relating the rise and eventual, inevitable fall of the Taira clan, also referred to as the Heike, during the end of the 12th century. The epic consists of thirteen books. Within the first five, the consolidation of power by the Taira is outlined featuring the “tyrant” Taira no Kiyomori. After Kiyomori’s death in the sixth book, the focus shifts to the rival clan, the Minamoto or Genji, as they orchestrate the complete destruction of the Taira and establish themselves as the dominant house. In contextualizing
discussed over the course of twelve books since The Tales of the Heike is divided into three parts. The Gempei War was between two groups known as Minamoto and Taira. These clans are also referred to as the Genji and Heike. The Tales of the Heike is divided into three different parts. The first focuses on the head of the Heike clan, Kiyomori. The second part examines the triumphal victory of the Genji clan, and finally the third part concludes the story with the death of Kenreimon’in, Kiyomori’s daughter
The noh play, Atsumori focuses on Atsumori, a small but prominent character from the Tale of Heike. Atsumori is the son of Taira no Kiyomori whose death is tragically depicted in chapter 9.16 of the Tale of Heike. After the Taira have been defeated by the Minamoto, Atsumori fails to join the fleeing Taira fleets and is stopped and killed Kumagai no Naozane, a warrior serving the Minamoto clan. Naozane is beside himself with remorse after killing Atsumori and in the Tale of Heike vows to become a
of Heike which was a war tale, with its author unknown due to different versions being passed down. The Tale of Heike is about the Minamoto family and the Taira family fighting for the control of Japan after the Genpei War (1180-1185) which was the end of the twelfth century. “The Tale of the Heike is a long narrative about the fall of the Taira clan and the victory of the Minamoto. It has no single author and was probably compiled from various oral sources, but it does present a c... ... middle
edge of Sagami Bay amid the lush foothills of a craggy mountain range that surrounds the town on three sides, it was both easy to defend and difficult to invade. Where Taira no Kiyomori had only limited military control in the immediate area around the imperial capital at Heian-kyo, Yoritomo's military dominance was nationwide. Kiyomori exercised his authority from behind the scenes and largely through the old civil government structure in the tradition of the Fujiwara before him. Yoritomo declined
During the Medieval period (1185–1600) in Japan there was change and innovation in Japanese literature. This period was largely influenced by the ideals of Buddhist and the ruling military class. During this time, Buddhist religions were also greatly influenced by the handling of the priests and monks. And there were many civil wars that led to different classes in the society. Actually, there are many different types of people who helped form the medieval period. People like the emperors and priests
than something I had ever seen because they were able to read the script in front of them. Andre Brown played the retired emperor. When reading the script, Andre would approach certain scenes differently, for instance when he was conspiring against Kiyomori (Steve Sumida) his tone seemed more sarcastic to make it look as if he wasn’t truly conspiring, but joking. His tone shaped the way we viewed his character. His gestures were also very flamboyant; his arms were flailing around which showed that the
middle of paper ... ... Genji held off their attack in order to “allow the enemy time to perform religious rites.” Plus, high officials altered sentences from death to exile. As in the case of the warrior Nobutsura whose life was spared after Kiyomori was given an account of Nobutsura’s meritorious reputation. Warriors would take time to justify why they are unable to save them from execution as Yortiomo did with Munemori. Yoritomo elucidated “it is impossible for anyone born in this country