紀要論文

『源氏物語』の「花宴」 : 《春鶯囀》をめぐって

The Dance "Shunnōden" in the Context of the Chapter'Hana no En' ("The Festival of the Cherry Blossoms") of The Tale of Genji

jpn

13491954

https://doi.org/10.15002/00008321

法政大学大学院　国際日本学インスティテュート専攻委員会

9

1

22

2012-03-23

Version of Record

The tōgaku dance "Shunnōden" originated in Tang-dynasty China and was brought to Japan by the mid-ninth century at the latest. The name "Shunnōden" is composed of the three Chinese characters 春鶯囀, literally ' spring, warbler, twittering / singing'. The bird referred to by the second character is not the same in China and Japan, although both birds sing nicely. Here in Japan, this bird has been much loved as the little bird who tells us of the coming of the long-awaited spring. "Shunnōden" was danced many times on the occasions of imperial visits to the Emperor' s parent(s), which customarily took place in very early spring, and also on birthday anniversaries in spring. Although this bird is closely associated with plum trees in Japan, modern zoology has revealed that the bird in question has no habit of coming to plum trees. In the "The Festival of the Cherry Blossoms" chapter of the Tale of Genji, Genji dances "a brief passage" of a dance since "the crown prince himself presented a sprig of blossoms for his cap and pressed him so hard to dance..." (English translation by E. G. Seidensticker). The text does not give the name of the dance, but most scholars, study guidebooks and translations into modern Japanese have so far assumed it was "Shunnōden" that Genji danced here; "Shunnōden," as danced by professional dancers, was the preceding performance in the Festival, and it has been believed that Genji just repeated a part of it. However, the author of this paper argues that the dance must have been a passage from "Seigaiha" ('Blue Sea Waves'), which Genji had danced so beautifully on an autumn excursion in the preceding chapter ('Momiji no ga,' or "An Autumn Excursion"). The grounds for this interpretation include the following: ・The brief passage Genji danced was "the quiet waving of his sleeves." The Japanese word used here for' waving' is kaesu, and the word kaesu is customarily used to refer to waves that come and go (kaesu is the word for "go"); in contrast, kaesu is not used in association with the movements of the wings of birds. ・The crown prince recalled Genji's dancing "Seigaiha" when he saw the setting sun, whose glow had enhanced the divine beauty of Genji's dancing, and then offered Genji a sprig to use as a headdress (kazashi). "Shunnōden" does not have a particular tie to a headdress. Although "Seigaiha" itself does not have one either, a headdress may have served as trigger to the crown prince's memory because Genji had danced "Seigaiha" with a sprig in his cap in the preceding chapter. ・Lovers in olden days waved their sleeves to invite the soul of their loved one. Genji was sending his message of love to Empress Fujitsubo, just as he did in his dancing in the preceding chapter. We know Fujitsubo understood his message when we see that she started her wistful poem with the expression ōkata ni,* the very expression she used in the preceding chapter as the closing of her response to Genji when he informed her that he had performed the sleeve-waving part of "Seigaiha" with all his heart for her. *Note: It is hard to establish the precise connotation of this word in the two situations in translated versions, since the word is translated differently by the various translators.

Article

AA12030252