Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the reception of Sagoromo's Asukai subplot by Kenreimonin Ukyo-no-daibu, a late Heian or early Kamakura period poet. Lady Daibu experienced the Gempei War (1180-1185). I consider how she used fiction (Asukai's attempted suicide) to describe suicides linked to the war itself.

Paper long abstract:

Kenreimonin Ukyo-no-daibu was a female poet active from the late Heian to early Kamakura periods. This means that she lived through the Gempei War (1180-1185). In fact, as an attendant of Kenreimonin (Taira no Tokuko, 1155-1213) and someone who socialized with members of the Taira clan, Lady Daibu was arguably a participant. Her poetic memoir takes as its main subject the death of her lover, Taira no Sukemori (1161-1185), who drowned himself at Dan- no-ura—the war's last battlefield.

Since much of the fighting took place on or near the Seto Inland Sea, some of the losers—other members of the Taira clan—drowned themselves like Sukemori. We know from her memoir that Lady Daibu heard about these deaths in the capital. Earlier court tales often feature fictional suicides of this kind. This paper will consider how Lady Daibu responded to these episodes, based on her experience.

When one thinks of fictional suicides by drowning, two examples come to mind: Ukifune, from The Tale of Genji, and Asukai, from The Tale of Sagoromo. We know from her memoir that Lady Daibu was a devoted reader of Genji, but Sagoromo seems to have captured her imagination in this case. Consider the case of Kozaisho, a woman who drowned herself after learning of the death of lover Taira no Michimori (?-1184). Lady Daibu tells the story with language borrowed from Sagoromo: in particular, the phrase "seaweed in the depths" (soko no mokuzu). That expression comes from a poem composed by Asukai, recited just before she tries to drown herself. Since Kozaisho, like Asukai, was pregnant at the time, the pairing probably came naturally. Alternatively, Lady Daibu may have admired Kozaisho's fidelity to her lover, and so deliberately identified her with the popular heroine.

This is not the only description of actual suicides by drowning in the memoir. By comparing these passages and the allusions they contain, I hope to shed light on how Lady Daibu read Sagoromo.