The Tales of the Heike » (1st Edition)

Burton Watson has taught Chinese and Japanese literature at Columbia, Stanford, and Kyoto Universities. He is the winner of the PEN Translation Prize and in 2005 was awarded an American Academy of Arts and Letters Prize in literature. His translations include Chuang Tzu: Basic Writings, Ryokan: Zen Monk-Poet of Japan, and The Lotus Sutra, all published by Columbia University Press. He lives in Tokyo, Japan.

Haruo Shirane is Shincho Professor of Japanese Literature and Culture at Columbia University. He is the author and editor of numerous works on Japanese literature, including Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600-1900 (Columbia University Press); Inventing the Classics: Modernity, National Identity, and Japanese Literature; Traces of Dreams: Landscape, Cultural Memory, and the Poetry of Basho; The Bridge of Dreams: A Poetics of The Tale of Genji; Classical Japanese: A Grammar (Columbia University Press); and the forthcoming Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600 (Columbia University Press).

Originally written in the mid-thirteenth century, The Tales of the Heike chronicles the epic Genpei war, a civil conflict that marked the end of the power of the Heike clan and changed the course of Japanese history. Featuring a vivid cast of characters, the book depicts the emerging world of the medieval samurai and recounts in absorbing detail the chaos of the battlefield, the intrigue of the imperial court, and the gradual loss of courtly tradition. This new, abridged translation presents the work's most gripping episodes and includes woodblock illustrations, a glossary of characters, and an extended bibliography.

Kirkus Reviews

Intriguing, mini-sagas of samurai derring-do and nimble wit, with a distinctly Buddhist flavor. Garbed in fabulous gear-"black-laced armor over a dark blue battle robe"-the 15th-century Japanese warrior monk Jomyo Meishu of Tutsui, in the blink of an eye, nails 20 men with his bow and arrow. A cunning chancellor ferrets out court conspiracies by infiltrating 300 teenagers, "the Rokuhara lord's short-haired boys," into the populace to spy on subversives. The wondrous champion dancer Gio, realizing that "we are mere sojourners in this life" turns her back on glamour and, retreating to a mountain sanctuary, spends the rest of her days reciting the name of the Buddha. Such are the facets of this jewel of a collection, compiling warrior tales, told by blind lute minstrels, that form the basis of No and Kabuki drama. Intended to laud and lament the courageous fallen, the adventure yarns are permeated often with an elegiac, wistful air, a resigned sense that "what flourishes must fade." Fans of classic Asian literature, especially of the world's first novel, Lady Murasaki's The Tale of Genji, will recognize the fastidious attention to detail here-the cut of the clothes, the nuanced etiquette, the lyrical language-that contrasts these stories with their Western counterparts, either Homeric or Arthurian. What also distinguishes these tales is the poignant tension between the hero's inspiring quest for glory and his ultimate realization-perhaps even more inspiring-that any transitory glory is only another form of attachment: the chief adversary of Buddhist enlightenment. An excellent introduction, tracing the genre's historical context, and a complete glossary of characters make this editioninvaluable not only for aficionados of Japanese writing but for all students of myth. Terrifically exciting and spiritually rich.