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- Convenor:
-
Berenice Möller
(University of Hamburg)
Send message to Convenor
- Discussant:
-
Laura Moretti
(The University of Cambridge)
- Section:
- Pre-modern Literature
- Sessions:
- Thursday 26 August, -
Time zone: Europe/Brussels
Short Abstract:
Into which direction are Japanese manuscript studies moving with the improvement of digital and scientific methods? This panel illustrates directions that codicology, statistical character frequency analysis and material analysis take, providing case studies of the Genji monogatari and Nara ehon.
Long Abstract:
The improvement of digital-based methods is continually shaping the study of Japanese classical texts. Various approaches to study manuscripts are now possible even outside Japan because high-resolution colour images are often provided that can usually be accessed with little to no restrictions. This also facilitates the study of the texts inside the manuscripts. When interpreting texts, it is crucial to study not only printed editions, but original manuscripts. Scientific methods are further opening up previously unimaginable possibilities. Taking these developments into account we have formed a panel on manuscript studies, which as a research direction is thought to still be behind that of printed Japanese books.
The first presentation will focus on how the study of the Genji monogatari text could develop, making use of codicological methods. It will take up the newly discovered "Wakamurasaki" chapter of Fujiwara Teika's Genji monogatari manuscript.
The next presentation will highlight the efficacy of statistical character frequency analysis. It will analyse the relation of several Genji monogatari manuscripts by comparing their hentaigana.
The last presentation takes up illustrated manuscripts from the 16th and 17th centuries called Nara ehon. It will show how production circumstances of the otherwise not contextualised manuscripts can be reconstructed by material scientific analysis.
Taking into account also the speedy development of digital techniques for reading kuzushi-ji, joining methods from the humanities and the natural sciences will become more and more important. The approach in this panel represents this synthesis.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 26 August, 2021, -Berenice Möller (University of Hamburg)
Paper short abstract:
Even though scientific material analysis has become a staple in manuscript studies, it has hardly been used to explore the still unclear production circumstances of 16th- and 17th-century manuscripts known as Nara ehon. This presentation will present first steps into that direction.
Paper long abstract:
Scientific material analysis has been a staple of manuscript studies, and techniques and machines are evolving constantly. So far, research in Japan has predominantly used techniques like x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) to analyse colourants (pigments and dyes) in paintings and other objects. However, especially in illustrated manuscripts, XRF can shed light on otherwise unclear production processes. As a case in point, details about the manufacture of 16th- and 17th-century manuscripts known as Nara ehon have been hypothetical until today. The manuscripts do not usually contain imprints or colophons, and their scribes, painters and other artisans involved in their production are largely unknown. By uncovering several layers of production for Nara ehon, we can better understand what role manuscripts played in a pivotal historical period in which printed books were gaining momentum in the reader's market.
XRF can reveal more about the Nara ehon production. For instance, comparing colourants allows us to trace workshops or painters working in close proximity. While manuscript-sets may be equipped with a consistent design, illustrations have sometimes been produced by different artists. Using XRF, we can disclose whether illustrations consist of the same materials, indicating one artist or the same workshop, in the same place or in different places. Considering the mass production of Nara ehon precious materials and the sophistication of colour usage are of special interest. Exemplary research questions are: Do the oblong formatted manuscripts that are transmitted in large number actually contain gold pigments, a mixture or something else? Did painters differentiate between contour black and area black?
This talk first outlines the state of the art of scientific material analysis in Japanese manuscript studies. Focusing on Nara ehon, the talk examines the challenges and advantages of techniques like XRF for the study of Japanese manuscripts. In the second part it will present first results of a case study that demonstrates a level of sophistication in the colour usage of Nara ehon, that has not been recognized before.
Takahiro Sasaki (Keio University)
Paper short abstract:
The news reports on the recently discovered Genji monogatari manuscript contained false information. This presentation will explain where exactly the news reports were wrong from the perspective of codicology and how this can influence research on the Genji monogatari text in the future.
Paper long abstract:
In October 2019, big news excited the public of Japan: a manuscript of the chapter "Wakamurasaki" of the Genji monogatari that was supposedly owned by the medieval classical scholar Fujiwara no Teika himself was newly discovered. Until then, only 4 chapters of the 54 chapter opus belonging to this manuscript had been discovered, making the new discovery the 5th chapter. Its whereabouts were unknown, even though its existence was mentioned in several early modern records. In 2019 it was finally discovered to have been stored by descendants of a daimyo family.
Unfortunately, the news reports partly stated false information. Articles from several newspapers and even television news claimed the manuscript to be the closest to the original Genji monogatari text, or to have been written by Teika himself. Both is supposedly not the case, but due to the repetition of this information in the media, it is now thought to be true by many people. This situation is symbolic for the bad state of the bibliographical study of the Genji monogatari, and it can be said that it also expresses how Japan underestimates bibliographical research. The copy of Genji monogatari owned by Teika is so important because it is thought to be a basis for the famous "Ōshima-bon"-manuscript, which has been used, not only in Japan, but worldwide, as the basis for reading this text. The news have reported wrong information on the newly discovered chapter "Wakamurasaki", as well as on the Ōshima-bon. The popularization of false information is a grave problem that could lead the world's Genji monogatari research into wrong directions.
What were the problematic points the news reported on? What is the truth about the Genji monogatari owned by Teika and its relation to the Ōshima-bon - and into which direction should Genji monogatari research move forward? Using the long-established discipline of bibliography thoroughly and in new ways, this presentation answers those questions. It will thereby underline the importance of bibliography in manuscript studies and beyond.
Tetsuya Saito (Shukutoku University)
Paper short abstract:
How can digital methods help to identify scribes and production dates of manuscripts, or even clarify the relationships between them? This presentation will demonstrate this with the help of statistical character frequency analysis in several Genji monogatari manuscripts.
Paper long abstract:
The hentaigana (also dōon iji, characters of the same phonetic value written with variant characters) differ from one Genji monogatari manuscript to the next. Until now, predominantly the content of the manuscripts - the text - has been studied. Its variant readings and similarities have been highlighted and used to develop a typology that shows the relation between the individual physical objects. However, research on variants of hentaigana which do not influence the content of the text has not been deemed important as yet and is therefore still in its infancy.
In the last years a great number of manuscripts have been published off- and online, facilitating the comparison of characters among them, and opening up new possibilities for research on variant characters. One way to determine relationships between different manuscripts that could not be determined by traditional methods like paleography is the statistical frequency analysis of hentaigana, especially the source characters they are based on, so-called jibo. This method has in the past been used successfully to identify scribes and production dates.
This presentation will focus on several Genji monogatari manuscripts. It will present the results of a statistical comparison of jibo and correlate it to earlier hypotheses. Firstly, assorted manuscripts written by Fujiwara Teika, his poetry collections, monogatari and diaries will serve as an example to explain the research method. Secondly, the method will be applied, and some scribes and suspected production dates of several Genji monogatari manuscripts will be pointed out.