''Ōkagami'' () is a
Japanese historical tale ''Rekishi monogatari'' (歴史物語) is a category of Japanese literature defined as extended prose narrative. Structurally, the name is composed of the Japanese words ''rekishi'' (歴史), meaning history, and ''monogatari'' (物語), meaning tale ...
written in around 1119 by an unknown author. It covers the period 850 to 1025, the golden days of the Fujiwara family's rule. It is said to be a successor (世継物語, ''yotsugi monogatari'') with the records of the
Eiga Monogatari.
In the tale, the writer listens to a conversation mainly led by a 190-year-old man, Ōyake no Yotsugi (大宅世継, literally "world-successor"), who recalls the past. A 180-year-old man, Natsuyama no Shigeki (夏山繁樹), adds comments and a young
samurai
were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of History of Japan#Medieval Japan (1185–1573/1600), medieval and Edo period, early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retai ...
puts questions to these two elders. This narrative strategy makes the story vivid and allows for the natural addition of various opinions and criticisms.
The structure is modelled after traditional Chinese history books like ''the
Records of the Grand Historian
''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese his ...
''. It consists of Preface, Stories of Emperors, Stories of Ministers, Miscellaneous Stories and Post-fin.
This and three other tales with ''mirror'' (鏡 ''kagami'', also read ''kyō'') in their titles are collectively called
four mirrors (四鏡 ''shikyō'').
Translations
There are two translations into English:
* ''The Ōkagami: A Japanese Historical Tale'', translated by
Joseph K. Yamagiwa, with a foreword by
Edwin O. Reischauer
Edwin Oldfather Reischauer (; October 15, 1910 – September 1, 1990) was an American diplomat, educator, and professor at Harvard University. Born in Tokyo to American educational missionaries, he became a leading scholar of the history and cul ...
, London: Allen & Unwin, 1967. 488 pp. Reprint
Tuttle 1997
* ''Ōkagami: The Great Mirror: Fujiwara Michinaga (966-1027) and His Times - A Study and Translation'', by Helen Craig McCullough, Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press is an independent Academic publishing, publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large.
The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, ...
, 1980. .
[Delmer M. Brown ''The Cambridge History of Japan'' Volume 1 1993 - Page 535 "As Helen McCullough noted in the introduction to her translation of the Okagami, the authors of Heian period tales distinguished between personal qualities that had a life-affirming Japanese character — identified with such words as tamashii ..."]
See also
*
Japanese Historical Text Initiative
* ''
Imakagami''
* ''
Mizukagami
is a Japanese ''rekishi monogatari''. It is believed to have been written in the early Kamakura period around 1195. It is widely credited to Nakayama Tadachika but the actual writer is unknown. It is the third book of the four mirror series.
...
''
* ''
Masukagami''
* ''
Azuma Kagami''
References
External links
J－Texts (日本文学電子図書館)Online texts of the mirror books
*Manuscript scans at
Waseda University Library6 volumes(unknown date)
(8 volumes, Kume Motobume)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Mirror, The
Late Old Japanese texts
Heian period in literature
Monogatari
12th-century Japanese books
History books of the Heian Period