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Otome@‰³—
KEY WORD :@art history / paintings
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A pictorial subject taken from "The Maiden" Otome, Chapter 21 of GENJI MONOGATARI Œ¹Ž•¨Œê (The Tale of Genji). *Yuugiri —[–¶, Genji's son by *Aoi ˆ¨, has his coming of age ceremony at the house of his maternal grandmother Oomiya ‘å‹{, where he has been brought up since the death of his mother. After the ceremony he goes to be educated at Genji's Nijou “ñð mansion. During this time, Genji's charge, Saiguu Ö‹{, the former high priestess of Ise Jinguu ˆÉ¨_‹{, is chosen as empress (see *e-awase ŠG‡), and becomes known as Empress Akikonomu, Akikonomu Chuuguu HD’†‹{. Tou no Chuujou “ª’†«, Genji's life-long friend and rival at court, has a daughter, Kumoi no Kari ‰_ˆäŠå, who from early childhood has been entrusted to Oomiya, and she was thus a childhood playmate of Yuugiri. The two have fallen in love but since Tou no Chuujou hopes to present Kumoi no Kari at court, he takes her back to his own mansion. At Genji's Nijou residence Yuugiri meanwhile is attracted to the daughter of Koremitsu ˆÒŒõ, Genji's trusted retainer, who has been chosen for the Gosechi ŒÜß annual court harvest dances and is practicing there. Later, constructs a new mansion at Rokujou ˜Zð, with a garden dedicated to each of the four seasons, and presented to each of his ladies: the autumn garden to Akikonomu (aki konomu means to like autumn); the spring garden to Murasaki (see *Wakamurasaki ŽáŽ‡); the summer garden to the Lady of the Orange Blossoms *Hanachirusato ‰ÔŽU—¢; and the winter garden to the Akashi Lady (see *Akashi –¾Î). Each woman was thought to favor the season of the garden with which they were associated. Scenes chosen for illustration include Yuugiri tugging at the sleeve of the Gosechi dancer; and Empress Akikonomu sending a young girl with autumn flowers and leaves arranged on the lid of a box to Murasaki's apartments.
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REFERENCES:
*genji-e Œ¹ŽŠG
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NOTES
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