CBR16 Bingo: Vintage – Not only is this a very old book (written about a thousand years ago!), but it is also very much of its time, cataloguing minute happenings in the Empress’s court and listing out the common tastes of the time.
Once there was an empress who gave her attendant a bundle of writing paper for making a witty remark. To highlight what a cultured place this court was, the attendant decided to record an amusing hodgepodge of anecdotes, poetry, and things both tasteful and unlikable. And while this book was originally meant to be read by the occupants of the insular court circles, it has after a great deal of translation and a great many years come to rest in the hands of an utter peasant as myself.
This is a hard book to describe. Primarily it is a book of lists, interspersed with anecdotes about things which were considered very amusing or remarkable in the Heian period but are harder to understand nowadays, like snarky poetry face-offs and bets about how long it’ll take for the snow to melt. The one thing I learned for certain is that high society in Heian era Japan was kind of weird. I found myself heavily relying on the copious endnotes and appendixes to understand the point of quite a few sections.
And yet it is a lovely book, relaxing and amusing, even across this gulf of time and space. When you put aside the cultural differences, you find yourself laughing at the same things that Sei laughs at, rolling your eyes at the same things she does. You find yourself adoring the empress as she does and growing annoyed with the same graceless courtiers that she does. And you find yourself growing attached to the person she reveals herself to be, sometimes snobbish and sometimes kind, but always aware of the beauty and wonder of all the little moments in the world.
