Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki (Strange Tales of the Crescent Moon)

Authors

Roger Thomas, Illinois State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Book

Publication Date

2024

Keywords

Takizawa Bakin, Minamoto no Tametomo, yomihon

Abstract

Forced by family circumstances to abandon his samurai status, Takizawa Bakin (1767-1848) found his niche in life as a writer of popular fiction, eventually becoming the most prolific author of works in the yomihon genre, which consisted largely of historical romances. His dream of eventually restoring his family to its hereditary status is reflected in many of his works, beginning especially with Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki (Strange Tales of the Crescent Moon), a novel appearing serially in sixty-eight chapters between 1807 and 1811 whose hero, the historical Minamoto no Tametomo (1139-1170), is drawn from a variety of sources, both standard and apocryphal. Beginning with his disownment and exile to Kyushu and his subsequent role in the Hōgen rebellion of 1156, the career of this multi-talented and uncommonly virtuous hero takes him through arrest, banishment to a remote island, and return to Kyushu. When an attempt to return to Kyoto in order to vanquish his archenemy Taira Kiyomori (1118-1181) is thwarted by shipwreck in a typhoon, he ends up drifting to the Kingdom of Ryukyu where he confronts an evil sorcerer who has usurped the government. Eventually reunited with his long-lost son and a faithful retainer, he reestablishes the kingdom with his son on the throne, and in the end is apotheosized. It was illustrated by the noted artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). The present translation is accurate; further editing is pending.

Comments

Original text by Takizawa Bakin (public domain) with translation by Roger Thomas. Each chapter is its own PDF.

Recommended Citation

Thomas, Roger, "Chinsetsu Yumiharizuki (Strange Tales of the Crescent Moon)" (2024). Faculty Publications-Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. 125.
https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/fpllc/125