"The Gon Chunagon Who Doesn't Cross Osaka"

Japanese: 《逢坂越えぬ権中納言》 - おうさかこえぬごんちゅうなごん

...It may have been lost during the Onin War, which began in 1467, when Kyoto was a long-term battlefield. In May 1055 (Tenki 3), 18 new stories were performed by 18 ladies-in-waiting at the household of Princess Baishi, and only one, "Gon Chunagon who does not cross Osaka," written by a lady-in-waiting, remains as one piece in the "Tsutsumi Chunagon Monogatari." Of the remaining 17 stories, four of which remain in the "Fuyoh Wakashu," but they are now all lost, including these. In the early Kamakura period, Fujiwara Teika combined poems from the "Tale of Genji" with poems from 10 popular stories at the time to create the "Shuui Hyakuban Utaawase," but eight of these stories have been lost, and 19 of the 28 stories that appear in the story critique "Mumyozoshi," which is said to have been written in the same early Kamakura period, have been lost.

From the Tale of Chunagon Tsutsumi

...Kana Monogatari. It is a collection of short stories, totaling no more than 80 pages of 400-character manuscript paper, consisting of 10 short stories - "The Shosho Picking Cherry Blossoms," "By This Means," "The Princess Loves Insects," "Moderate Love," "The Gon Chunagon Who Doesn't Cross Osaka," "Shell Matching," "The Shosho Staying in an Unexpected Place," "The Empress Hanada," "Haizumi," and "Miscellaneous Things" - and a fragment of about 240 characters that seems to be the beginning of the story, beginning with "In the Scenery of the Winter Sky." Many of the stories are centered on the love between men and women of the dynastic aristocracy, but "The Princess Who Loved Insects" caricatures the life of a princess who respects the principles of rejecting artificial objects and respecting nature, and loves caterpillars, the origin of butterflies, and the confusion of those around her, while "Shell Matching" depicts an act of selfless human love in which a nobleman sneaks in with lustful thoughts, but sets aside his lustful thoughts and secretly gives beautiful shells to the other daughter and her daughters, who lament their isolation and helplessness as they await a shell match with the daughter of his legal wife, and is delighted to see the help of Kannon and the daughters who rejoice in their company. Although the subject matter is unusual, it is set in the same dynastic aristocratic world.

*Some of the terminology used in "The Gon Chunagon Who Didn't Cross Osaka" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…1467年に始まった応仁の乱で京都が長く戦場となっていたころにでも滅んだのであろう。1055年(天喜3)5月に禖子（ばいし）内親王家で18の新作物語を18人の女房に披露させたが，小式部という女房作の《逢坂越えぬ権中納言》だけが，現在《堤中納言物語》の中の一編として残り，残りの17作は，その中の4作ばかりを《風葉和歌集》には残していたものの，今はそれも含めてすべて滅んだ。鎌倉初期に藤原定家が《源氏物語》の歌に当時流行の10物語の歌を合わせて《拾遺百番歌合》を作ったが，その中の8物語は散佚，同じ鎌倉初期に成ったという《無名草子》という物語評論書に見える28物語のうち19物語は散佚している。…

【堤中納言物語】より

…仮名物語。《花桜折る少将》《このついで》《虫めづる姫君》《ほどほどの懸想（けそう）》《逢坂越えぬ権中納言》《貝合せ》《思はぬ方に泊りする少将》《はなだの女御》《はいずみ》《よしなしごと》の10編の短編と，〈冬ごもる空のけしきに〉に始まる，物語の発端とおぼしき約240字の断章とから成る，総量400字詰め原稿用紙でせいぜい80枚の短編物語集である。多くは王朝貴族男女の恋を主材としたものであるが，《虫めづる姫君》は人工排斥･自然尊重の理を尊び，蝶の根源たる毛虫を愛する姫君の生態と周囲の困惑とを戯画的に描き，《貝合せ》は好色の心で忍び入った貴公子が，本妻腹の姫君との貝合せを控えて孤立無援を嘆く異腹の姫とその女童たちのために，好色の心を捨ててひそかに立派な貝を贈り，観音の助けと随喜する女童たちをかいま見て喜ぶという無償の人間愛を描くなど，同じ王朝貴族世界のことながら題材が珍しい。…

※「《逢坂越えぬ権中納言》」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について | 情報

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