HEIKE MONOGATARI 平家物語 The Tale of the Heike by HEIKE MONOGATARI 平家物語, The Tale of the Heike on JONATHAN A. HILL, BOOKSELLER, INC

HEIKE MONOGATARI 平家物語 [The Tale of the Heike].

12 columns, 26 characters per column. 12 vols. Large 8vo, orig. persimmon-stained semi-stiff wrappers (rubbed & a little worn), some with title-slips, new stitching. [Japan]: early Edo.

The epic Heike monogatari is considered to be second only to the Tale of Genji in Japanese literature. “The usual twelve-book version known today earns the respect of every reader. It contrasts not only with the waka of the time in style and method, but also with the Genji monogatari…The style of the Heike is in some ways an ideal version of Japanese prose, that rare thing, a wondrous compromise between the finest styles of the Heian narrative and the best styles of the Edo and even modern literature. The question sometimes raised — can there be any Japanese epic? — is at once pertinent and irrelevant for this work. This, like the Genji, is of the stature of the finest Western epics.”–Miner et al., The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature, p. 50. It has been compared with the Iliad in greatness and influence.

The action covers about 60 years, ca. 1131-91, describing the historical struggle between the Taira (Heike) and Minamoto (Genji) families, which convulsed Japan in civil war. It is a war tale written for chanting in a highly stylized and rhythmic fashion, to be accompanied by the biwa (a four-stringed lute). “Its overall theme is the tragic downfall of the Taira family. It opens with the tolling of a temple bell that, proclaiming the impermanence of all things, reveals the truth that the mighty — even the tyrannical Taira Kiyomori, whose powers seem unlimited — will be brought low like dust before the wind. The Taira suffer a series of defeats, culminating in a sea battle off Dannoura (1185) in which the seven-year-old emperor and many nobles are drowned. The work concludes with an account of the subsequent life of the empress mother, born a Taira. She dies in a remote convent to the tolling of a bell.”–Britannica.

Our 12-volume set is undated but is identical to the set at Gakushūin University (100089940), which is also is not dated. It is printed in kanji and katakana with pronunciation marks in katakana.

Nice set. Minor worming and light staining. Preserved in a chitsu.