Week 7a Outline (Fall 2016)

I. The samurai code of honor as represented in the medieval Tale of the Heike :

A. Courage in Battle

1. vying to be the first to attack (the first and second attackers)

2. always looking for a good opponent:  absolutely essential not to be defeated by someone socially inferior to you.

B. Suicide: rather than being defeated by someone socially inferior to you

C. Loyalty to family and to superior: is loyalty to a superior the most important value in the medieval warrior code?

1. counter examples from Tale of the Heike

a. Tanzo, superintendent of Kumano Shrine goes over to the Genji because of an oracle, and takes with him two thousand men on 200 boats

b. Dolphins swim under the Heike boats and this is seen as a bad omen; the warrior Shigeyoshi's son Noriyoshi is captured by the Heike, and so he deserts to the Genji side with their secret defense plans. This desertion decides the battle, since many others desert when they see Shigeyoshi do so.

In real battle situations being on the winning side is more important than loyalty.

II. The Tale of the Heike: Taira no Atsumori [Heike] and Kumagae no Naozane [Genji] (images)

A. What is the main conflict in the original story of Atsumori's death? (Why does Kumagae hesitate to kill Atsumori?)

B. Are cowardice or loyalty a consideration?

"Killing this one person w on't change defeat into victory, and sparing him won't change victory into defeat. When I think of how I grieved when Naoie got just a little wound , it's easy to imagine how this young lord's father would feel if he heard that he'd be killed. I have a notion to let him go.” Casting a swift glance to the rear, he discovered Sanehira and Kagetoki coming along with fifty riders. “I'd like to spare you,” he said restraining tears, “but there are Genji warriors everywhere. You can't possibly escape. It will be better if I'm the one to kill you, because I'll offer prayers for you.”… (395)

C. Is it a religious conflict?

D. What are Kumagae's feelings afterward?

“No life is as miserable as a warrior's. It's only because I was born into a military house that I've had this terrible experience. What a cruel thing I've done.” He pressed his sleeve to his face and wept. (395)

D. What role does Kagetoki or Hirayama play?

III. Atsumori in the Noh play (images)

A. What is the main conflict?

1. Conditioned by:

a. structure of second category dream vision noh with Samurai as focus (reenacting their final battles in the Ashura warrior realm)

b. patronage of Buddhist temples (Buddhist didacticism)

c. patronage by high ranking samurai like Ashikaga Yoshimitsu who wants to see samurai on stage

B. How is that conflict resolved?

C. How has the focus shifted from Tale of Heike?

1. Who is the center of attention in Tale of Heike?

2. In Atsumori?

D. How has the religious conflict changed?

E. Second category noh plays present characters like Atsumori as the ideal of Bunbu 文武(equal proficiency with arts and military)

1. created for high ranking samurai patrons such as Ashikaga Yoshimitsu who have very elevated aesthetic tastes

F. Class issues

1. The fall of the great to lowly positions ("Envy none above you, despise none below")

G. Other themes:

1. Loneliness (abandonment by family and friends): Atsumori is left behind on the beach by his family

2. True friendship in the Buddhist law ("Leave the company of an evil friend, cleave to the foe you judge a good man")

H Summary: Tale of Heike and Noh share similar medieval samurai values, but patronage and goals are different, leading to different versions of the story.

III. The development of a samurai code of honor (Bushidô = “The Way of the Warrior”) in the Edo/Tokugawa period (1603-1868)

A. Why does an explicit samurai code of honor develop in the Edo period, when samurai no longer fight? Why was one even needed?

A. No war for 250 years (very little social mobility)

B. Economic changes

a. samurai as bureaucrats with fixed stipends (problem of inflation)

a. shift to mercantile (cash) econonomy: merchants' role in the economy and as lenders to samurai

C. Neo-Confucianism encourages rigid hierarchy and loyalty to superiors

D. Why would the Tokugawa shogunate encourage loyalty to superiors as the highest value?

1. you can't move the government hierarchy up by fighting (overthrowing your superior); you can only move up by demonstrating the greatest loyalty to your superior

E. Bushido demonstrates that Samurai deserve to rule even if they don't fight, because of their superior moral code

Comparison of Samurai values in medieval and Edo period Japan:

1. Loyalty

a. medieval: family first, then superiors

b. Edo: loyalty to superiors at all cost, even if your family suffers

2. Suicide

a. medieval: to avoid a disgraceful death in battle

b. Edo: for the slightest infraction of the samurai code

3. Courage

a. medieval: in battle

b. Edo: because there are no battles to be fought, willingness to kill yourself is now the only way you can demonstrate courage

IV. Atsumori in The Chronicle of the Battle of Ichi no Tani (images)

Characters: Kumagai, his son Kojiro (disguised as Atsumori), his wife Sagami, Fuji no Kata (Atsumori's mother and Sagami's former mistress), Minamoto Yoshitsune, Hirayama NOTE THAT ATSUMORI DOES NOT REALLY EVEN APPEAR IN THIS PLAY!

A. What is the conflict? Giri (duty/loyalty) versus ninjo (human emotions, love)

"Because of his debt Kumagai must not kill Atsumori, nor must he shed Imperial blood. Yet as a soldier, it would be shameful for him to spare an enemy."(from play synopsis)

1. Conflict of giri:

a. debt: Loyalty to Fuji no Kata for interceding 16 years ago

NOTE THAT THIS IS COMPLETELY MADE UP!

b. Supposed problem of shedding imperial blood:

NOTE: historically, Atsumori was the grandson of the retired emperor Go-Shirakawa (intimation in the play that he is the illegitimate son of the emperor)

1) Why was imperial blood a non-issue in the historical Genji-Heike wars?

c. Cowardice:

1) Was this an issue in Tale of the Heike?

2. Conflict of ninjô

a. Kumagae decides because of poem written on placard that he will substitute his own son (who agrees to do this).

b. Where does the playwright get the idea about substitution?

1) Tale of Heike (sons are about the same age)

2) substitution plot is very common Kabuki plot element in jidaimono history plays because it generates huge emotional conflict and allows for virtuoso acting

3) demonstrates the ideology of Bushido and the superiority of samurai, so meets Tokugawa censorship

B. Issues of Religion

1. Why is the moral issue of killing not important now?

a.

b.

2. What role does Buddhism play in the Kabuki version?

a. Belief in Pure Land Buddhism (calling on Amida Buddha for rebirth in Amida's Pure Land heaven) softens the harshness of fate of warriors that have to live by the Neo-Confucian Bushido

b. Kumagai's reason for becoming a priest is changed

C. Summary

1. Why is sacrificing loved ones for duty and honor okay now (versus medieval period)?

a. Medieval counter-example: Shigeyoshi's defection to the Genji/Minamoto in the Battle of Dan no Ura because his son Noriyoshi has been captured

b. Effect of peacetime and rigid hierarchy imposed by Tokugawa:

1) there is no "other side" to switch to

2) extreme loyalty is the only way to prove yourself

c. Adoption is now possible to continue bloodline, so loss of son is emotionally difficult but not necessarily the end of your house

2. Use of ethical code to create conflict needed to make drama interesting:

a. Giri/ninjô conflict in Kabuki is not necessarily "true to life" and certainly not true to medieval period historical situation

b. but the fact that samurai in jidaimono written in the Edo period always have the strength to put giri (duty) before ninjo (emotion) means they have the moral superiority to lead the nation in the Edo period

Video: Atsumori (full performance, no subtitles)

Video: Suma Bay scenes from Ichinotani Futaba Gunki