The Pillow Book

Sei Shonagon, author of The Pillow Book, lived between approximately 966 and 1017 in a city that is now Kyoto, Japan. She was a gentlewoman at court, serving the Empress Teishi, and she uses a “pillow book” the Empress has given her “to write about the things that delight, or that people find impressive” (255). Her text outlines her sense of fashion, her deep connection to nature, her thoughts on love and romance in medieval Japan, and her passion for the written and spoken word.

The short chapters Shonagon writes bear no identifiable pattern. On some days, she simply notes the proper colors for parts of garments. On others, she tells stories of countryside adventures or of interactions with charismatic men in the court. In rare moments, Shonagon considers the ethics of her gossiping habit, the morality of her clear preference for those of upper classes, and her attraction to handsome priests.

As a poet, Shonagon puts great stock in the emotions of those who receive and read her written work. Her relationship with the Empress, whom she serves, is grounded in the art of poetry; she is ashamed when she sends messages that invite mockery for their simplicity or emotion. This female-female relationship is more pronounced and central to her stories about herself than any relationship with a male, though she has multiple relationships of varying kinds with Norimitsu, Tadanobu, and Yukinari.