The Pillow Book
Encyclopedia
Sei Shonagon
Sei Shōnagon , was a Japanese author and a court lady who served the Empress Teishi around the year 1000 during the middle Heian period. She is best known as the author of The Pillow Book .-Name:...
during her time as court lady to Empress Consort Teishi (定子) during the 990s and early 11th century in Heian
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The book was completed in the year 1002.
In it she included lists of all kinds, personal thoughts, interesting events in court, poetry and some opinions on her contemporaries. While it is mostly a personal work, Shōnagon's writing and poetic skill makes it interesting as a work of literature, and it is valuable as a historical document. Part of it was revealed to the Court by accident during Shōnagon's life. The book was first translated into English in 1889 by T. Purcell and W. G. Aston. Other notable English translations were by Arthur Waley
Arthur Waley
Arthur David Waley CH, CBE was an English orientalist and sinologist.-Life:Waley was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, as Arthur David Schloss, son of the economist David Frederick Schloss...
in 1928, Ivan Morris
Ivan Morris
Ivan Ira Esme Morris was a British author and teacher in the field of Japanese Studies.Ivan Morris was born in London, of mixed American and Swedish parentage, to Ira Victor Morris and Edita Morris. He studied at Gordonstoun, before graduating from Phillips Academy...
in 1967, and Meredith McKinney in 2006. The Dog Pillow
The Dog Pillow
Inu makura or is an early-Edo period Japanese literary parody of The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon. The title has also been translated as The Mongrel Pillow.-The Pillow Book:...
is an Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
parody.
Other pillow books
More generally, a pillow book is a collection of notebooks or notes which have been collated to show a period of someone or something's life. In Japan such kind of idle notes are generally referred to the zuihitsuZuihitsu
is a genre of Japanese literature consisting of loosely connected personal essays and fragmented ideas that typically respond to the author's surroundings...
genre. Other major works from the same period include Kamo no Chōmei's
Kamo no Chomei
was a Japanese author, poet , and essayist. He witnessed a series of natural and social disasters, and, having lost his political backing, was passed over for promotion within the Shinto shrine associated with his family. He decided to turn his back on society, take Buddhist vows, and became a...
Hōjōki
Hojoki
, variously translated as "An Account of My Hut" or "The Ten Foot Square Hut", is an important short work of the Kamakura period in Japan by Kamo no Chōmei. Written in 1212, it describes disasters that befall the people of Kyoto from earthquakes to famine and fire...
and Yoshida Kenkō
Yoshida Kenko
was a Japanese author and Buddhist monk. His most famous work is "Tsurezuregusa" , one of the most studied works of medieval Japanese literature. Kenko wrote during the Muromachi and Kamakura periods.-Life and work:...
’s Tsurezuregusa
Tsurezuregusa
is a collection of Japanese essays written by the monk Yoshida Kenkō between 1330 and 1332. The work is widely considered a gem of medieval Japanese literature and one of the three representative works of the zuihitsu genre, along with Makura no Sōshi and the Hōjōki.Tsurezuregusa comprises a...
. Zuihitsu
Zuihitsu
is a genre of Japanese literature consisting of loosely connected personal essays and fragmented ideas that typically respond to the author's surroundings...
rose to mainstream popularity in the Edo period
Edo period
The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
, when it found a wide audience in the newly developed merchant classes. Furthermore, it gained a scholarly foothold, as Japanese classical scholars began customarily writing in the ‘’zuihitsu’’ style. Reputable authors from this movement include Motoori Norinaga
Motoori Norinaga
was a Japanese scholar of Kokugaku active during the Edo period. He is probably the best known and most prominent of all scholars in this tradition.-Life:...
, Yokoi Yayu
Yokoi Yayū
was a Japanese samurai best known for his haibun, a scholar of Kokugaku, and haikai poet. He was born , and took the pseudonym Tatsunojō. His family are believed to be descendants of Hōjō Tokiyuki.- Life :...
, and Matsudaira Sadanobu
Matsudaira Sadanobu
Japanese daimyo of the mid-Edo period, famous for his financial reforms which saved the Shirakawa Domain, and the similar reforms he undertook during his tenure as chief senior councilor of the Tokugawa Shogunate, from 1787 to 1793....
.
The Narrow Road to the Interior by Japanese American poet Kimiko Hahn
Kimiko Hahn
Kimiko Hahn is an American poet and instructor of poetry.-Personal:Hahn received a bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa and an M.A...
bridges to a western perspective. Eleanor Bron
Eleanor Bron
Eleanor Bron is an English stage, film and television actress and author.-Early life and family:Bron was born in 1938 in Stanmore, Middlesex, to a Jewish family of Eastern European origin...
and Heather Mallick
Heather Mallick
Heather Mallick is a controversial Toronto-based columnist, author and lecturer. She writes a twice weekly column for the Toronto Star, an occasional column for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's website, and a monthly column for The Guardian's website...
have both used this form to collect essays. Aidan Chambers
Aidan Chambers
Aidan Chambers is an award-winning British writer of novels for children and young adults.- Life and work :Born near Chester-le-Street, County Durham in 1934, Chambers was an only child, and a poor scholar; considered "slow" by his teachers, he did not learn to read fluently until the age of nine...
' novel This is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn
This Is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn
This is All: The Pillow Book of Cordelia Kenn is a young adult novel by Aidan Chambers, published in 2005.It is the last work in the "Dance sequence" of six novels, preceded by Breaktime, Dance on My Grave, Now I Know, The Toll Bridge, and Postcards from No Man's Land.-Synopsis:Cordelia Kenn, 19...
is based on the concept of the pillow book. In the case of the fictional character Cordelia Kenn, it shows her life and thoughts so that her daughter can relive her past.
There is a 1996 film of the same name
The Pillow Book (film)
The Pillow Book is a 1996 film by United Kingdom director Peter Greenaway, which stars Vivian Wu as Nagiko, a Japanese model in search of pleasure and new cultural experience from various lovers...
by writer/director Peter Greenaway
Peter Greenaway
Peter Greenaway, CBE is a British film director. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Flemish painting in particular...
, which tells a modern story but references Sei Shōnagon's literary work. The film stars Vivian Wu
Vivian Wu
Vivian Wu , is a Chinese actress, known for her roles in The Last Emperor , Heaven & Earth , The Joy Luck Club , and The Pillow Book and as the historical figure of Soong May-ling, commonly referred to as Madam Chiang Kai-shek, in two major Chinese motion pictures The Soong Sisters and The...
and Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
.
The Pillow Book is also the name of a series of three radio thrillers written by Robert Forrest and broadcast on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's Woman's Hour Drama
Woman's Hour Drama
The Woman's Hour Drama is a BBC Radio 4 Arts and Drama production. It consists of 15 minute episodes, broadcast every weekday 10.45-11.00am , repeated 7.45-8.00pm. These tend to be plays which extend over a week, or multiple of 5 episodes...
. These are detective stories with Sei Shōnagon as a principal character and feature many of her lists.