Chushingura
Revenge of the 47 Samurai
This essay was originally published as a gallery guide for an exhibition at the Spencer Museum of Art (August 3 - September 24, 1986). It was written by Alan Atkinson who was then intern in the department of prints and drawings.
On the snowy night of January 30, 1703, in an incident known as the Ako vendetta, forty-six samurai burst into the mansion of the man responsible for the death of their former master, Asano Naganori, the lord of Ako. Their intended victim, Kira Yoshinaka, was a powerful noble and an important retainer of the imperial household. After refusing the opportunity to die by his own hand, Kira was killed with the same dagger Asano had used to commit seppuku, and then beheaded. At dawn on the following morning the vengeful samurai surrendered themselves to the priests of a Buddhist temple to await their punishment.
This startling event captured the imagination of a Japan that had known peace for almost a hundred years, at a time when the samurai ideals of loyalty and resolute action seemed almost forgotten. Today, more than two hundred years after the vendetta occurred, the temple where these men are buried is a place of pious pilgrimage for many Japanese. The vendetta served as the basis for what is without doubt the most famous and popular work of the traditional Japanese theater, Kanadehon Chushingura (The Treasury of Loyal Retainers: A Model for Emulation).
The actual events that set this tale into motion began in 1701, when the emperor sent an envoy with a message to the shogun. This envoy was to be received with royal honors and entertained by high ranking noblemen in the shogun's retinue. Two nobles were entrusted with the reception of the imperial envoy; one of them was Asano, a young baron from a rural area, unfamiliar with the intricacies of court etiquette. Asano sought instruction from Kira, an expert on court ceremonies. Because Asano failed to provide Kira with a large enough bribe in the form of extravagant gifts, Kira taunted him mercilessly until the hot-headed Asano lost his composure, drew his sword, and lunged at his antagonist. Though Kira's wounds were superficial, the shogun could not allow such a gross breach of conduct to go unpunished, and he ordered Asano's death. Seppuku, a form of suicide in which the victim disembowels himself, was considered the most honorable way to carry out the death sentence. Only offenders in the samurai class were allowed to commit seppuku, thus preserving their warrior status and distinguishing them from common criminals who were beheaded. After his death, Asano's lands were confiscated and his household retainers became ronin, or "wave men," cast adrift in the sea of life. Forty-seven of these men, led by Oishi Kuranosuke, Asano's chief advisor, swore an oath to revenge their master's needless death.
During the Tokugawa era (1600-1868) there was a ban on the depiction in art or the dramatization on stage of current historical events using the actual names of the nobility involved. Therefore, the theatrical version of the Ako vendetta was set in the days of the fourteenth-century shogun Takauiji; Asano, Kira, and Oishi became Enya, Moronao, and Oboshi, and the setting of the play was changed from Edo to Kamakura.
At the opening of the play shogun Takauiji has killed Yoshida, the famous general of the Minamoto clan, in battle. Takauiji has a shrine built at Kamakura to commemorate his victory and has ordered Yoshida's helmet to be placed in the shrine's treasury. He sends his brother (the imperial envoy in the original historic event) to supervise the inaugural ceremonies, but since forty-seven helmets had been recovered from the battle-field, no one knows for sure which one was Yoshida's. Enya's wife, who had once been an attendant in Yoshida's household, is summoned to identify the helmet. On the day that she comes to inspect the helmets, Moronao (the historical Kira), who has long admired her beauty, slips her a love letter. At this initial encounter Moronao is cordial towards Enya, but angrily insults Wakasa, the other noble in attendance, who has reprimanded Moronao for making advances towards Enya's wife. Lady Kawayo politely rejects Moronao's solicitations, but in doing so she unintentionally causes Moronao to dislike her husband.
The second act introduces the first of many subplots that run through the play. This is the romance between Rikiya, the son of Oboshi Yuranosuke, Enya's chamberlain, and Konami, the daughter of Wakasa's chief councilor, Honzo. Meanwhile, Wakasa decides that he cannot bear the insult he has received from Moronao, and that at their next meeting he will kill him. He relates this to Honzo, who agrees with his master but has decided to increase the bribe to Moronao at his own expense.
Honzo arrives at the palace early to offer his bribe to Moronao, and later, when Wakasa comes prepared to fight Moronao his is surprised that Moronao, placated by the bribe, apologizes for his previous behavior. Wakasa does not conceal his disgust at Moron's obsequiousness; Moronao feels humiliated and becomes insulting to Enya, who has arrived with one of his junior retainers, Kampei. Unfortunately for Enya, Yuranosuke is away on business, and Kampei is off flirting with one of the palace maids. Finally, in an inevitable fit of anger, Enya attacks the insufferable Moronao and wounds him slightly. Honzo restrains Enya and prevents him from finishing off the terrified Moronao. Kampei, hearing the commotion, rushes into the palace, but he is too late. As he has neglected his duty, Kampei sees no alternative but to kill himself. He is persuaded not to take this course of action by maid Okaru and together they flee to her parents' house.
The fourth act consists entirely of Enya's seppuku, the punishment ordered by the shogun for his attempt on Moronao's life. This scene, filled with quiet, yet terrible, passion, is one of the classical moments of kabuki theater. As the preparations for his suppuku are completed, Enya swears to "return to life again and again until my vengeance is accomplished." From an adjoining room Enya's retainers beg through the closed door to be allowed one last look at their master. In silence Enya, dressed in white, the traditional color of death, waits for Yuranosuke while he continues his preparations. A thick, white tatami mat is laid with branches of ceremonial herbs in each corner. Enya slides his outer-garment off on his shoulders and tucks the long ends firmly under his knees so that the tension of the fabric will cause him to fall face down. At a silent signal Rikiya enters bringing a short sword on a wooden stand. Finally, there is nothing else left to do; Enya gathers his composure, and in a swift motion takes up the sword and drives it into his stomach. Just then Yuranosuke enters and speaks in calm, almost fatherly tones, bidding Enya to die bravely. Gazing steadily into his chamberlain's face, Enya tells Yuranosuke that he must avenge his death using this very same sword, and with a last effort completes the act of ritual suicide.
The remainder of the play, almost entirely fictionalized, follows the ronin during the months leading up to the completion of their vendetta. Kampei is living in the countryside with his fiancee, Okaru, and her parents. Because of his previous dereliction of duty, the other ronin are uncertain that he is qualified to join in their vendetta. Nevertheless, they allow him to contribute money for a memorial tablet. In order to help their future son-in-law redeem himself, Okaru's parents sell her to a brothel without his knowledge in order to raise the necessary funds. In a complicated plot twist, Okaru's father, Yoichibei, is robbed and murdered on his way home. Kampei, out hunting in the rain, accidentally shoots the robber, mistaking him for a wild boar he had wounded earlier. While searching in the dark for his game, Kampei is stunned when he finds the body of a man instead. Nevertheless, he keeps a small purse of gold that he finds on the corpse.
At Yoichibei's house the next morning, the family anxiously awaits his return. The mistress of the brothel has arrived with the other half of the money to be paid to Okaru, and is surprised to find Yoichibei away. She insists that Okaru accompany her, but as they are leaving, Kampei arrives. The brothel mistress relates the whole story of the transaction, even describing the purse in which she gave Yoichibei half of the money. She then shows him a purse which she says is made of the same material. Kampei surreptitiously looks at the purse he removed from the corpse and, thinking that he has killed his fiancee's father, accedes to the brothel's mistress' demands. Two hunters arrive with Yoichibei's body, and Kampei commits seppuku. Before he dies, however, two ronin arrive and he relates the story of his shot in the dark. One of the ronin, impressed by his loyalty, allow him to join the conspiracy on his death bed.
Yuranosuke makes various attempts to fool Moronao's spies, who are convinced that Enya's former retainers are bent on revenge. Act VIII is often enacted as a michiyuki (dance interlude) describing the bridal journey of Konami, Honzo's daughter, to the home of Rikiya, her betrothed. The action is mimed while singers describe the places and events of the journey. It is now autumn; eighteen months have passed since Enya's death.
The conflict between Honzo, who had restrained Enya when he attempted to kill Moronao, and Yuranosuke, who believes Honzo to be at least partially responsible for his master's death, is resolved. Though Honzo is accidentally stabbed in the course of events, they settle their differences and their children enjoy a few short hours of marital bliss before Rikiya joins his father in the attack on Moronao.
The ronin, dressed as policemen, test the loyalty of the merchant Amakawaya Gihei, with whom the have contracted to provide the arms and armor for the conspirators. They attempt to intimidate him into revealing the contents of the large chests that he has been loading onto a ship. Gihei remains steadfast, and the ronin, pleased by his stalwart character, reveal themselves.
The last act is the famous "night attack" on Moronao's mansion. Aside from the early morning hour of the attack, the action is mostly fictionalized. The ronin assemble outside Moronao's mansion in two groups, wearing armor and distinctive black-and-white patterned coats for which they are famous. The pattern is an iconographical device representing the inevitable progression of night and day, symbolizing unfailing loyalty. Each ronin also wears a small wooden tag inscribed with one of the symbols of the Japanese syllabary as a means of identification. After a long series of fight scenes the ronin gain control of the compound, and begin a search for Moronao. He is eventually found cowering in a charcoal shed in his underwear, and as befitting a man of his character, he dies a coward's death. Bearing Moronao's severed head aloft in triumph, the loyal retainers set off in the dawn chill to lay this trophy on their master's grave
Chushingura is seldom performed in its entirely. Portions of Act I and II, along with the whole eighth act, are often left out, or single acts are presented to showcase a particular kabuki actor.
Chushingura became an immensely popular subject among the designers of ukiyo-e prints. Nearly every well known ukiyo-e artist designed series of prints which featured actors portrayed in Chushingura roles or scenes from the play. Ando Hiroshige completed at least four series of prints on this theme and Utagawa Kuniyoshi designed more than five, including a set of portraits of the real life ronin.
As a subject for the graphic arts, Chushingura has proved as inspirational to Japanese artists over the years as it has to generations of Japanese theater goers. The key to the power that this tale holds for the Japanese lies in the dramatic way it weaves together the many threads of the time honored moral code which underlies the fabric of Japanese society even today. These works of art have served as iconographic representations of the samurai ideal as viewed by members of a society that can only participate in that heroic tradition vicariously. The qualities of fidelity, loyalty, steadfastness, and above all, of honor, which are embodied by the samurai who participated in the "Ako vendetta" also find expression in the powerful graphic designs inspired by the play and its historic background. These works not only reveal the character of Yuranosuke and his fellow ronin, but also reflect something about the character of another culture through its choice of heroes.
Alan G. AtkinsonCuratorial Intern
