"Modern Miracles"

...On the other hand, in 1799 (Kansei 11), he showed a new approach to Edo reading books by combining Chinese literature and Japanese theater with his work ``Chūshin Suikoden.'' Thereafter, he wrote other reading books, such as ``Asaka-no-numa'' (1803), ``Sakurahime Zenden Akebono-soshi'' (1805), and ``Mukashi-gatari Inazuma Cover'' (1806), which were richly decorated with ancient legends and Kabuki Joruri. However, he did not thoroughly implement the idea of ​​exhortation and punishment, and he lacked the preparation for a tightly-knit long-form structure, so that after ``Sōchō-ki'' (1813), he was defeated in the rivalry with Kyokutei Bakin over reading books. However, from the end of the Kansei era, he aspired to practical studies and found his true talent in essays on the culture, customs, and people of the early modern period. He first published Thoughts on Early Modern Miracles (1804), and then devoted all his energy to completing A Collection of Antiques (1814-15), which he left unfinished. His ukiyo-e also changed from elegant portraits of beautiful women and theater pictures as political performances to more austere, hand-painted pictures of customs and manners in his later years under his real name, Kyoden.

*Some of the terminology used in "Thoughts on Modern Miracles" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…　いっぽう1799年(寛政11)には《忠臣水滸伝》によって，中国文学と日本演劇とをとり合わせるという江戸読本の新しいいきかたを示し，以後《安積沼（あさかのぬま）》(1803)，《桜姫全伝曙草紙》(1805)，《昔話（むかしがたり）稲妻表紙》(1806)など，古伝説や歌舞伎浄瑠璃などではなやかに彩られた読本も書いたが，勧懲思想も徹底せず，緊密な長編構成の用意にも欠けるところがあって，結局《双蝶記》(1813)を最後に，読本における曲亭馬琴との抗争にも敗れ去った。ただ寛政末ごろから実学に志して，近世初期の文化･風俗･人物等に関する考証随筆に自己の本領を見いだし，《近世奇跡考》(1804)をまず世に問い，さらに《骨董集（こつとうしゆう）》(1814‐15)の完成に全力を傾注したが未完に終わった。浮世絵も政演としての豊麗な美人画や芝居絵から，晩年には京伝の本名による枯淡な肉筆風俗図のようなものが多くなっている。…

※「《近世奇跡考》」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。

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