The Issue Of The Heroines Becoming Buddhist In The Tale Of Genji

Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the mid-6th century. After the Asuka period and the Nara period, Buddhism was developed under the protection of the ruling class as a national religion. In the Heian period, the society underwent tremendous political and economic transformations and therefore, Buddhism had also gone through varied changes. Under the reign of Fujiwara, aristocracy pattern readjusted. Aristocrats are classified not based on the System of the ritsuryo legal codes, but on the relationship with the Mikado and the kinship with Fujiwara nobilities. Therefore, the social status of upper class, middle class and lower class were all unstable. Many families in upper class were broken due to political disputes, not to mention the middle and lower classes. In such social context, more people pursued and relied on Buddhism in Heian period than in any other periods. And at the same time,the Jodokyo believes and idea of rebirth, which fitted in with the needs of the society, had profound influence on aristocratic men and women.The Tale of Genji, which was born in this historical period, adequately reflects the social conditions of that epoch. The work recounts the politic and love life of a son of the Japanese emperor, known to readers as Hikaru Genji and gives a description of his love stories with many women. The continuation of this book concentrates on the love stories and marriages of the descendants of Genji and portrays characters such as Okimi and Ukifune.Even though the heroines were not real historical characters, the world described in the book, which was similar to the world of noblewomen, arouse sympathy in them and therefore, the book won great popularity.Murasaki Shikibu was born in a middle-class aristocratic family. Deeply influenced by her family, she had impressive attainment on both Chinese and Buddhism. Her husband (953-1001) had been married three times and she gave birth to a daughter before her husband died, two years after they were married. From then on, she lived all by herself and worked in the court. The Tale of Genji, which was created at that time, gives a full demonstration of the miserable and fickle aristocratic life she lived.In Japan, there have been plenty of researches on the relationship between The Tale of Genji and Buddhism. For example, Kiyoko Maruyama’s Buddhism in The Tale of Genji, Hoyun Iwase’s The Tale of Genji and Buddhism, Toshiko Abe’s Becoming a Female Buddhist---from The Tale of Genji. However in China, researches on this topic is scarce. The few examples can be found are Zhang Longmei’s the Salvation in The Tale of Genji and Wang Hua’s Buddhism Thought in The Tale of Genji---from the topic of becoming a Buddhist. However, the focus of the above examples is majority the relationship between The Tale of Genji and Buddhism or the relationship between a hero (heroine) and Buddhism, and there are few comprehensive discussions on the relationship between female and Buddhism.This thesis, based on historical facts and descriptions of how the heroines in the book become Buddhists, attempts to explore the issue of converting to Buddhism and female salvation. The main part of this thesis consists of three chapters.The first chapter explains, from a historical perspective, the spread of Buddhism in aristocracy and influence of rebirth on women, i.e., how aristocratic women accepted Buddhism and how the idea of rebirth and Buddhahood exert influence on them.Through a close reading of the text, the author examines, in the second chapter, the heroines’(Fujitsubo,Onnasannomiya,Murasakinoue,Ukifune)statements,actions,ideolo gy and mentality. The author also traces the heroine’s respective process of becoming a Buddhist so as to find out why the heroines chose to be a Buddhist and how their mentalities have changed in the way of converting to Buddhism. The chapter is divided into four parts and one heroine is discussed in an individual part.Based on previous chapters, the third chapter explores the issue of female salvation by combing women’s living environment at that time with the Murasaki Shikibu’s view on Buddhism. Borrowing from folklore researches and the Buddhist psychology demonstrated in the Diary of Murasaki Shikibu,the author puts forward her view on female salvation.It should be pointed out that this thesis only shows the possibility of exploring The Tale of Genji through a close read of the text, by employing synchronic comparison and from a historical perspective. It is impossible to enumerate all kinds of interpretations and the author firmly believes that new issues will be raised in the future.