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[Music] The Tale of Genji is one of the oldest and most enduring stories in human history. As well as standing the test of time, it's inspired a millennia of painters and illustrators, right up to modern-day manga artists. The exhibition at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art pays tribute to that legacy by showing the artwork through the centuries.
The Tale of Genji sensitively relates these human emotions, and so I think this is one of the reasons why it has this universal appeal. So, on every level, whether reading it as a tale of the court of a thousand years ago or reading it as a text that reveals reveals a religious outlook on life, I think this appeals to readers of all ages and of all cultures.
A recurring image is the author, 11th-century Japanese courtier Murasaki Shikibu. She was staying in southeast Kyoto when, one night, she was inspired by the full moon's reflection on the lake. Generations of artists have reimagined that pivotal moment. The novel spans 34 chapters with an array of 400 characters. This painting from the late 1600s depicts iconic scenes from every chapter of the book. Most other artists, though, limit themselves to a single moment. Helped by the tale's rich descriptions of Palace life, its gardens, and artistic culture, they intimately and intricately show the major milestones in this masterpiece.
Also in the exhibition is a recreation of the altar from the Ishiyamadera temple; that's the very place where the author is said to have begun writing The Tale of Genji. And on the altar are ceremonial objects and artwork borrowed from the temple in Japan and brought here to be put on display. Luke, the oldest object on display is this unassuming Buddha. People might just take it for granted when they see the statue of the Bodhisattva Kannon. This is the compassionate Bodhisattva that comes from Yamadera. It's a 10th-century statue; it's never left Ishiyamadera. Over a millennium, the team at the temple shocked the Met with their generosity, allowing the statue to travel halfway around the world. The abbot of Ishiyamadera wanted us to put the Kannon, the famous Kannon, the important cultural property, right in the middle of our altar without plexiglass. And, of course, the Agency for Cultural Affairs said, "Please don't do that." And we used our own Dainichi Nyorai, the cosmic Buddha.
Artists through the ages have interpreted the tale, all the way up to today's graphic novel style of manga. This palanquin carried the wife of a Shogun on her wedding day in 1856, with illustrated scenes from the novel inside. Indeed, the book has inspired everything from the masks for the classical Japanese theatre style of Noh to the embroidered silk robes of 18th-century noble women. And, despite its age, the novel is still inspiring artists to this very day.
Nick Harper, TRT World. [Music] I'm joined now by the co-creator of the Genji exhibition, John Carpenter. Welcome to Showcase, John.
Thanks very much for joining us.
It's cool to be here. In the piece that we just listened to, you said that The Tale of Genji sensitively relates to human emotions. What did you mean by that?
Well, what I think is remarkable about The Tale of Genji is that a female author, a thousand years ago, was able to speak to these fundamental human experiences of love, of thwarted desires, of that quest that all of us have for intimate, tender relations, and how those are thwarted. So this universal emotion of love is explained by Murasaki Shikibu, the author of the tale, in a way that not only impressed audiences—primarily female audiences of her own day—but then, through the centuries, appealed to readers of all ages, genders, and now of all cultures. And it's not often that literary masterpieces inspire a thousand years of incredible artwork.
And can you give us an idea—I know you said briefly—that an idea of this sort of the expanse of the influence of this story?
No, as the exhibition has shown, this Tale of Genji, written a thousand years ago, at each stage of its reception has had a different impact on Japanese culture. First and foremost, it became recognized as a literary masterpiece, and that was the most crucial first stage. By the 13th century, this early 11th-century masterpiece was recognized as a work of literature, both prose and poetry, that should be read by every person of culture. Having established that, in the medieval times, an iconography of the tale evolved, and so people became aware of the tale both through reading and also from viewing art. So the art was capturing a golden period of court culture in Japanese history. So that meant when people of the 16th and 17th century, including a samurai culture, wanted to look back to a period when the court was at its peak, they used the imagery, they used the poetry, they used the literary aspects of the tale to become a symbol of the power of the palace. And then a major way that the tale and its art had an impact on Japanese culture is: once you have The Tale of Genji as required reading for young women of culture, that meant it to be included in bridal trousseaux; and so the most deluxe art could be made for presents for young brides. And once that happened, that meant that we had some of the finest examples of Japanese art—not just Japanese art related to literature, but Japanese art of all categories.
I'm speaking of the influence that Murasaki had on women. I know that Virginia Woolf was a massive fan of hers, and what impact did she have on generations of authors and female authors and artists?
I do think that the moment Virginia Woolf wrote a review in British Vogue of Arthur Waley's translation of The Tale of Genji—Virginia Woolf being part of the influential Bloomsbury group—saw of Genji as a work of world literature, of universal significance. And what Virginia Woolf saw in the tale was a work that resonated with readers the same way a Western classic would, in the way that it talked about all of our quest for desires that will be denied, of those relationships where you are striving for tender intimacy, and it's so eloquently described in Murasaki Shikibu's classic. And so Virginia Woolf saw this; she wrote the review, and I think it's from that moment we can trace the history of The Tale of Genji being recognized as a classic of world literature.
And John, do you think there's a Western equivalent of this book in terms of the impact that it's had on culture, like maybe Homer's Iliad or the Odyssey, for example?
I do think in terms of literary impact, yes, it would have to be a great epic work like Homer's Iliad or the Odyssey, I think on the literary level. But if we think about works of literature or religious works that have had such a strong impact on visual culture, the only comparable work in the West perhaps is the Bible, in that every book of the Bible has an associated iconography; you have statuary, stained-glass windows, murals, paintings for each important episode of the Bible. So, in the same way, it became a recognizable iconography.
That sounds oh, very, very exciting, John. Thank you so much. I'm fortunate, and we're run out of time. Thank you for joining us on Showcase today.
Thank you so much. [Music]