In the Shelter of the Pine : : A Memoir of Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu and Tokugawa Japan / / Ōgimachi Machiko.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Columbia University Press Complete eBook-Package 2021
• VerfasserIn: Machiko, Ōgimachi,
• MitwirkendeR: Rowley, G. G.,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : Columbia University Press, , [2021]; ©2021
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: Translations from the Asian Classics
• Physical Description: 1 online resource :; 4 b&w figures

In the early eighteenth century, the noblewoman Ōgimachi Machiko composed a memoir of Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, the powerful samurai for whom she had served as a concubine for twenty years. Machiko assisted Yoshiyasu in his ascent to the rank of chief adjutant to the Tokugawa shogun. She kept him in good graces with the imperial court, enabled him to study poetry with aristocratic teachers and have his compositions read by the retired emperor, and gave birth to two of his sons. Writing after Yoshiyasu’s retirement, she recalled it all—from the glittering formal visits of the shogun and his entourage to the passage of the seasons as seen from her apartments in the Yanagisawa mansion.In the Shelter of the Pine is the most significant work of literature by a woman of Japan’s early modern era. Featuring Machiko’s keen eye for detail, strong narrative voice, and polished prose studded with allusions to Chinese and Japanese classics, this memoir sheds light on everything from the social world of the Tokugawa elite to the role of literature in women’s lives. Machiko modeled her story on The Tale of Genji, illustrating how the eleventh-century classic continued to inspire its female readers and provide them with the means to make sense of their experiences. Elegant, poetic, and revealing, In the Shelter of the Pine is a vivid portrait of a distant world and a vital addition to the canon of Japanese literature available in English.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Principal Characters -- 1. Musashi Moor: From Ages Past Through the Winter of 1690 -- 2. In Traveler’s Garb: 1691, Spring to Summer -- 3. Ages Past: Summer 1691 Through Spring 1692 -- 4. The Truth of the Buddha’s Law: Summer 1692 Through Spring 1694 -- 5. A Thousand Springs: Summer 1694 Through Spring 1696 -- 6. The End of the Year: 1696, Spring Through Winter -- 7. Spring Pond: 1697, Spring Through Winter -- 8. Lamp of the Buddha’s Law: 1698, Spring to Autumn -- 9. From the Shores of Japanese Poetry: Autumn 1698 to Autumn 1700 -- 10. Chinese Robe: Autumn 1700 Through the Fourth Month of 1701 -- 11. Visitors Awaiting Flowers: 1701, Summer to Winter -- 12. Towering Pine: Winter 1701 to Spring 1702 -- 13. Villa Amid Mountain Cherries: 1702, Spring to Summer -- 14. Noble Oak: 1702, Summer Through Autumn -- 15. Hills and Streams: Winter 1702 to Spring 1703 -- 16. Autumn Clouds: 1703, Spring Through Autumn -- 17. Moon of Old: 1703, Autumn Through Winter -- 18. A Tree Deep in the Mountains: 1703, Eleventh Month Through the Third Month of 1704 -- 19. A Bond with the Blossoms: 1704, Spring Through Winter -- 20. Celebratory Cane: Winter 1704 Through Spring 1705 -- 21. Mountain of Dreams: Summer 1705 -- 22. Records of Enlightenment: 1705, Autumn Through Winter -- 23. The Grand Courtier: 1706, Second and Third Months -- 24. Garden of the Six Styles: 1706, Summer Through Winter -- 25. House for a Thousand Ages: 1707, Spring to Autumn -- 26. Two Pines: Autumn 1707 Through Summer 1708 -- 27. Binding Sash: 1708, Autumn Through Winter -- 28. Blessed Dew: 1709, New Year Through the Second Month -- 29. Path of the Kindling Cutter: Spring 1709 Through the Eighteenth of the Sixth Month -- 30. Moon and Flowers -- Glossary -- Abbreviations -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index