Taiheiki - Taiheiki

Japanese: 太平記 - たいへいき

A military tale from the Northern and Southern Courts period. 40 volumes.

[Hiroaki Yamashita]

Established

According to the Nan-Taiheiki (Record of the Great Patriotic Wars) written by Imagawa Sadayo (Ryoshun), a member of a branch of the Ashikaga clan who contributed to the establishment of the Ashikaga shogunate as the Kyushu tandai, during the Ryakuo (1338-42) and Kōei (1342-45) eras, Echin (died 1356), a monk at Hossho-ji Temple, brought the 30-plus volumes of the Taiheiki to Ashikaga Tadayoshi, who was an assistant to the shogun Takauji, and had the Tendai scholar Gen'ne (died 1350) read it. It seems that Echin participated in the creation of the Taiheiki as an editor, and Gen'ne participated as a supervisor. It was an incomplete work depicting the period up to the death of Emperor Godaigo in August 1339, but there were many errors in the content, and Tadayoshi ordered corrections, deletions, and additions, so writing was temporarily halted, but was later continued. In the process of creating and adding to the work, highly educated storytellers, such as Kojima Hoshi, who appears in the Toin Kinsada Diary, participated, and by around 1370 (Kentoku 1, Oan 3), a 40-volume book was completed. In addition to being read, it was also recited aloud, although not with the melodic melody of the Heike Biwa, as entertainment after sermons, and eventually came to be interpreted by storytellers as a reading of the Taiheiki.

[Hiroaki Yamashita]

Various books

It was compiled in the limited place mentioned above, and its subsequent circulation seems to have been limited as well, and although the circumstances are unknown, volume 22 was missing from an early stage, and all of the extant versions convey the text without this volume. That is, there are four types in total: old versions such as the Kanda version, the Seigen-in version, and the Genkyu version, which convey the form at the time when volume 22 was missing, the Maeda version and the popular version, which stitched together articles from the previous and following volumes to replace the missing volume, the Tensho version, which arranged the articles in chronological order and added to them using other historical materials, and the Gosei version, which reorganized the old version into 41 or 42 volumes; however, there are no differences between the versions that affect the nature of the work, as there are with the versions of "The Tale of the Heike."

[Hiroaki Yamashita]

It depicts a period of about 50 years after Emperor Go-Daigo ascended to the throne in 1318. The first part, volumes 1 to 11, tells the complete story of Emperor Go-Daigo's plan to overthrow the Hojo Shogunate, its accomplishment, and the establishment of the Kenmu government, with Kusunoki Masashige and others at the center. The second part, volumes 12 to 21, criticizes the disorder of the Kenmu government, and depicts the conflict between Ashikaga and Nitta against the backdrop of the dissatisfaction of samurai from all over the country with the new government, Ashikaga's victory due to past good deeds, and Emperor Go-Daigo's death in Yoshino. The remaining third part describes the Kanno Disturbance, the internal strife within the Ashikaga Shogunate, as exemplified by the death of Tadayoshi, and the arrival of a time of peace under the shogun's assistant, Hosokawa Yoriyuki. Parts two and three in particular were written in the midst of the turmoil that they are about, in the hope of a time of peace. As a result, they are often confusing and lack completeness as a story. The turbulent period of people's naked desires and their rise to power is depicted through the eyes of the Confucian view of government and history learned from the Chinese classics of Kiden-do, such as the Records of the Grand Historian, Wen Xuan, and Collected Works of Bai Juyi, the desires of the listeners who hope for a time of peace and wonder, and the scathing criticism and satire of the people of Kyoto as seen in the doodles. From the many long inserted tales, the author has learned how to position the characters and events in the story. Many of these historical biographies also have an encyclopedic significance, providing a historical perspective and wisdom for all aspects of life.

[Hiroaki Yamashita]

Impact

Perhaps because of its prominent Confucian political theory, it has less of a tendency to become classical than "The Tale of the Heike" and has had less influence on other works. It has provided material for some Noh plays and medieval novels, but there are also works that directly extract passages from "Taiheiki", such as "Shinkyoku" from the Kowaka Dance and the medieval novel "En'ya Hangan", and especially in the early modern period, when people expected the stability of the feudal order, it provided lecture-style lessons and topics for readings by Kyokutei Bakin and others. In this respect, it also differs from "The Tale of the Heike".

[Hiroaki Yamashita]

"Shincho Japanese Classics Collection: Taiheiki, 5 volumes, edited by Yamashita Hiroaki (1977-88, Shinchosha)" ▽ "Masuda Kin, Comparative Literary Study of the Taiheiki (1976, Kadokawa Shoten)" ▽ "Hasegawa Hajime, Study of the Taiheiki (1982, Kikoshoin)" ▽ "Yamashita Hiroaki, Taiheiki (1990, Shinchosha)"

"Taiheiki"
Volume 1 Manuscript with notes National Diet Library

"Taiheiki"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

南北朝時代の軍記物語。40巻。

［山下宏明］

成立

足利(あしかが)氏の一支族で九州探題として足利政権の確立に貢献した今川貞世(いまがわさだよ)（了俊(りょうしゅん)）の著『難太平記(なんたいへいき)』によれば、暦応(りゃくおう)（1338～42）、康永(こうえい)（1342～45）のころ、法勝寺(ほっしょうじ)の清僧、恵鎮(えちん)（1356没）が、30余巻の『太平記』を、将軍尊氏(たかうじ)を補佐した足利直義(ただよし)のもとに持参し、天台の学僧、玄慧(げんね)（1350没）に読ませたという。『太平記』の成立に、恵鎮は編集者として、玄慧は監修者として参加したらしい。暦応2年（1339）8月の後醍醐(ごだいご)天皇崩御あたりまでを描く未完の作品であったが、その内容に誤りが多く、直義により修正、削除、加筆が命じられ、いったん執筆は中断していたのを、のちに書き継いだという。この成立、加筆の過程で、たとえば『洞院公定(とういんきんさだ)日記』にみえる小島(こじま)法師のような、戦いの敗残者をも含む遁世(とんせい)者で、高い教養の持ち主でもあった物語僧が参加し、1370年（建徳1・応安3）ごろには40巻本が完成していた。読まれるとともに、平家琵琶(びわ)のような曲節は伴わないが音読もされ、説教の後の余興として語られ、やがて太平記読みとして、講釈師により講釈されることになった。

［山下宏明］

諸本

上述のような限られた場で編纂(へんさん)され、その後の流布も限られていたようで、その事情はわからないが早くから巻22を欠き、現存の諸本は、いずれもこの巻を欠く本文を伝えている。すなわち、その巻22を欠いた当時の形を伝える神田(かんだ)本、西源院(せいげんいん)本、玄玖(げんきゅう)本などの古本、この欠巻を前後の巻から記事をつづり合わせてつくろった前田本や流布本、記事を年代順に配列し、他の史料により加筆をも行った天正(てんしょう)本など、古本を41巻ないし42巻に再編成した豪精本などのつごう四類に分かれるが、諸本の間に、『平家物語』の諸本のような、作品の性格を左右する異同はない。

［山下宏明］

内容

文保(ぶんぽう)2年（1318）後醍醐天皇の即位以後、約50年の期間を描く。その第一部、巻1から巻11までは、後醍醐天皇による北条(ほうじょう)幕府討伐の計画から、その成就、建武(けんむ)政権の確立まで、楠正成(くすのきまさしげ)らの動きを軸として描き、完結した物語をなしている。第二部、巻12から巻21までは、建武政権の乱脈を批判しつつ、諸国の武士の、新政に対する不満を背景に足利・新田(にった)の対立、足利の過去の善因による勝利、後醍醐天皇の吉野での崩御までを描く。残る第三部は、観応(かんのう)の擾乱(じょうらん)、直義の死に代表される足利幕府中枢部の内訌(ないこう)から細川頼之(よりゆき)の将軍補佐による太平の世の到来までを描く。とくにこの第二、第三部は、その対象とする動乱のさなかに太平の世を求めて書き継がれた。そのため混乱が多く、物語としての完成度に欠ける。人々の欲望むき出しの下剋上(げこくじょう)の動乱期を、『史記』『文選(もんぜん)』『白氏文集(はくしもんじゅう)』など紀伝道の中国古典に学ぶ儒教的な政道観や歴史観、それに太平の世を求め不思議を期待する聞き手たちの願い、落書にみられる京都の人々の痛烈な批判・風刺の目を通して描く。長文にわたる多くの挿入説話からは、登場人物や事件を物語に位置づける方法を学びとっている。それらの多くの史伝は、歴史観と、人生百般の知恵を供給する百科辞書的な意味をも有している。

［山下宏明］

影響

儒教的な政治論が顕著なためか、『平家物語』に比べて古典化する傾向が少なく、他の作品に及ぼす影響も少ない。一部謡曲や中世小説に素材を提供しているが、幸若(こうわか)舞曲の「新曲」や中世小説の『ゑんや判官(はんがん)』などのように『太平記』の一節をそのまま抜き出した作品がみられるし、とくに近世、封建秩序の安泰を期待する風潮にのって、曲亭馬琴(きょくていばきん)らの読本(よみほん)に、講釈調の教訓や話題を提供した。この点でも『平家物語』と異なる。

［山下宏明］

『山下宏明校注『新潮日本古典集成　太平記』全5巻（1977～88・新潮社）』▽『増田欣著『太平記の比較文学的研究』（1976・角川書店）』▽『長谷川端著『太平記の研究』（1982・汲古書院）』▽『山下宏明著『太平記』（1990・新潮社）』

『太平記』
巻1　写本　書き込みあり国立国会図書館所蔵">

『太平記』

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