Minori
Title
"Minori" are rites that proclaim the Buddhist Law, the Dharma, in this case the ceremony held by Murasaki to dedicate 1,000 copies of the Lotus sutta. The term is used in a poem exchange between Murasaki and Hanachirusato: 'This is the last Buddhist service, but I think of a bond between us as trustworthy and it will last many lives.'But in a more symbolic sense "minori" also means the Buddhist truth that all things pass and then refers to the death of Murasaki.
Waley and Tyler translate "The Law"; Seidensticker "Rites" and Washburn "Rites of Sacred law."
Chronology
This chapter begins a few months after the end of Evening Mist and covers the period from spring to autumn in Genji's 51st year.Position in the Genji
This chapter revolves around the failing health and death of Murasaki, Genji's great love (whom he has betrayed by marrying the Third Princess).
[Minori, by Tosa Mitsunobu. Harvard Art Museums]
Synopsis
Murasaki had never really recovered from her illness (after all, it was in the first place a sickness of the heart), and she remained in a poor physical condition. She fervently desired to take holy vows, but Genji refused to let her do so.On the 10th of the 3rd month, a religious service for the consecration of one thousand copies of the Lotus Sutra was held at the Nijo Mansion as part of a vow made by Murasaki. The ceremony was attended by the Emperor, the Crown Prince, Empress Akikonomu, and everyone else of importance. Murasaki felt she had little time left in this life and she wrote poems to the Akashi Lady and Hanachirusato that hinted at parting.
During the summer, Murasaki's condition got increasingly weaker, and when the Akashi Empress - whose adoptive mother Murasaki was - came to make a sick call, she told the Empress her last requests. She also obliquely left a message to the Empress's little son, Prince Niou, to care for the plum and cherry trees in the garden and from time to time offer blossoms to the Buddha.
On a windy evening, the Akashi Empress visited the bedridden Murasaki, and Genji also joined them to exchange poems comparing the evanescence of life to dew on the bush clover. Right after that, Murasaki's condition got worse, and she quietly passed away at dawn with her hand held by the Empress.
Genji, numb with grief, could not leave the side of Murasaki, but he asked Yugiri to make arrangements that she might have symbolic Buddhist vows administered. The face of Murasaki looked even more beautiful in death than in life.
She died on the 14th of the 8th month, and her remains were cremated on the same day. The next morning, the funeral was held and many people such as the Emperor, To no Chujo and Empress Akikonomu came to give their condolences. Genji, who wanted to leave the world and enter a monastery, controlled himself for decency's sake, but barely managed to survive from one day to the next.
Genji-e (Information from JAANUS)
One scene often chosen for illustration shows the sutra dedication ceremony, in which Murasaki, the Akashi Lady, the Lady of the Orange Blossoms (Hanachirusato), and Prince Niou watch a masked bugaku performance under the blossoming cherry trees (as in the above). Another scene depicts the final exchange of poems about the transient dew on the autumn bush clover (hagi) between Genji, the dying Murasaki, and her adopted daughter Empress Akashi.
Reading The Tale of Genji