The Pillow Book

This article is about the Japanese book. For the Peter Greenaway film of the same title, see The Pillow Book (film).

Sei Shōnagon in a late 17th-century illustration

The Pillow Book (枕草子, Makura no Sōshi) is a book of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shōnagon during her time as court lady to Empress Consort Teishi during the 990s and early 1000s in Heian-period Japan. The book was completed in the year 1002.

The work is a collection of essays, anecdotes, poems, and descriptive passages which have little connection to one another except for the fact they are ideas and whims of Shōnagon's spurred by moments in her daily life. In it she included lists of all kinds, personal thoughts, interesting events in court, poetry, and some opinions on her contemporaries. While it is mostly a personal work, Shōnagon's writing and poetic skill makes it interesting as a work of literature, and it is valuable as a historical document. Shōnagon meant her writing in The Pillow Book for her eyes only, but part of it was accidentally revealed to the Court during her life: "she inadvertently left it [her writing] on a cushion she put out for a visiting guest, who eagerly carried it off despite her pleas."[1] She wrote The Pillow Book as a private endeavor of enjoyment for herself; it seemed to be a way for her to express her inner thoughts and feelings that she was not allowed to state publicly due to her lower standing position in the court. Though Shōnagon never intended her work for eyes other than her own, through the centuries it has become a famous work of literature. Six passages from the book were first translated into English in 1889 by T. A. Purcell and W. G. Aston. Other notable English translations have been the partial translation by Arthur Waley in 1928, the first complete translation by Ivan Morris in 1967, and Meredith McKinney's complete translation in 2006.[2]

  1. ^ McKinney, Meredith. "Meredith McKinney on Sei Shonagon's Masterpiece." Kyoto Journal. http://www.kyotojournal.org/the-journal/in-translation/on-translating-a-classic/. Accessed 13 Feb. 2017.
  2. ^ Henitiuk, Valerie (2012-06-16). Worlding Sei Shônagon: The Pillow Book in Translation. University of Ottawa Press. ISBN 978-0-7766-1979-8.