Individualism is a principal concept where one can have the liberty of expressing themselves without the hinder of any over collective cultural rule or government control. Throughout the ages the Japanese always have some kind of reform and control towards its people. The concept of Individualism may not have seemed to exist in the minds of the Japanese until the 19th century. So what makes this principle of individualism so interesting? What did the Japanese derive from this concept? And when did it all begin?
The act of expressing oneself has been around ever since human started to acknowledge their own surroundings. However, the idea of individualism itself was nonexistent before the middle age. Let’s take a look at how the concept of individualism affects the Japanese mythology and the history behind it. Our first example will be taken from the Tale of Genji that was written by Lady Murasaki Shikibu in the 11th century. In the Tale of Genji, we can see how Genji describes in detail about every woman that he met and fall in love with.
This principle may have linked to some of the characters in the story, although this concept may not have come to mind when lady Murasaki wrote the Tale of Genji, but the fact still remains that these characters are able to express his feelings towards one another in the novel. The Tale of Genji tells us a story about how Genji grows up and builds his characteristic. The story also justifies the influence of Confucian folklore and methodology throughout Japan. In the first chapter in the book of Genji, the emperor defies the ordinary by fallen in love with a lady that is not from the first rank.
Her name is Kiritsubo, and what makes her fascinating is that she has no strong backing from any rich imperial court family and receive many hatreds and jealousy from the other competitors. During the Heian period this type of relationship was considered unique and out of context. Despite the amount of negativity that Kiritsubo receive from other people, the emperor still loved her and in the middle of chapter 1, she bears him a child that would be a major character in The Tale of Genji. From this take, we can see how the concept of individualism that come from Murasaki Shikibu novel.
The emperor who defies the ordinary and not afraid to take Kiritsubo as his wife shows that despite the strong cultural ties and background, Murasaki Shikibu still not afraid to show the people, about how someone with high status such as the emperor, still can express himself. Throughout the Tale of Genji, we will found some of the most extremely interesting cultural pieces and Confucian culture. This can be taken from some of the chapters where the characters utilize many ceremonial approaches for important events such as, crowning of the emperor, exiles and others.
The society that was depicted in the story is a group of elite aristocrats that are never really interested in anything except themselves and their own leisure time. The author Murasaki herself was a Fujihara (part of a high court noble) and daughter of the Echizen. She can relate to the lifestyle and know how the Heian court and government structure works. The role of women during the Heian period was important. Most of the women during that time have profound knowledge in writing, calligraphy and Chinese literature. Another example of individualism comes from Lady Murasaki Shikibu herself.
She personifies individualism by writing the Tale of Genji and expresses this novelty idea into something that is bigger than the Heian cultural norm. Lady Murasaki Shikibu was able to show herself by creating her poetry works into something that is out of the ordinary and acts that a normal Heian courtier wouldn’t even dare to do. I believe that till this day, the mixture of Confucian nature and characteristics of Genji is what made the Tale of Genji popular. In the novel the Tale of Genji the word mono no aware is something that is crucial and meaningful.
The concept of mono no aware means “the pathos of things”, and also translated as “an empathy toward things”, or “a sensitivity to ephemera”, It is a Japanese term for transient gentle sadness or deepest gentle sadness about this state in real life. The Tale of Genji goes in depth and use mono no aware to personify nature. One example of this can be taken from some of the poetry quotes that comes throughout the novel, “This pious one shall lead us on our way As we plight our troth for all the lives to come. ” Murasaki Shikibu, Tale of Genji Chapter 4 Some of these poetry become a symbol of what mono no aware is.
The concept of individualism that can be taken from mono no aware comes from how the Japanese start to acknowledge how powerful our emotions can be. This can be connected to the Romanticism era that happened in Europe in the 19th century. Where arts, literature and intellectual movement were created as a response to the industrial revolution. The romantic movement focuses on heavy emotion and emotions as a source of extraordinary experience. Placing new meaning on emotions such as horror, terror, awe, sadness and happiness. This new concept becomes one with literature, art and music.
However, the difference between mono no aware and romanticism movement is that mono no aware is an idea that evolve from the Confucian ideology, while the idea of romanticism were derived from a response to the industrial age. I believe that mono no aware is another idea that would ride the concept of individualism because the acknowledgement of one self emotion is very powerful.. Our next example will take us to the Tale of Heike that happened during the Kamakura period. The Tale of Heike tells us a story about the two clans (Genji clan and Taira clan) that fight for their ideology and freedom.
Two interesting characters that can be derived from this tale would be the story of Taira no Kiyomori and Minamoto Yoshitsune. Taira no Kiyomori of Taira clan is a character that is not just consequential in the Tale of Heike, but he also plays a very fundamental role in the Japanese tale and mythology as well. The character storyline has become popular over the years and a recent taiga drama that tell the tale of Taira no Kiyomori was just released in 2012. Taira no Kiyomori was the first samurai in history to take a political place among Japan’s nobility, His legacy established a samurai administrative reformation in Japan.
Kiyomori was often regarded as an anti hero or even a villain in the Tale of Heike. After Kiyomori and his clan win all the deadly battle and rule Japan, Kiyomori created many international trades with other foreign countries such as China. However, the frustration with the dictatorship of the Taira clan was growing among the nobility, temples, shrines and other samurai clans After Kiyomori died from disease, the Genji clan and other antiTaira clan movement rose up and try to take the fight back to them.
Albeit the many negative iterations that comes from the novel about Kiyomori, I believe that what he created was a structural government that Japan needed at the time. The concept of military power that comes from this is something that the Japanese can learn and utilize in the future to come, However, this administration system won’t last for thousands of years because the outside world as we know has evolved as well.