(Duiker 301-306; Brians 195-198, 204-209)
Questions about Duiker: *What have been the main influences of China upon Japan? *In what ways did ancient Japan differ from China? How did Japanese nature painting differ from Chinese nature painting? What do the seventeen rocks in the Ryoanji Temple garden represent?
Questions about the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon: Which is the only season about which she has something negative to say? *What aspects of life in the women’s apartments does she enjoy? *What qualities make a bad lover?
Questions about Japanese Poetry: *Select two examples of images from nature being used in these poems to convey feelings and explain them. How does Ono no Komachi use the symbol of cherry blossoms? What sorts of feelings seem to be associated with autumn in Japanese poetry? *How do Prince Otsu and Lady Ishikawa use the same imagery to express contrasting ideas? What does the tangled seaweed remind the poet of in Hitomaro’s poems? Why in his last poem does he say “I loved her like the leaves?” In what way was she like the leaves? Why can’t he feed the child? *Why does he go off into the hills? What theme unites all of Lady Kasa’s poems?
Lecture topics:
- Buddhist art
- Architecture
- Art
- Pottery
- Sculpture
- Painting
- Literature
- The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon
- Lady Murasaki: The Tale of Genji
- Japanese poetry
Supplementary materials: