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Nikki (日記)
Nikki is a diary or journal
A distinction between the two could be applicable is
that:
A diary keeps a chronological record of personal
events
A journal is an examination of a life and events in it
Nikki (日記)
Nikki is the term used to describe the section of The
Pillow Book that relate events in Sei Shōnagon’s life
These are better understood as journals rather than
diaries
Some of the most famous nikki
Tosa nikki (The Tosa Diary): Ki no Tsurayuki, ca.
935, records a trip of a woman from Tosa (on
Shikoku) to the capital
Nikki (日記)
Some of the most famous nikki
Kagerō nikki (The Gossamer Journal): The Mother of
Fujiwara no Michitsuna, relates the events of her life and
her declining marriage to Fujiwara no Kaneie between
954 & 974
Murasaki Shikubu nikki (The Murasaki Shikibu Diary):
records events in her life between 1008 and 1010
Sarashina nikki (The Sarashina Journal)
What things does the author
records?
Her journey from the Eastern Provinces to Heian-kyō
Her love and reading of monogatari
Deaths of people (and creatures) close to her
Her father’s departure for his provincial post
Her service at court
Her pilgrimages to Buddhist temples
Her dreams
What things does Sarashina
make apparent that other works
don’t?
Life outside of the court and the capital
The difficulty of travel
Epidemics
The classes of ladies-in-waiting
The change in religious attitudes and beliefs
What things about the journey
does the author records?
Places they start from and stop at
Origin stories of place names
Descriptions of landscape
Poetry composed along the journey
Encounters with people along the journeys
What religious elements appear
in the work?
The Healing Buddha (Yakushi Nyōrai)
Amaterasu
Karma/Past Life Merit
Pilgrimages
Amida Buddha
Yakushi Nyōrai
Known as The Healing
Buddha
Master of the Eastern
Pure Land
Grants relief from
illnesses
Introduced to Japan in the
6th century
Yakushi Nyōrai
Worship of Yakushi
begins in the 7th century
8th century sees him
elevated to protector of
the realm
Popular among the
aristocracy and
commoners in Heian
Amida Nyōrai
Master of the Western
Paradise of Ultimate Bliss
Known to Japanese in the
7th century
Becomes more popular in
the late 10th century with
Priest Genshin’s Essentials
for Rebirth in the Pure
Land
Amida Nyōrai
Will escort people to the
Pure Land upon death if
they utter the nembutsu
Namu Amida Butsu or
Praise be to Amida Buddha
Often depicted as appearing
on a purple cloud right
before people die
Yakushi and Amida Buddha represent a shift in Buddhism
we talked about earlier
Jiriki vs Tariki
Jiriki (自力) vs Tariki (他力)
Jiriki is:
The idea that the individual has the power to gain
enlightenment
Associated with the Six Nara Schools of Buddhism along
with Tendai and Shingon Buddhism
Tariki is:
The idea that do not have the power to gain enlightenment
People have to invoke buddhas like Yakushi and Amida to
gain enlightenment
Why does the author invoke Yakushi
and Amida Buddha?
To fulfill her wish to read monogatari
To correct the mistakes made in this life
Upon realizing the futility of human pursuits
Upon realizing the fate of her current
To prepare her for the next life