The Reader Is Hooked: Ema Saikō’s Poems on The Tale of Genji

Abstract

Japanese literati (bunjin) painter and poet Ema Saikō (1787–1861) composed a series of poems in classical Chinese style, or kanshi, between 1829 and 1834 that represent the aesthetic experience of being captivated by The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari; eleventh century) in the late Edo period (1750s–1867). She authored a series of heptasyllabic quatrains (shichigon zekku) on selected chapters fromGenji and one heptasyllabic ancient-style verse (shichigon koshi) on the work as a whole. In her final poem the speaker describes the experience of reading Genji as “intoxicating,” or sui, meaning “to be drunk or enraptured.” As I interpret it, the word refers to the way the narrative arrests the reader’s attention, stirring intense moments