Drops of Blood on Fallen Snow: the Evolution of Blood-Revenge Practices in Japan
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University of Massachusetts Amherst ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 2012 Drops of Blood on Fallen Snow: The volutE ion of Blood-Revenge Practices in Japan Jasmin M. Curtis University of Massachusetts Amherst Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses Part of the East Asian Languages and Societies Commons Curtis, Jasmin M., "Drops of Blood on Fallen Snow: The vE olution of Blood-Revenge Practices in Japan" (2012). Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014. 851. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/851 This thesis is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014 by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DROPS OF BLOOD ON FALLEN SNOW: THE EVOLUTION OF BLOOD-REVENGE PRACTICES IN JAPAN A Thesis Presented By JASMIN M. CURTIS Submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF ARTS May 2012 Japanese Language and Literature Program ⓒ Copyright by Jasmin M. Curtis 2012 All Rights Reserved DROPS OF BLOOD ON FALLEN SNOW: THE EVOLUTION OF BLOOD-REVENGE PRACTICES IN JAPAN A Thesis Presented by JASMIN M. CURTIS Approved as to style and content by: _______________________________________________________ Doris G. Bargen, Chair _______________________________________________________ Stephen M. Forrest, Member _______________________________________________________ Trent E. Maxey, Member ________________________________________ William Moebius, Department Chair Languages, Literatures, and Cultures DEDICATION To all those who have come before me, who have journeyed with me, and who will follow on this path to learning Japanese language, literature, and culture. 頑張ってください. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Several scholars and friends have come together to help me make this thesis a reality and to who I owe a great debt of gratitude. First, I would like to thank my advisor, Doris G. Bargen, for her many years of guidance and support. Thanks are also due to the other members of my committee – Stephen M. Forrest and Trent E. Maxey – for their insightful comments and thoughtful suggestions on this project. I would also like to thank East Asian Reference Library Sharon Domier for the opportunities she gave me and the connections she helped me to make in the last year of this project. Without her awesome knowledge and expertise in Japanese source materials, I would have been lost adrift in a sea of classical Japanese databases. Lastly, a special thanks to everyone – friends, family, and colleagues alike – who supported me through each step of this process. Words cannot express the gratitude I feel for all the encouragement I received through the most arduous parts of this experience. I hope that you are all able to experience the same sense of satisfaction I do when I realize we have succeeded in completing this journey together. v ABSTRACT A DROP OF BLOOD ON FALLEN SNOW: THE EVOLUTION OF BLOOD-REVENGE PRACTICES IN JAPAN MAY 2012 JASMIN CURTIS, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Directed by: Professor Doris G. Bargen Blood revenge – or katakiuchi – represents the defining principles that characterize the Japanese samurai warrior; this one act of honorable violence served as an arena in which warriors could demonstrate those values which have come to embody the word samurai : loyalty, honor, and personal sacrifice. Blood revenge possessed a long and illustrious history in Japan – first, as the prerogative of the gods in the Kojiki, then as a theoretical debate amongst imperial royalty in the Nihongi, and at last entering into the realm of practice amongst members of the warrior class during Japan’s medieval period. Originally, blood revenge served a judicial function in maintaining order in warrior society, yet was paradoxically illegal in premodern Japan. Throughout the medieval period, the frequency of blood-revenge undertakings likely increased, acquiring social legitimacy despite the practice’s illegal standing; however, under the rule of the Tokugawa bakufu, blood revenge was granted the legitimacy of law as well through the legalization of this practice. The social and cultural influences of blood revenge were so profound that the bakufu decided to harness its benefits in order to allow the samurai class, who now existed in a time of peace, a method through which to express themselves, while simultaneously using this practice as a device of social control. Yet, little is known about the evolution of this practice and its reception between the first official accounting of blood revenge in the Azuma Kagami and the legalization of this practice under bakufu law. In this Master’s Thesis, I endeavor to bridge the gap in modern scholarship between the highly ritualized blood- revenge practices of the Tokugawa period and its origins in medieval Japanese history. To this end, I will explore the evolution of blood revenge practices in the sphere of social, political, legal, and cultural history, as well as an analysis of the first literary representation of the pioneering blood revenge incident in Japan – the revenge of the Soga brothers – in the Manabon Soga Monogatari and its later Tokugawa ehon adaptation. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................v ABSTRACT....................................................................................................................................vi LIST OF TABLES..........................................................................................................................ix LIST OF FIGURES.........................................................................................................................x INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER I: The Practice of Blood Revenge.........................................................................................13 1:1 – Defining Blood Revenge....................................................................................13 1:2 – The Japanese Culture of Honor & Shame..........................................................16 1:3 – Blood Revenge vs. Blood Feuds........................................................................19 II: Pre-modern Blood Revenge.............................................................................................22 2:1 – The Legality of Pre-modern Blood Revenge.....................................................22 2:2 – The Kojiki & the Nihongi...................................................................................28 2:3 – The Soga Brothers in the Azuma Kagami..........................................................30 2:4 – The Blood Revenge of Toyotomi Hideyoshi......................................................32 III: Tokugawa Blood Revenge (Katakiuchi).........................................................................36 3:1 – Institutionalized Blood Revenge During the Tokugawa Period.........................36 3:2 – Megatakiuchi & Bureiuchi.................................................................................44 3:3 – Katakiuchi & the Neo-confucian State..............................................................47 3:4 – The Demographics of Blood Revenge...............................................................51 IV: The Soga Brothers – Pioneers of Blood Revenge…......................................................61 4:1 – The Tale of the Soga Brothers............................................................................62 4:2 – From Oral Tradition to Textual Tradition...........................................................65 4:3 – The Historical Context of Blood Revenge.........................................................68 4:4 – A Succession Dispute.........................................................................................72 4:5 – Suketsune’s Blood Revenge...............................................................................73 4:6 – The Soga Brothers’ Blood Revenge...................................................................75 4:7 – Yoritomo’s Blood Revenge................................................................................77 4:8 – The Soga Brothers: Pioneers of Blood Revenge................................................79 4:9 – The Soga Monogatari: Its Influence in the Tokugawa Period............................92 4:10 – A Comparison with the Forty-Seven R!nin...................................................103 CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................109 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................115 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Period Classifications................................................................................................................ix ix LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Northern Magistrate’s Record of Blood Revenge Incidents, 1661-1801...................................55 2. Statistical Conclusions based on the Northern Magistrate’s Record of Blood Revenge Incidents, 1661-1801.................................................................................................................56