Medieval Japan proceeded the Heian period and spanned the years of 1185 to 1600. In contrast to the relatively peaceful times in the Heian period, medieval Japan was marked by changes of the government system into feudal structures and warfare, although the capital and imperial court culture still continued to exist. Political factions, such as the feud between the Taira and Minamoto clans, and the emergence of the warrior class of the medieval period clashed with the elegant imperial court of the Heian period, resulting in the gradual transition of political power to the military and samurai classes. This era of great turmoil and change was reflected in the literature of the time. In prose, new subjects that were never mentioned before emerged, such as physical descriptions of bodies and grotesque, gory war scenes. In Heian literature, the closest physical descriptions were only of women’s long, black hair and fair skin tone; detailed characteristics, especially those of unappealing taste, did not show up. However, in the feudal medieval period, writers depict war scenes in which warriors get beheaded and people commit seppuku, painting images of vivid crimson gore for the reader. Such descriptions show up in works such as Heike monogatari and Kamo mo Chōmei’s Hōjōki. However, the world of poetry at this time showed many distinct and interesting changes and innovations as compared to those of earlier times, which can be analyzed in more detailed aspects. Poetry is how Japan initially gained recognition and respect in the literary world; it was and continued to be the central cornerstone of classical Japanese literature through many centuries, which is why the focus of this paper will be the poetic anthologies of Kokinshū...
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...s, it also demonstrates both changes and innovations, such as sources from which poems were gleaned, topics of poems, poetic devices, and evaluative notions. Shinkokinshū is not completely separate from Kokinshū; it is a different, broader in scope anthology with many different, new aspects and is thought to be a better compilation than Kokinshū, to which I must agree.
Works Cited
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2. Keene, Donald. Anthology of Japanese Literature, from the Earliest Era to the Mid-nineteenth Century. New York: Grove, 1955.
3. Reading: Shinkokinshū Shirane
4. Reading: Huey “Medievalization of poetic practice”
5. Reading: Huey “The making of SKKS” intro
6. Reading: Heike monogatari
7. Handout 10 in class.
State of War: The Violent Order of Fourteenth Century Japan by Thomas Donald Conlan tracks the events in Japan between 1336 and 1392. Conlan provides his wisdom on how state and society operated in the Nanbokucho period through various source documents portraying the warriors not by their romanticized “knights of the round table” ideal, but rather showing that while there were alliances of connivence, they could be broken just as easily as they were made, revealing that pragmatism was paramount above all else.
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Riichi, Yokomitsu. Shanghai. Michigan: The Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan , 2001.
Japanese sword history spans several centuries. It is commonly divided into five major periods, the Jokoto and Koto periods or the ancient swords, pre-650 A.D, and the old swords from post-650 A.D. until 1596 A.D. when the Shinto...
Ogawa, D. (1993) The Japanese of Los Angeles. Journal of Asian and African Studies, v19, pp.142-3.
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The Tale of Heike." Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600. Ed. Haruo Shirane. New York: Columbia UP, 2007. 736-39. Print.
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In 1274 The Mongols were invading and conquering much of china and they set their eyes upon Japan. The samurai in Kyushu were outnumbered and at a major disadvantage. A mighty storm came into the area and...
Munsterberg, H. (1985) The Arts of Japan An Illustrated History Charles E. Tuttle, Tokyo, Japan.
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The Japanese medieval age consists of the Kamakura and Muromachi periods (from approximately 1185 to 1600). During this time, the political power was switching from the imperial family to a militaristic government. In addition, civil wars (from 1156 to 1568) were increasing throughout Japan. This change of centrality in society’s focus from court to warriors shifted the perception and style of Japanese literature.
Asian American Literature Asian Americans seem to be fighting an unwinnable battle when it comes to the content of their writing. Writers are criticized by whites for speaking out against discrimination, and by their fellow Asian Americans for contributing to the stereotypes through their silence. I believe that Asian Americans should include politics in their writing as they so choose, but should not feel obligated to do so, as Frank Chin suggests. For those Asian Americans who make known their discontent with the injustice and discrimination that they feel, in the white culture, this translates to attacking American superiority and initiating insecurities. For Mura, a writer who dared to question why an Asian American was not allowed to audition for an Asian American role, his punishment was “the ostracism and demonization that ensued”.
The Heian period(794-1185), the so-called golden age of Japanese culture, produced some of the finest works of Japanese literature.1 The most well known work from this period, the Genji Monogatari, is considered to be the “oldest novel still recognized today as a major masterpiece.”2 It can also be said that the Genji Monogatari is proof of the ingenuity of the Japanese in assimilating Chinese culture and politics. As a monogatari, a style of narrative with poems interspersed within it, the characters and settings frequently allude to Chinese poems and stories. In addition to displaying the poetic prowess that the Japanese had attained by this time period, the Genji Monogatari also demonstrates how politics and gender ideals were adopted from the Chinese.
Deal, William E. 2006. Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan. Facts on File, Inc., 2006. eBook