Genpei War Stories

Japanese: 源平合戦物 - げんぺいかっせんもの

A type of puppet theater and Kabuki. A general term for works that take as their subject the history of the conflict between the Minamoto and Taira clans from the Hogen and Heiji Rebellions to the downfall of the Taira clan. At the core of these works are those that were conceived based on The Tale of the Heike, Japan's greatest narrative work and a widely loved work. Many of these works focus exclusively on the losers and the weak, and poetically depict the heroism of battle and the transience of human life. If we list the major works performed today in the chronological order of the conflict, they include, first, the Joruri play Genji Eboshi Ori and the Tokiwazu sosagoto Onnai Hitome no Sekimori (commonly known as Munekiyo), which are related to the Hogen and Heiji Rebellions. Also, regarding the uprisings of Yoritomo, Yoshitsune, and Yoshinaka, there are the Ningyo Bunraku plays Kiichi Hogen Sanryakumaki and Genpei Nunobikitaki, and the Kabuki plays Kajiwara Heizan Homare no Ishikiri (based on the Ningyo Bunraku play Miura Daisuke Kobaitazuna), Oakinai Hirugakojima, and Nachitaki Kisei Mongaku.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

人形浄瑠璃，歌舞伎の一系統。保元･平治の乱から平家滅亡に至るまでの源平両氏抗争の歴史に題材を求めた作品の総称。その中核をなすものは，わが国最大の語り物として広く人々に親しまれていた《平家物語》を母体に構想された諸作であり，その多くは，もっぱら敗者･弱者の側に焦点を合わせつつ，合戦の勇壮さと人の世のはかなさとを詩情豊かに描き出したものとなっている。今日上演される主要な作品を争乱の経過に沿って挙げていけば，まず保元･平治の乱関係では，浄瑠璃《源氏烏帽子折》や常磐津の所作事《恩愛瞔関守（おんないひとめのせきもり）》(通称《宗清》)，また，頼朝，義経，義仲の挙兵をめぐっては，人形浄瑠璃に《鬼一法眼（きいちほうげん）三略巻》《源平布引滝》，歌舞伎に《梶原平三誉石切（ほまれのいしきり）》(原作は人形浄瑠璃《三浦大助紅梅靮（みうらのおおすけこうばいたづな）》)，《大商蛭子島（おおあきないひるがこじま）》《那智滝祈誓文覚（ちかいのもんがく）》などがある。

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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