Jump to main content
/

Taiheiki (Chronicle of Great Peace)

A chronicle of military exploits during the turbulent Northern and Southern Courts Period, written over a lengthy period of struggle for lasting peace

The Taiheiki is a chronicle of military exploits during the Northern and Southern Courts Period (1336-1392). It encompasses 40 volumes in the traditional format. The authors are unknown. The chronicle was written during the Oan (1368-1375) and Eiwa (1375-1379) eras and gradually assumed its present shape. Written in a style that mixes literary Japanese with Chinese loanwords, it covers the extensive period of war lasting about fifty years from the end of the Kamakura period, through the Kenmu Restoration, to the establishment of the Muromachi shogunate. Along with the Heike monogatari (Tale of the Heike), it is one of the two great war tales of Japan's medieval ages.

       The diary of Toin Kinsada, in the entry for the 3rd of the Fifth Month 1374 in the lunar calendar, the Buddhist priest Kojima is mentioned as the author of the Taiheiki. Moreover, according to Nan Taiheiki (Criticisms of the Taiheiki), Echin and Gene, two monks of the Tendai sect of Buddhism, were involved in its completion. However, neither of these statements is certain.

       The work can be divided into three broad divisions. The first division, which includes volumes 1 to 11, begins with Emperor Go-Daigo's scheming to overthrow the Kamakura shogunate and ends with its downfall. The second division, which includes volumes 12 to 21, begins with the Kenmu Restoration up to the resulting impasse, centers on struggle between Ashikaga Takauji (the samurai faction, which supported the Northern Court) and Nitta Yoshisada (the court faction, which supported the Southern Court), and ends with the death of Emperor Go-Daigo. And the third division, which includes volumes 22 to 40, devotes half of its space to the Kanno Disturbance (a conflict within the Muromachi shogunate) and, in its other half, covers the power struggle of the shugo daimyo (the military governors of the provinces), the rise of Hosokawa Yoriyuki (adviser to the child shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu), and the coming of peace.

       Though the Taiheiki suffers from exaggerations and distortions, it was read from early on as a history of an age of civil strife and had considerable influence on subsequent early modern histories, such as Dai Nihon shi (History of Great Japan) and Nihon gaishi (An Unofficial History of Japan). Unlike Heike monogatari (Tale of the Heike), which was spread by lute-playing priests reciting the tale on the streets, the Taiheiki was spread by professional storytellers called "Taiheiki readers," who were popular among commoners during the Edo period (1603-1867). It has provided material for yokyoku (Noh chants), otogizoshi (illustrated fairytale books), joruri (storytelling accompanied on the samisen), etc., and thus has had a great influence on early modern literature and performing arts.

Related People, Things and Events

Books

太平記読み
『太平記』は目で読むよりも、耳から聞かれる文芸として広まった。『太平記』を朗読し、講釈する人を「太平記読み」などと呼んだ。室町時代の日記類には物語僧から『太平記』を聞いたという記事があり、江戸時代に入ると武家から民間に流布し、職業として確立したという。図の右上の人物が「太平記読み」。浪人が門付をしながら『太平記』を読む姿を描かれている。(『人倫訓蒙図彙』より)
太平記講釈
江戸時代、民衆に「太平記読み」が広がるにつれ、屋外にござを敷いた簡単な辻講釈が始まり、やがて常設の講釈場が設けられるようになったという。図は神社境内での『太平記』講釈の様子を描いたもの。(『絵本御伽品鏡』より)

Various versions of Taiheiki ("Chronicle of Great Peace")

Related Works

Past Exhibitions

TitleshusaiPlaceopenclose

Videos

Institutions Holding Related Materials

  • The National Diet Library (NDL), founded in 1948, is the library which belongs to the Diet. The NDL assists the activities of the National Diet. The Library collects and conserves materials and information both from Japan and abroad, serving as a foundation of knowledge and culture and providing library services to administrative and judicial entities and Japanese citizens.

  • As Japan’s representative museum, Tokyo National Museum collects, preserves, displays, and researches the cultural properties of Asia with a focus on Japan, and also provides educational programs.

  • Kyoto National Museum collects, preserves, displays, researches and provides educational programs focusing on cultural properties from Heian- through to Edo- period Japan, when the capital was located there.

  • National Institutes for the Humanities, Inter-University Research Institute Corporation

  • The Tokyo Fuji Art Museum is founded on November 3, 1983, in Hachioji, a thriving university town in the western suburbs of the Japanese capital. Priding itself as “a museum creating bridges around the world” to facilitate the exchange of different cultures, our museum has forged cordial relations with art museums and cultural institutes in 32 countries and territories to date. We do so by bringing the world’s finest works of art to Japan while reciprocating in kind by introducing the finest Japanese treasures to the world through special exhibitions that showcase their beauty and wonder through a unique new set of prisms and perspectives. Our museum possesses some 30,000 pieces of artworks from various periods and cultures including Japanese, Eastern and Western works, ranging from paintings, prints, photography, sculptures, ceramics and lacquer ware to armor, swords and medallions. Especially noteworthy is its outstanding collection of Western oil paintings that spans a five-hundred-year period from the Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, and Romanticism to Impressionism and contemporary art, as well as its exceptional collection of photographic masterpieces that can give an overview of the history of photography from the birth of the photograph to the present age.

  • 「太平記巻十五 三井寺合戦の事」では、焼き討ちが描かれた。所在地は滋賀県大津市。

  • 京都市上京区の浄土宗の寺。江戸時代初期の土佐派画家による「太平記絵巻」(上下2巻)を所蔵する。

External Links

  • 太平記に関係する名所旧跡(鳥取県西伯郡大山町)を紹介している。一般社団法人大山観光局サイト。

  • 米国を代表する図書館の1つ。スペンサーコレクションに「太平記絵巻」2軸が存在する。デジタルコレクションのページから画像を検索できる。

  • 「太平記絵巻」全12巻のうち5巻(巻第一、第二、第六、第七、第十)を所蔵する。埼玉県指定有形文化財。収蔵資料データベースで検索できる。

References

  1. 永井路子 [著],学習研究社
  2. 永井路子 著,文芸春秋
  3. 永井路子 著,中央公論社