Themes
The story of the Heike was compiled from a collection of oral stories recited by traveling monks who chanted to the accompaniment of the biwa, an instrument reminiscent of the lute. The most widely read version of the Heike monogatari was compiled by a blind monk named Kakuichi in 1371. The Heike is considered one of the great classics of medieval Japanese literature.
The central theme of the story is the Buddhist law of impermanence. The theme of impermanence (mujō) is captured in the famous opening passage:
| “ | 祇園精舎の鐘の聲、諸行無常の響き有り。 沙羅雙樹の花の色、盛者必衰の理を顯す。 驕れる者も久しからず、唯春の夜の夢の如し。 猛き者も遂には滅びぬ、偏に風の前の塵に同じ。
Gionshōja no kane no koe, Shogyōmujō no hibiki ari. Sarasōju no hana no iro, Jōshahissui no kotowari wo arawasu. Ogoreru mono mo hisashikarazu, tada haru no yoru no yume no gotoshi. Takeki mono mo tsuwi ni wa horobin(u), hitoeni kaze no mae no chiri ni onaji. The sound of the Gion Shōja bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the sāla flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline. The proud do not endure, they are like a dream on a spring night; the mighty fall at last, they are as dust before the wind. -- Chapter 1.1, Helen Craig McCullough's translation |
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The second concept evident in the Tale of the Heike is another Buddhist idea, karma. The concept of karma says that every action has consequences that become apparent later in life. Thus, karma helps to deal with the problem of both moral and natural evil . Evil acts in life will bring about an inevitable suffering later in life. This can be seen clearly with the treatment of Kiyomori in The Tale of the Heike, who is cruel throughout his life, and later falls into a painful illness that kills him.
Read more about this topic: The Tale Of The Heike
Famous quotes containing the word themes:
“I suppose you think that persons who are as old as your father and myself are always thinking about very grave things, but I know that we are meditating the same old themes that we did when we were ten years old, only we go more gravely about it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In economics, we borrowed from the Bourbons; in foreign policy, we drew on themes fashioned by the nomad warriors of the Eurasian steppes. In spiritual matters, we emulated the braying intolerance of our archenemies, the Shi’ite fundamentalists.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)