View source for Gikeiki

{{Short description|Japanese gunki monogatari ("war-tale")}}
{{Italic title}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2016}}
[[File:Front_cover_of_"_Yoshitsune_-_A_15th_Century_Japanese_Chronicle_".jpg|thumb|Cover of the English translation]]
The {{nihongo|'''''Gikeiki'''''|義経記}} or '''''Chronicle of Yoshitsune''''' is a Japanese [[gunki monogatari]] ("war-tale") that focuses on the legends of [[Minamoto no Yoshitsune]] and his followers.<ref name="Morris2">{{Cite book |last=Morris |first=Ivan |url=https://archive.org/details/nobilityoffailur00morr/page/93 |title=The Nobility of Failure |publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston |year=1975 |isbn=9780030108112 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/nobilityoffailur00morr/page/93 93–100]}}</ref> It is the oldest extant collection of stories concerning Yoshitune's boyhood and fugitive years<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=McCullough |first=Helen Craig |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fmee-vYb4AQC&q=gikeiki&pg=PA3 |title=Yoshitsune: A Fifteenth-Century Japanese Chronicle |date=1966 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-0270-6 |language=en}}</ref> and the single most important source for the Yoshitune legend which is written about how a legend is born and how a folk hero is shaped.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=McKinnon |first=Richard |date=1967 |title=Review of Yoshitsune: A Fifteenth Century Japanese Chronicle. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2051706 |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=149–150 |doi=10.2307/2051706 |jstor=2051706 |issn=0021-9118}}</ref> It seems clearly to have intended to supplement Heike Monogatari and other tales of the war.<ref name=":0" /> Thought to have been written during the [[Nanboku-chō period]], from the perspective of literature, it has provided inspiration to numerous [[Noh]], [[kabuki]] and [[bunraku]] plays. Much of the image that people today have of Yoshitsune and those associated with him ([[Benkei|Saitō no Musashibō Benkei]] and [[Shizuka Gozen]], for example) is considered to have been influenced by the ''Gikeiki''. It is also thought that this work is being compared with "Soga Brothers Monogatari", a work from the same period.<ref name=":1" />
==History==
The word "Gikeiki" literally means "The Record of Yoshitsune", but the ''[[on-yomi]]'' of the [[kanji]] for his name are used in reading it aloud – "yoshi" ({{lang|ja|[[wikt:義|義]]}}) is read as "''gi''", and "tsune" ({{lang|ja|[[wikt:経|経]]}}) is read "''kei''". The final part "ki" means record.
All previous texts of Gikeiki are essentially the same, there are no major variations. These fall into three categories:
# Manuscripts - These include texts with titles such as Hogan Monogatari and Yoshitsune Monogatari.
# Woodblock editions - The major woodblock printings were made in 1633, 1635, 1640, 1645, 1659, 1670, 1673, 1689, 1698, 1708, and 1724.
# Movable wooden print editions - There are four movable print editions ranging from 1600 to 1633.
== Critical reception ==
[[Gikeiki]] depicts the tragic events of [[Minamoto no Yoshitsune|Yoshitsune]] and is written in such a way that the people around [[Minamoto no Yoshitsune|Yoshitsune]] help and support him. This depiction gives the reader a sense of sympathy. [[Minamoto no Yoshitsune|Yoshitsune]] was built on the sacrifices and dedication of others and reigned in popular legend as a symbolic presence. It has been analyzed that the reason why [[Gikeiki]] has been incorporated into literary works more than the [[The Tale of the Heike|Tale of the Heike]] is because [[Gikeiki]] is a story that is empathetic, popular, and tragic.<ref>Ikuyo Ueyama. "The Charm of the Legend of [[Minamoto no Yoshitsune|Yoshitsune]] as seen in '[[Gikeiki]]”. 1986.</ref>
[[File:YoshikazuTengu.jpg|thumb|[[Minamoto no Yoshitsune|Yoshitsune]]'s illustration of [[Mount Kurama|Mt. Kurama]]. Training with [[Tengu]] at [[Mount Kurama|Mt. Kurama]]]]
[[File:Gojo Bridge.jpg|thumb|Illustration of the Gojo Bridge from [[Gikeiki]]. [[Minamoto no Yoshitsune|Yoshitsune]] and [[Benkei]] fighting on Gojo Bridge (illustrated by [[Tsukioka Yoshitoshi|Yoshitoshi Tsukioka]])]]
[[File:Taira ghost.jpg|thumb|The ghost of the great Uraha family. [[Minamoto no Yoshitsune|Yoshitsune]] and his party chased by the ghosts of the Heike clan (illustrated by [[Utagawa Kuniyoshi|Kuniyoshi Utagawa]])]]
==Translations==
* {{cite book|last1=McCullough|first1=Helen Craig|title=Yoshitsune: a fifteenth-century Japanese chronicle|date=1966|publisher=Stanford University Press|location=Stanford, Calif.|isbn=0804702705}}
* {{cite book|last1=Strugat︠s︡kogo|first1=Arkadii︠a︡|title=Skazanie o Esit︠s︡unė|date=2000|publisher=Evrazii︠a︡|location=Sankt-Peterburg|isbn=5807100565}}
==See also==
*''[[Heike Monogatari]]''
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.j-texts.com/sheet/kgikei.html ''Gikeiki''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007143838/http://www.j-texts.com/sheet/kgikei.html |date=2011-10-07 }} (Japanese)
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Japanese chronicles]]
[[Category:Late Middle Japanese texts]]
[[Category:Monogatari]]
[[Category:14th-century history books]]
[[Category:Works about Minamoto no Yoshitsune]]
[[Category:Gunki monogatari]]
{{Japan-lit-stub}}