Keywords
Art History
Painting
A pictorial subject based on "Tenarai" ("At Writing Practice"), Chapter 53 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji). In this chapter, the bishop of Yokawa, Yokawa no Sōzu 横川僧都 and his party discover *Ukifune 浮舟, who is near death. They nurse her back to health, at which point she decides to become a nun. Later the bishop relates this story to Empress Akashi, Akashi no Chūgū 明石中宮 who informs Ukifune's earlier lover, Kaoru 薫.
The scene most frequently chosen for illustration shows Ukifune playing a game of go 碁 with Shōshō the nun, Shōshō no Ama 少将の尼 in the Ninth Month, a time when other aristocrats are making a pilgrimage to Hasedera 長谷寺.
