The Heike Monogatari

Subject and Structure. —The Heike Monogatari, one of the masterpieces of Japanese literature and also one of the main sources of the history of the Gempei period, is a poetic narrative of the fall of the Heike from the position of supremacy they had gained under Taira Kiyomori to almost complete destruction. The Heike, like the Genji, was a warrior clan, but quickly lost its hardy simplicity under the influence of life in the Capital, and identified itself almost entirely with the effeminate Fujiwara courtiers whose power it had usurped. As a result, the struggle between the Heike and the Genji was really more a struggle between courtiers and soldiers, between literary officials and military leaders. Historically, this period stands between the Heian era of soft elegance and the Kamakura age of undiluted militarism. The Heike were largely a clan of emasculated Bushi, and their leader Kiyomori, though he obtained his supremacy by force of arms, assumed the role of a Court Noble and strove to rule the country by the same device of making himself grandfather to the Emperor, as the Fujiwara family had previously done. Hence his rule bears more affinity to theirs than to that of Yoritomo of the Genji, who made his headquarters in the Kwanto, well removed from Kyoto's influence and enervation, and relied entirely on a purely military form of government by and for samurai.

In its construction, the book may be divided roughly into two parts according to Mr. Utsumi. The first half depicts the greatness of the Heike, with Kiyomori as the chief figure, and the second half describes their overthrow, with Yoshitsune holding the center of the stage. Mr. Yamada, however, thinks it falls naturally into three sections. The first section, Books 1 through 5, shows the prosperity of the Heike with Kiyomori as the central figure. The second, Books 6 through 8, deals with the wandering of the Heike, with Kiso Yoshinaka as the principal character. The third section covers the remainder of the work. For period and nationality, Shigemori mightily suggests Aeneas. The whole drama is represented from a Buddhist standpoint as an example of cause and effect working itself out in action, the evanescence of all prosperity and dominion being strongly insisted upon.

Authorship and Date. —The authorship and date of the Heike Monogatari, as well as its relation to the other literature of the Kamakura period, have been the subject of much discussion among Japanese scholars of the present time, and no exact pronouncement can be made. Mr. Utsumi says in the Heike Monogatari Hyoshaku: "As to the various statements that it was the work of Shinano-no-Zenji Yukinaga, or Hamuro Tokinaga, or Minamoto Mitsuyuki, one cannot adopt any one of them with certainty, but the following conclusions have been reached by the Society for the Investigation of the National Literature in their monograph on this work: (a) that the Heike Monogatari was originally composed in three volumes which were afterwards increased to six, and that these were again altered to twelve; (b) that it was composed sometime before the period Shokyu (1219) and enlarged during the time of the Fujiwara Shoguns (1219–1252); (c) that the Kancho volume was not originally separate from the rest of the work; (d) that there was one original source of the work, but that as it circulated it became altered and added to, and that these additions and alterations are the work of different hands at different periods."

The most explicit statement about the authorship is contained in the Tsurezure Gusa of Yoshida Kenko (1281–1350), Section 226, which is considered by most scholars likely to be correct. It runs as follows: "In the time of the Retired Emperor Go-Toba, Shinano-no-Zenji Yukinaga was renowned for his knowledge of musical matters, so that he was once summoned to take part in a discussion about them. But forgetting two of the Shichi Toku no Mai, the Dances of the Seven Virtues, he was nicknamed 'Go Toku no Kwanja,' or 'The Young Master of Five Virtues,' and this he took so much to heart that he forsook his studies and became a recluse. However, the priest Jichin, who would take in anyone, however low his rank, if he had any artistic gift, felt sympathy for him and provided him with what he needed. It was this lay priest Yukinaga who wrote the Heike Monogatari and taught a certain blind man named Jobutsu to recite it. He wrote especially well about the affairs of Hieizan, and his detailed knowledge of Kuro Hangwan (Yoshitsune) enabled him to describe him graphically. Of Kaba-no-Kwanja (Noriyori) he does not seem to have had so much information, for he omits much concerning him. For matters pertaining to the Bushi and their horses and arms, Jobutsu, who was a native of the East Country, was able to tell him what he had learned from asking the warriors themselves. And the Biwa-hoshi of the present time learn to imitate the natural voice of this Jobutsu."

This Yukinaga appears to have been the son of the Yukitaka mentioned in this work (vol. 3, Yukitaka no Sata no Koto), who was steward to the Sessho Kanezane, whose younger brother the priest Jichin may have been. In this case, he is to be identified with the Yukinaga, former Governor of Shimozuke, who is mentioned in the Gyokuyo Meigetsuki as having ability in literary affairs. The priest Jichin was the Tendai Zasshu Jien Dai-Sojo, afterwards known as Jichin Daishi Zasshu of Hieizan, which would account for the writer's accurate knowledge of that monastery. With regard to Jobutsu 威, of whom nothing is otherwise known, the name is conjectured to be a mistaken reading for Shobutsu 威, the religious name of Minamoto Suketoki. This Suketoki was born in the family of Ayakoji, which was noted for its musical traditions, and himself became the best musician of his time, eventually retiring from the world and taking up his abode with the priest Jichin. This attribution of the authorship to Yukinaga certainly gains much force when we note that the chapter concerning Yukitaka is quite unconnected with the main story and would be very well explained as an incident related by the author about his father, which he thought worth preserving as an example of the fickleness of fortune.

Another statement is found in the Daigo Zassho, to the effect that Mimbu-no-Shosho Tokinaga wrote the Heike Monogatari in twenty-four volumes, and yet another that Suketsune wrote it in twelve volumes. The first may refer to a later redaction of the work of Yukinaga, or be merely a mistaken reading of his name. Concerning the latter, it is not improbable that he may have been one of the redactors, for there is a chapter in the 12th volume, entitled Yoshida Dainagon no Sata, relating to his grandfather Tsunefusa, which also seems to be inserted without any special reason. Thus it is quite certain that the work as originally composed not long after the events of which it treats took place was not the same as that which is now current. The oldest known manuscript of it is one of the period Enkei (1308–11), and while its contents are rather less than those of the Gempei Seisuiki, it is about twice as long as the ordinary current editions. By a critical comparison of this with other known manuscripts, the six books it contains may be divided fairly easily so as to give twelve volumes.

As the Heike Monogatari was intended for recitation to the accompaniment of the biwa, it is not surprising that there should be in existence a large number of variant editions as used by the different schools of Biwa-hoshi, each of which had its own traditions and version. Therefore, the work has been peculiarly liable to change and corruption of the text as well as addition to it at various periods. Among these variant versions, there are two main sources. One is known as the school of Ichikata, from its originator Akashi Kenko Kyoichi, and the other as the Yasaka school, from its founder Yasaka Kenko Kigen. The characteristic difference between them is that the former combines the incidents of the entry of Kenrei-mon-in into Ohara and the visit of the Emperor to the same place into a separate volume called the Kanjin Maki, whereas the other does not.

One of the best manuscripts of the Heike Monogatari belongs to the school of Kyoichi and is a National Treasure kept at Koryo Jinja, a shrine in the province of Chikugo. It is dated O-an (1368) and is the oldest manuscript of the Ichikata school. It is taken as the basis of the edition of Yamada and Takagi. It does not contain the story of Giyo and Ginyo or the Saisho Minage.

Buddhist Tendency of the Heike. —One of the most noticeable characteristics of the Heike Monogatari is its strong religious atmosphere, the continual moralizing on the events described from the standpoint of Buddhist philosophy, with its insistence on the vanity and impermanence of the things of this Shaba world, and the desirability of retiring from its turmoils to prepare for the blessed rebirth in the world to come. The work is so pervaded by this tendency that many have maintained that it was written for the purposes of propaganda, and that the religious element in it is the main motive.

This view, however, seems to be much too extreme, as there is no reason to suppose that the inclination to quote Buddhist sentiments is any greater than might be expected in an age when Buddhism was so potent an influence everywhere. The Gempei period was essentially the time when the emotional aspect of Buddhism was most marked, and when, under the pressure of affliction and wretchedness, of which a very vivid picture is given in the Hojoki of Kamo Chomei, the former ritual and esoteric cults of Tendai and Shingon gave place to the simple and evangelical sects of Jodo and Shinshu, developed respectively by Honen and his disciple Shinran. Consequently, we find the expressions "raisei ojo," "saiho jodo," and others used by these sects, of very frequent occurrence in this work. This fact has led some critics to describe it as a Jodo sermon, taking the Heike as its text. When we consider, however, that the writer does not by any means confine himself to such phrases, nor to the adoration of Amida Buddha, the special object of Jodo worship, but shows respect and reverence for many other Buddhas, beside the national Kami, and the deities of the great shrines, there seems no sufficient reason for such a view. It is quite natural that the tragic story of the sudden rise and fall of the Heike house should call forth reflections on the impermanence of worldly affairs, seeing that these ideas formed the background of the thought of the age, and that the author was a recluse in a Buddhist monastery, as were almost all the men of letters of the time. Moreover, no doubt Buddhist phrases were considered to lend dignity and sonority to the narrative, as well as being a mark of the author's learning and taste, just as the continual citation of instances from Chinese history with which the book abounds served to edify those acquainted with it.

These details correspond to the religious phraseology and classical references to be found in an English medieval writer like Chaucer, whose age was not, perhaps, very dissimilar. Thus, not the least interesting part of the Heike Monogatari for European readers is the detailed description of Japanese Buddhism at this, its most flourishing period, and not only of Buddhism but of the many other cults that the excessively superstitious Courtiers and Buke feared to leave unobserved. The Heike chiefs seem to have left nothing to chance in these matters, as may be especially noted in the elaborate consultations and ceremonies connected with the birth of the son of Ken-rei-mon-in. So far as can be noted, all these things were merely ritual and ceremonial and did not necessarily produce any more effect on ordinary conduct than Christianity did on that of Benvenuto Cellini. But like it, they gave occupation to many artists and craftsmen and afforded a solace in times of adversity, which might, in such a period, suddenly befall even those apparently most secure, and were not unknown to the Mikado himself. So the stately opening words of the first chapter seem most appropriate:

"Gion Shoja no kane no koe,
Shogyo mujo no hibiki ari;
Sharasoju no hana no iro,
Shosha hissui no kotowari wo arawasu.
Ogoreru mono hisashikarazu,
Tada haru no yo no yume no gotoshi;
Takeki hito mo tsui ni wa horobinu,
Hitoe ni kaze no mae no chiri ni onaji."

The mighty are indeed put down from their seats, but those who are exalted are neither humble nor meek.