Japanese writer Junichiro Tanizaki's famous essay "Harukami" tells the story of the blind woman Haruka and her servant and apprentice Sasuke "falling in love" during the Meiji period.
Haruka, formerly known as Harumiya koto, is the daughter of a herb dealer in Osaka, she has been bright since childhood, her appearance is beautiful and elegant, and she unfortunately suffered from an eye disease at the age of 9, and has been blind in both eyes ever since. Because Chunqin was very talented in playing instruments such as the three-stringed piano, he was sent to the blind player Chunsong Inspection School to learn art.
Sasuke, an elementary school apprentice in the herb shop, is assigned to escort the young lady to and from class, and Sasuke is not only very loyal to Haruka, but also loves Ya and Uchi and becomes obsessed with the sanshin. Later, by chance, he became a disciple of Chunqin and practiced the three-stringed piano under her guidance.
"Chunqin Copy" book cover
Over time, the two men developed into a de facto husband-wife relationship in addition to the master-servant and master-apprentice relationship, but Haruka denies it to the outside world, and her attitude towards Sasuke is even more brutal. Even so, Sasuke is still devoted to accompanying Haruka, and after Haruka's unfortunate disfigurement, he chooses to stab himself in the eye with a needle and becomes a blind person like Haruka.
Loving someone, you become her like, and from then on, you don't have yourself in your heart, and being scolded and beaten is a supreme joy, which is Sasuke's "masochistic" love philosophy. Chunqin, the object of his obsession, is a mixture of angels and devils, her demeanor is quiet and generous, her posture is beautiful and lovely, but her attitude towards apprentices and servants is often cold and calculating, which is daunting.
"Harumi Tsunekoto" is such a story that sounds a bit "twisted", but in the eyes of critics, it represents the peak of Junichiro Tanizaki's artistic achievements, and can be called "the master of Japanese classical beauty", and the great writer Yasunari Kawabata even lamented that it is a masterpiece that is "indescribable, only sighing".
Haruka and Sasuke
Why did this novel receive such high praise? We will interpret and analyze them from the perspectives of Junichiro Tanizaki's life experience, the narrative style of the novel, and the Japanese style that pervades the work.
In Tanizaki Junichiro's early upbringing, his relationship with his father was very bad, but his mother was not only extremely beautiful, but also a cultured woman. In Tanizaki's eyes, even in his old age, the image of his mother is still "absolutely beautiful".
The fascination with his mother is reflected in literary creation, and most of Tanizaki's works are depicted and narrated by women, who are beautiful and free, and men are more obscene.
This style of "sublime" can be divided into two stages, which are closely related to Junichiro Tanizaki's experience, thoughts, and love.
The first stage is the "evil girl" type. During this period, Tanizaki Lived mainly in the Tokyo area, was deeply influenced by Western aestheticism and ideas such as "love liberation", and had a special love for "prostitute" type women. In his works such as "Idiot's Love", "Tattoo", "Demon", "Kirin" and so on, the beautiful and enchanting women are like the embodiment of "demons", and the male protagonist is indulged in the almost perverted functional temptation.
In terms of creative intent, Junichiro Tanizaki's "evil" is an introduction, and he hopes to find the "beauty" in "evil" and "filth".
The second stage is the "Virgin". In 1923, when a 7.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Kanto region of Japan, Junichiro Tanizaki moved out of Tokyo to live in Osaka and Kyoto, and his ideological system and aesthetic tastes underwent a major change.
He pays attention to traditional Japanese arts such as the sanshin, guzheng, and jingliu, and studies the unique aesthetic qualities of Japanese culture, such as "mourning" and "yin". The new "muse" Mrs. Nezu Matsuko is a quiet and gentle woman, which further promotes the return of Tanizaki Junichiro's writing style to Japanese interest, and the "holy girl" gradually replaces the "evil girl" and becomes the protagonist of the work.
"Chunqin Copy" belongs to the product of the transition period, and the protagonist Chunqin's body has the dual attributes of "beauty" and "evil".
Her beauty lies in her appearance, even at the age of 37, she still has fair and delicate skin, and her pink neck makes the viewer's heart flutter. When attending the plum viewing banquet, the eyebrows are low, and the calm and elegant demeanor makes people feel compassion. Her superb artistic achievements in the three-stringed piano highlight her unique charm.
Haruka's "evil" is mainly reflected in the world, she always has a domineering posture towards Sasuke, and the slightest unhappiness is either beaten or scolded. As a calculating Osaka native, Haruka treats her servants and apprentices in the family quite harshly, causing many complaints and laying the groundwork for the subsequent disfigurement tragedy.
Therefore, from the perspective of character setting, "Harukami" belongs to The TransformationAlki Ofihiro Tanizaki's literary creation, and has a special significance that cannot be ignored.
The special feature of "Chunqin Copy" is not only reflected in the "human design" and the author's creative process, but also in terms of narrative method and content presentation, it also conveys a unique beauty of "hazy" and "yin".
In the expression of hazy beauty, the novel as a whole adopts the perspective of "I" as a bystander, combining the "Biography of Harukoto Inya", the memories of Sasuke and Haruka's disciple and maid, Andazawa Takeru, a vague old photo, and other people and objects, telling the beginning and end of Haruka and Sasuke's acquaintance.
The advantage of the "third party" perspective lies in objectivity, reducing personal direct emotional investment, for Sasuke and Haruka's emotional situation, the reason why Haruka was framed, etc., "I" only make cautious speculations, and leave a larger imagination space to the reader, this way of telling makes the novel add a bit of hazy temperament.
The emphasis on hazy moods dates back to the Heian Dynasty, where the love of aristocratic men often begins with a small cut of ornate sleeves that reveal a drapery screen, or a beautiful silhouette reflected on a lattice window on a moonlit night. With the obscuration of foreign objects, the illusory imagery of shadows and shadows is exactly the implicit beauty that the Japanese seek.
The discussion of the beauty of Yin Feng is mainly found in Tanizaki Junichiro's essay collection "Yin Feng Praise", which compares the cultural and ideological differences between the West and Japan, starting from travel, love, pornography, architectural design, and even toilets.
According to Junichiro Tanizaki, the beauty of yin can be summarized as "filth out of elegance, cold is the wind flow", referring to the aesthetic feeling derived from darkness, claustrophobia and even dirt and filth.
Junichiro Tanizaki's admiration for yin is almost to the point of morbidity, and in his opinion, the weeds in the deep courtyard, the ghost of women in the depths of the night, and even the black teeth of Kyoto women and the rough and primitive smell of toilets are all cute and beautiful.
In "Chunqin Copy", the beauty of yin is reflected in the skin of the girl. Miss Rich Haruka has long lived in a deep boudoir, rarely in contact with the outside world, and over time, a nearly transparent texture has developed on her snow-white skin, leaving a deep impression on the 13-year-old Sasuke.
Sasuke and Haruka's mode of getting along also implies a feminine beauty. They are a combination of "abuse" and "masochism", but each enjoys itself. When teaching Sasuke to play the trio, Haruka scolds and beats, and the servants in the house often hear Sasuke's sobs.
Even if Sasuke later became a school inspector, when teaching his apprentices, as soon as he heard Haruka's call, Sasuke would immediately come to her side and help her take care of dressing, eating, bathing, trimming her nails and other matters. Once, Sasuke, who had a toothache, helped Haruka cover her feet, so she put Haruna's cold foot on her cheek, trying to relieve the pain a little, but who expected to be kicked by Haruna and scolded to the dog's bloody head.
Sasuke never suffered from this, but instead felt grateful, respecting and caring for Haruka as before. After the two died one after another, Sasuke's tomb was located not far from Haruka's tomb, and in terms of shape and specifications, he still adhered to the etiquette of master and apprentice.
Unlike Tokyo's light "Edo temperament", "Haruka" is filled with Osaka's unique Kansai style, which is mainly reflected in the strong sense of class and the concept of money.
When Haruka was 16 years old, her family had arranged for her to marry Sasuke, but Haruka sternly refused. In the decades that followed, although they had always been known as masters and apprentices, they actually lived as a couple. The two have had 4 children in succession, except for one baby who died prematurely, all of whom were sent to other people's homes for foster care, but from beginning to end, Chunqin never let go of their ambiguous relationship.
In Haruka's cognitive system, she and Sasuke are two classes of people, the daughter of a wealthy merchant and the son of a small shopkeeper who has been a servant for generations, and there is an insurmountable gap between them. Haruka despises Sasuke from the bottom of her heart, so even if the two have a physical relationship, it does not mean that they can marry and become a real couple.
In his long-term observation, Junichiro Tanizaki found that Osaka people generally have the idea of "greed", pay special attention to money, and are quite proficient in financial management. Although they all prefer luxury, Tokyoites are "consistent on the surface", while Osaka people are superficially luxurious, and the inside is frugal even to the point of miserliness and greed.
Pampered since childhood, he is known for his generous hand in daily life, employing five or six servants in his family, raising a number of valuable yellow warblers, and spending a lot on food and clothing every month. Privately, she has taken open source throttling to the extreme. On the one hand, she charged high tuition fees to her apprentices and asked them to send valuable gifts every New Year's Festival. On the other hand, every income and expenditure in the family was clearly calculated by her, and she often withheld the servants' expenses such as food and drink.
In the story of "Chunqin Copy", in addition to the Kansai style at the secular level, there are also speculations and Zen machines about beauty and ugliness, good and bad. One of the monks mentioned in the novel, Asan, praises Sasuke for "being so deep that he is able to cut off the inside and outside in an instant, and turn ugliness into beauty." ”
When Sasuke first met Haruka, she was blind, but Sasuke felt that "her closed eyes were more beautiful than the bright eyes of the other sisters." In his eyes, "mutilation" is not only not damaged by appearance, but also a kind of natural perfection. After piercing his blindness, his first feeling was ecstasy, because he could finally truly immerse himself in the blind world in which his master lived, and from then on he turned from the outside to the inside.
Woe, blessing depends. Haruka's disfigurement not only fulfilled one of Sasuke's wishes, but also indirectly inspired Haruka's artistic inspiration, and her compositions such as "Haruka" and "Six Prisms" reached a more exquisite and superb realm.
"I don't know what to do, but I have always had a deep affection." Haruka and Sasuke's sadistic past has long since dissipated like smoke, and the details have become blurred and unverifiable.
The charm of "Chunqin Copy" lies in transcending the story itself, creating a world full of classical charm, hazy and yin, style and Zen machine, allowing readers to linger between illusion and reality.
Resources:
1, Tanizaki Koichiro, Shunkinsho
2. Junichiro Tanizaki, "Osaka and Osaka People in My Eyes"