The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter: a Study in Contextualization
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The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter: A Study in Contextualization An Annotated Translation and Critical Examination of the Taketori Monogatari with Special Attention to Tanaka Ohide's Taketori Monogatari Kai Commentary by Maiko R. Behr BA. Swarthmore College, 1993 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Department of Asian Studies) We accept this as conforming to the required standard University of British Columbia April, 1998 © Maiko R. Behr 1998 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada DE-6 (2/88) 11 ABSTRACT Inspired by Joshua Mostow's recent work in reception history and the historicized translation of classical Japanese literature, this thesis focuses on a translation of the tenth century Taketori Monogatari, or Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. In contrast to previous English-language translations of the Taketori Monogatari, the present work offers a reading of the tale as it was understood at a particular historical moment, in the commentary of Tanaka Ohide, an early nineteenth century National Learning scholar. The first chapter of the thesis examines the historical reception of the Taketori Monogatari and its place among other Heian period narratives, showing that the tale was neglected by scholars for a considerable period between its mention in the Tale ofGenji in the eleventh century and the appearance of the first written commentaries on the tale at the end of the eighteenth century. Chapter Two discusses the actual process of translation and the sources for variant interpretation in such a text, revealing the potential for a complexity of meaning that is denied by translations claiming to present a single "correct" version of the tale. The third chapter then contextualizes the particular commentary used as the basis for this translation. Here, a study of the author's education and training as a National Learning scholar serves to clarify further the motivations behind his interpretation. This also discloses the historical significance of his interpretation to the study of the Taketori Monogatari through an analysis of its role in canon-formation. Chapter Four consists of a summary translation of the introductory sections of Tanaka Ohide's commentary, the Taketori no Okina no Monogatari Kai, including his personal analysis of textual issues, as well as longer passages cited from related sources, both Japanese and Chinese. The final chapter constitutes the body of my translation of the Taketori Monogatari, with extensive endnotes indicating problematic portions of the text and citing alternative interpretations proposed by other scholars. It is the overall aim of this thesis to emphasize the fluid and evolving nature of the literary text resulting from the various contexts in which it is read. Ill TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Table of Contents iii Acknowledgement iv Note On Transliteration and Use of Japanese Sources v Introduction 1 Chapter I. The Taketori Monogatari Through Time The Taketori Monogatari today: a timeless classic? 7 A History of Reception 12 Chapter II: Issues of Translation Text and Context 23 Interpretive Stumbling Blocks: Issues Inherent in the Text Itself 25 Chapter III: Tanaka 6hide and the Canonization of the Taketori Monogatari 30 Chapter IV. Tanaka Ohide's Taketori no Okina no Monogatari Kai Translator's Preface 42 The Taketori no Okina no Monogatari Kai: Tanaka Ohide's introduction of 1831 44 Ohide's Supplementary Texts 51 Chapter V: The Tale of The Bamboo Cutter: The Translation 102 Notes to Chapters I - III 135 Notes to the Translation, Chapters IV and V 138 Bibliography 247 Appendix 1: Literary, Historical, and Reference Works Appearing in Tanaka Ohide's Taketori no Okina no Monogatari Kai Commentary 252 Appendix 2: Yamato Monogatari, Episode 77 265 Appendix 3: Nihongi, Nintoku 16 266 iv. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For their personal support and contributions to my work during my time at UBC, I would like to thank my friends and colleagues in Asian Studies, in particular Agnes Li, Aki Hasebe, and Ms. Shiga Setsuko. I would also like to thank John Johnson and Paul Crowe for being a great resource for the Chinese Buddhist and Taoist texts with which I wrestled in the execution of this translation. Charlotte Adomeit has been a source of encouragement and comfort. I thank my parents for their contant show of enthusiasm, which has often been greater than what I felt myself for the project. I would also like to thank Dr. Nam-Lin Hur, and Dr. Catherine Swatek for the time and thought they devoted to reviewing this thesis and their comments and suggestions for further research. Thanks also to Dr. Sharalyn Orbaugh for her enthusiasm not only for my work but also for her own. She has shown me what it is to enjoy one's work. Dr. Linda Chance, at the University of Pennsylvania first introduced me to the study of classical Japanese literature, and I feel privileged to have had her as a mentor and professor during my undergraduate years. I am infinitely grateful to Dr. Maribeth Graybill at Swarthmore College for the inspiration she provided in the field of the visual arts of Japan. I only regret that I could not make more direct use of my art historical studies in my present work, but hope to pursue it in the future and look forward to working with her again. I also would like to thank her for introducing me to Dr. Joshua Mostow, to whom I owe my greatest debt of gratitude both for his academic guidance and mentorship in the completion of this thesis, and his patience and understanding as I struggled to understand why I had pursued this path. I know now that it has been mainly for myself and that that is enough. V ON TRANSLITERATION AND USE OF JAPANESE SOURCES In this thesis, I have used a system of romanization conforming to Joshua Mostow's transliteration of classical Japanese texts as he describes in his book Pictures of the Heart. Citations from pre-modern literary works follow the historical spelling (rekishi-teki kana-zukai) of words, and classical use of he, we, wo, and wi have been romanized as such, reflecting how the texts are written, not necessarily how they are or were pronouned. This system of romanization allows for easy referencing against the original Japanese source, or in dictionaries of classical Japanese. Word division also follows Mostow's system. Where I have used pre-existing English translations of Japanese and Chinese texts as supplementary material, I have provided the name of the translator with the page number of the passage in parentheses: (Keene, 289). Where the translation is my own but follows a modern Japanese edition of a classical text, the title of the work appears with the page number: (Genji Monogatari, 176). Where no attribution appears after a passage, this indicates that I have translated the text directly as it has been cited in Tanaka Chide's commentary. 1 INTRODUCTION The primary goal of this thesis has been to produce an English-language translation of the Taketori Monogatari which recreates the tale according to the way in which it was read at a particular historical moment by focusing on the interpretation found in a particular early modern commentary, that of Tanaka Ohide from 1831. Joshua Mostow's recent work on he Monogatari and Hyakunin Isshu translation and reception history in particular has been informed by similar concerns for interpretational contextualization,1 and I owe the inspiration for my present work first to him. In the winter term of 1995-96, Dr. Mostow conducted a seminar in which we read the Ise Monogatari in hampon illustrated printed book form, and attempted to produce a translation which was conscious of how this edition of the text constituted a particular interpretation by contrasting it with scholarly commentaries and pictorial representations from different periods. Later that year, Dr. Mostow's book Pictures of the Heart,2 a translation and analysis of the Hyakunin Isshu and its dynamic interpretive history in commentary as well as illustration, appeared. The task of reception history and undertaking the contextualization of literary interpretation has, in recent years, been tackled by a few scholars, such as Thomas Harper and Richard Bowring in their respective studies of Genji scholarship in the 18th century, and the evolution of the Ise commentary tradition.3 As Dr. Mostow notes, however, there does not appear to be any scholarship of note which addresses the importance of this type of historical examination as it pertains to the translation of a literary text Translators today still tend to shy away from the use of footnotes, hoping instead to produce a text which can speak for itself. It has become increasingly clear to me through my study of the Ise and the Hundred Poems under Dr. Mostow's direction, and further in my own examination of the Taketori text and commentaries, that translation practice which does not follow a single historical reading, while essentializing the meaning of the text into a single true and "correct" interpretation, unfortunately also serves to negate and deny the tradition of exploration and discovery which surrounds a vast 2 number of canonical Japanese texts.