Rethinking Immortal Narratives of Fallen Women: A Comparative Study of The Tale of Genji and Chinese Stories in Taiping Guangji

Comparative literature has been a popular discipline in academic research. However, comparative literary studies have focused mostly on Western-language literature, while less attention has been paid to literary works written in non-Western languages. Comparative studies between ancient Chinese and ancient Japanese literature have been especially rare in this discipline. In this paper, I shall undertake precisely such a comparative study. I will compare the transgressive drama of Fujitsubo in the The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shikibu, with stories of female immortals written by Chinese intellectuals. I argue that the poetics of transgression described in Chinese stories of transgressive female immortals resonate with Murasaki Shikibu’s commitment to articulating intense desire. As a result, Murasaki Shikibu subtly imports this literary conception of transgression from these Chinese stories only to transform it into a bridge which connects the “unreachable” angelic woman with the profane man, a gesture which completes the narrative. The motif of transgression involves a much more intense way of exerting influence, I suggest, enabling the dialogue between heaven and earth to represent that between China and Japan.