Mumyō zōshi

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The Mumyō zōshi ( Japanese 無名 草 子 book without a title , also: 無名 物語 story without a title , or 建 久 物語 Kenkyū monogatari ) is an important source work of medieval literary theory and the oldest surviving scripture on the narrative literature of the Heian period . As a source, it is particularly important for researching irretrievably lost stories. It includes a maki (scroll) and was made around 1200. The author is unknown.

overview

The mention of the 7th year of the Kenkyū era on the one hand and Fujiwara no Sadaie with the title of Major General ( 少将 Shōshō ) on the other hand allows the conclusion that the Mumyō-zōshi was created between 1196 and 1202. An assumption that has not yet been confirmed is that the daughter of Fujiwara no Toshinari ( 藤原 俊 成 女 ~ no musume , 1171? –1252) is the author of the text. Since the little book without a name is laid out as a report by an elderly 83-year-old nun who spends a rainy summer night in the Saishōkōin temple ( 最 勝 光 院 ) and enriches the company of young women with stories, it has also been assumed that Fujiwara no Toshinari himself is the author could be. He had become a monk in 1176 and in 1196 he was just 83 years old. The Mumyō-zōshi contains a critical appraisal of the Genji Monogatari , which makes up about a third of the book, reviews of 22 other stories, waka and stories by poets.

After an introduction, the nun compares 28 stories. The discussion of the Genji Monogatari deals with the main characters, the main ideas and important scenes of the work. The form of the frame narration is borrowed from the Ōkagami . In particular, the form of dialogue between the nun and the women present is atypical for narrative literature and is also reminiscent of the Kagami , the mirror literature .

Only a few manuscripts have come down to us. The oldest is the Shōkōkanzō-bon ( 彰 考 館藏 本 ), which goes back to a text from the possession of Tsumori Kunifuyu from 1335. The only old print of the text can be found in the Gunsho Ruijū collection .

construction

  1. Introduction and beginning of the framework narration, in which it is reported that the old nun reaches the temple in Kyoto and entertains a company of women in the evening.
  2. Discussion of stories beginning with the Genji Monogatari. This is followed by reviews of the "Tsukuri Monogatari" ( 作 り 物語 , fictional stories), such as the Sagoromo Monogatari ( 狭 衣物 語 ), the Yoru no Nezame ( 夜 の 寝 覚 ), the Hamamatsu Chūnagon Monogatari ( 浜 松 中 納 言 物語 ), the Toru no Nezame ( と り か へ ば や 物語 ).
  3. This is followed by reviews of “Uta Monogatari” ( folgen 物語 ), a mixture of poetry and legends such as the Ise Monogatari and the Yamato Monogatari . In addition, poems from the Man'yōshū and from imperial and private poetry collections and poetry contests ( utaawase ) are discussed.
  4. Finally, women's literature is discussed. Including the poetry of the ladies-in- waiting Sei Shōnagon , Murasaki Shikibu , Izumi Shikibu , Koshikibu no Naishi and Yamato no Senji . Then the poets Ise , Senshinai-shinnō, Fujiwara no Teishi and Fujiwara no Kanshi .

Remarks

  1. ↑ The Mumyō-zōshi itself already belongs to the Kamakura period .
  2. ↑ The researcher Higuchi has pointed out that the Shinkokinshū, completed in 1201, is not mentioned in the Mumyō zōshi.
  3. ↑ Bruno Lewin mentions 28 stories, 19 of which are no longer preserved. The information given by Kotobank, on the other hand, only mentions 22 stories, but a distinction is made between Monogatari and Katari.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Bruno Lewin: Japanese Chrestomathy from the Nara to the Edo period . Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1965, p. 227-230 .
  2. ↑ a b c 無名 草 子 . In: ブ リ タ ニ カ 国際 大 百科 事 典 小 項目 事 典 at kotobank.jp. Retrieved November 7, 2019 (Japanese).

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