Utsubo Monogatari

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Utsubo Monogatari in a print edition from 1809

The Utsubo Monogatari ( Japanese 宇 津 保 物語 also: 宇 都 保 物語 , German “Tale of the Hollow Tree”) is with 20 chapters (Maki) the oldest story of this size from the Middle Heian -Time . The author and the exact date of origin are unknown, but from the mention in later works, such as the Shimeisho, it can be concluded that Minamoto no Shitagō could have written the Utsubo Monogatari. Also Fujiwara no Tametoki was considered the author. In addition, the thesis was discussed in research that only the first Maki was created before the Genji Monogatari and the rest of the text only in the Kamakura period . The assumed time of origin is set at 977 - 999 AD. Stylistically, it can be classified as a romantic narrative ( denki monogatari ) and thus as a successor to the Taketori Monogatari , but there are also aspects of the fictional narrative ( tsukuri monogatari ). The earliest surviving and illustrated print edition dates from 1677; which was reprinted unchanged in 1806. The way it was presented had a great influence on the Genji Monogatari .

content

The Utsubo Monogatari can be broken down into three major sections:

  • Maki 1: The young nobleman Kiyohara Toshikage ( 清 原 俊 蔭 ) is sent to China at the age of 16, but ends up in Persia ( 波斯 国 , Hashikoku ). He receives a koto from a heavenly being and is introduced to the art of playing. At the age of 23, Toshikage can return to Japan with the instrument. When he returns, he passes the secrets of the koto game on to his daughter and dies. Due to the death of the father, the house of the Kiyohara is doomed, which is why the daughter, who has a son named Nakatada ( 藤原 仲 忠 ) with Fujiwara no Kanemasa, raises her son in a tree cave in the northern mountains (Kitayama).
  • Maki 2 to 12 tell of Nakatada's courtship for Atemiya. Nakatada wants to marry Atemiya ( 貴 宮 ), the daughter of Minamoto no Masayori ( 源 正 頼 ), the head of the office for the imperial bodyguard on the left. To do this, Nakatada has to face his equal competitor Minamoto no Suzuji ( 源 涼 ) in a koto duel. After various political intrigues that revolve around Nakatada and the Crown Prince, the Crown Prince Atemiya finally frees, while Nakatada takes the noble Ichinomiya ( 一 宮 ) as his wife.
  • Chapters 13 to 20 tell of how the Nakatadas family is in the favor of the emperor. Nakatada moves with his family to the residence of his grandfather Toshikage and discovers his writings on the koto game. The following year, Nakatada's daughter Inumiya ( 犬 宮 ) was born. She inherits the talent for playing koto and continues the musical family tradition. Meanwhile, rivalries develop between the Minamoto and Fujiwara families for the throne. The son of the former Crown Prince and Atemiyas is chosen as the new Crown Prince. Nakatada becomes head of the Crown Prince's Palace and from then on lives a carefree life.

literature

  • Fumiko Fujikawa: A Study of the Dates and the Authorship of the Tale of the Hollow Tree (= Utsubo-monogatari). Hamburg / Tokyo: OAG 1977, ISBN 3-928463-15-2 .
  • Lewin, Bruno: Japanese Chrestomathy from the Nara Period to the Edo Period . Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz, 1965, pp. 92-98.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Actual reading "Utsu (h) o Monogatari", nigorized reading here with a 'b'.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stephan Köhn: Traditions of idealized femininity . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2008 ( limited preview in Google book search [accessed on March 13, 2014]).
  2. ↑ 宇 津 保 物語 . Kyoto University Library, 2002, accessed March 14, 2014 (Japanese).
  3. ↑ 宇 津 保 物語 . In: デ ジ タ ル 版 日本人 名 大 辞典 + Plus at kotobank.jp. Retrieved March 7, 2014 (Japanese).
  4. ^ After Lewin: Japanese Chrestomathie , p. 94.
  5. ^ After Lewin: Japanese Chrestomathie , p. 92
  6. ↑ 『う つ ほ 物語』 へ の 招待 . February 28, 2003, accessed March 14, 2014 (Japanese, small table of contents after 古典 文学 鑑賞 辞典 ).