DISCUSSING THE TALE OF THE HEIKE IN THE EDO PERIOD

468 Pages·2017·4.14 MB·English

DISCUSSING THE TALE OF THE HEIKE IN THE EDO PERIOD:
DIDACTIC COMMENTARIES AS GUIDES TO WISE RULE
FOR WARRIOR-OFFICIALS
by

Alexey Lushchenko
M.A., The University of British Columbia, 2010
B.A., The University of British Columbia, 2008

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
in
THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES
(Asian Studies)

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
(Vancouver)

April 2018

© Alexey Lushchenko, 2018
Abstract

In the premodern period, the Tale of the Heike (thirteenth century CE) was regarded
either as a source for popular entertainment, such as musical and performing arts, or a historical
text used for scholarly purposes. Most studies on the Tale of the Heike’s reception have focused
on the work’s literary and artistic side, while scholarly reception has remained neglected. This
dissertation explores the use of the Tale of the Heike by seventeenth-century scholars of “military
studies” (heigaku or hyōgaku), who compiled treatises and commentaries (gunsho) on leadership,
statecraft, history, and ethics aimed at domain lords and warrior-officials of different levels. This
study focuses on the category of evaluative commentaries (hyōban) on medieval texts that
combined critical discussion, admonition of rulers, and plausible “secrets” in order to caution
against mistakes and explain proper leadership. I argue that the commentary Heike monogatari
hyōban hidenshō (1650) reinterpreted the courtly and Buddhist content of the Tale of the Heike
in terms of pragmatic leadership and ethics relevant to warrior-officials of the Edo period (1603-
1868), and that this commentarial appropriation brought the Tale of the Heike into the sphere of
warrior-officials’ scholarship and cultivation. The dissertation begins with a detailed overview of
the understudied field of military studies in premodern East Asia and Japan. Based on an analysis
of primary sources, I then discuss the content and commentarial approaches of evaluative
commentary on the Tale of the Heike, its readership and circulation, as well as related texts. The
study concludes with a comparative analysis which situates the commentary within the Japanese
discourse of historical discussion and admonition, and also places it in the category of didactic
guides to statecraft that are found in different cultures and are known as “mirrors for princes.”
This study reveals a new facet of the Tale of the Heike’s reception centered on didactic
commentarial works influenced by military studies, which constituted an important current in
ii
premodern Japanese intellectual history that shaped perceptions of state, society, leadership, and
identity of warrior-officials throughout the Edo period.
iii
Lay Summary
The Tale of the Heike (thirteenth century CE) gives a panoramic account of the Genpei
conflict (1180-1185 CE) with a focus on the rise and fall of the Heike family. This major
medieval work has exerted lasting influence on Japanese arts and culture. In this dissertation I
examine several understudied commentaries on the Tale of the Heike that show how this work
was read by warrior-officials, the ruling elite in the Edo period (1603-1868). The commentaries
critically evaluate historical figures appearing in the work and function as guides to wise
leadership, statecraft, and ethics. I bring attention to scholars of so-called “military studies” who
were involved in the production of such commentaries, and who served as teachers and advisors
to rulers regarding governance and ethics. This dissertation sheds light on new aspects of
premodern Japanese education and scholarship, and reveals how texts were reinterpreted as
didactic guides on statecraft.
iv
Preface

This dissertation is the original, unpublished, independent work of the author, Alexey
Lushchenko.
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Table of Contents

Abstract .................................................................................................................................... ii
Lay Summary ........................................................................................................................... iv
Preface ....................................................................................................................................... v
Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... vi
List of Figures........................................................................................................................... xi
Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................xii
Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................ 1
1.1 Literature Review ........................................................................................................5
1.2 Chapter Outline ......................................................................................................... 10
Chapter 2: Context: History and Intellectual History ........................................................... 16
2.1 Military Studies in Premodern China ......................................................................... 16
2.2 The Seven Military Classics ....................................................................................... 21
2.3 The Warring States Context in Japan: Lords with Civil and Martial Functions ........... 36
2.4 Military Studies in East Asia: Manchu Rulers and Qing China ................................... 38
2.5 Intellectual History: Research on Japanese Texts and Concepts Related to Warriors .. 45
2.5.1 Changing Perceptions of Japan: The Civil and the Martial.................................. 47
2.5.2 Research on Edo-period Intellectual History: Martial Authority (bui 武威) ........ 51
2.5.3 Research on Medieval Intellectual History: Dealing with Alterity ...................... 53
2.6 Medieval Military Texts and Beliefs .......................................................................... 56
2.7 Military Studies in Japan before the Edo Period ......................................................... 65
2.8 Warrior Education in the Edo Period .......................................................................... 75
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2.9 Schools of Military Studies in the Edo Period ............................................................ 78
2.10 Publishing Military Studies Texts .............................................................................. 82
2.11 Criticism and Tensions within Military Studies .......................................................... 87
2.12 Veneration of Past Heroes .......................................................................................... 92
2.13 Examples of Noteworthy Non-mainstream Currents in Thought ................................ 95
2.13.1 Buddhism and Shinto: Prince Shōtoku’s Divine Military Teaching .................... 95
2.13.2 Three Shinto-based Teachings ............................................................................ 97
Chapter 3: Reading, Discussion, and Texts for Warrior-Officials ...................................... 102
3.1 Elite or Popular? ...................................................................................................... 102
3.2 Scholars around Daimyo Patrons: The Case of Yamaga Sokō .................................. 106
3.3 Military Scholars, Patronage, and Warrior Identity .................................................. 114
3.4 Military Texts (gunsho 軍書): Classification, Circulation, and Reading ................... 119
3.5 Reading in the Edo Period: Group Discussion of Texts ............................................ 128
Chapter 4: Hyōban Commentaries: Content, Functions, and Aims .................................... 139
4.1 Criticism and Admonition: Context for Hyōban Commentaries................................ 139
4.2 Hyōban-style Evaluation of the Tale of the Heike: A Passage from Keian Taiheiki .. 144
4.3 Hyōban Commentary of the Taiheiki and its Features .............................................. 148
4.4 The Functions of Hyōban Commentaries and Warrior Thought ................................ 154
4.4.1 Hyōban as Tools for Inter-school Disagreements .............................................. 154
4.4.2 Hyōban as Complementary Investigation ......................................................... 157
4.5 The Relationship between the Three Commentaries on the Tale of the Heike ........... 161
4.6 The Heike hyōban in the Edo Period: Gunsho Texts and Attitudes to History ........... 164
4.7 The Heike hyōban and Other Gunsho Texts: Ways to Engage Readers ..................... 171
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Chapter 5: Heike monogatari hyōban hidenshō: A Didactic Commentary for Rulers ........ 179
5.1 Commentarial Approaches and Techniques in the Heike hyōban .............................. 179
5.1.1 Filling in Gaps within the Heike ....................................................................... 179
5.1.1.1 Adding a New Perspective ............................................................. 180
5.1.1.2 Adding New Details....................................................................... 181
5.1.1.3 Adding New Legends .................................................................... 183
5.1.2 A Didactic Lecture with Advice and Admonishment to a Superior ................... 189
5.1.3 Borrowing the Authority of Classics and Military Studies Texts....................... 196
5.1.4 Modifying a Character’s Image ........................................................................ 200
5.1.5 Contrasting Ancient Ideals with Common Faults .............................................. 211
5.2 The Stance of the Heike hyōban and the Heike karui on Military Studies ................. 225
5.3 Additional Passages from the Heike hyōban Related to Governance and Warriors ... 244
5.3.1 Lord and Subjects ............................................................................................ 244
5.3.2 Conspiracies and Plots ..................................................................................... 248
5.3.3 Knowing People ............................................................................................... 253
5.3.4 True and False Bravery of Warriors ................................................................. 254
5.3.5 True and False Ambitions of Warriors.............................................................. 257
5.3.6 Attitude to Divination ...................................................................................... 262
Chapter 6: Heike monogatari hyōban hidenshō: Research, Reception and Circulation ..... 269
6.1 Overview of Modern Research on the Heike hyōban ................................................ 269
6.2 Overview of Edo-period Reception of the Heike hyōban .......................................... 275
6.2.1 The Heike karui as Reception of the Heike hyōban ........................................... 286
6.3 Circulation of the Heike hyōban Commentary in the Edo Period .............................. 298
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6.3.1 Manjuin Temple ............................................................................................... 298
6.3.2 The Catalogue of the Imaōji Family of Medical Otogishū ................................ 302
6.3.3 Domain Schools and Military Studies Education .............................................. 306
6.3.4 Catalogues of Lending Libraries/Bookstores .................................................... 313
6.3.4.1 Kashihon’ya in Suwa, Shinano Province ........................................ 314
6.3.4.2 Himeji Provincial Kashihon’ya Catalogue...................................... 314
6.3.4.3 Meigandō Kashihon’ya in Sunpu ................................................... 315
6.3.4.4 The Daisō Kashihon’ya of Nagoya................................................. 316
Chapter 7: Hyōban Commentaries and the Tradition of Discussion and Criticism ........... 319
7.1 Didactic and Pragmatic Views of History in Premodern China ................................. 320
7.2 Pre-Edo Historical Writings: Discussion and Admonition ........................................ 323
7.3 Edo-period Didactic Commentaries Similar to the Heike hyōban ............................. 335
7.4 The Teikanhyō as a Key to the Heike hyōban ........................................................... 341
7.5 Other Hyōban Works of the Edo Period ................................................................... 359
Chapter 8: The Heike hyōban and Other Gunsho as Japan’s “Mirrors for Princes” ........ 366
8.1 Didactic Allegorisation: Grafting Didactic Content onto a Text ............................... 367
8.2 Political Debates and Allegorical Interpretation ....................................................... 372
8.3 Mirrors for Princes ................................................................................................... 376
8.4 Machiavelli and the Jesuits ...................................................................................... 384
8.5 Several Comparative Remarks on “Secret” Scholarship ........................................... 401
Chapter 9: Conclusion .......................................................................................................... 407
Bibliography .......................................................................................................................... 414
Appendices ............................................................................................................................ 425
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Appendix A Curriculum and Transmission Format of Military Studies Schools ............... 425
Appendix B Passages from the Heike monogatari hyōban hidenshō ................................ 436
Appendix C Сommentaries on the Tale of the Heike: An Overview ................................. 452
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