September 12, 2021

Reading The Tale of Genji (12): Suma

 "Suma" is, like "Aoi," one of the most important chapters in the Genji Monogatari. There is a gap of about 10 months between the previous two chapters, set in the early summer, and "Suma" which takes place in the 3rd month of the following year.

Oppressed by the Kokiden faction, and stupidly having allowed them to catch him in bed with Oborozukiyo, one of Kokiden's younger sisters and a handmaid of the present emperor (Genji's half brother), Genji's political fortunes have become rather precarious and he fears he may take the crown-prince (who is secretly his own son) with him in his eventual downfall. Genji therefore decides to go into self-exile in Suma, a stretch of rather desolate shore backed by forested hills in present-day Kobe.

In Genji's times Suma was known for two things:
- the presence of ama, seafolk. In waka poetry we often find references to young ama women as salt makers, whose burning love was betrayed by the smoke from the salt fire (playing with the pun on "hi", fire, and "omohi", love).
- the place where Ariwara no Yukihira (818-893) was sent into exile (see my translation of his most famous poem in A Hundred Poets, One Poem Each). This may have suggested Suma as the place for his own exile to Genji.

[Tosa Mitsunobu (1469-1522), Suma,
Illustration to Chapter 12 of the Tale of Genji, Harvard Museum]

Genji takes leave of his son Yugiri, and his father-in-law, the former Minister of the Left. He also pays a farewell visit to Hanachirusato (see previous chapter), and writes to Oborozukiyo. He also visits his great love Fujitsubo, now a nun (so that she can avoid Genji's advances), and manages to talk with her through the blinds of her dwelling. He is most sad to have to leave Murasaki behind, but as he is going on a journey of penitence, that can not be helped. Moreover, Suma would be too isolated a place for Murasaki. Genji entrusts all of his estate and properties to her. Many women in the capital grieve at his impending departure. At the end of the third month, Genji leaves the capital with only a small number ("seven or eight") of retainers. He is now 26 years of age.

Life at Suma is more desolate than Genji had imagined. In a humble dwelling Genji lives a lonely life dedicated to prayer and literature (mostly in Chinese), giving Murasaki Shikibu the opportunity to cite lots of poetry. Genji's only consolation is to exchange letters with friends in the capital. Apparently those friends are afraid of the wrath of the politically powerful Empress Dowager Kokiden, so nobody comes to visit Genji.

While in Suma, however, Genji is reminded of a rumor he heard before (it is mentioned in the "Young Murasaki" chapter), about a young woman living in Akashi, which is near Suma: the daughter of a lay priest ("the Akashi priest"), who is hoping of marrying her to a nobleman. His curiosity is aroused, but in his present situation he can not take any action.

As the New Year arrives, To no Chujo comes all the way from the capital to see Genji, and they are both pleased at the temporary reunion.

On a spring day in the third month, a year after his departure from the capital, Genji holds a purification ceremony at the seaside in Suma, with an itinerant yinyang master (onmyoji) presiding. At the climax of the ceremony a boat carrying a life-size human doll, to which all evil has been transferred, is set afloat. Suddenly a violent storm blows up, terrifying Genji and his retainers. Genji has a weird vision in which a strange figure blames him for not obeying the summons to appear at court - he thinks this is the Dragon King who lives at the bottom of the sea. As the tempest still continues, Genji and his retainers pray without pause, especially to the gods of Sumiyoshi (whose main shrine stands at the opposite coast, in what is now Osaka). Then his father, the late Kiritsubo Emperor, appears to Genji and commands him to obey the gods of Sumiyoshi and leave Suma. His father's image then vanishes and Genji only sees a wan moon in the sky. Soon afterward, the Akashi priest lands in a small boat and takes Genji with him to Akashi, where they disembark just as the sun rises. The crisis is past and a new life is dawning.

[The coast at Suma as it is today]

This being a chapter about exile, Murasaki Shikibu has woven many allusions to literature by other famous exiles, such as the scholar-statesman Sugawara no Michizane and the Chinese poet Bai Juyi, into her story.


Genji-e:
Scenes illustrated from this chapter include: Genji taking leave of his father-in-law and young son Yugiri; and various renditions of Genji gazing at the sea from his simple dwelling in Suma, picking at his koto while geese pass overhead and the smoke from the fires of the salt makers wafts into the sky.

No plays
The No play "Suma Genji" is one of only two rare plays in which Genji actually appears on stage. Genji first appears in disguise as an aged woodcutter in Suma and then descends in his true form as a graceful and youthful courtier from heaven to perform a dance which echoes his "Waves of the Blue Sea" dance in the chapter "Beneath the Autumn Leaves." Genji is in fact treated as a Bodhisattva who descends from the Tushita heaven where he is in attendance upon Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future, with the aim of "protecting sinners." In other words, this play has none of the loneliness of the Suma chapter in the Genji, but is very auspicious in nature.

Visiting
Suma beach is close to Suma St on the JR Sanyo line out of Kobe. There is a 1.5 km long stretch of sand here. Although Suma is a famous utamakura, there is little that reminds one of the past. The two best places to visit here are unrelated to the Genji Monogatari:
Sumadera Temple (see my Haiku Travels) - related to the Heike Monogatari and haiku by Basho and others
Suma Rikyu Park - a tasteful modern park with beautiful flowers of the season



Reading The Tale of Genji