I. Review of Bushido in Chushingura Treasury of Loyal Retainers

A. In Edo period (1603-1868) replacement of Buddhism (abhorence of killing) with Neo-Confucian morality (justifies rigid hierarchical order, okay to kill in a just cause)

1. Loyalty: highest value is loyalty to superiors

2. Suicide: committing suicide is ultimate way to prove loyalty

a. Chushingura: (Kampei, Heimon and Okaru, all 47 retainers in the end)

b. instead of suicide, can substitute your own son (Kumagai in Battle of Ichinotani); not clear if this ever happened in real life or if it is only a set plot element in Kabuki

3. "Righteous vendetta" is now okay, but must be okayed by government

a. Neo-Confucianism versus Buddhist ideas about passionate attachment

b. sympathy of audience

4. Disinterest in wealth

B. Review of Genres, Audience and Patronage

1. Genre expectations influence plot elements

a. giri verus ninjo as conflict generator

b. "substitution of your son" plot element (shows up in numerous jidaimono)

2. What was the audience/patronage for Kabuki and Bunraku?

a. NOT

b.

3. What was the main goal?

a.

4. How (and why) did samurai Neo-Confucian values affect stories?

a. shared common values (ideology)

b. government censorship, eg. "Punish the good, reward the evil"

c. BUT intensity of censorship changes in response to strength or weakness of government

1) early 18th century: Chushingura or Battle of Ichinotani

2) early 19th century: Yotsuya Ghost Stories (1825)

5. Development of "worlds" (sekai) in response to censorship, which forbade jidaimono about contemporary political events and living samurai or aristocrats

a. definition: "conventional settings or 'worlds' (sekai) populated with selected historical and fictional figures used by many puppet--and particularly, kabuki--playwrights in creating new plays. By setting contemporary plots in early periods, the playwright could add new levels of meaning and avoid being censored by government authorities." (TJT p. 543)

b. Chushingura is based on a real event (see intro to play). In 1702 a lord was forced to commit suicide because he drew his sword in the presence of a shogunal deputy; 46 of his now masterless retainers bided their time, and then on the anniversary of their lord's death (1703), they attacked and killed the other lord. Three months later the government ruled that because they had not registered their vendetta with the government they all had to commit suicide.

To avoid government censorship Chushingura was set in the world of the Taiheiki (covering historical events from 1318-1338) using both real/historical and fictional characters.

II. Review of Chushingura story

A. Basic Story

    1. Chûshingura major story characters:
            a. Enya Hangan (good guy-Lord)
            b. Ko no Moronao (bad guy-Lord)
            c. 47 ronin ("loyal retainers" of Enya Hangan, who after his death become ronin, or masterless samurai, including their leader the chief retainer Yuranosuke)

d. Kampei and Heimon are very low-ranking retainers who:

1) are not trusted to follow appropriate samurai values (and so are tested)

2) don't have the money to join the vendetta (which is why Kampei's wife and Heimon's sister, Okaru, is sold into prostitution)

 B. What values does Chûshingura celebrate?
           1.
           2.
           3.
 

 

 

III. Yotsuya Ghost Stories (Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan)

A. author: Tsuruya Nanboku IV (1755-1829)

B. first performance: 1825, interwoven into a two-day performance of Chushingura

    1. situation of Tokugawa government: weak; will fall within 40 years

a. Nanboku takes full advantage of government laxity

2. popularity of new kinds of Kabuki: ghost stories (kaidan), kizewamono (twisted or raw domestic dramas) and shiranami mono (bandit/outlaw dramas)

a. In Yotsuya Ghost Stories Nanboku mixes all three new types, with lots of spectacular effects (quick changes etc.) and including sly references to contemporary scandals

b. All three new types showcase the lower depths of Edo period class structure (low-level prostitutes, beggars and outcastes, bandits and thieves) and include a good deal of violence

c. Nanboku introduces new male type (adding to aragoto and wagoto): the iroaku or "sexy bad guy"

d. Although ultimately good triumphs and evil is punished, evil is given much more attention along the way.

III. Basic Story of Yotsuya

images

A. Characters and connection to Chushingura

1. Iemon (former retainer of Enya Hangan, now masterless)
2. Oiwa (his wife)
3. Kohei (former servant of Matanojo, who was a retainer of Enya Hangan, now working for Iemon)
4. Ito Kihei (doctor who works for Ko no Moronao) and his daughter Oume (who is in love with Iemon)
5. Yomoshichi (retainer of Enya Hangan in disguise; husband of Oiwa's sister Osode; Osode believes him murdered in the first act, but he returns to avenge Oiwa and kill Iemon in the final act)

B. parallel story lines

1. Killing your father-in-law plot line:
a. Kanpei thinks he has killed his father-in-law and commits suicide
b. Iemon *has* killed his father-in-law, and has tricked Oiwa into marrying him by promising to find the murderer and get revenge

2. Revenge for an unjust death
a. righteous vendetta by 47 ronin against Ko no Moronao
b. righteous vendetta that Oiwa believes Iemon will carry out
c. revenge that ghosts of Oiwa and Kohei wreak on Iemon (actually carried out by Oiwa's brother-in-law Yomoshichi)

C. How does Yotsuya Ghost Stories problematize:

1. virtue of loyalty?
2. value of traditional vendettas?
3. the role of women (cf Oiwa to Osan)?
4. the power of wealth?

D. How are samurai values supported?

1. parody always assumes shared values -- the audience knows how you're supposed to act -- and then presents the opposite. But this means that samurai values are assumed to be the correct values, even as the characters go against them.

2. In the original, the values of Chushingura are standing behind Yotsuya Ghost Stories

3. In the end, Iemon does get his comeuppance by Oiwa's brother-in-law Yomoshichi, so evil is punished.

E. Ghosts in Kabuki versus Noh

1. What do these ghosts look like? What is their motivation?
2. How are they pacified? Does Buddhism play any role?

a. Kohei gets medicine for Matanojo, so he can participate in vendetta

b. Oiwa drives Iemon insane and then Momoshichi kills him [image]

F. What to watch for in video

1. the same actor plays Kohei and Oiwa -- how is it done?
2. how the transformation of Oiwa occurs performatively

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Yotsuya as a parody/commentary on Chûshingura  (A Treasure of Loyal Retainers, 1748)

D. How does Yotsuya pervert and betray those values?

E. How does Yotsuya continue to support samurai values?