is a post late-
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese collection of
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
.
Authorship
With the exception of one story, the authorship is unknown. It is likely each story was written by different authors at various times and later collected together into a single text.
''Ōsaka Koenu Gonchūnagon'' is known to have been composed in 1055 by Lady Koshikibu. This is confirmed in volume 8 of which includes one of the poems from this story.
In addition, poems from ''Hanazakura Oru Shōshō'', ''Hodohodo no Kesō'', ''Kaiawase'', and ''Haizumi'' are included in the 1271 ''
Fūyō Wakashū'' indicating an upper bound for these stories.
Tradition states that
Fujiwara no Tameuji (1222–1286) and
Fujiwara no Tamesuke (1263–1328) created copies of the manuscripts also indicating completion of the text by the 13th century.
Contents
The meaning of the title is unknown. There are two main theories:
*It is a reflection of the various stories (''monogatari'') bound (''tsutsumi'') together into a single collection.
*It is a reference to
Fujiwara no Kanesuke, who was known as the Riverside Middle Counselor due to his residence near the
Kamo River
The is located in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The riverbanks are popular walking spots for residents and tourists. In summer, restaurants open balconies looking out to the river. There are walkways running alongside the river, and some stepping s ...
.
The text contains ten short stories:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* There is also an incomplete fragment at the end. It is untitled, but is known by its first few words as .
Manuscripts
There are approximately 60 existing manuscripts, but the original no longer exists. Each manuscript has difficult to read passages and the text as a whole needs to be supplemented by comparison with other manuscripts.
References
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*
*
*
External links
Kyōto University manuscript
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsutsumi Chunagon Monogatari
Late Old Japanese texts
Japanese anthologies
Monogatari
12th-century Japanese books