The Tale of the Heike


The Tale of the Heike is an epic account compiled prior to 1330 of the struggle between the Taira clan and Minamoto clan for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War.
It has been translated into English at least five times. The first translation was by Arthur Lindsay Sadler, in 1918–1921. A complete translation in nearly 800 pages by Hiroshi Kitagawa & Bruce T. Tsuchida was published in 1975. It was also translated by Helen McCullough in 1988. An abridged translation by Burton Watson was published in 2006. In 2012, Royall Tyler completed his translation, which, he says, seeks to be mindful of the performance style for which the work was originally intended.
Historical novelist Eiji Yoshikawa published a prose rendering in the Asahi Weekly in 1950, under the title .

Background

Title

Heike refers to the Taira, hei being the on'yomi reading of the first kanji and "ke" meaning "family". However, in the term "the Genpei War" "hei" is read as "pei" and the "gen" is the first kanji in "Genji" the alternative name for the Minamoto clan.

Authorship

The Tale of the Heikes origin cannot be reduced to a single creator. Like most epics, it is the result of the conglomeration of differing versions passed down through an oral tradition by biwa-playing bards known as biwa hōshi.
The monk Yoshida Kenkō offers a theory as to the authorship of the text in his famous work Tsurezuregusa, which he wrote in 1330. According to Kenkō, "The former governor of Shinano, Yukinaga, wrote Heike monogatari and told it to a blind man called Shōbutsu to chant it". He also confirms the biwa connection of that blind man, who "was natural from the eastern tract", and who was sent from Yukinaga to "recollect some information about samurai, about their bows, their horses and their war strategy. Yukinaga wrote it after that".
One of the key points in this theory is that the book was written in a difficult combination of Chinese and Japanese, which in those days was mastered only by educated monks and nobles, such as Yukinaga. However, in the end, as the tale is the result of a long oral tradition, there is no single true author; Yukinaga is only one possibility of being the first to compile this masterpiece into a written form. Moreover, as it is true that there are frequent steps back, and that the style is not the same throughout the composition, this cannot mean anything but that it is a collective work.

Origin and themes

The story of the Heike was compiled from a collection of oral stories recited by travelling monks who chanted to the accompaniment of the biwa, an instrument reminiscent of the lute. The most widely read version of the Heike monogatari was compiled by a blind monk named Kakuichi, in 1371. The Heike is considered one of the great classics of Medieval Japanese literature.
Two main strands feed into the central ethos of the tale, samurai and buddhist.
At one level, the Tale is an account of martial heroism – of courage, cruelty, power, glory, sacrifice and sorrow. Those who emphasise this aspect of the story point to its glorification of the heroic spirit, its avoidance of the realistic brutality and squalor of war, and its aestheticisation of death: a classic instance of the latter is the comparison of the drowned samurai in the final battle to a maple-leaf brocade upon the waves.
Others, while still accepting the importance of the military episodes and of heroic figures like Yoshitsune, would emphasise instead the Tale’s immersion in Buddhist thought, and its themes of duty, Dharma, and fate. Announced at the very beginning is the Buddhist law of transience and impermanence, specifically in the form of the fleeting nature of fortune, an analog of sic transit gloria mundi. The theme of impermanence is captured in the famous opening passage:–
The 4-character expression "the prosperous must decline" is a phrase from the Humane King Sutra, in full "The prosperous inevitably decline, the full inevitably empty".
The second religious concept evident in the Tale of the Heike is another Buddhist idea, karma. The concept of karma says that every action has consequences that become apparent later in life. Thus, karma helps to deal with the problem of both moral and natural evil. Evil acts in life will bring about an inevitable suffering later in life. This can be seen clearly with the treatment of Kiyomori in The Tale of the Heike, who is cruel throughout his life, and later falls into a painful illness that kills him.

Focus, divisions and influence

The Buddhist theme of impermanence in the Heike is epitomised in the fall of the powerful Taira – the samurai clan who defeated the imperial-backed Minamoto in 1161. The Taira warrior family sowed the seeds of their own destruction with acts of arrogance and pride that led to their defeat in 1185 at the hands of the revitalized Minamoto, and the first establishment of samurai government.
The story is episodic in nature and designed to be told in a series of nightly instalments. While tinged with Buddhism, it is also a samurai epic focusing on warrior culture – an ideology that ultimately laid the groundwork for bushido. The Heike also includes a number of love stories, which harken back to earlier Heian literature.
The story is roughly divided into three sections. The central figure of the first section is Taira no Kiyomori who is described as arrogant, evil, ruthless and so consumed by the fires of hatred that even in death his feverish body does not cool when immersed in water. The main figure of the second section is the Minamoto general Minamoto no Yoshinaka. After he dies the main figure of the third section is the great samurai, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, a military genius who is falsely accused of treachery by his politically astute elder brother Minamoto no Yoritomo.
The Tale of the Heike has provided material for many later artistic works ranging from Noh plays and Kabuki plays, to woodblock prints, paintings and haiku; and is also referenced in modern works.

''Monogatari'' historiography

The Japanese have developed a number of complementary strategies for capturing, preserving and disseminating the essential elements of their commonly accepted national history – chronicles of sovereigns and events, biographies of eminent persons and personalities, and the military tale or gunki monogatari. This last form evolved from an interest in recording the activities of military conflicts in the late 12th century. The major battles, the small skirmishes and the individual contests have all been passed from generation to generation in the narrative formats of The Tale of Hōgen, The Tale of Heiji, and the Heike Monogatari.
In each of these familiar monogatari, the central figures are popularly well known, the major events are generally understood, and the stakes as they were understood at the time are conventionally accepted as elements in the foundation of Japanese culture. The accuracy of each of these historical records has become a compelling subject for further study; and some accounts have been shown to withstand, while other presumed "facts" have turned out to be inaccurate.
The most prevalent and well-known edition of the Tale of the Heike today, the 1371 Kakuichi text, is generally thought to be a fictional dramatization of the Genpei War. Rather than focusing on the Genpei warriors as they actually were, but rather upon the "... ideal warrior as conceived by oral singers ..." it serves as an account of glorified conduct as a source of inspiration.

Extension

The Genpei Jōsuiki, also known as the Genpei Seisuiki, is a 48-book extended version of the Heike Monogatari.

Plot

Chapter 1

Two themes are presented in the famous introduction : impermanence and the fall of the mighty.
The chapter describes the rise of the Taira clan and early conflicts at the court. The first Taira who gets access to the Imperial court is Taira no Tadamori. After Tadamori's death, his son Kiyomori plays a key role in helping the Emperor Go-Shirakawa suppress the Hōgen rebellion and the Heiji rebellion, thereby gaining more influence in the court affairs. The Taira clan members occupy major government positions, Kiyomori's daughter becomes the Emperor's wife, and more than half of all the provinces are under their control.
One of the episodes describing Kiyomori's arrogance is the famous story concerning the dancer Giō who falls out of Kiyomori's favor and becomes a nun. Kiyomori and the Taira even dare to contend with the powerful Regent, Fujiwara no Motofusa. Angered by the dominance of the Taira, Major Counselor Fujiwara no Narichika, retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa, Buddhist monk Saikō and others meet at Shishigatani, the villa of the temple administrator Shunkan, and plot to overthrow Kiyomori. Owing to conflict between Saikō's sons and sōhei of Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei, the plot has to be postponed. The great fire of May 27, 1177 burns the Imperial Palace in the capitol, of Heian-kyō.

Chapter 2

In 1177, Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa is in conflict with Enryaku-ji. Hearing a rumor about a possible attack on Enryaku-ji, one of the Shishi-no-tani conspirators informs Taira no Kiyomori of the plot. The monk Saikō is executed and others are exiled. Kiyomori is angered by the participation of the Retired Emperor in the plot and prepares to arrest him. Taira no Shigemori, the eldest virtuous son of Kiyomori, successfully admonishes his father by reminding him of the Confucian value of loyalty to the Emperor. Major Counselor Fujiwara no Narichika is exiled to an island and cruelly executed. Other conspirators are exiled to Kikaijima near Satsuma Province.
Meanwhile, the Enryaku-ji complex is destroyed and a fire at the Zenkō-ji destroys a Buddhist statue. People believe these troubles to be signs of the Taira decline. Those exiled to Kikaijima build a shrine where they pray for return to the capitol. They make a thousand stupas with their names and throw them into the sea. One of the pieces reaches the shore. It is brought to the capitol and shown to Yasuyori's family. The news reaches Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa and Kiyomori who see the stupa with emotion.