"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.
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.
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