Sei Shonagon (996/997 – 1017), a court lady from the Heian period, came from a noble family with a long tradition of literary creation. She entered the court in Kyoto at the age of twenty-four, in the service of fifteen-year-old Empress Sadako. Emperor Ichijo at that time had two wives: the first Empress Sadako and the second Empress Akiko. Each of them had their own separate chambers and sought to surround themselves with beautiful and learned ladies. The most brilliant among the attendants of Empress Sadako was Sei Shonagon, while Murasaki Shikibu (the author of The Tale of Genji) enjoyed the same reputation with Empress Akiko. Sei Shonagon served as a court lady for ten years, until the death of her Empress.
Notes by the Pillow (Makura no Sōshi) provide an extraordinary vivid depiction of the golden age of Japanese court culture from the late 10th to the early 11th century, whose main bearers were the court nobility and the circles around them. Their aesthetic ideals, refinement, elegance, and exquisite sense of nature reached an unparalleled level. One of the prominent features of Heian culture was the writing and exchange of poems, with constant allusions to the poems found in the anthologies of poetry Manyoshu (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) and Kokinshu (Collection of Ancient and Modern Poems). Great care was taken not only in the selection of words and phrases in the poem, but also in the color of the paper on which the poem was written and in the accompanying decorations of branches, leaves, and flowers.
Alongside poetry, prose also developed, mainly in the form of diary entries, and the most important authors of that time were court ladies: Murasaki Shikibu (The Tale of Genji), Sarashina (Sarashina Diary), Izumi Shikibu (Izumi Shikibu Diary), who is better known for her poetry, and Sei Shonagon. While scholars and men continued to write in Chinese, poetry and zuihitsu (“essays following the brush”), mostly written by women, were written in Japanese. Thus, women paved the way for literature in the Japanese language, and that “feminine” sensibility was preserved in later literature.
Notes at the end. I eat notes are composed of directly experienced and recorded events, incidents, thoughts, and other unrelated, sharp notes related to court life, which make the Notes a valuable literary and historical source. Their special charm is given by subtle observations related to nature and the changing seasons, which brilliantly convey the spirit of Japanese culture.
In spring, the most beautiful is the dawn
In spring, the most beautiful is the dawn. While the light caresses the hills, their outlines are colored with a pale blush and strands of crimson clouds trail across them.
In summer, it is the nights. Not only for moonlight, but also for darkness when fireflies twinkle, and even when it rains, oh how beautiful it is!
In autumn evenings, when the sparkling sun sinks almost to the edge of the hills and crows return to their nests, three, four or two; even lovelier are the flocks of wild geese, like patterns in the distant sky. The sound of the wind and the buzz of insects touch your heart.
In winter, early mornings. It is truly wonderful when snow falls at night, and it is breathtaking. It is even when the land whitens from the frost; or, even when there is no snow or frost, when it is just a strong cold, and servants hurry from room to room, stoking the fire and carrying coal, how well it suits the atmosphere of that season!…
On the third day of the third month
On the third day of the third month, I love to see the sun shining brightly and calmly in the spring sky. Now is the time when the peaches bloom – what a wonderful sight! And the willows are the most beloved in this season, with buds still closed like silkworm larvae in their husks. They are not appealing to me when the leaves spread out; in fact, all trees lose their charm when the flowers begin to fall.
It is a great pleasure to pluck a long, beautiful branch of a cherry tree in bloom and place it in a large vase. What a wonderful task when there is a visitor nearby and we can talk!…
On the first day of the first month
On the first day of the first month and the third day of the third month, I love when the sky is completely clear. I prefer cloudy skies more than anything.
On the seventh day of the seventh month, it should also be cloudy; in the evening, it should clear up so that the moon shines brightly in the sky and the outlines of the stars can be seen.
On the ninth day of the ninth month, a gentle rain should fall from early morning. The chrysanthemums will be covered with heavy dew, and the semi-silken fabric that covers them will become soaked and saturated with the precious fragrance of the flowers. Sometimes the rain stops early in the morning, but the sky is still covered with clouds, making it seem like it could start raining again at any moment. And I find that very pleasant.
Nothing beats the festivities of the fifth month, when the scents of iris and wormwood blend so beautifully. From the nine-fold walls of the Imperial Palace to the huts of ordinary people, everyone diligently covers the roofs of their houses with iris leaves and wormwood branches. Each person wants their house to be the most magnificently decorated. It is something magnificent and only happens on that occasion.
On the actual day of the festivities The sky is usually cloudy. In the Imperial Palace and the Clothing Office, vegetable bundles adorned with multicolored intertwined ribbons were placed on the pillars on both sides of the main corridor where Her Majesty’s curtain podium is located. Chrysanthemums, which have been pinned there since the ninth day of the Ninth month, wrapped in simple covers made of raw silk, are being removed. The bundles are supposed to stay there until the next chrysanthemum festival; but whenever someone needs a ribbon, they remove it from the vegetable bundle and soon nothing remains.
During these festive days, gifts are exchanged, and young people adorn their hair with perunika flowers; they fasten prohibition signs on their clothes, and wear capes and Chinese coats adorned with perunika roots or azalea branches, oranges, and other lovely plants that they attach to their sleeves with colorfully braided cords….
On the last day of the Fourth month, we made a pilgrimage to the Hase Temple, crossing the Yodo Bridge. Our carriage was placed on the bridge, and as we crossed it, I watched the irises, reeds, and other aquatic plants by the river. It appeared to be very short, but when we asked our servants to pull out some plants, I found that their stems were very long. I enjoyed watching boats passing by, loaded with reeds, and it reminded me of the scenery described in the poem about Lake Takase.
As we were returning on the third day of the following month, there was heavy rain. We saw men and children going to pick irises. [For the Iris Festival.] They had small hats made of reed and had their clothes rolled up high above their legs. It looked just like a picture on a screen.
For Long Rains in May
There is something touching about places with a small lake during long rains in May. Amidst the dense irises, cattails, and other vegetation, the green of the water can be seen, and the entire garden seems to be of the same green color…
Places with lakes always move and excite me, not just in winter (when I like to get up and see that the water has frozen), but at any time. year. My favorite lakes are not the carefully maintained ones; I prefer the ones left to themselves, wild and overgrown with weeds. At night, on the greenish surfaces of the water, you can see nothing but the glow of pale moonlight. At any time and in any place, the moonlight always touches me deeply.
I remember a clear morning
I remember a clear morning in the ninth month after it had been raining all night. Although the sun was shining brightly, dew was still dripping from the chrysanthemums in the garden. On the bamboo fences and neatly trimmed hedges, I saw torn spiderwebs fluttering like rags, and in places where the threads had broken, raindrops hung like strings of white pearls… Later, I would describe to people how beautiful it all was. What impressed me the most was that they were not impressed at all.
Winds
I am touched by the cold, rainy winds in the eighth and ninth months…
Stormy winds. In the early morning, when you lie in bed and the lattice windows and wooden doors are wide open, the wind suddenly rushes into the room and burns your face. Oh, it’s extraordinary!
November, winter wind.
The moist, gentle wind that blows from the evening in the Third month touches my heart.
I am touched by the cold, rainy wind in the Eighth and Ninth months….
At the end of the Ninth and beginning of the Tenth month, the sky is completely covered with clouds, strong wind blows, and yellow leaves gently fall to the ground, especially cherry and birch leaves. All of this provokes the most pleasant nostalgia…
I love crossing the river
I love crossing the river in the bright moonlight and watching how the water, trampled and hit by oxen hooves, splashes upwards into crystal fragments.