"The Tale of the Heike"

Paper Summary:

The "Tale of the Heike" is a collection of tales of heroism, tragedy, and splendour surrounding the fall of the Taira. The literary work is a combination of fiction and historical fact and is not the work of a single author. The paper examines why the tale is considered to be one of the most valuable texts to represent Japanese literature. It uses references by literary scholar Herbert Plutschow, who provides insight into the importance of "The Tale of the Heike".

From the Paper:

"The Fight at Dan No Ura portion of the work describes the famous battle in which the Minamoto family defeated the Taira family and is a classic tale of self-sacrifice and loyalty. In a tragic passage, the story also illustrates how far people would go to obey their lords. Lady Nii, whose sovereign lord has been killed, is determined not to fall into enemy hands and says, "I will accompany my Sovereign Lord." She also decides to take the seven-year old Emperor with her. "The Lady Nii took him tightly in her arms and with the words, "In the depths of the ocean is our capital," sank with him at last beneath the waves." This loyalty is described in The Famine segment of the work as it related to ordinary people. When husbands and wives decided not to separate, the partner with the greatest love for the other one would die first."

More papers on "The Tale of the Heike":

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• Comparison Essay # 105068 : "The Vicissitudes of Samurai Culture"
• Comparison Essay # 107784 : "Heroes, Loyalty and Devotion"

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