Shirane - Traditional Japanese literature: an anthology, beginnings to 1600

Traditional Japanese Literature

ABRIDGED EDITION

TRANSLATIONS FROM THE ASIAN CLASSICS

Translations from the Asian Classics

EDITORIAL BOARD

Wm. Theodore de Bary, Chairman

Paul Anderer

Donald Keene

George A. Saliba

Haruo Shirane

Burton Watson

Wei Shang

Also by Haruo Shirane

The Bridge of Dreams: A Poetics of The Tale of Genji Traces of Dreams: Landscape, Cultural Memory, and the Poetry of Bash Inventing the Classics: Modernity, National Identity, and Japanese Literature Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 16001900 Classical Japanese: A Grammar Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600 Classical Japanese Reader and Essential Dictionary Envisioning The Tale of Genji: Media, Gender, and Cultural Production Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons: Nature, Literature, and the Arts

Traditional Japanese Literature

ABRIDGED EDITION

AN ANTHOLOGY, BEGINNINGS TO 1600

Edited by Haruo Shirane

TRANSLATORS

Sonja Arntzen, Robert Borgen, Karen Brazell, Steven Carter, Anthony H. Chambers, Anne Commons, Lewis Cook, Torquil Duthie, Michael Emmerich, Thomas Harper, Mack Horton, Donald Keene, Laurence Kominz, Herschel Miller, Douglas E. Mills, Jean Moore, Ivan Morris, Kyoko Nakamura, Jamie Newhard, Donald Philippi, Edward G. Seidensticker, Haruo Shirane, Virginia Skord, Jack Stoneman, Royall Tyler, Marian Ury, and Burton Watson

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS

NEW YORK

Columbia University Press wishes to express its appreciation for assistance given by the Pushkin Fund toward the cost of publishing this book.

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Copyright 2012 Columbia University Press

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E-ISBN 978-0-231-50453-9

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Traditional Japanese literature, abridged edition : an anthology, beginnings to 1600 / edited by Haruo Shirane.Abridged ed. p. cm.(Translations from the Asian classics) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-231-15730-8 (cloth : acid-free paper) ISBN 978-0-231-15731-5 (pbk. : acid-free paper) ISBN 978-0-231-50453-9 (ebook)

1. Japanese literatureTo 1600Translations into English. I. Shirane, Haruo, 1951PL782.E1T733 2012 895.608dc23

2011047618

A Columbia University Press E-book.

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COVER IMAGE: Attributed to Tosa Mitsuyoshi (1539-1613), detail from Genji monogatari: Koch (Butterflies), Momoyama period (15731615). Six-panel folding screen: ink, color, and gold on gilded paper. (By permission of the Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation)

CONTENTS

This abridged edition of Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology, Beginnings to 1600, is the companion volume to the abridged Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 16001900. Like the Early Modern volume, this one was organized and written with several objectives. First was the need to select representative texts and subtexts to present a broader and more complex view of Japanese literature without sacrificing the familiar texts. Throughout the book, in the introductions to each text, in the special introductions to genres and periods, and in the notes and commentaries, I have provided sociohistorical, religious, cultural, and literary contexts.

Most of the texts here have been translated for the first time, and many of the familiar texts have been retranslated specifically for this anthology. I strongly believe in the need for multiple translators, who can bring different voices to the texts. The quality and accuracy of the translations, the notes, and commentary are, of course, my responsibility, and unless otherwise noted, the introductions and commentary were written by me.

I am indebted to the many scholars from North America and Japan who aided me in countless ways. I owe special thanks to Lewis Cook, who helped with the seemingly endless editing and corrections. I am grateful to Sonja Arntzen, Steven Carter, Wiebke Deneke, James Dobbins, Fujii Sadakazu, Mack Horton, Hydo Hiromi, Ii Haruki, Imai Masaharu, Kawahira Hitoshi, Donald Keene, Komine Yasuaki, Lawrence Kominz, Konoshi Takamitsu, David Lurie, Matsuoka Shinpei, Okuda Isao, Edward Seidensticker, Shinada Yoshikazu, Tomi Suzuki, Mari Takamatsu, Paul Varley, Burton Watson, Michael Watson, and Yamanaka Reiko. My special thanks to Anne Commons, Torquil Duthie, Linda Feng, Naomi Fukumori, Marco Gottardo, Satoko Naito, Jamie Newhard, Saeko Shibayama, Jack Stoneman, and Akiko Takeuchi. I want to thank the editorial director of Columbia University Press, Jennifer Crewe, who initiated the project, and Irene Pavitt, who did a great job for me at the press.

HISTORICAL PERIODS

Ancient (to 784)

Heian (7941185)