Asian Lit Study Guide

These flashcards provide a comprehensive review of Lit104: Early Japanese Lit, including native religious figures, key literary works like the Man’yoshu and the Genji Monogatari, and the historical transitions between the Heian and Kamakura periods.

Shinto

The name of the native Japanese religion.

Izanami

One of the two progenitor gods who acted as a starter couple in the native Japanese religion.

Izanagi

One of the two progenitor gods who acted as a starter couple in the native Japanese religion.

Amaterasu

One of the three most important sibling figures in Shinto born from the father figure Izanagi.

Tsukiyomi

One of the three most important sibling figures in Shinto born from the father figure Izanagi.

Susano-o

One of the three most important sibling figures in Shinto born from the father figure Izanagi.

Kusanagi

The sword that is one of the three Japanese Imperial Regalia.

Mirror

One of the three Japanese Imperial Regalia, along with the sword and jade jewel.

Jade jewel

One of the three Japanese Imperial Regalia, along with the sword and mirror.

Prince Shotoku

The 6th-century figure credited with the arrival of Buddhism among the elite class in Japan.

Nihon Shoki

One of two literary pieces that reveal the Japanese view of world creation.

Kojiki

One of two literary pieces that reveal the Japanese view of world creation.

Man’yoshu

A literary collection whose English title translates to "Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves."

Waka

The overall term for Japanese poems that provides the structure for other forms like haiku.

Choka

The long form of waka in Japanese poetry characterized by numerous lines.

Banka

One of the three categories of poems found within the Man’yoshu.

Somon

One of the three categories of poems found within the Man’yoshu.

Zoka

One of the three categories of poems found within the Man’yoshu.

Court Poetry Purpose

Used by aristocrats and the elite for courting and etiquette, essential for court communication.

Variant

A term in fairytales and folklore for when stories change through various tellings.

Monogenesis

The folklore concept suggesting a single place of origin for a story.

Polygenesis

The folklore concept suggesting multiple points of origin for a story.

Kami

Godly-divine spirits within Japanese folklore.

Yokai

The strange, beautiful, and creepy aspects of supernatural spirits in Japanese folklore.

Ise Monogatari

Episodes based on the life of Ariwara no Narihira in Japanese history.

Ariwara no Narihira

A historical figure whose life provides the template for later literary figures like Genji.

Tosa Nikki

The first Nikki, written in 935 by a male author using a female perspective.

Kagero

A word with three translations—mayfly, gossamer, and heatwave—used to describe the unstable and fleeting marriage of Mitchitsuna’s Mother.

Fujiwara

The clan of Mitchitsuna’s Mother’s husband that controlled the Emperor and the throne in the Heian courts.

Sei Shonagon

A court lady who wrote the Pillow Book as a source of fun, gossip, and chronicling.

The Pillow Book

A work named for the wooden, hollowed-out pillows where the original manuscript was housed.

Sneezing

A human function that caused Sei Shonagon distress, illustrating court etiquette and superstitions.

Genji Monogatari

Considered the first novel and the first work to raise psychological questions about character motive.

3rd person, omniscient

The narrative perspective in which The Genji Monogatari is written.

The Broom Tree

The chapter in Genji containing the "Ideal woman" conversation that sets the tone for the entire book.

Genji/Minamoto

One of the two samurai clans that began the Genpei civil war.

Taira/Heike

One of the two samurai clans that began the Genpei civil war.

Heike Monogatari Themes

The central ideas of Impermanence and Pride before the Fall.

Heike Monogatari Symbols

Major influences in the work represented by bells and birds.

Minamoto

The clan that won the Genpei civil war.

Shogun

The source of military rule and actual power in post-Heian Japan, while the emperor remained a title.

Atsumori

A 17-year-old Taira member and flute player whose death represents a breaking point for soldiers.

Battle of Dan-no-Ura

The conflict where the imperial sword Kusanagi was lost to the water during the suicide of the child emperor.

Tokuko (Kenreimon-in)

Daughter of Kiyomori and mother of the child emperor; the most important survivor of the Taira clan.

Biwa hoshi

Wandering performers who told the epic story of The Heike Monogatari.

Biwa

The instrument played by wandering performers to tell war epics.

Essays on Idleness

A collection of thoughts and observations by Kenko using Buddhist principles.

Four Truths of Buddhism

Principles stating life is suffering, desire causes suffering, the Eight-Fold Path is the solution, and Nirvana is enlightenment.

Nirvana

The state of enlightenment achieved through the Eight-Fold Path in Buddhism.

Noh, Banraku, and Kabuki

The three major forms of Japanese theatre and drama.

Chikamatsu Monzaemon

A great playwright associated with puppet plays and plots involving double suicides.

Mugen

A Noh plot structure where a traveler meets a deceased figure who dances their thoughts in a dream.

Mujo

The awareness of impermanence, or the understanding that nothing is permanent.

Historicism

An approach to literature focusing on the importance of historical context and the author's world.

Basho

The historical figure credited as the master of the haiku.

Becoming a nun

The course of action taken by characters in these stories when they need to get away from the world.