Firdausi dedicated the Shah Nameh to his patron Shah Mahmud, but was sorely disappointed by the meager payment he received when he presented his work to the throne. Incensed, he wrote a devastating poetical satire on the tight- fisted monarch and then fled the court, spending much of his life as a traveling versifier before retiring to the family farm in his old age.
It would be impossible to exaggerate the importance of Firdausi's work in Persian literature. He set the standard for ali poets who came after him, in the concision and the tight rhyme schemes of his couplets, in the highly rhythmic cadence of his verse, and in his poem?s dramatic narrative scope. The Shah Nameh acquired the status of a Persian national epic, and until very recent times many quite ordinary people were capa- ble of reciting long passages from it. By glorifying Persia's pre- Islamic past, Firdausi undoubtedly contributed to Persia's strong commitment to its own national culture in the face of Islamic universalism.
Finally, the Shah Nameh for centuries has served painters of miniatures in the Persian style as a source of stories, such as the exploits of Rustam and his knights, that they could illus- trate. The finest of many illustrated editions of the Shah Nameh, commissioned by Shah Tahmasp in the early sixteenth century and now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is one of the great masterpieces of world art. If you have access to a large urban library or museum research library, ask to see its copy (such a library almost certainly will have one, but as part of its special and rare book collection, not in general circulation) of the facsim- ile edition of this so-called Houghton Shah Nameh. This luxu- rious book, titled A Kings Book of Kings and published by the Metropolitan Museum in 1972, comes as close as possible to reproducing the look and feel of the magnificent original. If you are able to see a copy of this facsimile after youve read the Shah Nameh yourself, it will give you a sense of the almost reverent esteem accorded Firdausi's great work in his native land.
J.S.M.
27
SEI SHХNAGON
ca. gфs-1^ The Pillow-Book
We know almost nothing about the life of Sei Shхnagon, one of the most brilliant writers that Japan has ever produced. The dates of birth and death conventionally given for her are guesses, based on an assumption that she was in her thirties when she was active as a writer and on a tradition that she died under difficult circumstances at an advanced age. She was born into the aristocratic Kiyowara clan, may have married an official named Tachibana no Norimitsu, and may have borne him a son. Even her personal name is not known for certain; Shхnagon was only her title as an imperial lady-in-waiting. The sole mention of her in the writings of her contemporaries is an uncomplimentary remark by Lady Murasaki [28], who disliked Sei Shхnagon^ arrogance. Like most people, she would quickly have slipped into the obscurity of the past, save for her one stunning achievement: For a few years, exactly a thousand years ago (as of this writing), she kept a "pillow book" of ran- dom jottings about her life as a court lady that has enthralled and entertained readers ever since.
Sei Shхnagon lived during the Heian Period (795-1085), a very remarkable era of Japanese history. Blessed with a thriv- ing agricultural economy, enriched by cultural influences from China and Korea, secure both from externai attack and internai strife, the Japanese developed during that time an aristo- cratic society as refined and luxurious as any in history. In the beautiful city of Heian-kyх (now Kyoto), filled with villas, palaces and temples, emperors reigned but did not rule much, surrounded and flattered by an aristocracy that devoted itself to Buddhism and aesthetics. Persuaded by their faith that life on earth is both illusory and ephemeral, these aristocratic men and women made their time here as beautiful as possible; fash- ion, art, poetry, and many other aesthetic pursuits flourished. Eventually this way of life came to an end, overwhelmed by the rise of a provincial warrior class—the samurai who would dominate Japan for the next eight centuries.
While the Heian Period lasted, women enjoyed a degree of personal independence quite unusual in the history of tradi- tional societies, and which they would lose under the rule of the samurai. They could and did inherit, own, and bequeath property. It was common for a man to marry into the family of his wife, and to be dominated by his father-in-law. Premarital and extramarital sex was winked at; men and women alike were free to pursue love affairs as long as they were discreet and considerate of the sensibilities of others. Men monopolized the administration of both government and private estates and were supposed to practice such martial arts as archery and swordsmanship. Women had little to do except to beautify their lives through the elegant arts.
It is thus perhaps not surprising that Heian literature was created primarily by women. Men were expected to read and write Classical Chinese, the language of learning and religion (as Latin was in medieval Europe), while women usually wrote only in Japanese. Thus it fell to women to write the diaries, poetry, and fiction that laid the foundation for vernacular Japanese literature. In the constellation of Heian writers, Sei Shхnagon shines with particular brilliance.
Serving as a lady-in-waiting to Empress Sadako during the 990S, she was perfectly placed to observe and record events at court, and to comment upon them. The "pillow book" in which she wrote at night probably consisted of loose leaves of paper; much later, the leaves were copied in essentially random order, leading to the topical and chronological disarray of the book as we now have it. The book has no beginning, no end, and no plot; it can be tiring to read straight through, but is endlessly entertaining for browsing. It is famous for its many lists, such as "Things That Give an Unclean Feeling" ("A rat's nest"; "The containers used for oil") or "Rare Things" ("A servant who does not speak badly about his master"), and for Sei Shхnagon^ pro- nouncements on matters of style and etiquette: "Nothing can be worse than allowing the driver of one's ox-carriage to be poorly dressed"; "I cannot stand a woman who wears sleeves of unequal width."
The Pillow-Book owes its enduring fame to the personality of its author, who was refined, demanding, censorious, sophis- ticated, witty, outspoken, and very accomplished. She was an egotist and a snob, admired by some of her contemporaries but probably not much liked. Part of the fascination of reading Sei Shхnagon's book is the realization of how badly one would fare if somehow one were to come under her criticai eye. Her sav- ing grace is that she was as unsparing of herself as she was of others; she had no illusions.
J.S.M.
LADY MURASAKI 28
LADY MURASAKI
ca. 976-1015 The Tale of Genji
Few people would argue with the assertion that The Tale of Genji is Japan's greatest work of literature. Some literary histo- rians describe it as the world's first psychological novel; many critics regard it as one of the half-dozen or so finest novйis in world literature. Like most of the best literature of the Heian period, it was written by an aristocratic lady about whom not very much is known. As with her slightly older contemporary Sei Shхnagon [27], even her real name has disappeared into the darkness of time. She is known to us as Murasaki Shikibu, but that is merely to call her "Lady MurasakT after the name of the principal female character of her novel. She served as a lady-in- waiting to Empress Jхtх-mon-in, and kept a diary while she was at court in the years 1007-1010. (Her diary lacks the scathing honesty of Sei Shхnagon^, but reveals an altogether sweeter and more likable person.)