This design is taken from Genji monogatari,"The Tale of Genji."Genji is Japan's,perhaps
the world's, first novel.
The most mysterious of Genji's lovers was a young lady who
lived in a dilapidated house surrounded by a desolate, overgrown garden, Such wild places
were not uncommon in Kyoto, where a relatively small population lived in a large area ini
which wild beasts still roamed. Passing by the house one day, Genji noticed lovely white
flowers growing luxuriantly over it. The flowers were called yugao, literally "evening
face," the evening equivalent of asagao, nmorning-glory. Genji sent his servant to the
house to ask for a few flowers, and the lady's servant presented them on a fan on which a
poem had been written in an elegant calligraphy. On the basis of this handwriting, a love
affair was initiated between Genji and the mistress of the house.
Wraith-like, not
conforming to the normal standard of Heian beauty, which in the Chinese Tang tradition was
distinctly chubby, the lady fascinated Genji. Shi refused to tell his her history or her
name, so he called her Yugao after the flowers. Eventually she accepted his invitation ot
visit one of his lavish villas, where they consummated their delicate passions. She died
within a few hours, fading as quickly as a yugao flower,killed by the jealous spirit of
one of Genji's former mistresses. Genji mourned her more deeply than he did most of his
lost love.
Large size= 10,500 yen
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