Swords, Oaths, and Prophetic Visions: Authoring Warrior Rule in Medieval Japan (review)

The present volume focuses on how the Genpei war of 1180-1185, which the author, Elizabeth Oyler, sees as a major turning point in Japanese history, was portrayed in Heike monogatari and related literary and performative genres. In addition to a number of variants of Heike monogatari, the author treats Hōgen monogatari, Heiji mono-gatari, Gikeiki (an account of the life of Minamoto no Yoshitsune), Soga monogatari, Azuma kagami, and texts of the performing art kōwakamai. The aim is to explore how these works brought a "newly complicated historical perspective into being" during the Nanbokuchō (1336-1392) and early Muromachi (1333-1573) periods (p. 2). All of the works treated here are conceived as "representing a difficult past in such a way as to ensure legitimacy and authority" (p. 2).

In particular, Oyler focuses on the portrayal of Minamoto no Yoritomo in these various texts and poses the question: "How do we come to terms with what appear to be his irreconcilable depictions as, on the one hand, ruthless murderer of both enemies and kin, and, on the other, founder of a political order epitomized by a just system of laws particularly favorable to people outside the aristocratic class?" (p. 31). Oyler views, in other words, the texts she analyzes as products of a struggle to reconcile the more unsavory aspects of Yoritomo's actions with his status as the founder of a new political order.

In addition to providing a review of the scholarship on the texts to be considered and the problems posed by the multiple variants of many of the works, the opening chapter also offers a critique of a number of dichotomies that the author sees as distorting our understanding of "premodern" textuality (p. 9). Included here are oppositions between texts to be read and texts to be performed, Japanese (wabun) and Chinese (kanbun) texts, history and fiction, religion and fiction, etc. As a corrective, Oyler presents (relying heavily on the work of the folklorist John M. Foley) an approach to "text" and "intertextuality" that she sees as more appropriate to premodern Japan. This approach, in her view, allows for a greater appreciation of the dynamics of storytelling in medieval Japan, the interrelation of "texts," and the emergence of a national literature and cultural identity.

The heart of the book is centered on a study of how four key episodes related to "internal Minamoto strife," as retold in the range of works noted above, serve to "create a deep and sustained account of the Minamoto consolidation of power" (p. 24). Chapter 2 focuses on narratives of the dreams foretelling Yoritomo's rise to power when he was in exile in Izu following the defeat of his father, Yoshitomo. The next three chapters take up the various retellings of three events that, at least implicitly, raise questions about the legitimacy of Minamoto rule and particularly that of Yoritomo. Chapter 3 deals with Kiso no Yoshinaka's "Petition to Hachiman," a written document that emphasizes his identity as a Minamoto and his special relation with Hachiman, the tutelary deity of the Minamoto. Chapter 4 concentrates on narratives of Yoritomo's rebuff of his brother Yoshitsune when the latter brought Taira prisoners of war to Yoritomo in Kamakura. Of particular interest are the written oaths of fealty Yoshitsune sought unsuccessfully to present to Yoritomo. The next chapter treats the Soga brothers' actions at a hunt hosted by Yoritomo where they attacked one of Yoritomo's followers, Kudō Suketsune, so as to take revenge for his involvement in the murder of their father years earlier. It is not the attack itself but the swords used in it that raise questions about Minamoto legitimacy and authority. The swords originally belonged to the Minamoto and are closely linked with prior internal strife among them.

By focusing on relatively discrete incidents, the author is able to examine texts in close detail and provide an analysis of subtle...