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	Sei Shōnagon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Sei Shōnagon (清少納言), (965-1010s?) was a Japanese author and a court lady who served the Empress Consort Sadako around the year 1000, known as the author of The Pillow Book (枕草子 makura no sōshi).
		Sei Shōnagon referred to the death of her greatest supporter lightly and did not imply it was difficult.
		One story had Sei Shonagon living out her twilight years in poverty, but this is almost certainly a legend spread by those who disapproved of her alleged promiscuity.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Sei_Shonagon (484 words)

	The Life of Sei Shonagon (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-06)
		Sei Shonagon is the author of the Pillow Book, which is a descriptive account of her life as a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Sadako.
		Even though Sei Shonagon was a "realist of keen sensibility and wit: she never concerned herself with the world of the past or the one to come" (Matsumoto 279).
		Sei Shonagon does not give us a false picture of her life as a lady-in- waiting, but a realistic view of what it was like to live the life of a servant to an Empress.
	www.stark.kent.edu /~jmoneysmith/gbi/ourweb/daugherty.htm (864 words)

	Pillow Book (Sloan) \| National Clearinghouse for U.S.-Japan Studies (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-06)
		Sei Shonagon worshipped the imperial family and people of title, and her love aristocratic life is reflected in her diary.
		Sei Shonagon, herself, was from the middle rank of aristocracy.
		Shonagon's views on the proper attire and bearing of servants suggest that servants were regarded as no more than appendages of their masters.
	www.indiana.edu /~japan/LP/LS58.html (2865 words)

	Sei Shonagon, Makura no soshi (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-06)
		Shonagon shows insightful views of trivial things in her life, especially in writings of the "monozukushi" type.
		Shonagon claims that pear blossoms are her favorite, because they are small, white and plain, and yet beautiful if one observes in a close look.
		Shonagon is said to have followed her elder brother to lessons in her childhood, and started to show academic distinction which was much greater than her brothers.
	www.personal.psu.edu /staff/k/x/kxs334/academic/fiction/sei_makura.html (935 words)

	fool.com: The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon Fribble (Best of the Fool) September 14, 1999
		Sei Shonagon lists, among other things, a dog howling in the daytime, an ox driver who hates his oxen, persistent rain on the last day of the year, and a scholar whose wife has one girl child after another.
		Sei Shonagon mentions relations between a man and a woman, the course of a boat, and paradise.
		Sei Shonagon cites a bunch of examples, including: "Finding a large number of tales one has not read before or acquiring the second volume of a tale whose first volume one has enjoyed." "Someone has torn up a letter and thrown it away.
	www.fool.com /specials/bestofthefool/bestofthefooltuesday.htm (1059 words)

	Tale of Murasaki - Sei Shonagon (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-06)
		Sei Shônagon is almost as famous as Murasaki.
		The work she is remembered for is a collection of brilliant short essays known as The Pillow Book (Makura no Sôshi) in which she etched her mordant observations of people, life at court, and the aesthetics of nature.
		The "Sei" in her name is the first character of her family name, Kiyowara, read in its Sino-Japanese pronunciation.
	www.lizadalby.com /shonagonpage.htm (363 words)

	Great BooksGreat Books
		Sei Shonagon is ruled by no such mandates and as a result wrote with merciless honesty.
		In “When Crossing a River” Shonagon says that she loves “to see the water scatter in showers of crystal under the oxen’s feet.” This description is wonderfully simple and is automatically pictured in the reader’s mind.
		According to Shonagon, the lover is behaving elegantly when “He drags himself out of bed with a look of dismay on his face” and proceeds to get dressed slowly while expressing his regret at leaving his lady.
	www.auburn.edu /~waiisab/chambless.htm (1115 words)

	ReadLiterature.Com - Talk Literature Archives
		Sei Shonagon must be a very great writer indeed, still to come across the way she does in Morris' rendition.
		Sei Shonagon was the daughter of the poet Kiyohara Motosuke and was in the service of the empress Sadako from about 991 to 1000.
		Sei Shonagon was apparently not a beauty, but her ready wit and intelligence secured her place at court.
	www.readliterature.com /TL-27.htm (1328 words)

	The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-06)
		In an era of almost total male dominance, Shonagon's intelligence and wit was the equal of any man's, and her attitude toward men was competitive almost to in-your-face hostility; she was nobody's doormat.
		Rating 5/5 Relatively little is known about Sei Shonagon's life, except what is revealed in "The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon." What is known is that she was a court lady in tenth-century Japan, at the pinnacle of the Heian culture.
		Shonagon's stories are about little things like flutes, disobedient dogs, clothes, and the Empress's ladies betting on how long it would take a giant mound of snow to melt (no, I'm not kidding).
	www.outhouse-decor.com /prod/0231073372/The_Pillow_Book_of_Sei_Shonagon.html (1083 words)

	Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life: Reviews (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-06)
		I’m sure this is the adjective that Sei Shônagon, a lady-in-waiting cum documentarian of the tenth-century Japanese court, would use to express her impressions of Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life.
		Okashi is Sei Shônagon’s favorite adjective, used most often in her Pillow Book (422 times in one variant of the text that runs 443 pages in modern typeset, therefore appearing with the frequency of nearly once every page!
		In Sei Shônagon’s writings, things that are okashi are the extraordinarily amusing things that punctuate ordinary life (albeit quotidian life in the imperial court).
	www.encyclopediaofanordinarylife.com /pages/reviews_full.php?id=12_0_4_0_C (703 words)

	The pillow book
		Sel Shonagon was born in 967, the daughter of a descendant of the Emperor Temmu.
		Shonagon is credited with creating expressions, such as the "dawn of spring" and "evening of autumn," that were so widely used by later poets that they became cliches.
		Shonagon's prose writing is highly regarded for its witty style and insights.
	www.globaled.org /spot_JP/c1l1.html (620 words)

	Sei Shonagon
		Sei Shonagon's family was literarily but not politically influential.
		Her name, "Shonagon" refers to the position she held at court (Minor Counselor); "Sei" is the name of her family.
		[Shonagon describes the start of her ten years at court, when Empress Sadako was 14 years old and Shonagon in her early 20s.
	home.infionline.net /~ddisse/shonagon.html (2507 words)

	Amazon.com: Books: The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-06)
		Relatively little is known about Sei Shonagon's life, except what is revealed in "The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon." What is known is that she was a court lady in tenth-century Japan, at the pinnacle of the Heian culture.
		Shonagon was a lively wit and intellect, known for her erudition and scholarship.
		Sei Shonagon, a court lady in tenth-century Japan, has left us an intimate, intriguing look at life inside the Heian court as well as a chronicle of her daily life.
	www.amazon.com /exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0231073372?v=glance (1967 words)

	Jonathon Delacour: Ladies in Rivalry
		Murasaki descrbes herself as shy, gentle, and unsociable, “looked down on like some old outcast,” whereas Shonagon was a glittering success: forthright and opinionated in a milieu where women were expected to be quiet and demure, she seems to have demolished any opposition with the force of her sarcastic wit.
		As a writer she is incomparably the best poet of her time, a fact which is apparent only in her prose and not at all in the conventional uta [31-syllable poems] for which she is also famous.
		I wonder if at any time Murasaki and Shonagon were able to transcend their mutual antipathy and grasp their commonality; to realize that they were both consumed by the same grand passion; that they were not, in essence, rivals but rather colleagues.
	weblog.delacour.net /archives/2002/03/ladies_in_rivalry.php (931 words)

	ipedia.com: Sei Shonagon Article (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-06)
		Sei comes from the Kiyohara clan and Shonagon was a government post.
		Sei Shonagon (清少納言, ~965-10??) was a Japanese author.
		Shonagon is famous through her major work, The Pillow Book (Makura no Soshi).
	www.ipedia.com /sei_shonagon.html (221 words)

	Jan Blensdorf, October 2003 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-06)
		I had heard of My Name Is Sei Shonagon just before Book Expo, so my mission was to find the small publisher, meet the author and obtain signed copies of both the British and American editions.
		Sei Shonagon was immediately added to the Crème de la Crème list and this conversation with Jan happened shortly after.
		The era that captivated me most was the Heian period (extending from the 8th to 12th centuries), a time of relative peace and stability where women of the court seemed to have extraordinary freedom to express themselves through music, literature, poetry and painting.
	www.anovelview.com /chats/jan_blensdorf.htm (1121 words)

	Jonathon Delacour: Things and people, charming and splendid
		Though, according to legend, she died in old age, lonely and impoverished, this is probably wish fulfillment on the part of those—including Murasaki—who disapproved of Shonagon’s lively intelligence, argumentative spirit, intolerance towards inferiors, lack of inhibition, and masterful prose style.
		Shonagon’s disdainful attitude towards “the common people” is a constant of The Pillow Book, a sensibility at odds with the mandatory egalitarianism of today.
		But the snobbishness and elitism is part of the Shonagon package, an intrinsic component of her opinionated, abrasive way of looking at the world.
	weblog.delacour.net /archives/2003/04/things_and_people_charming_and_splendid.php (1380 words)

	PH@school: Literature: Author Biographies (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-06)
		A.D. Sei Shonagon was the gifted Japanese author of The Pillow Book, which is considered to be one of the best works of Japanese prose.
		However, she is also portrayed as judgmental, treating those of less fortunate circumstance disdainfully in contrast with the respect she held for members of the imperial family.
		Nevertheless, Shonagon's vibrant style and beautiful imagery, in addition to the valuable documentation that her work provides, fortify her prominent place in literary history.
	www.phschool.com /atschool/literature/author_biographies/shonagon_s.html (173 words)

	Sei Shonagon - Penguin UK Authors - Penguin UK
		SEI SHONAGON was born approximately a thousand years ago (965 is a likely date) and served as lady-in-waiting at the Court of the Japanese Empress during the last decade of the tenth century.
		It is possible, though unlikely, that Shonagon was briefly married to a government official, by whom she may have had a son.
		There is a tradition that she died in lonely poverty: but this is probably an invention of moralists who were shocked by her promiscuity and thought she deserved retribution.
	www.penguinbooks.co.uk /nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,0_1000029756,00.html (305 words)

	My Name Is Sei Shonagon - Jan Blensdorf
		The historical Sei Shonagon lived at the court of the Japanese empress in the tenth century.
		My Name Is Sei Shonagon is narrated by the woman who calls herself Sei Shonagon, and like the historical Pillow Book it also offers small thoughts and episodes -- though it is more reflective and retrospective, as the contemporary Sei Shonagon recounts much from her past.
		My Name Is Sei Shonagon offers extensive reflection on Japanese history, customs, and tradition, and the contrast to the encroaching modern world: Blensdorf constantly sets past and present side by side, her character living -- more than most -- on the boundary between them.
	www.complete-review.com /reviews/austnz/blensdj.htm (792 words)

	Amazon.co.uk: Books: The Pillow Book (Classics S.) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-06)
		Shonagon fills her book with details about life in the Japanese court.
		What really drew me to the book was that Sei Shonagon writes in such a way that you feel as if you know her.
		Sei Shonagon used it to jot down any thoughts which came into her head, whether they be about the latest fashions, her lover or the beauty of the spring flowers.
	www.amazon.co.uk /exec/obidos/ASIN/0140442367 (888 words)

	Asia Pacific Arts: Sei Shonagon's 21st Century Appearance
		While Sei Shonagon served as lady in waiting to the empress, she wrote this highly personal piece containing observations of courtly life, anecdotes, poems and stories when she was not engaging her many lovers.
		The second “Sei Shonagon?" character sits behind a shoji screen, listening to her clients unburden themselves by "[speaking] before the unspoken begins to destroy [them] from within.She is “Sei Shonagon" behind the screen.
		The last “Sei Shonagon" figure, whose narrative dominates among the three is a "hapa," a person whose ethnicities are mixed with Asian.
	www.asiaarts.ucla.edu /article.asp?parentid=7238 (879 words)

	The Pillow Book of SEI Shonagon (Translations from the Asian Classics (Paperback)) : Berichte, Bewertungen, ...
		Sei Shonagon's life was secluded, not rich in dramatic events, she did not travel much.
		What is striking about the literature of Heian era Japan is not only that the great majority of it was produced by brilliant women, but that the parallels between the ancient human condition and that of the modern are amazing.
		What sets Shonagon apart from her contermporaries is her ability to express uncensored opinions that are both hillarious, beautiful, and heartbreaking.
	www.medfools.com /shopde/product/ASIN/0231073372/The_Pillow_Book_of_Sei_Shonagon.html (524 words)

	Powell's Books - My Name Is SEI Shonagon by Jan Blensdorf
		This exquisite first novel is a Pillow Book for the twenty-first century; its "Sei" is a young woman who, as a child, moved to Japan from America to live with her strict, tradition-obsessed uncle after the death of her parents, an American academic and a Japanese student.
		Sharply evocative, atmospheric, and suspenseful, My Name Is Sei Shonagon--with rights sold in eight countries before publication--adds an exciting new dimension to literature about Japan in the way that Memoirs of a Geisha has done, and introduces a fantastically talented author.
		Sharply evocative, atmospheric, and suspenseful, "My Name is Sei Shonagon"--with rights sold in eight countries before publication--adds an exciting new dimension to literature about Japan in the way that "Memoirs of a Geisha" has done, and introduces a new and talented author.
	www.powells.com /cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=1-1585674435-1 (256 words)

	Asia Pacific Arts: Author Jan Blendsdorf
		Jan: The combination of Sei Shonagon, a passionate, intelligent observer of her world with one of the most intriguing periods of Japanese history proved irresistible.
		As a child, “Sei Shonagon” is force-fed Samurai history, especially from the Heian Period.
		Her response in terms of visualising her past is also something that someone might do if buried by an avalanche or lost at sea: attempting to hold on to life and consciousness and sanity by recalling moments of experience and trying to extract some sense of overall meaning and purpose from it all.
	www.asiaarts.ucla.edu /article.asp?parentid=7322 (1053 words)

	WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY: LESSON #1 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-06)
		In her diary, Sei Shonagon describes an exchange of poems between herself and a male courtier named Tadanobu.
		Tadanobu had a messenger deliver a portion of a poem to Sei and asked her to supply the ending lines to the stanza.
		In her personal writings, quoted here, Sei writes about a conversation she had the following morning with two male courtiers who were present when Tadanobu received her lines of poetry, Captain Tsunefusa and Norimitsu.
	www.archiva.net /wwh/lessons/wwhlesson1scr4.html (848 words)

	Summary Of The Pillow Book Of Sei Shonagon
		Amazon Light - Details for The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon - Rating: 5 (out of 5) Summary: Amazingly Insightful - Excellently Translated and Explained Comment: The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon is a...
		Your Book Store :: The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon - Summary: A look back in time Comment: Relatively little is known about Sei Shonagon's life, except what is revealed in "The Pillow Book...
		Summary The Pillow Book written by Sei Shonagon is a collection of diary-like entries, essays, and observations concerning life in the Heian court...
	www.purebedding.com /summary-of-the-pillow-book-of-sei-shonagon.html (751 words)

	Sei Shonagon -- Facts, Info, and Encyclopedia article (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-06)
		Sei Shonagon -- Facts, Info, and Encyclopedia article
		Sei Shōnagon referred to the death of her greatest supporter lightly and didn't imply it was difficult.
		She is also known for her rivalry with her contemporary (Click link for more info and facts about Murasaki Shikibu) Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote (Click link for more info and facts about The Tale of Genji) The Tale of Genji and served the Empress Shoshi, the second empress of the Emperor Ichijō;.
	www.absoluteastronomy.com /encyclopedia/s/se/sei_shonagon.htm (465 words)

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