新古今和歌集 851、伊勢物語六段芥川

白玉か何ぞと人の問ひしとき露と答へて消なましものを

白玉か何ぞと人の問ひしとき露と答へて消えなましものを

歌詠み　多岐都

Ise Monogatari Emaki (Picture by Sumiyoshi Jyokei, words by Otagi Michitomi / owned by the Tokyo National Museum / from ColBasehttps://colbase.nich.go.jp/).
The story of “Shiratama ka-” is about a man who steals away a woman he has been courting for many years, carrying her on his back. The man wandered into a place where demons lived and hid the woman in a warehouse, but the demons ate her in one bite.

Is that a pearl or a dewdrop of grass?

The crown of Shomu, as its name suggests, is now broken into pieces, and the parts are stored separately, including the gold, silver and gilt bronze ornamental fittings and the aforementioned hanging ornaments made from a series of lapis lazuli and pearls. It was not broken in the Shosoin over a long period of time, but was in fact accidentally destroyed on its way back to Kyoto on loan from the storehouse to be used as a reference for the crown used in the coronation ceremony of Emperor Gosaga in 1242, 500 years after the opening ceremony.
There is no way of knowing what kind of crown was used as a reference for the crown of Shomu. However, considering the vast amount of pearls used in the crown of Shomu, it is easy to imagine that the crown of Gosaga might also have been made of pearls of some kind.

The majority of pearls handed down from the Nara period to the present, including the ‘raifuku onkanmuri zanketsu’, are all smaller than one centimetre in diameter. The high level of processing technology at the time is astonishing, since holes were drilled in them and they were used like beads.
Today, when we hear the word ‘pearl’, we tend to imagine that all pearls are of a certain size. There are probably some of you who have read this far who may have thought the same. However, since ancient pearls were all natural products to begin with, we must consider that there is a considerable difference between the pearls they saw and the pearls we recognise today.

In Chinese poetry and waka poems, ‘shiratama (white beads)’, appears as a metaphor for pearls. However, if this is the case, for us to really appreciate the mentality of the people at the time, we must read these poems imagining the pearls as much smaller and delicate.
The Ise Monogatari (伊勢物語: Tales of Ise), which is thought to have been established around the 10th century, is a poem-tale featuring a man reminiscent of Ariwara no Narihira (在原業平). In the most famous waka poem of the tale, ‘shiratama’ is also used symbolically.

Shiratamaka Nan zo to Hito no toishi toki Tsuyu to kotaete Kienamashi monowo（白玉か　何ぞと人の問ひしとき　露と答へて消えなましものを）

Meaning: When (that person) asked, “Are (those) shiratama, what are they?”, I should have replied, “(Those) are dewdrops”, and (I) wish I had then also disappeared in the way dew does.

A man is on his way to take his lover away from home, when a woman sees dew on the grass and asks him what it is. The man is in too much of a hurry to answer, but later that night the woman disappears after being devoured by demons in a house that had been rained out. This is actually a parable about the woman’s family who followed them, captured her and brought her back. In any case, the above poem was composed by a man who was saddened by the fact that his lover had disappeared, and who answered, “When my lover asked me if those were pearls, I said they were dew, and I should have disappeared just like that dew”. If you interpret ‘shiratama’ as large cultured pearls as they are today, you cannot understand the transience of the dewdrops on the grass. People in ancient times understood pearls as much smaller beads than today’s pearls, which is why the metaphor perfectly captures the fragility of her existence, disappearing overnight.

We now have easy access to large pearls. The long history of pearl cultivation and the demand for large, beautiful pearls is due to the desire of people who loved natural pearls and were fascinated by their sparkle. In other words, it is the ancient people’s love for pearls that supports the brilliance of pearls as jewellery today.