English
Their works are by no means uniform in this respect, and some of them contain a large element of romance, “ JITSUROKU-MONO”’ In the Hezke Monogatari and Tathetkt we have seen examples of what may be called “history paraphrased.” The authors of similar works in the eighteenth century went a step further. They treated real personages and ~* events with still greater freedom, and thus produced what, notwithstanding the name /7tsuroku-mono (“True Record”), was in reality closely akin to the historical novel. Their favourite themes are battles and vendettas, warlike exploits, and the disorders which from time to time dis- turbed the peace of the Daimios’ Governments. Their style is for the most part plain and unadorned, but not without a certain naive charm, and their works are still popular, although the authors’ names have long been forgotten. Among the principal works of this kind may be men- tioned the Okubo Musashi Vorot, Onna Tatheiki, Mikawa Go Fudoki, Taikoki, and the Oka Seidan. The Tazkoki, written in the early years of this century, relates the history of the famous soldier and statesman Hideyoshi in a highly imaginative fashion and at enormous length. It is to be distinguished from the earlier Tazkoki already Tg SN ee JITSUROKU-MONO 309 noticed, and from subsequent works with the same or similar titles. An even more popular work was the Oka Seidan, which purports to be a collection of causes célébres tried by a judge named Oka Echizen no Kami, famous for his impartiality and acumen. He was Machibugio or civil governor of Yedo, a post which carried with it high judi- cial powers, under the Shogun Yoshimune, in the early part of the eighteenth century. The Oka Seidan consists of forty-three stories, some of which are founded on fact, though the hand of the _romancist is readily distinguishable in all. It may be cordially recommended to European students for its simple, unpretentious style, which is entirely free from the irritating tricks of the writers of superfine Japanese. The most interesting of the stories related in this bulky volume is the first. It is an account of an attempt by a scoundrelly young Buddhist priest, named Tenichi Bo, to pass himself off on the Shogun! as a son of his bya woman whom he had known in his youth. In order to carry out this design, he and his accomplices commit some forty murders and other crimes. By means which recall the devices of a famous claimant of our own day, they persuade the merchants of Osaka and Kidto to advance them large sums of money wherewith to furnish Tenichi Bo with an outfit suitable to his supposed station. He then proceeds to Yedo with a train of several hundred followers, and takes up his residence there in a handsome yashikt, built specially for his reception from the funds supplied by his deluded adherents. The Shogun is strongly inclined to recognise him; but Judge Oka, at the imminent risk of receiving an invitation to commit 1 Arai Hakuseki’s patron, Yoshimune. ar 310 JAPANESE LITERATURE hara-kirt, urges caution. He ultimately succeeds in trac- — ing out, by his detectives, the whole history of Tenichi Bo’s criminal career, and the story ends dramatically with the arrest, exposure, and execution of the chief culprits. It is true in all its more important features. The /itsuroku-mono were suppressed by the Shogun’s Government in 1804, as containing matter injurious to the fame of Iyeyasu, the deified founder of the dynasty, and his lieutenants. At the same time all mention of real personages belonging to the military caste who lived after 1573 was prohibited in works of fiction. The /ztsu- _ roku-mono continued, however, to be read in manuscripts, which formed a substantial part of the stock of the circu- | lating libraries. “WASOBIOYE” (1774) Wasobidye is a sort of Japanese Gulliver. The hero ~ drifts out to sea from the port of Nagasaki in a fishing- boat, and reaches the Land of Perennial Youth and Life, the Land of Endless Plenty, the Land of Shams, and finally the Land of Giants, meeting with numerous adventures, which are related with no little humour. This work has not been treated as a very important con- tribution to Japanese literature. Mr. Chamberlain, who has translated the best part of it for the 7vansactions of the Astatic Society of Japan,’ speaks of it as of no par- ticular importance or celebrity, and the native writers of literary history take no notice of it whatever. It appears to me that it is deserving of a more favourable judgment, and I confess that I prefer it to the more celebrated work suggested by it, namely, the AZusdbzoye of Bakin, I tran- 2 Vol, vii, (1879). WASOBIOYE 311 scribe from Mr. Chamberlain’s version a passage which ‘will give some idea of its character :— “Now you must know that, as in this country. there were no such phenomena as death and disease, none of the people knew what death or disease felt like, though they were much given to speculating on the subject. Some few volumes of the Buddhist Scriptures that had been brought over in ancient times from India and China, described heaven in such glowing terms that they were filled with quite a desperate admiration for death, and distaste for their own never-ending existence, so much so that when, as a rare exception, any of their countrymen chanced to die, he was envied in the same manner as in Japan would be envied one who should have obtained immortality. They stuaied the ‘art of death’ as it were the art of magic, retiring to mountain districts and secluded valleys, where they subjected themselves to all manner of ascetic privations, which, however, rarely obtained for them the desired effect. In the matter of food, all such articles as ginseng, wild potatoes, eels, wild duck, &c., which increase the action of the kidneys, and strengthen the spleen and stomach, were feared and avoided as being poisonously life-giving ; whereas what people of rank and consideration highly prized and de- lighted in were such viands as were likely to cause the eater’s death. Thus mermaids were unusually cheap and plentiful—plentiful as cuttle-fish on the coast of Idzumi—and you might see slices of them piled up on dishes, as well as whole ones hanging from the ‘eaves of every cook-shop. But nobody who was anybody would touch with the tips of his fingers a fish so apt to poison you to life, and it was accordingly left to the lowest of the populace. The globe-fish was much esteemed, 312 JAPANESE LITERATURE commanding a high price, and a favourite dish to set before the most honoured guests was a broth made of this fish powdered over with soot. These would not, of course, in this Land of Perennial Youth and Life, actually kill a man. But still the poison would have a certain slight effect, making him feel giddy for half-an-hour or so, and giving him sensations as pleasurable as that experi- enced by us Japanese after drinking rice-beer. ‘Ah,’ he would exclaim, ‘this is what death must feel like !’ and he would clap his hands and dance and sing, and believe himself to have attained the very acme of felicity. If, in trying to say something flattering about a friend’s child, a caller were to remark on its apparent healthiness, both father and mother would remember his words with un- easiness; whereas, if he should say, ‘The little thing doesn’t look as if it would live long,’ he would give the parents the greatest pleasure, and they would reply, yr “Ah, if only what you say may come true ! POPULAR DRAMA The eighteenth century was the flourishing period of the Japanese popular drama. Nearly everything of note in this department of literature belongs to it. Chika- matsu, it is true, began his career somewhat earlier, but all his principal works date after 1700. Since the be- ginning of the nineteenth century, on the other hand, the writing of Joruri has almost altogether ceased. Chikamatsu was succeeded by TAKEDA IDzUMO, who wrote about the middle of the century. Most, however, of the plays commonly attributed to him were composed in collaboration with other writers, some being the work of as many as five or six authors. It seems to have been the usual practice at this time for playwrights to work TAKEDA IDZUMO 313 together in this way. A committee having been formed, the proceedings began by the president giving out a sub- ject. Ata subsequent meeting each member offered his suggestions as to its treatment, and the work of com- position went on in concert, nothing being accepted until it met with the general approval. One of the best known works of Idzumo is a historical play of five acts, founded on the fortunes of Sugawara Michizane, a celebrated statesman of the ninth century, who was deified after his death as Temman Tenjin, and is now worshipped as the god presiding over penman- ship. It is entitled Sugawara denjiu tenarai no Kagami or “ Mirror (that is, History) of the Transmission of the Art of Calligraphy by Sugawara” (1746). The names of four authors appear on the title-page. A still more famous drama by Idzumo and two col- laborators is the Chiushingura’ (1748) or “ Magazine of Faithful Retainers.” Chikamatsu’s five-act arrangement was at this time no longer adhered to, and the Chzushin- gura is in eleven acts or scenes, It is a version of the favourite story of the forty-seven Ronins. There are no fewer than forty or fifty plays on this subject,some of them, however, being mere adaptations of previous works. In their general character, Idzumo’s plays greatly resemble those of his predecessor.