the imperial ardor, the missed periods, the morning sickness (“she seemed scarcely able to swallow a morsel of fruit,” p.128; “now her extreme emaciation made her almost unrecognizable,” p.129), the deaths in childbirth (“the Empress had survived the ordeal. It was now a matter of the afterbirth...[which] seemed to be taking an inordinate amount of time. 'I don't like it,’ said [her brother] Korechika. 'Bring a light.’ He peered at the Empress’s face, saw that it showed no sign of life, and touched her skin in alarm. The body was already cold.” p. 230).

Watanabe observes “contemporary readers find the historical tale wanting in narrative suspense, as a climactic victory is not the destination. Eiga’s goal is sustained conciliation.” (p.246) Reading this much of the McCullough translation convinced me that he is right: so many died in the service of power that there was a lot of placating to be done. ...more

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Nov 25, 2020 Jim Grimsley rated it liked it

I read about this book when trying to learn more about The Tale of Genji and again when reading books about Japanese history. The descriptions of the tale, its importance as an evolution in history, and the description of its idiosyncrasies, were intriguing enough that I found a copy and read it. At first I thought I had made a mistake; it is a manuscript that's mostly of interest to scholars and to serious students of the period and of early Japanese writing. But the fact that it was written by ...more

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Apr 28, 2020 Pipkia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: east-asian, academic, family-saga, japanese-life-writing, nuns, parlour-intrigue, women-in-translation

A messy, keenly felt chronicle of the life of Fujiwara no Michinaga, with excellent notes and additional materials from the McCulloughs. Complex and surprisingly ruthless intrafamilial feuds and scheming—it gets awfullly Game of Thrones at times (but with more poetry and less evisceration). Startling poignant depictions of some victims of these political machinations (particularly Empresd Teishi). Not perfect but I can’t help but love it.

Full (very long) review here: https://pentabook.wordpress. ...more

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