Discussing "The tale of the Heike" in the Edo period : didactic commentaries as guides to wise rule for warrior-officials
department or school: Arts, Faculty of
department or school: Asian Studies, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Lushchenko, Alexey
issued: 2018-05-01T18:59:13Z
issued: 2018
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: In the premodern period, the Tale of the Heike (thirteenth century CE) was regarded either as a source for popular entertainment, such as musical and performing arts, or a historical text used for scholarly purposes. Most studies on the Tale of the Heikeâs reception have focused on the workâs literary and artistic side, while scholarly reception has remained neglected. This dissertation explores the use of the Tale of the Heike by seventeenth-century scholars of âmilitary studiesâ (heigaku or hyÅgaku), who compiled treatises and commentaries (gunsho) on leadership, statecraft, history, and ethics aimed at domain lords and warrior-officials of different levels. This study focuses on the category of evaluative commentaries (hyÅban) on medieval texts that combined critical discussion, admonition of rulers, and plausible âsecretsâ in order to caution against mistakes and explain proper leadership. I argue that the commentary Heike monogatari hyÅban hidenshÅ (1650) reinterpreted the courtly and Buddhist content of the Tale of the Heike in terms of pragmatic leadership and ethics relevant to warrior-officials of the Edo period (1603-1868), and that this commentarial appropriation brought the Tale of the Heike into the sphere of warrior-officialsâ scholarship and cultivation. The dissertation begins with a detailed overview of the understudied field of military studies in premodern East Asia and Japan. Based on an analysis of primary sources, I then discuss the content and commentarial approaches of evaluative commentary on the Tale of the Heike, its readership and circulation, as well as related texts. The study concludes with a comparative analysis which situates the commentary within the Japanese discourse of historical discussion and admonition, and also places it in the category of didactic guides to statecraft that are found in different cultures and are known as âmirrors for princes.â This study reveals a new facet of the Tale of the Heikeâs reception centered on di…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/65735
note: DISCUSSING THE TALE OF THE HEIKE IN THE EDO PERIOD: DIDACTIC COMMENTARIES AS GUIDES TO WISE RULE FOR WARRIOR-OFFICIALS by Alexey Lushchenko M.A., The University of British Columbia, 2010 B.A., The University of British Columbia, 2008 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Asian Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) April 2018 © Alexey Lushchenko, 2018 ii Abstract In the premodern period, the Tale of the Heike (thirteenth century CE) was regarded either as a source for popular entertainment, such as musical and performing arts, or a historical text used for scholarly purposes. Most studies on the Tale of the Heikeâs reception have focused on the workâs literary and artistic side, while scholarly reception has remained neglected. This dissertation explores the use of the Tale of the Heike by seventeenth-century scholars of âmilitary studiesâ (heigaku or hyÅgaku), who compiled treatises and commentaries (gunsho) on leadership, statecraft, history, and ethics aimed at domain lords and warrior-officials of different levels. This study focuses on the category of evaluative commentaries (hyÅban) on medieval texts that combined critical discussion, admonition of rulers, and plausible âsecretsâ in order to caution against mistakes and explain proper leadership. I argue that the commentary Heike monogatari hyÅban hidenshÅ (1650) reinterpreted the courtly and Buddhist content of the Tale of the Heike in terms of pragmatic leadership and ethics relevant to warrior-officials of the Edo period (1603-1868), and that this commentarial appropriation brought the Tale of the Heike into the sphere of warrior-officialsâ scholarship and cultivation. The dissertation begins with a detailed overview of the understudied field of military studies in premodern East Asia and Japan. Based on an analysis of primary sources, I then discuss the content and commentar…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2018-09
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0366126
language: eng
degree discipline: Asian Studies
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/65735