Work record
The Pillow-Book of Sei Shōnagon
Sei ShōnagonThe Pillow Book; Makura no SōshiThe Pillow-Book of Sei Shōnagon by Sei Shōnagon (c. 1002)The Pillow Book is a collection of notes, lists, anecdotes and reflections written around the year 1000 by Sei Shōnagon, a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Sadako at the Heian court in Kyoto.Also known as: The Pillow Book · Makura no Sōshi
c. 1002 · Medieval · Memoir · Japanese
Abstract
Author. A noblewoman serving a teenage empress in the Kyoto palace keeps a private notebook of impressions, judgments and stories.
Selection. The English scholar who rendered it chose roughly one part in four and prefaced it with an essay on aristocratic life and politics in that era.
Catalogues. Her famous headed lists sort life into the irritating, the dull, the lovely and the joyful, from mis-sewn robes to undiscovered tales.
Palace scenes. She recalls festivals, snowy mornings, poetry games, gentlemen leaving at dawn, and her own quick retorts to admiring officials.
Decline. Behind the gaiety lies the waning fortune of her mistress's family after the death of the empress's father.
Reading. Witty, vain and observant, Sei Shōnagon speaks across a thousand years, and Waley's English gives students a vivid window on classical Japanese culture. Classes can write their own headed lists in imitation, compare her sharp tongue with modern columnists and bloggers, and discuss what a thousand-year-old notebook can still teach about attention, taste and the pleasures and annoyances of everyday life among people who live and work closely together in one small, competitive and glittering world of rank and ceremony.
Key figures
- Sei Shōnagon: A witty, opinionated lady-in-waiting.
- Empress Sadako: The young empress whom Shōnagon serves.
- Fujiwara no Korechika: The Empress's brother.
- Fujiwara no Tadanobu: A courtier who trades poems with Shōnagon.
- Arthur Waley: The English scholar who selected and translated the text.
Summary
The Pillow Book is a collection of notes, lists, anecdotes and reflections written around the year 1000 by Sei Shōnagon, a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Sadako at the Heian court in Kyoto. Together with Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, it is one of the two great prose works of Japan's classical age. This text is Arthur Waley's translation of 1928, which, as he explains in his preliminary notes, gives about a quarter of the original, omitting passages that were dull, repetitive or too full of allusion. Waley adds an introduction on Japan in the tenth century, describing the court, the powerful Fujiwara family and the rivalry of the empresses. Sei Shōnagon writes with sharp wit and strong opinions. Many passages are lists under headings such as Annoying Things, Very Tiresome Things, Pretty Things, and Things that make one Happy: among the last she names getting hold of a lot of stories one has not read and piecing together a torn-up letter. Other passages are scenes from court life: the Empress's elegant conversation, poetry contests, festivals and processions, the visits of gentlemen at dawn, and the exchange of poems that was the essential art of courtship and friendship. She describes clever answers she gave to courtiers such as Tadanobu and Yukinari, the Empress's brother Korechika, and the fall of the Empress's family after her father's death. She records her pleasures and dislikes in nature, clothing, manners and people, often laughing at bad taste, clumsy servants or awkward lovers, and she is not shy about her own cleverness. The book gives an intimate picture of a refined, enclosed world in which beauty, taste and wit were valued above almost everything. Waley's graceful translation introduced Sei Shōnagon to English readers and remains a classic of English prose in its own right, still read for its charm and clarity.
Virtues in this work
- Prudence: Sei Shōnagon observes people and manners with careful, discerning judgment.
- Friendship: The book shows warm loyalty between Shōnagon and the Empress she serves.
Plot or Argument
- The court
Scenes of life around the Empress Sadako in the Heian palace.
- Lists
Witty catalogues of annoying, pretty, happy and uncomfortable things.
- Poems and wit
Exchanges of poems and clever replies with courtiers.
- Translator's frame
Waley's introduction explains the society and the selection.
Lessons
The art of the list
Sei Shōnagon's lists reveal her personality through what she notices.
- Which list do you like best?
- What does she find annoying or delightful?
- What would your own list include?
Court culture
The book shows a world where poetry and taste governed social life.
- Why are poems exchanged so often?
- How are women's lives at court described?
- What does the court value?
Translation
Waley chose and shaped what English readers see.
- What did Waley omit, and why?
- How might a selection change our view?
- Why read translations at all?
Context
The Heian period (794-1185) saw a brilliant court culture in Kyoto dominated by the Fujiwara regents; women writing in Japanese script produced many of its finest works.
Composition
Written over about a decade around 1000; Waley's 1928 English selection was published by George Allen and Unwin.
Reception
Admired in Japan for a thousand years; Waley's version made it known in the West.
Comparisons
- Walden
Another book of observations, lists and opinions.
- Journey to the West (A Mission to Heaven)
Another classic of East Asian literature.
Quotes
“Getting hold of a lot of stories none of which one has read before.”
“To pick up a letter that someone has torn up and thrown away, and find that one can fit the pieces together well enough to make sense.”
For Students
A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.
Reading Guide
Watch for
- Waley's preliminary notes on his selection.
- The introduction on tenth-century Japan.
- The lists of annoying and happy things.
- Exchanges of poems with courtiers.
- Scenes with the Empress.
Key terms and names
- Heian period
- The era of Japanese history from 794 to 1185, centered on the court at Kyoto.
- Zuihitsu
- A Japanese genre of loosely connected personal essays and notes.
- Lady-in-waiting
- A noblewoman who attends a queen or empress.
- Fujiwara
- The aristocratic clan that dominated the Heian court as regents.
Seminar Questions
- Comprehension Whom does Sei Shōnagon serve?
- Comprehension How much of the original did Waley translate?
- Comprehension Name two kinds of list she writes.
- Interpretation What qualities does she admire in people?
- Interpretation How does she present herself?
- Big Question What can small daily details reveal about a whole culture?
Faith Connections
- Ecclesiastes 3:1 (Scripture)
To every thing there is a season; she notes the beauty of each season.
- Philippians 4:8 (Scripture)
Whatsoever things are lovely, think on these things.
Logic and Rhetoric
Central argument: Close attention to beauty, manners and small pleasures can capture the spirit of a whole society.
Rhetorical device: catalogue. Headed lists gather examples of pleasing or irritating things.
Debate: Resolved: that The Pillow Book is more valuable as history than as literature.
Memory Work
Getting hold of a lot of stories none of which one has read before.
Writing Prompts
Essay: How do Sei Shōnagon's lists create a portrait of their author?
Comparison with Walden: Compare The Pillow Book with Walden as books of personal observation.
Creative Prompts
- Essay
What does The Pillow Book reveal about the place of women at the Heian court?
- Fiction
Write your own list of Things that make one Happy in Sei Shōnagon's style.
- Classroom
Compare a modern social media post with one of her short entries.
Further Reading
- The Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu
Verification notes
Full text from Project Gutenberg #76016 (Arthur Waley's translation, 1928); Gutenberg header and licence removed. Quotations checked as exact substrings of the stored text. Waley's version is a selection of about a quarter of the original. Publisher's back matter is included at the end of the stored text.
No verification flags recorded.