Before HEIKE and After: HOGEN, HEIJI, JOKYUKI

by Royall Tyler

The three translations in this book complete the story told partially in the Tale of the that of the decades, crucial in Japanese history, between 1156 and 1221. They are The Tale of the Hogen Years, which treats a disastrous attempt by a deposed emperor to regain the throne; The Tale of the Heiji Years, which covers the murderous clash between two rival court factions; and A Record of the Jokyu Years, which deals with a failed imperial attempt to suppress the shogunal government established late in The Tale of the Heike by Minamoto no Yoritomo. In short, they supplement The Tale of the Heike by relating what led up to its events and what followed them.

Genres: Japan, History, Nonfiction

268 pages, Paperback

First published April 2, 2024

About the author

Born in England in 1936, I was educated in the US and France. During my academic career I specialized in Japanese literature. My last teaching position, after stints in Canada, the US, and Norway, was at the Australian National University in Canberra. After that I retired with my wife to a farm in in New South Wales. We've bred alpacas here for over twenty years, although our herd is smaller than it used to be. And I've continued to publish books. In summer we see blue-tongue skinks--a big, slow lizard that really does have a blue tongue. So I named my own book imprint (Blue-Tongue Books) after one that scrabbled at my window, wanting to come in.

I'm descended from two other authors named Royall Tyler, both listed on Goodreads and Amazon. The first (1757-1826) was the American jurist and playwright best known as the author of The Contrast. The second (1884-1953) was my grandfather.

Reviews

[E. G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

General Introduction, by Royall Tyler

Introduction
--The Tale of the Hōgen Years

Introduction
--The Tale of the Heiji Years

Introduction
--A Record of the Jōkyū Years

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

How does RT do it? So readable, so accurate!

[Brendan Coster · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title indicates, and has Tyler mentions within his slight intro, you should really have, or have read, his 'Tale of Heike' before reading this -- then again, I don't imagine to many people picking this up without the Heike....

I read the Heike, of course, I kind of wish I had a copy with me while I read it though. The main problem with 'Before Heikie...' is that you get a boatload of characters thrown at you in each of these (three war tales) and it's not at all the 'Illiad' like volume the 'Hekie Monagatari' is. I mostly focused on Yoritomo, Kiyomori, and the emperors to get through the tales.

However, these were labeled Tales, not histories, and they're not really supposed to be taken at face value. As such (and as indicated by many of the notes) the tales are there to give a thought, a feeling, a moral tale that is based squarely in a historical event, not altogether different then Japanese poetry.

And I love the pre-medieval stories of both Europe and the ones of Japan I've read. They create these near mythical peoples in pseudo histories and you can very much see the mass popular fantasy and delusions that helped create many religions. In fact, Masakado, the 'Shomonki' actually gets fantasized, demonized, made into a harbinger of destruction, then yes, in modern times, is deified!

That aside, these were not for popular consumption, but if you're doing the gambit of pre-medieval japanese literature I recommend reading Tyler's 'Hieke' and the tales in 'Before Heike' his translations are fantastic and very readable.

-- As a side note, I think they ran off a bunch of copies when I ordered mine from Amazon, when I finished today, I saw the print date was March 8, 2015... ultra new book, FTW.

[Paul Hartzog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome. I can't say enough good things about this book.

It is really a "prequel" of sorts to the Heike Monogatari which is about the Genpei War, but this book goes into the events that lead up to the war. It has some very moving scenes and events, as well as fascinating situations, but the best part of the book is a spoiler so I won't give that away. Suffice it to say that when I got to that part I actually called people on the phone to gush about how awesome a reveal it was. Most fiction plots aren't this good.

The book actually contains 2 sections before the war and 1 after which also serves to let you see the consequences of the war further down the historical line.

Royall Tyler's translations are very readable and enjoyable, and this is no exception.