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Technology Workshop Page for Japan
Emperor Takakura (1161-1181) was married to the daughter of the Taira dictator Kiyomori but falls in love with a low-born court attendant called Kogo. When Kiyomori threatens to get rid of his daughter's rival, she flees to Saga outside of Kyoto. The grief-stricken Emperor asks Nakakuni to search for her. Nakakuni sets off, knowing only that she is living in a house with a "single-doored gate" in Saga. He finally hears the sound of her koto, playing a melody that expresses her love for the Emperor. Nakakuni takes out his flute and plays a melody in response. This lyrical moment is a favourite with artists. The example we see, from a Meiji period ukiyoe, is at the end of a long tradition. The playwright Zenchiku wrote a fine noh play based on this episode which I recently translated. --MW
To see the illustration by Ogata Gekko (1896) of this story see Watson's site at http://www.meijigakuin.ac.jp/~watson/heike/06d_kogo.html
As for Kiyomori's jilted daughter, here are Watson's notes:
Watson also notes that "all over Japan there are communities which claim to be descended from fugitives of the Taira warriors defeated in the war of 1181-5. They are popularly known as Heike-dani or "Heike valleys"--see the study by the scholar Carmen Blacker, "The Exiled Warrior and the Hidden Village," Folklore 95:ii (1985), pp. 139-150. " If you are interested in using historical fiction there is a good adventure book featuring a valley settled by fugitive Heike called The Den of the White Fox, by Lensey Namioka. It is available in paperback for under $6.00. Students who have been introduced to Heike will recognize historic features of medieval Japan: warring clans, a villain who pretends to be a blind ballad singer (like the biwa hoshi) , a monk who may be a retired warrior, and a fox out of Shinto folklore. It also includes a strong heroine.
Cultural Values Through Hero Mythology From Teaching Units on Individual
and Society in East Asia, Oregon International Council, pp. 89- 94.
Preparer: Maureen Milton
School and District: Jesuit High School
Grade Level and Subject: 9th and 10th grade English
Projected Class Time: 2-3 weeks (8-12 class periods)
Unit Goals:
1.To identify cultural values through reading, analysis and
appreciation of various hero myths.
2.To assess and appreciate cultural similarities & differences
through analysis of hero mythology.
Nihongi
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/ANCJAPAN/NINTOKU.HTM
Brief background and exerpt from the Nihongi
by Richard Hooker:
Of the two major histories written in ancient Japan, the Nihongi has as its principle theme the special nature of Japan and its relationship to the divine. As a sub-theme of this argument is the exposition of the gradual evolution of Confucian principles and the spread of these principles across Japan. The key idea in Confucian political theory is that the emperor's principle role is to guarantee the welfare of the people. Heaven desires humans to be prosperous; in order to bring this about, Heaven appoints the Emperor to administer government in such a way to guarantee prosperity. The following story is, for the ancient Japanese, the moment in history when the proper role of the emperor was heroically asserted with the self-sacrifice of its most benevolent emperor. -- RH
General
Background
http://www.kanzaki.com/jinfo/jliterature.html
A very concise
history of Japanese literature, including the Heike, based on Japan:
A Pocket Guide, 1996 Edition (Foreign Press Center)
http://www.gwjapan.com/ftp/pub/general/facts/lit.txt
A more detailed
history of Japanese literature.
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec596/project2/feudalism/feudalism.html
Lesson plan: A
Feudalism WebQuest: Japan and Europe by Daniel McDowell
http://www.shsu.edu/%7Ehis_ncp/Japan.html
EARLY JAPAN
[Excerpted from Japan: A Country Study. Ronald E. Dolan and Robert L. Worden,
eds. Washington, DC: Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress,
1994]
http://www.stockton.edu/~gilmorew/consorti/1c2easia.htm#heian
The
Heian Period (794-1185 C.E.): from The History of Japan page by William
J. Gilmore-Lehn. A very good collection of links to essays and images.
This is part of the
The Global History Consortium at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey.
http://www.mindspring.com/~mamcgee/iaido_samurai.html
A history and timeline of the samurai
written
for middle school students included in teacher Dan Fickett's webquest for
The
Samurai's Tale by Erik Haugaard
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/FEUJAPAN/FEUJAPAN.HTM
Background essay on feudal
Japan by Richard Hooker on his World
Civilizations site at Washington State University. His site also includes
historical maps (not very detailed), good links, and other readings.
This exerpt is from the feudal Japan essay:
The Heiji War is also foundational in Japanese culture for it is the subject of the greatest work of Japanese literature, the Heike monogatari (Tales of the Heike). One of the two great classics of medieval Japan—the other being Genji monogatari (Tales of the Genji) by Lady Murasaki—the Heike monogatari captivated the Japanese imagination like no other story or history ever did. Told by professional storytellers, biwa hoshi , whose job it was to establish definitive versions of various tales and commit them to memory, the stories of the epic struggle between the clan of the Hei and the clan of the Gen became so popular that some biwa hoshi became specialists in the story and their profession came to be known as heikyoku ("Tales of the Heike Narration"). By the thirteenth century in Japan, heikyoku became popular among the upper classes and soon constituted the leading contemporary performing art form in fourteenth and fifteenth century Japan, only falling off during the chaos of the Warring States Period (16th century). During this period, the various tales were written down; so the composition of the Heike monogatari can be said to have taken place between 1200 and 1600. Nevertheless, after the outbreak of the Onin War (1467-1477), other types of performance art displaced the heikyoku : Noh theatre, kyogen plays, and the narration of the Taiheiki (Chronicle of the Great Peace); the latter, of course, makes perfect sense in a society being torn apart by civil war.The defining moment, and the most famous in Japanese history, is the final battle of this great civil war, the battle at Mikusa. The Heike installed themselves in an unbreachable fort near the ocean. The Genji laid siege to the Heike who are holed up in this fort; however, the Genji are unable to advance further, for the fort has three sides that are literally impossible to storm, and its fourth side is a long and steep cliff. The Genji decided to descend the cliff with superhuman bravery on horseback; this cliff was a long steep decline ending in a seventy foot vertical drop, and the army descended this cliff on horseback!. This legendary action spelled the end of the Heike and their power as the Genji warriors destroyed the Heike and forced the survivors to swim to their boats anchored in the harbor, effectively ending Heike dominance forever. This event in Japanese history.
http://www.koryubooks.com/Library/wwj1.html
This site is devoted to Japanese
women warriors. Here is an exerpt related to the Heike:
These most famous women warriors are Tomoe Gozen and Hangaku, sometimes called Itagaki. In the Heike Monogatari, Tomoe Gozen was a general in the troops of Kiso Yoshinaka, Yoritomo's first attack force. She was described as exceptionally strong and hauntingly beautiful, with pale white skin, like that of a court lady. Her last act, on the verge of Yoshinaka's defeat, is the subject of many plays and poems. She was ordered to retreat because Yoshinaka stated "It would be a disgrace to have it said that Lord Kiso was accompanied by a woman in his final battle."2 Rather than simply leave, however, she instead rode directly into a group of the enemy, singling out the strongest. She matched his horse's stride, reached over, sliced off his head with her sword and cast it aside.The Oakland Unified School District Core Values site on Feudal Japan links for Middle School. http://webtest.ousd.k12.ca.us/cvf/curric_library/japan_china/japan_kids.html
Ainu
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~kt9m-ysd/English1.html
From the Ainu Museum in Hokkaido, a brief history and prehistory of
the Ainu people. English and Japanese.
http://www.mnh.si.edu/arctic/html/backgnd.html
From the Smithsonian Museum, a history written in conjunction with
an exhibit on Northern Japanese Native Art and Culture.
http://www.cjn.or.jp/tokugawa/room1.html
Daimyo armor from the 16th century. This site at the Tokugawa Art Museum
also includes slides of interior rooms in daimyo estates, tea ceremony
images and illustrations for Tale of Genjii.
https://rubens.anu.edu.au/student.projects97/castles/
Japan Castle images and History
http://www.jwindow.net/category/kids.html
Overview of Japanese Buddhism (Aizu History Project at the University
of Aizu) with images of Buddhist temples and images
http://www.takase.com/JiroHarada/Plate102.jpg
Tales of the Heike in Noh Drama: Left: Shite (ghost of Taira-no-Tomomori)
in the second scene of "Funa Benkei" tormenting Yoshitsune on a voyage.
The Hosho school of noh. (From on-line book entitled A Glimpse of Japanese
Ideals, originally written in 1937 by Jiro Harada.http://www.takase.com/JiroHarada/Chapter08.htm)
