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Translations of Nō Plays of The Genpei War, Cornell East Asian Series, 2013

The document provides reading and guidance for understanding the rise of the warrior class in Japan from the Heian period through the establishment of the Ashikaga shogunate. It includes three readings: 1) an article about Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's patronage of the arts, 2) a translation of the noh play "Ikuta Atsumori", and 3) an article about the performance tradition of "The Tale of Heike". Students are asked to compare the approaches of the first two articles, note the differences between versions of the Atsumori story, and weave information from all readings into their understanding of the development of the warrior class and related cultural events. The goal is for students to gain

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30 views2 pages

Translations of Nō Plays of The Genpei War, Cornell East Asian Series, 2013

The document provides reading and guidance for understanding the rise of the warrior class in Japan from the Heian period through the establishment of the Ashikaga shogunate. It includes three readings: 1) an article about Ashikaga Yoshimitsu's patronage of the arts, 2) a translation of the noh play "Ikuta Atsumori", and 3) an article about the performance tradition of "The Tale of Heike". Students are asked to compare the approaches of the first two articles, note the differences between versions of the Atsumori story, and weave information from all readings into their understanding of the development of the warrior class and related cultural events. The goal is for students to gain

Uploaded by

vann96
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Week 5 Sept 10

and everyone listened

Last week we discussed the general outline of the rise of the warrior
class (military shogunate) from the Heian period till the
establishment of the Ashikaga shogunate. In the lecture on week 5 I
will discuss more of the cultural activities that the military
government has strived to achieve. Following is the guide for the
reading, and please remember to keep thinking while you read:
Study guide
Read Paul Valeys article carefully, and weave together information
youve acquired with Hanes article from last week. Compare the
approaches and styles of the two articles. What are the main
content of these two articles? In what ways are they different? What
are the strengths and weaknesses of each article? What have you
learnt about the warrior class from these two articles?
My translation of the Atsumori play is a later noh creation of the
same Tale of Heike character Atsumori. You would have read three
different versions of this young warriors tragic ending with this play.
Again, what are the differences amongst the three versions of an
essentially similar story? Intuitively, what do the differences tell you
about the warrior culture?
Tokitas article, at times technical, provides further information on
background of The Tale of Heike, see especially pages 54 to 59.
Who were the biwa hshi (p. 60) to Extent Performance Tradition
(p.62) describes the nature and history of the performance of the
tale. These two parts highlight the importance of The Tale of Heike
as not only a literary text, but also its roles in military culture. While
you are learning about the narratives of the warrior class, do not
worry about the names of the different versions of the text, or other
technical aspects of the discussion. Again, weave this part of the
information into the bigger narrative that youve constructed
reading the other texts, and see what kind of understanding of the
warrior class have you derived at.
As usual, for your convenience, Ive included the reading list and the
learning objective here.
Readings:
1. Valey, Paul. Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and the World of Kitayama: Social
Change and Shogunal Patronage in Early Muromachi Japan in Hall, John
Whiteney and Toyoda Takeshi ed., Japan in the Muromachi period, Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1977, pp. 183 204
2. Lim Beng Choo. Ikuta Atsumori an introduction and translation in
Elizabeth Oyler and Michael Watson ed., Like Clouds on Mists Studies and
translations of N Plays of the Genpei War, Cornell East Asian Series, 2013,
pp. 231 245

3. Tokita, Alison McQueen. Japanese singers of tales: ten centuries of


performed narrative, Surrey, UK: Ashgate, 2015, pp. 53 63
Learning objectives:
Understand the general outline of the development in the warrior class,
including the various political unrests, that led to the Tokugawa period;
Major cultural events and their relationship to the different members of the
society.

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