South Satomi Hakkenden "historical Research

This thesis examines NANSOSAMIHAKKENDEN from a historical perspective. It has four chapters. The first chapter is devoted to the relationship between Bakin and his HAKKENDEN. During Japan's Warring States Period, in the last years of the Ashikaga Dynasty, Kakithu Insurrection took place. Yoshizane, a warrior, fled from Yuuki to Awa (now Chibaken). and finally pacified Awa. Bakin, the renowned writer in the EDO Era, used this as the setting for his historical novel NANSOUSATOMIHAKKENDEN and wrote an unofficial history. NANSOU is the name of a place while Satomi is the surname of a vassal family. Making use of the legend of S ATOMIHAKKEN in unofficial histories, the novel has eight warriors as its main characters. The keynote of the story is well expressed through the depiction of their risings and fallings, honors and humiliations, happiness and sadness, and their splits and unifications.The first chapter focuses on Bakin's life and his works, especially his HAKKENDEN. Takizawa Bakin( 1767-1848) was born in Edo. In his sixties years of writing career, Bakin wrote more than two hundred and sixty works. He was especially good at historical novels, the magnum opus of which is HAKKENDEN, which he began writing at the age of 47 and completed 28 years later. Other famous works of his are CHINSETUYUMIHARIZUKI, CHOUIJYUNTOUKI, andKINSEISETUBISHOUNENROKU.Bakin's great efforts were rewarded when HA KKENDEN was warmly received as never before. Since the publication of it, "Bakin's novels, especially HAKKENDEN, have been read throughout the country for the extremely clever language and erudition. When people speak of novels, they always consider HAKKENDEN to be a masterpiece". The great popularity of HAKKENDEN also helped Bakin in attacking the contemporary society, elucidating and spreading his own views on history. The influence of the novel is immeasurable.HAKKENDEN , as a historical novel, gives a vivid picture of an important era in Japanese history, and all the events described have their roots in history, thus making itpossible to read it as a history book in the form of literature. We may also say that burried deep in the book are the views on history held by a whole generation of Japan's intellectuals. In the first chapter, after studying the influence of HAKKENDEN upon later generations, I analyze Bakin's views on history and raise questions such as "How to understand Bakin's views on history?" " In what psychological state did Bakin continue his arduous writing career?" I venture to answer these questions in the present thesis. In other words, I want to show the frame of Bakin's mind when he observed Japanese history, meditated upon Japanese ethics and finally completed HAKKENDEN.The second chapter of this thesis is The Compilation of the Unofficial Records in HAKKENDEN: In this chapter, I examine HAKKENDEN mainly in terms of Bakin's methodology and motives of writing. In my opinion, the most outstanding feature of the novel is the use of conventions of unofficial history writing. Bakin claimed that novels based on unofficial histories "are terse and refined, good at telling stories of love, exotic adventures and showing human minds". This kind of novel is "concerned not about the facts, but about its distinctions from official histories", the very feature of unofficial history writng. He also claimed, "Although the unofficial history writing does not contribute to the understanding of historical facts, it instructs by rewarding the good and punishing the evil, and makes good reading for women and children." In his opinion, official history writing is indispensable in the sense that it records historical facts, but writing unofficial histories also has its own merits. Official history writing, with its strict formalities, confines its readership mainly to literati, while unofficial history writing can tell stories merrily and comment on things with less restraint, disregarding set rules and formalities. Moreover, it extends its readership to women and...