Yoshitsune (Gikeiki)

Translated by Helen Craig McCullough

Stanford University Press, 1966; Pages: 367

In this companion piece to the famous Heike Monogatari, the unknown 15th century author traces the story of Yoshitsune, the dashing young Genji general and half-brother of the founder of the Kamakura bakufu Yoritomo, whose meteoric rise to fame during the Gempei War (1180-85) came to a poignant halt when the slanders of rivals caused Yoritomo to turn against him. This is Helen McCullough's superb full translation of the war tale and it is accompanied with a useful long introduction to the topic for those unfamiliar with Japanese history.

I regard YOSHITSUNE as complementary to THE TALE OF THE HEIKE for two reasons. First, it fills an obvious gap in the other chronicle, whose topic is the fall of the Taira clan, by providing the story of one legendary Minamoto participants. One cannot help but wonder what happens to Yoshitsune after he incurs Yoritomo's displeasure even though the tale only features him briefly, and only as a successful military campaigner. Second, YOSHITSUNE's author strives to give an almost complete, as far as possible, narrative of his protagonist's life, beginning with his early days as Ushiwaka, and ending with his suicide. Interestingly, it seems that the author might have reckoned a similar role for his creation, for the exploits that figure prominently in the first chronicle --- the historical battles at Ichi-no-tani and Dan-no-ura --- are dismissed in passing while minor incidents, like the story of Benkei, or the detailed account of Yoshitsune's escape to Ôshû, are indulged in with glorious abandon.

The style is reminiscent of Heike monogatari, but in some ways excels over the illustrious predecessor. For example, there are few descriptions of military attire, and there are no long lists of participants in events. Although doubtless fascinating to the medieval Japanese audiences, such formalism seems tedious and extraneous to modern Western readers. The fact that these descriptions are usually highly stylized and do not vary much only adds to the strain. What little enumeration there exists in YOSHITSUNE is relegated by the translator to an appendix, a truly welcome innovation. The other element of style is the brisk, action-oriented narrative, which shows an author keenly aware of the dramatic elements in his story and unwilling to sacrifice the dynamism for needless detail. This also brings the work closer for modern readers. Helen McCullough deserves all the credit for this, and the quality of this translation has been recognized by UNESCO, which has included it in the series of Japanese translations.

The story itself makes a fascinating reading, for it mixes legend and historical fact with uncanny ease, and yet remains strangely realistic and philosophical. There are frequent interjections that reflect on the "nature" of things in a very Buddhist sort of way, which further endows events with deeper, cosmic significance. Much in this chronicle is larger than life, like Benkei. With customary gusto, numbers are exaggerated --- for example, Yasuhira's force that attacked Yoshitsune's Koromogawa castle is said to have numbered 30,000 when in reality it was more like 300 --- to enhance the legendary status of the warriors, women die of grief, and men talk a lot after ripping open their belies and using their intestines to polish their knives. Yet, none of this seems distracting or pretentious. If anything, the pathetic end of Yoshitsune's entire family was made even sadder by the contrast with these glorious events.

Since the story is familiar to anyone with even passing knowledge of Japanese history, I shall not retell it here. Suffice to say that the tale preserves the commonly accepted interpretation of Yoshitsune's downfall as being caused by Kajiwara Kagesue's aspersions which inflamed Yoritomo's suspicions that his brother was fomenting rebellion. This doubtless underscores the tragedy in Yoshitsune's fate, but one cannot help and regard this as an embellishment. It seems more plausible that Yoshitsune did indeed harbor thoughts that would have upset his brother's careful planning (wanting to rule the provinces West of the Osaka barrier would certainly qualify) and Yoritomo's swift destruction of the Fujiwara rule in Ôshû following Yoshitsune's suicide may have been premeditated instead of caused by his anger at Yasuhira.

Whatever the true reasons, the chronicle remains as captivating as ever. I found the stories of Shizuka, Yoshitsune's love and famous courtesan, and the legendary death of Satô Tadanobu, his valiant retainer, particularly moving. There are many passages that one reads and re-reads for the extremely visual descriptions. The appendices, which include supplementary material like an index of names and places, are also useful.

As any tale worth its salt, YOSHITSUNE has its share of villains, usually cowardly retainers (who are dismissed in silence) or treacherous women. One such woman was Kaya, the girl who had fallen in love with Tadanobu before this relationship became unlucky due to his association with the fugitive Yoshitsune. When Tadanobu returned to the capital following the miraculous escape after his heroic stand against the monks in the mountains, Kaya betrayed him to the Hôjô Yoshitoki. This is the occasion for the author to indulge in one of my favorite pieces of generalizing:

Nothing is so loathsome to contemplate, so distressing and irrational, as feminine love, which passes into nothingness more rapidly than a streak of lightning, a May fly, or a snowflake on the water (pp. 200-1).

Of course, this statement should be balanced by the self-sacrifice and constancy of other women like Shizuka and Yoshitsune's wife, whose bravery rivals that of the most trustworthy retainers.

August 22, 2001.

@BOOK{mccullough-66:yoshitsune,
    TITLE     = {Yoshitsune},
    AUTHOR    = {},
    YEAR      = {1966},
    PUBLISHER = {Stanford University Press},
    ADDRESS   = {Stanford},
    ISBN      = {},
    NOTE      = {Translated by Helen Craig McCullough; index, Pp. 376}
}