The Tale of Heiji

A military tale based on the Heiji Rebellion (1159). Usually in three volumes. Author unknown. The original work was probably created by the early Kamakura period. It is thought to have been written before "The Tale of the Heike," but its relationship to "The Tale of the Hogen" is unclear. According to "Futsu Shodoshu" and other sources, it was a tale told by biwa priests from the end of the 13th century to the 14th century. Many extant copies remain, and like "The Tale of the Hogen," the work has undergone roughly three stages of transformation. From the second stage onwards, the relationship with "The Tale of the Hogen" and "The Tale of the Heike" strengthens, and it is especially sister to the former. For this reason, there has long been a theory that they were written by the same author. In the final stage, Confucian ideas and criticality are added, but the so-called popular version that represents this is said to have been created after 1446 (Bun'an 3) during the Muromachi period.

The story begins with a prologue explaining the necessity of samurai power in the future, and describes how Fujiwara Nobuyori, a trusted aide to Emperor Goshirakawa, raised an army together with Minamoto Yoshitomo, defeated his political rival Fujiwara Shinzei, only to be suppressed by Taira Kiyomori. However, the main focus of the work shifts to the tragedy of the defeated Genji clan. In the battle scenes, the confrontation between Akugenta Yoshihira and Taira Shigemori is depicted with vibrant strokes, and even among the aristocrats, bold characters such as Fujiwara Mitsuyori, who joins the rebel army and brings disgrace to Nobuyori, are portrayed. The sad tale of Yoshitomo's wife Tokiwa, who flees the capital with her three orphaned children, stands out as a story about women. In the early stages of the work, an attitude of contempt for the rebel forces is apparent, but it eventually changes into a work that tells the foreshadowing of Yoritomo's restoration of the Genji clan, focusing on the tragic life of Yoshitomo, who was assassinated by his trusted subordinate, and takes on a stronger tone of tragic literature.

[Kusaka Riki]

"Japanese Classical Literature Series 31: Tales of the Hōgen Era and the Heiji Era" edited by Yasuaki Nagazumi and Isao Shimada (1961, Iwanami Shoten) " "Appreciation of Japanese Classical Literature 16: Tales of the Hōgen Era and the Heiji Era" (1976, Kadokawa Shoten) edited by Yasuaki Nagazumi"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

平治の乱（1159）を題材にした軍記物語。通常三巻。作者不明。原作は鎌倉時代前期までに成立か。『平家物語』より先出と考えられるが、『保元(ほうげん)物語』との先後出関係は未詳。『普通唱導集(ふつうしょうどうしゅう)』などによれば、13世紀末より14世紀にかけて琵琶(びわ)法師の語物であった。多くの伝本が現存し、『保元物語』同様、ほぼ三段階にわたる作品の変容が認められる。第二段階以降は『保元物語』『平家物語』との相関関係を強め、とくに前者とは姉妹編的関係となる。そのため、古くより同一作者説が存在した。最終段階では儒教思想や論評性が加わるが、それを代表するいわゆる流布本の成立は、室町時代の1446年（文安3）以後とされる。

　物語は末代における武士の力の必要性を説く序文に始まり、後白河(ごしらかわ)院近臣の藤原信頼(のぶより)が源義朝(よしとも)とともに挙兵、政敵藤原信西(しんぜい)を滅ぼしたものの、平清盛に鎮圧されてしまう過程を描くが、作品の内実は敗れた源氏一族の悲劇に重点を移していく。合戦場面では悪源太義平と平重盛(しげもり)の対決が躍動感あふれる筆致で描かれ、貴族でも、反乱軍のなかに入って信頼に恥辱を与える藤原光頼(みつより)のような、豪胆な人物が形象化されている。義朝の妻常葉(ときわ)が3人の遺児を抱えて都落ちする哀話は、女性話として傑出する。作品の初期の段階では反乱軍を蔑視(べっし)する姿勢がうかがわれるが、やがて、腹心の部下に暗殺された義朝の悲劇的生涯を中心に、頼朝(よりとも)による源氏再興の伏線を語る作品へと変質、悲劇的文学としての色調を濃くする。

［日下　力］

『永積安明・島田勇雄校注『日本古典文学大系31　保元物語・平治物語』（1961・岩波書店）』▽『永積安明編『鑑賞日本古典文学16　保元物語・平治物語』（1976・角川書店）』

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