The Battle of Kokusenya

Joruri Gidayu-bushi (a type of Japanese chant). Historical piece. Five acts. Written by Chikamatsu Monzaemon. First performed at the Takemotoza Theater in Osaka in November 1715 (Shotoku 5). This dramatizes the deeds of Zheng Chenggong, born to a Japanese man and a Ming Chinese man named Zheng Zhilong during the Shoho era (1644-48), who made an effort to restore the Ming dynasty. The protagonist, Watonai, is of mixed race, and his name means he is neither Japanese nor Chinese, and Kokusen'ya means that he was given the surname by the country.

First section: Ming Emperor Shizonglie is attacked and destroyed by the Tatar army due to the collusion of the traitor Li Taotian, but the loyal minister Wu Sangui escapes to protect the newborn prince, and the emperor's younger sister, Sandalwood Woman, escapes on a small boat. Second section (Snipe and clam hunting and tiger hunting): Zheng Zhilong, a former minister of the Ming Dynasty, fled to Hirado in Kyushu, where he lived under the name of Lao Ikkan. Watounai, who was born to a Japanese man and had come of age, was watching a fight between snipes and clams on the beach and was beginning to understand military law when Sandalwood Woman's boat washed ashore. Watonai travels to Ming with his parents to save his homeland, and at Senrigatake he uses the power of a talisman from Ise Shrine to subdue an attacking ferocious tiger. Sandan (Romon) - Ikan visits his wife, Watonai, and Shogun Kanki, whose wife is Kinshojo, his first wife's daughter, at Shishigajo Castle to ask for their support, but as Kanki is not there, his mother enters the castle alone, tied up in a rope. Same (The Red Flowing, Kanki House) - Kanki, who now serves Tatar, wants to return to the castle and accept his mother's request, but fears the disgrace of having betrayed his wife through his wife, and tries to stab Kinshojo, but his mother protects her stepdaughter and does not allow him to be killed. Kinshojo is forced to let Watonai outside the castle know that the engagement has been called off by casting a sign of red into the spring. When Watonai enters the castle in anger, Kinshojo confesses that it is her blood that caused her suicide, and asks her husband to side with her father and brother-in-law. Touched by his wife's heart, Kanki worships Watonai as Kokusen-ye and pledges to side with him, and his mother commits suicide to encourage her sons. Fourth and fifth chapters - Kokusen-ye and Kanki cooperate with Wu Sangui, who was guarding the young lord on Mount Nine Immortals, to defeat the Tatar army and Li Taten, and the Ming Dynasty is restored.

The novel, exotic subject matter and grand structure were well received, and the first performance recorded a long run of 17 months over three years. In the autumn of the following year (1716), it was adapted as a kabuki play, and since then it has been repeatedly performed in both puppet theater and Bunraku. In the kabuki play, Watonai is performed in a rough style, with the highlight being the scene in the third act, "Beni Nagashi," where he enters the flower path in a rage. In "Romon," Kinshojo, and later in "Kamakikan," Amaki and Watonai's mother, the intertwining of obligation and human feelings is depicted in Chikamatsu's unique, beautiful prose.

[Toshiaki Matsui]

"Japanese Classical Literature Series 50: Chikamatsu Joruri Collection, Vol. 2, edited by Morizui Kenji and Okubo Tadakuni (1959, Iwanami Shoten) " "Hara Michio, Appreciation of Japanese Classics 16: Chikamatsu Collection (1982, Shogakukan)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

浄瑠璃義太夫節(じょうるりぎだゆうぶし)。時代物。5段。近松門左衛門作。1715年（正徳5）11月大坂・竹本座初演。正保(しょうほう)（1644～48）のころ、明(みん)国人鄭芝龍(ていしりょう)と日本人の間に生まれた鄭成功(ていせいこう)が、明朝回復に尽力した事跡を脚色。主人公和藤内(わとうない)は混血児で、和人でも唐人でもないという意味の名、国性爺は国から性（姓）を賜ったとの意である。

　初段―明の思宗烈(しそうれつ)皇帝は逆臣李蹈天(りとうてん)の内通により韃靼(だったん)軍に攻め滅ぼされるが、忠臣呉三桂(ごさんけい)は誕生した太子を守って落ち延び、皇妹栴檀女(せんだんじょ)は小舟に乗って逃れる。二段（鴫蛤(しぎはまぐり)・虎(とら)狩り）―明の旧臣鄭芝龍は九州・平戸に亡命して老一官(ろういっかん)と名のっていた。彼と日本人との間に生まれ成人した和藤内が、浜で鴫と蛤の争いを見て軍法を悟るところへ、栴檀女の舟が流れ着く。和藤内は故国を救うため父母とともに明へ渡り、千里ヶ竹では襲ってきた猛虎(もうこ)を伊勢(いせ)神宮のお札の威徳で従える。三段（楼門）―一官は妻や和藤内と、先妻の娘錦祥女(きんしょうじょ)を妻とする将軍甘輝(かんき)を獅子(しし)ヶ城に訪ね、味方を頼むが、甘輝が不在なので、母ひとり縄にかかって城内へ入る。同（紅(べに)流し・甘輝館）―いまは韃靼に従う甘輝は、帰館して母の頼みを承諾しようと思うものの、妻の縁で裏切ったという不名誉を恐れ、錦祥女を刺そうとするが、母は継娘(ままむすめ)をかばって殺させない。錦祥女はやむなく破談を城外の和藤内に知らせるため、しるしの紅を泉水に流す。和藤内が怒って城内へ入ると、錦祥女は自害した自分の血だと打ち明け、夫に父や義弟への味方を願う。妻の心に打たれた甘輝は和藤内を国性爺と崇(あが)めて味方を誓い、母は自害して息子たちを励ます。四、五段―国性爺と甘輝は、九仙山で幼君を守護していた呉三桂と協力して韃靼軍と李蹈天を討伐、明国は再興する。

　新奇でエキゾチックな題材と雄大な構成が喜ばれ、初演のときは3年越し17か月のロングランを記録。翌年（1716）秋には歌舞伎(かぶき)にも移され、以後人形浄瑠璃と両方で繰り返し上演されてきた。歌舞伎では和藤内を荒事(あらごと)演出で完成させ、ことに三段目「紅流し」で激怒して花道を入るところが見せ場。「楼門」では錦祥女、後の「甘輝館」では甘輝と和藤内の母を中心に、義理と人情の絡み合いが近松独特の名文で描かれている。

［松井俊諭］

『守随憲治・大久保忠国校注『日本古典文学大系50　近松浄瑠璃集　下』（1959・岩波書店）』▽『原道生著『鑑賞日本の古典16　近松集』（1982・小学館）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例