Tales of Moonlight and Rain

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Tales of Moonlight and Rain (雨月物語, Ugetsu Monogatari^?) is a collection of nine independent stories, written by Ueda Akinari, first published in 1776, adapted from Chinese ghost stories. It is considered to be among the most important works of fiction of the eighteenth century, the middle of the Edo period. Edo literary achievements are normally associated with the fiction of Ihara Saikaku and drama of Chikamatsu Monzaemon in the Genroku period and the popular literature of Takizawa Bakin in the later Bunka Bunsei period. Tales of Moonlight and Rain, then, occupies an important yet often overlooked position between these two moments in Edo literary history.

[edit] Content and style

The nine stories are based on supernatural tales of the Ming dynasty, from the works Jiandeng xinhua (剪灯新話) and Sanyan (三言). In his reinterpretation of these stories, Ueda recast them as historical tales set in Japan, weaving together elements of the source tales with a rich array of references to historical events, personages, and literary works, both Japanese and Chinese. In his use of Chinese compounds glossed with Japanese phonetic readings, Ueda frequently incorporates double meanings and word play into his text. Ueda’s penchant for allusion is evident in the Chinese preface, which is also noteworthy for its presentation of the author’s view of fiction as means of expressing truth.

Although each story revolves around a supernatural event, Ueda does not stray too far from the affairs of this world. Like other members of the kokugaku (nativisit studies) movement Ueda relied on fiction as a tool to reinvigorate Japan’s past, by bringing to life the aesthetics of antiquity in the present. At the same time, he presents in Tales of Moonlight and Rain some of the moral views of the kokugaku school. To do so, he employs supernatural elements, such as ghosts who revisit the living to make known the effects they have suffered from the unethical behavior of others. For example, in the story “Asaji ga yado” (“The House Amid the Reeds”), upon which Kenji Mizoguchi’s 1953 film Ugetsu is partially based, a husband who has abandoned his faithful wife returns home only to unknowingly meet her ghost, an experience which leads him to a heartbreaking realization of the effects of his infidelity. However, as Dennis Washburn argues, through his highly literate style and developed narrative technique, Ueda avoids overly emphasizing the moral aspect, and the tales are first and foremost a literary exploration of human emotion.

[edit] Publication and influence

Tales of Moonlight and Rain was first published in a 1776 woodblock edition, although some scholars maintain that the work was completed eight years earlier in 1768. Tales of Moonlight and Rain was one of the first works of “reading books” (yomihon) that were published for a smaller, more literate audience. Often centering on historical topics, “reading books” catered to the highly educated, both in Chinese and Japanese classics, and were also connoisseurs of Ming period vernacular fiction. Tales of Moonlight and Rain grew in popularity following its publication, and many subsequent authors such as Santō Kyōden and Bakin modeled their works on its content and style. Although interest declined for a time in the Meiji period, many twentieth century writers, including Tanizaki Jun’ichiro and Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, read and were influenced by his work.

[edit] References

• Hamada, Kengi. “About the Author.” In Tales of Moonlight and Rain. New York: Columbia University Press.

• Keene, Donald. 1976. World within Walls: Japanese Literature of the Pre-Modern Era, 1600-1867. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

• Reider, Noriko T. 2002. Tales of the Supernatural in Early Modern Japan: Kaidan, Akinari, Ugetsu Monogatari. Edwin Mellen Press.

• Shirane, Haruo, ed. “Early Yomihon: History, Romance, and the Supernatural.” In Early Modern Japanese Literature. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002.

• Takata Mamoru. “Ugetsu Monogatari: A Critical Interpretation.” In Tales of Moonlight and Rain. New York: Columbia University Press, 1972.

• Ueda Akinari. 1974. Ugetsu Monogatari: Tales of Moonlight and Rain Trans. by Leon M. Zolbrod. George Allen and Unwin Ltd.

• Washburn, Dennis. “Ghostwriters and Literary Haunts: Subordinating Art to Ethics in Ugetsu Monogatari.” Monumenta Nipponica 45.1 (1996)
  39-74.

• Zolbrod, Leon M., trans. and ed. Introduction. Ugetsu Monogatari: Tales of Moonlight and Rain. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1974.