Textual tradition of The Tale of Genji

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The Tale of Genji is one of the best-known works of classical Japanese literature, and the number of manuscript copies of it is very large. It was originally written by Murasaki Shikibu, a lady-in-waiting at the Heian court, at the beginning of the eleventh century, but the earliest extant manuscript was copied by Fujiwara no Teika roughly two centuries later.

Overview[edit]

The Tale of Genji was copied extensively in the pre-modern era.[1] The scholar Kikan Ikeda [ja] once performed an extensive study of 300 manuscript copies of the work,[1] and even counting only manuscripts copied before the end of the Muromachi period in the mid-16th century the number comes to roughly 100.[1]

The earliest of these surviving copies, dating from the early Kamakura period,[1] are the Aobyōshi-bon [ja] produced by Fujiwara no Teika[1] and the Kawachi-bon [ja] produced by Minamoto no Mitsuyuki and his son Chikayuki (ja).[1]

Early copying[edit]

Murasaki's diary records that by the winter of 1008 Genji was already in circulation,[1] and so must have already begun to be copied and distributed at this time.[1] Because of the circumstances of copying of monogatari literature, which were treated as light entertainments for court ladies,[1] numerous errors crept into these early copies,[1] and as those copies were copied the errors multiplied exponentially.[1] Entire chapters began to be added to the work, coming to around 60 chapters rather than the 54 that became the standard.[1]

Kamakura editors[edit]

Fujiwara no Teika, according to his diary the Meigetsuki, was robbed on the 16th day of the second month of 1225,[1] and his copy of Genji was one of the items that were stolen.[1] Teika had apparently been working on editing a "true version" of Genji (possibly the surviving Aobyōshi-bon) since the eleventh month of the previous year,[1] but in his diary he bemoaned the many variations between the various manuscripts in circulation.[a][1]

Chikayuki, who began his editing of the Kawachi-bon in 1236,[1] similarly wrote of the variations between the manuscripts he had available to him.[1]

Lost manuscripts[edit]

The texts that were available to the early Kamakura editors may have included:

  • the Nijō no Sochi Korefusa-bon (二条帥伊房本);[1]
  • the Reizei no Chūnagon Tomotaka-bon (冷泉中納言朝隆本);[1]
  • the Horikawa no Sadaijin Toshifusa-bon (堀川左大臣俊房本);[1]
  • the Ju-Ichi-i Reishi-hon [ja];[1]
  • the Hosshōji Kanpaku-bon (法性寺関白本);[1]
  • the Gojō no Sanmi Shunzei-bon (五条三位俊成本);[1]
  • the Kyōgoku no Chūnagon Teika-bon (京極中納言定家本);[1]

and at least thirteen other manuscripts whose names are known,[1] as well one copy that was supposedly produced by Fujiwara no Yukinari.[1]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ 尋求所々、雖見合諸本、猶狼藉未散不審

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Akiyama, Abe & Shinohara 1983, p. 433.

Works cited[edit]

  • Akiyama, Ken; Abe, Akio; Shinohara, Shōji (1983). "Genji Monogatari". Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典 (in Japanese). Vol. 2. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. pp. 406–437. OCLC 11917421.
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