EALC 275: Masterpieces of East Asian Literature Lecture #14: The Tale of Heike, 1 Oct. 9, 2013Japan’s Medieval Age, 1 • New Social Stratum: Bushi (military men or samurai) • The 12th century saw the emergence of Bushi which was able to shove the civil aristocrats of the classical Heian era aside and usher in a new age. • Classical era: continuities and enduring order • Medieval age: characterized by fluidity and changeJapan’s Medieval Age, 2 • New techniques of governance: • Whereas the Heian court nobility governed through an aristocratic bureaucracy… • The medieval samurai relied heavily on feudal techniques of governance, making personal and reciprocal leader-follower relationships central to their rule. • Two important political movements under the shoen system: • Heike: Lord/vassal; land/service; obligation/debt; father/son • Genji: giving lands to the subordinates, main family controls branch families, branch families controls farmers, farmer controls servantsJapan’s Medieval Age, 3 • New literary masterpieces: • Tales of war and samurai: • Recited to the accompaniment of the biwa (lute), those tales of samurai exploits were recorded, celebrated, and made into the foundation myths of a new age. The war tales became formative texts that spelled out the values of samurai society and reified them in the remembered oral performances about glorious forefathers. • Bushi values: heroism, self-discipline, simplicity of taste, devotion to duty, honor, pride of name, and an awareness of the brevity of life. • Very different from the aesthetic value of miyabi (aristocratic elegance) found in the Tale of Genji.Biwa performers: traveling blind Buddhist MonksJapan’s Medieval Age, 4 • The Tale of Heike: • Tales of war and samurai: • “The supreme example of the martial tale is unquestionable Heike Monotagari (The Tale of Heike), an evocation of, successively, the origins of the conflict between the Taira (Heike) and the Minamoto (Genji) clans, the various defeats suffered by the Taira during the warfare that lasted from 1183 to 1185, and finally, the deaths of the last members of the once proud Taira family.” (Donald Keene)The Genpei War • 1180-1185 • Between the Heike (House of Taira) in the capital and the Genji (Minamoto) from the eastern provinces • 平家: Heike • 源氏: Genji • Two important political movements under the shoen system: • Heike: Lord/vassal; land/service; obligation/debt; father/son • Genji: giving lands to the subordinates, main family controls branch families, branch families controls farmers, farmer controls servants• 1.1. Gion Shoja: The Sound of the Gion Shoja bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the sala flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline. The proud do not endure; they are like a dream on a spring night; The mighty fall at last, they are as dust before the wind… Buddhist concept of Impermanence:• Head of the Heike: Kiyomori (half-aristocrat, half-warrior), controlling the imperial throne, in conflict with the retired emperor Go-Shirakawa, tough, fierce, fearless, rude to women, defiant of the power of the Buddhist temple; doesn’t have the base that Yoritomo developed. • His sons: Shigemori (an able and kind leader; died early), Munemori (a coward, leading the clan after Kiyomori’s death), Tomomori The Heike Clan, 1• Early signs of Kiyomori’s troubles/character flaws: • 1.6 Gio: • Switching his favors too easily from Gio to Hotoke (p.267) • Gio’s sense of injustice performed in song and poetry (p.268 & p.269) • Solidarity between female performers (p.271) • Four women became nuns together (p.272) The Heike Clan, 2Portraits of GioHitoke performs for KiyomoriGio abandoned by KiyomoriGio’s poem on a sliding door • Since both are grasses • Of the field, how may either • Be spared by autumn– • The young shoot blossoming forth • And the herb fading from view?Japan’s Medieval Age, 5 • New Forms of Buddhism: • Pureland Buddhism/Amida: • A religious doctrine that did the most to bridge the cultural gap between aristocrats and commoners during the late Heian Era and the beginning of the Medieval Age. • Amida’s vow to save all sentient beings • Practice of calling upon Amida’s saving grace by uttering the nenbutsu (invocatory phrase namu Amida batsu) • Guarantee of rebirth in the Pureland • From personal cultivation to reliance on external religious powers. • During the 11th and 12th centuries, evangelists propagated the message of Amida’s grace among aristocrats and commoners alike.Hotoke’s pledge to Gio “Now that I’ve come to you in this new guise, please forgive my past offenses. If you say you forgive me, I want to recite the sacred name with you and be reborn on the same lotus pedestal. But if you can’t bring yourself to do it, I’ll wander off– I don’t care where– and then I’ll recite buddha-invocations as long as I live, lying on a bed of moss or the roots of a pine tree, so that I can be reborn in the pure land.” (p.272)• Early signs of Kiyomori’s troubles/character flaws: • 5.3 Strange Occurences: • Kiyomori’s loss the mandate of heaven predicted in a series of strange dreams (p.314) • 5.14 The Burning of Nara • In order to suppress the protests of the monks of Nara, Kiyomori has the entire city and its famous buddhist temple burnt to the ground (p. 334). • 6.7 The Death of Kiyomori • 无间道：the inferno • “The tribunal has decided that Kiyomori is going to fall to the bottom of [the hell of suffering] without intermission [mugen] because he is guilty of burning the one-hundred-and-sixty-foot gilt bronze Vairocana in the world of men.” (p.342) The Heike Clan, 3• Head of the Genji: Yoritomo, “Exile of Izu,” filial, kind, devoted to Buddhism, having the mandate of people; becomes the first Shogun (Kamakura Lord) • Yoritomo is helped by Mongaku, a legendary monk who proved himself by enduring great austerities (p. 317, “he went to the base of the famous waterfall…”) The Genji Clan, 1Portrait of Yoritomo7.5 Mongaku’s Subscription List• In his zeal to restore a Buddhist temple through donations (subscription list), Mongaku breaks into a musical performance at the home of the retired emperor (pp.318-320). Burning house metaphor (p.321). Where have we seen this before? • This somewhat comic scene ends up with Mongaku