Index Magazine

Learn about Japanese Manuscripts at the Museums on edX

April 3, 2020
Index Magazine

Learn about Japanese Manuscripts at the Museums on edX

An image of a wooden figure stands on a grayish-white surface among various scrolls and objects. The figure’s eyes are closed, and he holds his palms together in front of his body; a dark red pleated garment flows from his waist to his feet.
Part of the course features a look at the unique group of books, scrolls, and sacred objects once interred within a 13th-century Buddhist sculpture of Prince Shōtoku, now in the Harvard Art Museums collections.

Japanese Books: From Manuscript to Print is a self-paced course free to audit online until May 29, 2020.

Taught by Melissa McCormick, professor of Japanese art and culture at Harvard, this edX class expands the definition of the “book” to include scrolls and albums. It also includes a discussion with Rachel Saunders, the museums’ Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Curator of Asian Art, about the unique group of books, scrolls, and sacred objects once interred within a 13th-century Buddhist sculpture of Prince Shōtoku, recently gifted to the Harvard Art Museums by Walter Sedgwick. The course concludes with an overview of The Tale of Genji, showing how this celebrated epic from the 11th century was read and illustrated in every conceivable format—from scroll and album to printed book—throughout the centuries.

Learn more about the course on edX.

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