Lushchenko A. Japanese Didactic Gunsho Commentaries in the Edo Period: A Study of a 17th c. Commentary on the Heike Monogatari // Written Monuments of the Orient. Vol. 6, No. 2(12), 2020. P. 93—113.
The Heike monogatari hyōban hidenshō is an anonymous 17th c. commentary
on the medieval Heike monogatari. As a military studies text (gunsho) written for Edo-period
warriors, the commentary differs substantially from the Heike monogatari in content
and purpose. It consists of didactic essays that critically evaluate passages from the Heike
monogatari and also includes fi ctional stories that expand and reinterpret the content of the
Heike monogatari. The commentary’s content focuses on topics of governance, strategy,
and ethics. In the 17th c., such gunsho commentaries functioned as educational texts with
advice and admonition addressed to daimyo lords and warriors in general. As a didactic
military studies text, the Heike monogatari hyōban hidenshō reveals a new facet of reception
of the Heike monogatari in the Edo period.
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