Changes

That same year, fate dealt her another blow - an earthquake tumbled her small hut and left her homeless. She ended up going to the Jakko-in, a nunnery in which she was to spend the remaining thirty or so years of her life. The Jakko-in was a particularly lonely place in those times, and Tokuko filled her days with prayers for the spirits of the fallen [[Taira clan]], her late husband, and son. After about a year, she received an unexpected visitor: Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, who had come to wonder what had become of his adopted daughter. They talked for an afternoon, with Tokuko giving a moving recount of the years leading up to the fall of her clan and in the end both parted in tears, with Tokuko watching Go-Shirakawa's procession until she could see it no more. Tokuko was to die of illness in [[1213]], her passing providing, perhaps fittingly, the closing words of the [[Heike Monogatari]], which records in its closing section, "After her chanting voice had gradually weakened, a purple cloud trailed in the west, a marvelous fragrance permeated the chamber, and the sound of music was heard in the heavens. Man's time on earth is finite, and thus the lady's life drew to a close at last, midway through the Second Month in the second year of Kenkyû."

That same year, fate dealt her another blow - an earthquake tumbled her small hut and left her homeless. She ended up going to the Jakko-in, a nunnery in which she was to spend the remaining thirty or so years of her life. The Jakko-in was a particularly lonely place in those times, and Tokuko filled her days with prayers for the spirits of the fallen [[Taira clan]], her late husband, and son. After about a year, she received an unexpected visitor: Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, who had come to wonder what had become of his adopted daughter. They talked for an afternoon, with Tokuko giving a moving recount of the years leading up to the fall of her clan and in the end both parted in tears, with Tokuko watching Go-Shirakawa's procession until she could see it no more. Tokuko was to die of illness in [[1213]], her passing providing, perhaps fittingly, the closing words of the [[Heike Monogatari]], which records in its closing section, "After her chanting voice had gradually weakened, a purple cloud trailed in the west, a marvelous fragrance permeated the chamber, and the sound of music was heard in the heavens. Man's time on earth is finite, and thus the lady's life drew to a close at last, midway through the Second Month in the second year of Kenkyû."

[[Category:Women]][[Category:Heian Period]]

[[Category:Women]][[Category:Heian Period]]