Borisova Anastasia Sergeevna – PhD in Philology, senior lecturer at the Department of Japanese Philology, Institute of Asian and African Studies of M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University
Taira no Kiyomori (1118–1181) became the first samurai to hold actual power in Japan, and later, his clan lost a civil war to the Minamoto clan, marking the beginning of the shogunate era. In Japanese historiography and literature, Kiyomori is portrayed simultaneously as a leader who achieved power through martial prowess and divine patronage, and as a tyrant whose pride and cruelty led his clan to destruction. The article analyzes the main characteristics of Kiyomori’s image in Japanese historical treatises and warrior tales. It also presents the key plots and apocrypha related to Kiyomori found in the texts of three medieval warrior tales from the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries: Hōgen Monogatari, Heiji Monogatari, and Heike Monogatari. Aspects of the duality of his image are illustrated, including his transgressive behavior and his unorthodox interactions with the supernatural.
Middle Ages; Japanese literature; gunki monogatari; Taira no Kiyomori; samurai