Literature and Culture of Asia SeriesIn celebration of the Genji Millennium, John Wallace will return with his popular year-long course on the Tale of Genji starting on October 12, 2008. A not to be missed experice. Stay tuned for more information!
When: Sundays - October 12, 19, 26; November 2, 23, 30
Time: 10:15 AM – 12:15 PM
Place: Education Studio
Fee: $100 members; $125 non-members
Note: Space limited, registration required
Fee does not include texts or
supplementary materials
One thousand years ago, an elegant imperial lady-in-waiting serving the empress of her day wrote the epic-length Tale of Genji. Murasaki Shikibu’s work, revered in Japan as one of its greatest literary accomplishments and the inspiration for countless artistic endeavors, tells the life of Genji, a high-level courtier of unsurpassed distinction and talent. The work is a sophisticated look at romance within and without marriage. With this 12-cycle series of lectures, we participate in a worldwide celebration of Genji’s millennial year. We explore the work’s basic themes, including Murasaki’s view of beauty, love and Buddhism, while discussing what life was like for aristocrats of her day.
We will read and discuss this literary masterpiece under the direction of John Wallace, PhD., Visiting Assistant Professor of Japanese at UC, Berkeley. He received his PhD. from Stanford University in 1991 and has previously taught at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Stanford University. Professor Wallace specializes in Heian women's memoirs and is the author of Objects of Discourse; Memoirs by Women of Heian Japan.
From A Recent Class
The Jatakas in Art and Literature
When: Sundays - April 20, 27, May 4, 11, 18, 25
Time: 10:15 AM – 12:15 PM
Place: Education Studio
Fee: $100 members; $125 non-members
Note: Space limited, registration required
Fee does not include texts or
supplementary materials
“We yawn at sermons but happily turn to folk tales, learning best by amusement,” mused Jean de La Fontaine, the 17th-century compiler of fables. Early Buddhists apparently were in agreement, and thus the Jatakas were born, a lasting contribution to world literature. The Jatakas are stories based on the 547previous births of the Buddha. Each illustrates a specific virtue, such as charity, wisdom, or compassion. The chief protagonist is the Buddha himself who assumed various guises, from a duck in his pond to a raja in his realm.
This painting from Burma in the 1930s illustrates a popular jataka featuring a merchant with four wives whose allegorical names were Goodness, Joy, Thoughtful, and Haughty-Highborn. The good wives are shown with their husband, while self-centered Haughty-Highborn is beautifying herself on the right. The other wives enjoyed favorable rebirths but Haughty-Highborn found herself recast as a crane. The husband is the Buddha-to-be in this story, but his presence is merely a foil. This six-week exploration with Donald Stadtner reviews the social milieu from which the Jatakas emerged in India and the transformation of the tales in Theravadin Southeast Asia.
Mr. Stadtner recently lead a museum group tour to Burma. His latest book, Ancient Pagan (2005), will be followed by Sacred Sites of Burma (2008). He was for many years an Associate Professor at the University of Texas, Austin, after receiving his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley
