Ежегодник Япония (Dec 2023)
The Court Tradition of Japan in Konjaku Monogatarishū
Abstract
Among the literary works of the Heian era (late 8th – 12th centuries), Tales of Times Now Past (Konjaku Monogatarishū, 1120s) is notable for covering a much broader range of characters than kagami historical texts, monogatari tales, early gunki-monogatari, and even other compilations of setsuwa didactic tales. Among the characters, there are numerous laypersons from nearly all provinces of Japan, along with residents of the capital and monks. But Japanese court tradition is represented in Konjaku as well, and not only in Chapter 22, which is devoted to officials of the Fujiwara clan. This tradition can be investigated by comparing Konjaku with texts of the court literature or later setsuwa collections, compilers of which focus on life of the capital aristocracy and include in their works some tales from Konjaku. It is also possible to make a study based on the examination of terms used for the highest state offices and contexts of such terms’ appearance. In this article, we tried to employ both approaches and showed how court stories, adopted from uta-monogatari poem-tales, were transformed and turned into a part of the setsuwa tradition, in which they continue to exist and receive various interpretations in various collections. For instance, we analyzed some tales which are common for Konjaku and Jikkinshō (Collected Admonitions in Ten Sections, 13th century). Dignitaries in Konjaku make their appearance in a great variety of situations, demonstrate multifarious emotions and possess different talents. Ladies of the court – starting with empresses – also act in this setsuwa collection. Their life may be described in the tales in the manner of refined court prose – or in a much ruder style. The court tradition of Japan itself is compared with the Indian and Chinese ones – as the compiler imagined them. Some tales from Konjaku monogatari-shū in Russian translation are placed in the annex to this article.
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