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영어

As it is well known, Uji was a stage of Genji-Monogatari Uji Jyujo. It was a place Hachinomiya spent rest of his life in retirement since he had been defeated in power struggle. And it was also a place where Ukihune, who had been agonizing between loves for Kaoru and Nioinomiya, committed suicide. In Genji-Monogatari Uji Jyujo, a desolate landscape of Uji remote from everyday life was depicted in wonderful harmony with tragical lives of characters. This is a study on characteristic aspects of bleak atmosphere of Uji, a unique atmosphere much different from that of mundane world, as shown in Genji-Monogatari, in relation with similar aspects in Kagero Diary. Since Uji was located in a major pathway for Hatsuse Moude, it came to get religious overtone. Uji was also a place where Ukihune, the heroine of Uji Jyujo, committed suicide. Significantly, we can trace the folklore of Hashihime that surrounds the Uji River as a background of her suicide. Hashihime was a deity who was known to perform a purification ritual for atonement on behalf of others at the water’s edge and has some relation with Seoritsubime enshrined in Sakunati Shrine, described in Ishiyama Moude in Kagero Diary. By focusing on common elements in these two literary pieces, Kagero Diary and Genji-Monogatari, we can see that Uji in Heian Period was soaked in ambience of death because of a swift current of the Uji river. This atmosphere strengthened the dark image of the fateful death of Ukihune, which in turn was closely related with the folklore of Hashihime, the guardian deity of the Uji River.