Reading book - Yomihon

Japanese: 読本 - よみほん

A style of novel from the Edo period. There are three types of writing: Ohon (the size of a folded Minogami paper), Hanshibon (the size of a folded Hanshi paper), and Chuhon (the size of a quarter-cut Minogami paper), but Hanshibon is the mainstream. It is called Yomihon because it has fewer illustrations than other novel styles and the emphasis is on reading the text. It takes history as its subject matter, aims for an interesting plot development, unifies it with the idea of rewarding good and punishing evil and karma, clearly establishes a theme, and in between, it displays discussions and knowledge based on Japanese and Chinese books, and also takes into consideration human feelings, and is written in a stiff, Japanese-Chinese mixed style. It was born from learning the style, plot, and ideas of Chinese novels, and was the most intellectual novel of the early modern period, and came closest to a modern novel.

[Takeshi Tokuda]

occurrence

From the Genroku (1688-1704) to the Kyoho (1716-1736) eras in the early modern period, a series of popular military tales were published, which were translations of long Chinese historical novels. The famous one is the popular Records of the Three Kingdoms (published 1689-1692), a faithful translation of the Criticism of Mr. Li Zhuowu. Among these military tales, there is the work Popular Records of the Two Kingdoms (published 1721), which was a translation of the New Edition: A Popular Tale of the Great Song Dynasty's Revival and included some adaptations. The adaptation method used in this work is similar to that of later long-form reading books, and it has had a great influence on reading books. Therefore, popular military tales can be said to be the main source of reading books. Other sources of yomihon include early modern war chronicles such as "Zen Taiheiki" (written around 1681) that fictionalize Japanese wars, long Buddhist sermons such as "Kanzen Sakurahimeden" that are based on the source material of a monk's sermons, and fictionalized real events that are read in manuscript form such as "Satsuho Tenrinki." Tsuga Teisho's "Hanabusa Soshi" (published in 1749) was the first work to adopt these sources and adapt Chinese vernacular novels such as "San Yan Ni Bai" to establish the style of a typical yomihon in both bookbinding and content. This contains nine short stories, but from then until around the Kansei era (1789-1801), similar short story collections were produced in large numbers, mainly in Kamigata, and Ueda Akinari's "Ugetsu Monogatari" (published in 1776) is considered the highlight of these.

On the other hand, inspired by the architectural composition and detailed depiction of human figures in the great Chinese work "Suikoden," adaptations of the Suikoden, such as "The Eight Heroes of Xiangzhong" (published in 1768) and "Honcho Suikoden" (published in 1773), were published in rapid succession, and building on the tradition of these long reading books, Kyokutei Bakin later completed his masterpiece "Nansō Satomi Hakkenden." However, many of these early works were still just games for intellectuals.

[Takeshi Tokuda]

Expand

Around the time of the Kansei Reforms, publishing was established in Edo, and professional comic writers, who were restricted from depicting the realities of society, began to write readings that did not have to directly depict reality. Santokyoden's Chushin Suikoden (1799, 1801) is a long work that combines the ideas of Suikoden with the theatrical world of Kanadehon Chushingura, and is a typical Edo reading book with elaborate binding and illustrations. His disciple, Kyokutei Bakin, had also written "Takao Senjimon" (published in 1795) earlier, though it was a medium-sized work, and the two competed with each other in producing many Edo reading books thereafter, but it was Bakin, who had studied Chinese vernacular novels and had a strong writing ability, who took the lead and produced full-fledged romantic novels such as "Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki," "A Record of a Tour of the Islands of the Morning Mists," "Kinsetsu Setsu Bishounen Roku," and "Kaimaku Kyoki - Kyokaku Den," which were adapted into Japanese versions. Ryutei Tanehiko, Shikitei Sanba, Tamenaga Shunsui and others also wrote readings, but none of them were suited to the quality of their works. In Kamigata, Hayami Shungyosai and others were prolific writers, but they were unable to regain the initiative in the Kamigata region.

[Takeshi Tokuda]

Impact

After Tsubouchi Shoyo rejected the idea of rewarding good and punishing evil in "Hakkenden" in "The Essence of the Novel" in 1885 (Meiji 18), the influence of the Yomihon yomihon weakened, but it continued to be widely read until the 1890s, and in fact Shoyo and Koda Rohan, who were enthusiastic about Bakin, wrote what could be considered sequels.

[Takeshi Tokuda]

English Grass Papers
Volume 1, by Toga Teisho (Kinro-gyosha), published in 1749 (Kan'en 2), held at the National Diet Library .

English Grass Papers

"Legend of the Eight Dogs of Nanso Satomi"
Volume 1: Written by Kyokutei Bakin, published between 1814 and 1842 (Bunka 11 and Tenpo 13), held at the National Diet Library

"Legend of the Eight Dogs of Nanso Satomi"

"The Story of the Camellia and the Moon"
Volume 1, Part 1, by Kyokutei Bakin, illustrated by Katsushika Hokusai, published in 1807 (Bunka 4), owned by the National Diet Library

"The Story of the Camellia and the Moon"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

江戸時代の小説の一様式。書型は大本(おおほん)（美濃紙(みのがみ)二つ折りの大きさ）、半紙本(はんしぼん)（半紙二つ折りの大きさ）、中本(ちゅうほん)（美濃紙四半截(せつ)の大きさ）の3種があるが、半紙本が主流。挿絵が他の小説様式よりも少なく、文字を読む比重が大きいところから読本という。歴史に題材をとり、筋の展開のおもしろみを意図したうえで勧善懲悪・因果応報思想をもってこれを統一し、主題を明確にたて、合間には和漢の書籍に基づく議論や知識を開陳し、人情描写にも配慮し、硬質な和漢混淆(こんこう)文でつづる。中国の小説の様式や筋・趣向を学び取ることによって生まれた、近世ではもっとも知的で近代小説に近づいた小説である。

［徳田　武］

発生

近世前期の元禄(げんろく)（1688～1704）から享保(きょうほう)（1716～1736）にかけて、中国の長編講史（歴史）小説を翻訳した通俗軍談が続出した。『李卓吾先生批評―三国志』の忠実な翻訳『通俗三国志』（1689～1692刊）はその有名なものである。これらの軍談のうちには『新刊―大宋(そう)中興通俗演義』を翻訳しつつ、その間に翻案をも交えた『通俗両国志』（1721刊）のごとき作品があるが、その翻案法には後期の長編読本に通じるものがあり、また実際に読本に多くの影響を与えた。そこで、通俗軍談が読本の主要な源流であるといえる。このほかに『前(ぜん)太平記』（1681ころ成立）のごとき日本の戦乱を虚構化した近世軍記、『勧善桜姫伝』のごとき僧侶(そうりょ)の説法の種本を読物化した仏教長編勧化物、『殺報転輪記』のごとき実際の事件を虚構化して写本で読まれた実録物も、それぞれ読本の源流を形成している。これらの源流を摂取し、「三言二拍」などの中国白話小説を翻案して造本・内容ともに典型的な読本としての様式を初めて確立した作品が都賀庭鐘(つがていしょう)の『英(はなぶさ)草紙』（1749刊）である。これは9話の短編を収めるが、以後、寛政(かんせい)（1789～1801）ころまでは同様な短編集が主として上方(かみがた)で多作され、上田秋成(あきなり)の『雨月(うげつ)物語』（1776刊）は、それらのうちの白眉(はくび)とされる。

　一方、中国の一大雄編『水滸(すいこ)伝』の建築的な構成と精妙な人間像の描き分けに刺激されて、『湘中(しょうちゅう)八雄伝』（1768刊）、『本朝水滸伝』（1773刊）などの水滸翻案物も相前後して続出し、それら長編読本の伝統を踏まえて、のちには曲亭馬琴(ばきん)の『南総里見八犬伝(なんそうさとみはっけんでん)』という大作が完成される。しかし、これら前期の作品はなお多く知識人の遊戯であった。

［徳田　武］

展開

寛政の改革のころから江戸にも出版形態が確立し、現実の世相の描写を抑圧された職業的戯作(げさく)者が、直接に現実を描かなくてもすむ読本を執筆するようになる。山東京伝(さんとうきょうでん)の『忠臣水滸伝』（1799、1801刊）は、『仮名手本忠臣蔵』という演劇の世界に『水滸伝』の趣向を撮合(さつごう)した長編で、造本や挿絵にも技巧を凝らした、江戸読本の典型を打ち出す。その弟子筋にあたる曲亭馬琴も、それより早く、中本ではあるが『高尾船字文(たかおせんじもん)』（1795刊）を著し、以後2人は競作する形で江戸読本を多作するが、中国白話小説を勉強して筆力旺盛(おうせい)な馬琴が主導権を握り、日本化した『椿説弓張月(ちんせつゆみはりづき)』『朝夷巡島記(あさひなしまめぐりのき)』『近世説美少年録(きんせせつびしょうねんろく)』『開巻驚奇―侠客(きょうかく)伝』などの本格的な演義体小説を創出した。柳亭種彦(りゅうていたねひこ)、式亭三馬(しきていさんば)、為永春水(ためながしゅんすい)らも読本を著すが、いずれもその資質にはあわず、上方にも速水春暁斎(はやみしゅんぎょうさい)などが多作するが、主導権を上方に取り戻すには至らなかった。

［徳田　武］