Eiga Monogatari
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

is a Japanese ''
monogatari is a literary form in traditional Japanese literature – an extended prose narrative tale comparable to the epic novel. ''Monogatari'' is closely tied to aspects of the oral tradition, and almost always relates a fictional or fictionalized st ...
'' which relates events in the life of
courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official r ...
Fujiwara no Michinaga was a Japanese statesman. The Fujiwara clan's control over Japan and its politics reached its zenith under his leadership. Early life Michinaga was born in Kyōto, the son of Kaneiye. Kaneiye had become Regent in 986, holding the position unt ...
. It is believed to have been written by a number of authors, over the course of roughly a century, from 1028 to 1107. It is notable for giving high credits to the
Fujiwara family was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since the ancient times and dominated the imperial court until ...
especially Michinaga. The work was translated into English by William H. and
Helen Craig McCullough Helen Craig McCullough (February 17, 1918 – April 6, 1998) was an American academic, translator and Japanologist. She is best known for her 1988 translation of ''The Tale of the Heike''. Early life McCullough was born in California. She gradua ...
in 1980 as ''A Tale of Flowering Fortunes''. It forms the basis for and is frequently referenced in
Fumiko Enchi was the pen-name of Fumiko Ueda, one of the most prominent Japanese women writers in the Shōwa period of Japan. As a writer, Enchi is best known for her explorations into the ideas of sexuality, gender, human identity, and spirituality. Early ...
's retelling, ''A Tale of False Fortunes''.


Summary

The ''monogatari'' is related both to official court histories, such as the ''
Rikkokushi is a general term for Japan's Six National Histories chronicling the mythology and history of Japan from the earliest times to 887. The six histories were written at the imperial court during the 8th and 9th centuries, under order of the Emperors. ...
'', and other prose fiction, such as '' The Tale of Genji''. It discusses the life and exploits of Michinaga and his family following his death. The first part, thirty volumes detailing the period from the reign of
Emperor Uda was the 59th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 宇多天皇 (59)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Uda's reign spanned the years from 887 through 897. Traditional narrative Name and legacy Befo ...
until Michinaga's death, is believed to have been written between 1028 and 1034 by
Akazome Emon was a Japanese ''waka'' poet and early historian who lived in the mid-Heian period. She is a member both of the and the . Biography Akazome Emon's year of birth is unknown, but she was likely born between Tentoku 1 (957) and Kōhō 1 (964). ...
and/or Fujiwara no Tamenari. The second portion is ten volumes covering part of the reign of
Emperor Horikawa was the 73rd emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 堀河天皇 (73)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Horikawa's reign spanned the years from 1087 through 1107. Biography Before his ascension to the ...
and is referred to collectively as the ''zokuhen''. It is generally attributed to Idewa no Ben who would have written between 1092 and 1107. The forty scrolls which comprise the text are written entirely in ''
kana The term may refer to a number of syllabaries used to write Japanese phonological units, morae. Such syllabaries include (1) the original kana, or , which were Chinese characters (kanji) used phonetically to transcribe Japanese, the most pr ...
'', and include many excerpts from diaries and notes of court ladies. Twenty-eight of these scrolls are devoted to Michinaga's governance, while the remaining twelve concern related topics, including other aspects of his life and the lives of his family.


Textual history

Depending on the form of the book, the textual lineage of the work is divided into three distinct lines: the ancient book lineage, the popular book lineage, and variant lineage. The main texts used include the Umezawa-bon文化庁サイトの「国指定文化財等データベース」及び「文化遺産オンライン」では保管先が「東京国立博物館」となっているが、九州国立博物館の開館後は同館に移管されている。参照
「収蔵品ギャラリー」
九州国立博物館サイト)
and Yōmeibunko-bon (ancient book lineage); Nishihonganji-bon, Kokatsuji-bon, Meirekikan-bon, and Eirikyūkanshōshutsu-bon (popular book lineage); and Tomioka-bon (variant lineage). Among these, the Umezawa-bon, the oldest extant complete manuscript which was transcribed by the mid-Kamakura period, was acquired by Sanjōnishi Sanetaka and passed down to his progeny. It was designated a national treasure in 1935 under the contemporaneous Law for the Preservation of National Treasures, and again in 1955 under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties. The text is a combination of the Ōgata-bon (a mid-Kamakura period manuscript of the tale up to book 20) and the Masugata-bon (an early-Kamakura period manuscript of the tale up to book 40). The specifics of Sanetaka's acquisition of the text are detailed in the passages for the fourth and eighth days of the eleventh month of the sixth year of Eishō (1509). The Umezawa-bon is used as the base text for the publications from ''Iwanami bunko'', ''Nihon koten bungaku taikei'', ''Shinpen nihon koten bungaku zenshū''.


List of chapter titles

The English translations here are taken from Helen and William McCullough's translation of the first 30 chapters and from Takeshi Watanabe's online translations of the ''zokuhen'' chapters. Japanese readings are taken from the ''Nihon koten bungaku zenshū''.


See also

*
Japanese Historical Text Initiative Japanese Historical Text Initiative (JHTI) is a searchable online database of Japanese historical documents and English translations. It is part of the Center for Japanese Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. History Delmer M. Brow ...


References


Further reading

* *Sansom, George (1958). 'A History of Japan to 1334'. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.


External links

*Manuscript scans at
Waseda University Library The collections of Waseda University Library (早稲田大学図書館; ''Waseda Daigaku Toshokan'') form one of the largest libraries in Japan. Established in 1882, they currently hold some 5.6 million volumes and 46,000 serials. History The W ...

10-volumes
(unknown date)
9 volumes
(unknown date) {{Authority control Japanese chronicles Late Old Japanese texts Monogatari 11th-century history books History books of the Heian Period