In the Shikibu’s milieu, to determine a
person's precise standing was no simple
diversion but a matter of overriding
importance. Women were able to express
themselves through literature and during
that period, women and men couldn’t see
each other from the patriarchy
environment. They would communicate
via letters and words of love and promises.
It brings them security. But with courtship
and marriages having a political
dimension, it also meant that women are
constantly worry that they will fall out of
favor for they can’t see their lovers, there is
not telling whether they will be displaced
anytime soon by a more advantageous
candidate and there’s nothing that they
can do about it from the gentle nature
nurtured onto them by society. As a result,
this novel also illustrates about the pangs
of jealousy and fear of being abandoned
within the group of women.
Not only can it reflect these raw emotions
without need to be straightforward as it is
quite personal, it also shows that even if
the image of the Hannyu mask appears to
display a malice personage, behind the
mask is a sorrowful and broken heart.
Hannya Mask
Seems pretty menacing right? But why
would anyone want to carry “laughing
demon” for their entire life? These masks
came from Japanese theatre and it is
actually a cursed woman, who was
cheated by her lover and caused their
hearts to be filled with vengeance and
take on this ‘oni’ (demon) form. The
realism and colors demonstrates the
inner turmoil and fury that they feel,
it’s when Irezumi becomes a breathing
composition. This emotional imprint can
be traced back to the Heian Period, the
foundation of Japanese culture.
Despite not doing well in terms of
economy or political wise, the social and
cultural lives of the aristocracy class was
written in great detail from their
dedication to the arts. It was when the
first novel of Japan “The Tale of Genji”
was written, by a woman called Murasaki
Shikibu. There is a monologue in her
novel that gives out an insightful view to
the complexity of the human emotions
with the natural condition.
“Like the waterfowl that played there
on the lake, I too am floating along the
surface of a transient world. I could not
help comparing them with myself. For
they too a ppeared to be enjoying
themselves in the most carefree
fashion; yet their lives must be full of
sorrow.”
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