Kishotenketsu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kishōtenketsu (起承転結?) describes the structure and development of Chinese and Japanese narratives. It was originally used in Chinese poetry as a four-line composition, and is also referred to as 'kishotengō' (起承転合?). The first Chinese character refers to the introduction or 'kiku' (起句?), the next: development, 'shoku' (承句?), the third: twist, 'tenku' (転句?), and the last character indicates conclusion or 'kekku' (結句?).
The following is an example of how this might be applied to a fairytale.
| Ki (起?) | Introduction, what characters appear, era, and other important information for understanding the setting of the story. |
| Sho (承?) | Follows on from the introduction and leads to the twist in the story. Major changes do not occur. |
| Ten (転?) | This is the crux of the story, which is also referred to as the 'yama' (ヤマ?) or climax. It has the biggest twist in the story. |
| Ketsu (結?) | Also referred to as the 'ochi' (落ち?) or ending, it wraps up the story by bringing it to its conclusion. |
A more specific example:
| Ki (起?) | Daughters of Itoya, in the Motomachi of Osaka. |
| Sho (承?) | The elder daughter is sixteen and the younger one is fifteen. |
| Ten (転?) | Throughout history, generals killed the enemy with bows and arrows. |
| Ketsu (結?) | The daughters of Itoya kill with their eyes.[1] |
The same pattern is used to arrange arguments:
| Ki (起?) | In old times, copying information by hand was necessary. Some mistakes were made. |
| Sho (承?) | Copying machines made it possible to make quick and accurate copies. |
| Ten (転?) | Traveling by car saves time, but you don't get much impression of the local beauty. Walking makes it a lot easier to appreciate nature close up. |
| Ketsu (結?) | Although photocopying is easier, copying by hand is sometimes better, because the information stays in your memory longer and can be used later.[2] |
