• Heike monogatari (Tale of the Heike)
    平家物語

Uniform title:
  • Heike monogatari
  • 平家物語
Publisher:
  • [between 1650 and 1699?]
Extent:
  • 30 v. : col. ill. ; 30 cm.
Format:
Description:
  • Ms. from the late l7th century, probably produced as part of a dowry for a daimyō's daughter.
  • Caption title.
  • On double leaves, oriental style.
Subject:
Edm rights:
  • No Known Copyright
View in catalog:
Curator's notes:

  • Classical Japanese
    Kyōto?, 1650–99?, paper

    One typical Japanese manuscript form (scrolls or books) from the 16th and 17th centuries was the Nara-ehon (Nara picture book), epics, religious or aristocratic stories, or legendary tales, expensively decorated on often gold-flecked paper. The groups working on these works - writers, calligraphers, painters, and binders - were by the time this Tale of the Heike was made largely resident in the Kyōto region. This dowry item depicts an earlier war struggle between the Taira (Heike) and Minamoto (Genji) clans, an unlikely choice of subject.

    East Asian Library Special Collections, TJ5926/1320

    For further reading

    Collcutt, Martin. “An illustrated edition of the Tale of the Heike (Heike Monogatari) in the Gest Library Rare Books Collection.” Gest Library Journal 4, no. 1 (1991): 9-26. Accessed May 20, 2025. http://eal.lib.princeton.edu/EALJ/collcutt_martin.EALJ.v04.n01.p009.pdf.

Exhibit category: