The , "The Chronicle of Yoshitsune", is a Japanese

gunki monogatari , or "war tales," is a category of Japanese literature written primarily in the Kamakura and Muromachi periods that focus on wars and conflicts, especially the civil wars that took place between 1156 and 1568. Examples of this genre include the '' ...

("war-tale") that focuses on the legends of

Minamoto no Yoshitsune was a military commander of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. During the Genpei War, he led a series of battles which toppled the Ise-Heishi branch of the Taira clan, helping his half-brother Yoritomo conso ...

and his followers. Thought to have been written during the

Nanboku-chō period The Nanboku-chō period (南北朝時代, ''Nanboku-chō jidai'', "North and South court period", also known as the Northern and Southern Courts period), spanning from 1336 to 1392, was a period that occurred during the formative years of the Mur ...

, it has provided inspiration to numerous

Noh is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...

and

bunraku (also known as ) is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or ( puppeteers ...

plays. Much of the image that people today have of Yoshitsune and those associated with him ( Saitō no Musashibō Benkei and

Shizuka Gozen Shizuka GozenNote: ''Gozen'' is not a name, but rather an honorific title, usually translated as "Lady", though the title was bestowed upon men on rare occasions as well. (静御前) (1165–1211), or Lady Shizuka, one of the most famous women in ...

, for example) is considered to have been influenced by the ''Gikeiki''.

History

The word "Gikeiki" literally means "The Record of Yoshitsune", but the ''

on-yomi are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequent ...

'' of the

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

for his name are used in reading it aloud – "yoshi" () is read as "''gi''", and "tsune" () is read "''kei''". The final part "ki" means record. All previous texts of Gikeiki are essentially the same, there are no major variations. These fall into three categories: # Manuscripts - These include texts with titles such as Hogan Monogatari and Yoshitsune Monogatari. # Woodblock editions - The major woodblock printings were made in 1633, 1635, 1640, 1645, 1659, 1670, 1673, 1689, 1698, 1708, and 1724. # Movable wooden print editions - There are four movable print editions ranging from 1600 to 1633.

Translations

* *

References

External links

''Gikeiki''
(Japanese) Japanese chronicles Late Middle Japanese texts Monogatari 14th-century history books Works about Minamoto no Yoshitsune Gunki monogatari {{Japan-lit-stub

History

Translations

See also

References

External links