Brenton Atwood
Hist 399
Prof. Rath
The Tales of Virtues and Knowledge
There have been many tales and stories in Japanese history but many not as important to the samurai class as the The Tales of the Heike and the Hogen monogatari. In the Tales of the Heike and Hogen Monogatari the two tales both describe the virtues of Bushido and many samurai religious beliefs, the two tales are also great war tales, instilling knowledge on the samurai of honor in battle. The two tales show the model example of a samurai and these tales are verbally spoken from samurai generation to the next.
The Tales of the Heike is a story that is like the greek epics. This epic is a depiction of the samurai warriors and their ways. The Tales of the Heike in some ways…show more content… The two tales also describe what happens if you anger the powerful aristocrats in Japan. In a time when the two greatest military clans were fighting for the control of Japan. When the Taira family burned down religions building including the Miidera temple, it is seen as a bad luck to the Tiara family. This also turns many supports of the Tiara family against them. In the Tale of Heike aftering burning the temple ghost come before Kiyomori. The burning of the temple was the was the turning point for the the Taira family clan. After the burning many aristocrats and religious monks fail to support the Taira family and back the Minamoto family. The monks of Nara were so angry they “made a big ball used in the New Year’s games, dubbed it Prime Minister Kiyomori’s head”(Heike, 59).With the backing of the government the Minamoto family was able to have more power and move against the Taira family. In the Tale of the Heike the Minamoto family gains more power than they had in the Hôgen Monogatari and the Taira rebellion. The Tiara family failed to follow the Bushido virtue of respect and paid for their disrespect of religion and elder aristocrats. The powerchange from the Tiara to Minamoto is because of this disrespect and this shows that the epic The Tale of the Heike is a epic told of why the ways of the samurai should be followed. It also tells of Emperor Go-Shirakawa permitting the Minamoto family…show more content… The Tale of the Heike describes many virtues of Bushido and the tale of great samurai and their success and failures in battle. The Tale of the Heike is a classic for any samurai to read, it describes battles of great samurai and why they succeeded. The two stories tell of great battle and how the samurai fought in these battles. It describes the honor in battle, one of these examples can fight between Taira no Atsumori who is called out by Kumagae Naozane when the Taira family was retreating. Instead of running with the rest of his army Atsumori stayed and fought, like any honorable samurai(chapter 9). This is a lesson to all samurai who hear this story of how they should be honorable and have the respect to fight another samurai when challenged, instead of running like a coward like the rest of the Taira forces. Yoshitsune also risked his life for a his bow because he could not “bear the thought of their scornful laughter”(Heike 132). This shows that he would rather die than be made fun of. The Tales of the Heike also describes what happens to soldiers that surrender. Many are dragged and paraded through the streets of the capital only to be killed. It shows that ritual suicide could be better than enduring what many of the people went through. The samurai who surrendered also lost all respect. The Tales of the Heike describes the Taira family taunting the Minamoto clan’s forces as there