International Research Center for Japanese Studies
Abstract
I have divided the translation of and commentary on Nan Taiheiki into two parts. In part one, I outlined the main concerns that influenced Ryōshun to write the text: the loyalty of the Imagawa to the ruling Ashikaga family, his frustration with Taiheiki (Chronicle of Great Peace), and his resentment toward Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. The overarching theme of Nan Taiheiki, then, is the protection of the Imagawa legacy. In part two, I continue my analysis of this theme through an examination of Ryōshun’s description of Hosokawa Kiyouji and his rebellion against the Ashikaga. Ryōshun’s father Norikuni proposed a plan to the shogun that would have sacrificed his son in an attempt to kill Kiyouji and nip his rebellion in the bud. I then examine the significance of the Kamakura outpost, its overlord the Kantō kubō, and his deputy the kanrei for both Kiyouji’s rebellion, which took place as a result of the strife surrounding the position of kanrei, and later, for Ryōshun’s participation in the Ōei Disturbance, which resulted from the discord between Kyoto and Kamakura. What Ryōshun likely perceived as similarities between his participation in the Ōei Disturbance and Kiyouji’s rebellion motivated him to include the Kiyouji episodes in Nan Taiheiki. Accordingly, Nan Taiheiki demonstrates, through Kiyouji, how easy it was to fall from grace, and, through the idealistic origins of the Kamakura outpost, just how far the Ashikaga had fallen under Yoshimitsu’s rule
