ようこそいらっしゃいました。
(Welcome!)
My name is Sei Shonagon and I come from a long line of distinguished poets and scholars. My musing of days spent in the court of the Fujiwara family are found in the publication The Pillow Book, a meandering of lists, observations and poems from my experiences.
I lived in Japan during the Heian Era and spent many years in service to Empress Teishi (Sadako) of the Fujuwara family. Ours was a time of aesthetic pursuit. From our many layered gowns to our calligraphy, gardening, music, painting and even perfume mixing, all aspects of our lives were focused on finding the pure and beautiful around us.
Splendid Things
Chinese brocades. A sword with a decorated scabbord. The grain of the wood in a Buddhist statue. Long flowering branches of beautifully coloured wistaria entwined in a pine tree.
Excerpt from The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon translated and edited by Ivan Morris, 1991
My work has been translated and analyzed for more than one thousand years. Had I realized this when it was written, do you think it would have been a "splendid thing" or something different?
Unsuitable Things
A woman with ugly hair wearing a robe of white damask. Hollyhock worn in frizzled hair. Ugly handwriting on red paper. A handsome man with an ugly wife.
Excerpt from The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon translated and edited by Ivan Morris, 1991
