A Failure of Vision: Diachronic Failure and the Rhetoric of Rupture in the Taiheiki
Japan reached an epistemological crossroad during the fourteenth century. The Wars of the Northern and Southern Courts (1336-1392) were fought between two power enters with vastly different visions for the future: The Southern Court aimed to restore the sacerdotal monarchy of the past and its episte...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University Library System, University of Pittsburgh
2022-03-01
|
| Series: | Japanese Language and Literature |
| Online Access: | http://jll.pitt.edu/ojs/JLL/article/view/225 |
| _version_ | 1811180714244177920 |
|---|---|
| author | Jeremy Sather |
| author_facet | Jeremy Sather |
| author_sort | Jeremy Sather |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Japan reached an epistemological crossroad during the fourteenth century. The Wars of the Northern and Southern Courts (1336-1392) were fought between two power enters with vastly different visions for the future: The Southern Court aimed to restore the sacerdotal monarchy of the past and its epistemic framework, what this article calls the ōbō-buppō episteme; the Ashikaga-led Northern Court, conversely, represented a shift toward the secular and the sublimation of royal authority heralding the advent of a new episteme, or the jitsuri episteme. The war chronicle Taiheiki is in large part responsible for our understanding of the conflict far beyond its official end in 1392. This paper argues that Taiheiki is unique among war chronicles in concluding without the restoration of royal authority or the ōbō-buppō episteme, and this failure made it a signifier of epistemic change as well as a source of inspiration for samurai of subsequent generations who wished to affect such change themselves. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:08:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-313cb956d16f4478bde39c76f2ecee01 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1536-7827 2326-4586 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:08:03Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | University Library System, University of Pittsburgh |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Japanese Language and Literature |
| spelling | doaj.art-313cb956d16f4478bde39c76f2ecee012022-12-22T04:32:34ZengUniversity Library System, University of PittsburghJapanese Language and Literature1536-78272326-45862022-03-01561437410.5195/jll.2021.225156A Failure of Vision: Diachronic Failure and the Rhetoric of Rupture in the TaiheikiJeremy Sather0Virginia TechJapan reached an epistemological crossroad during the fourteenth century. The Wars of the Northern and Southern Courts (1336-1392) were fought between two power enters with vastly different visions for the future: The Southern Court aimed to restore the sacerdotal monarchy of the past and its epistemic framework, what this article calls the ōbō-buppō episteme; the Ashikaga-led Northern Court, conversely, represented a shift toward the secular and the sublimation of royal authority heralding the advent of a new episteme, or the jitsuri episteme. The war chronicle Taiheiki is in large part responsible for our understanding of the conflict far beyond its official end in 1392. This paper argues that Taiheiki is unique among war chronicles in concluding without the restoration of royal authority or the ōbō-buppō episteme, and this failure made it a signifier of epistemic change as well as a source of inspiration for samurai of subsequent generations who wished to affect such change themselves.http://jll.pitt.edu/ojs/JLL/article/view/225 |
| spellingShingle | Jeremy Sather A Failure of Vision: Diachronic Failure and the Rhetoric of Rupture in the Taiheiki Japanese Language and Literature |
| title | A Failure of Vision: Diachronic Failure and the Rhetoric of Rupture in the Taiheiki |
| title_full | A Failure of Vision: Diachronic Failure and the Rhetoric of Rupture in the Taiheiki |
| title_fullStr | A Failure of Vision: Diachronic Failure and the Rhetoric of Rupture in the Taiheiki |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Failure of Vision: Diachronic Failure and the Rhetoric of Rupture in the Taiheiki |
| title_short | A Failure of Vision: Diachronic Failure and the Rhetoric of Rupture in the Taiheiki |
| title_sort | failure of vision diachronic failure and the rhetoric of rupture in the taiheiki |
| url | http://jll.pitt.edu/ojs/JLL/article/view/225 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jeremysather afailureofvisiondiachronicfailureandtherhetoricofruptureinthetaiheiki AT jeremysather failureofvisiondiachronicfailureandtherhetoricofruptureinthetaiheiki |