The Chronicle of Yoshitsune

A military tale. Eight volumes. Author unknown. Possibly written in the early or mid-Muromachi period. Also called "The Tale of Judge" or "The Tale of Yoshitsune." A tale about the life of Minamoto no Yoshitsune.

The contents of this book are divided into two parts, with Volume 4 as the connecting link. The first half is the story of Ushiwaka's childhood, when he is entrusted to Kurama Temple as the youngest son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, the loser of the Heiji Rebellion, and awakens to his origins. He travels to Oshu accompanied by Kaneuri Kichiji and defeats the bandit Kumasaka Chohan on the way there. It also tells the story of Benkei's upbringing and how Ushiwaka overpowers him at Kiyomizu Temple and makes him his retainer. The latter half of the story is about Yoshitsune's time in the war, when he is suspected by his brother Yoritomo due to the slander of Kajiwara Kagetoki after the pursuit of the Taira clan, and then he kills Tosabō Shozon, who is sent to assassinate him. He is shipwrecked on the way west to Kyushu, and flees to Mount Yoshino, where he is separated from his lover Shizuka. He then travels along the Hokuriku route, overcoming many crises thanks to the efforts of Benkei, and arrives at Hiraizumi in Oshu. After the death of Fujiwara Hidehira, he is betrayed by Yasuhira, who is lured by Yoritomo's sweet words, and Benkei and the Suzuki brothers fight in vain against the large Kamakura army at Koromogawa no Tachi, and the story is about Yoshitsune's time in the war, when he is an unconventional biography that omits most of the period when Yoshitsune appears in history as the commander in chief of the pursuit of the Taira clan. In that respect, it is complementary to the narrative version of "The Tale of the Heike." It is certain that when the Gikeiki was first written, the legends of Yoshitsune were concentrated in the young nobleman Ushiwaka and the wandering judge, and it is likely that the work was compiled in the style of a biography from among the various parallel legends of Yoshitsune, likely against the backdrop of the pro-judge trend of the time. Although there are some flaws in the concept, overall it is a Muromachi-style romance that is different from the actual historical image of Yoshitsune. The characters are active and optimistic, but lack a sense of the inevitability of historical progression, which is thought to reflect the lifestyle of the urban commoners of Kyoto at the time. The influence of other literary works was stronger from the hangan stories in the Kowaka Dance, and the Gikeiki truly spread after the publication of the printed version in the early Edo period.

[Murakami Manabu]

"Masao Okami's annotated translation of "Japanese Classical Literature Series 37: The Tale of Yoshitsune" (1959, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Masao Kajiwara's annotated translation of "Japanese Classical Literature Collection 31: The Tale of Yoshitsune" (1971, Shogakukan)" ▽ "Genyoshi Kadokawa's "The Origin of Narrative Literature" (1975, Tokyodo Publishing)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

軍記物語。8巻。作者不明。室町初・中期の成立か。『判官(ほうがん)物語』『義経(よしつね)物語』ともいう。源義経の一代を物語にしたもの。

　本書の内容は巻4をつなぎとして前後の2部に分けられる。前半は、平治(へいじ)の乱の敗者源義朝(よしとも)の末子として鞍馬(くらま)寺に預けられた牛若(うしわか)が出自に目覚め、金売吉次(かねうりきちじ)に伴われて奥州へ下る途次で盗賊熊坂長範(くまさかちょうはん)を滅ぼすなどの冒険や、弁慶の生い立ちと、牛若が彼を清水(きよみず)寺で圧倒して郎従とする記事など、いわば幼少の雌伏期の物語である。後半は、平家追討後梶原景時(かじわらかげとき)の讒言(ざんげん)で兄頼朝(よりとも)の疑いを受け、討手(うって)土佐坊正尊(しょうぞん)を討ち取り、九州西下の途次で難船し、吉野山へ逃亡して愛人静(しずか)と別離、さらに北陸路を弁慶の活躍で多くの危機を突破しつつ奥州平泉に到着するが、藤原秀衡(ひでひら)死後、頼朝の甘言につられた泰衡(やすひら)に裏切られて、衣川館(ころもがわのたち)で鎌倉方の大軍を相手に弁慶や鈴木兄弟の奮戦むなしく最期を遂げる逆境の時期の物語であり、義経が平家追討の大将として歴史の進行上華やかに登場した時期はほとんど省略された変則的な伝記となっている。その点で語り本『平家物語』と相補関係にある。『義経記』成立期の義経伝説が幼少の貴公子牛若と流離の判官殿に集約されていたことは確かで、おそらく当時の判官びいきの思潮を背景に、並行して各種存在した義経伝説のうちから一種を選んで一代記風にまとめたものであろう。構想上破綻(はたん)もあるが、全体として義経の史実の像とは異質の、室町物語風なロマンに仕立て上げられている。登場人物の造型は行動的で楽天的だが、歴史の進行の必然性への見通しを欠いたものとなっており、当時の京都の都市庶民の生活感覚が反映していると考えられる。他の文学作品への影響は幸若(こうわか)舞曲の判官物からのほうが強く、『義経記』の真の流布は江戸初期の版本刊行以後である。

［村上　学］

『岡見正雄校注『日本古典文学大系37　義経記』（1959・岩波書店）』▽『梶原正昭校注・訳『日本古典文学全集31　義経記』（1971・小学館）』▽『角川源義著『語り物文芸の発生』（1975・東京堂出版）』

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