Cвоего лица большим щитом, как краб, не закрывай.
Тебе нечего стыдиться, славный самурай.
Кодекс Бусидо не пустой звук ...
Мои другие стихи:
http://www.stihi.ru/2014/09/15/7734
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Heikegani
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Heikegani
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Dorippidae
Genus: Heikeopsis
Species: H. japonica
Binomial name
Heikeopsis japonica
(von Siebold, 1824)[1]
Heikegani with human-like faces (left) depicted in an ukiyo-e print by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Heikegani (Heikeopsis japonica) is a species of crab native to Japan, with a shell that bears a pattern resembling a human face which many believed to be the face of an angry samurai hence the nickname Samurai Crab. It is locally believed that these crabs are reincarnations of the spirits of the Heike warriors defeated at the Battle of Dan-no-ura as told in The Tale of the Heike.[2]
Origin of the carapace pattern
Heikegani were used by Carl Sagan in his popular science television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage as an example of unintentional artificial selection,[3] an interpretation published by Julian Huxley in 1952.[4] According to this hypothesis, the crabs with shells resembling Samurai were thrown back to the sea by fishermen out of respect for the Heike warriors, while those not resembling Samurai were eaten, giving the former a greater chance of reproducing. Thus, the more closely the crabs resemble a samurai face, the more likely they would be spared and thrown back.[4]
This idea has met with some skepticism, as noted by Joel W. Martin. As humans don't use heikegani for food, Martin posits that there is no artificial pressure favoring face-like shell patterns, contrary to Sagan's implication.[4] The pattern of ridges on the carapace serves a very functional purpose as sites of muscle attachment. Similar patterns are found on species in many parts of the world, including fossil remains.[4]
Categories: Crabs Crustaceans of Japan Indo-Pacific crustaceans Animals described in 1824
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The Tale of the Heike
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Tale of the Heike , Heike Monogatari) is an epic account (in prose) of the struggle between the Taira and Minamoto clans for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180-1185). Heike refers to the Taira clan; "hei" being an alternate reading of the first kanji (character) of Taira. Note that in the title of the Genpei War, "hei" is in this combination read as "pei" and the "gen" is the first kanji used in the Minamoto (also known as Genji) clan's name.
It has been translated into English at least five times, the first by A.L. Sadler in 1918-1921.[1] A complete translation in nearly 800 pages by Hiroshi Kitagawa & Bruce T. Tsuchida was published in 1975. Also translated by Helen McCullough in 1988. And an abridged translation by Burton Watson was published in 2006. In 2012 Royall Tyler completed his translation, which seeks to be mindful of the performance style for which the work was originally intended.
It was famously retold in Japanese prose by historical novelist Eiji Yoshikawa, published in Asahi Weekly in 1950 with the title New Tale of the Heike (Shin Heike Monogatari).
Authorship
The Tale of the Heike's origin cannot be reduced to a single creator. Like most epic poems (note: the work is in fact an epic chronicle in prose rather than an epic poem in the tradition say of the Iliad) , it is the result of the conglomeration of differing versions passed down through an oral tradition by biwa-playing bards known as biwa hoshi.
The monk Yoshida Kenko (1282-1350) offers a theory as to the authorship of the text, in his famous work "Essays in Idleness" (Tsurezuregusa), which he wrote in 1330. According to Kenko, "The former governor of Shinano, Yukinaga, wrote Heike monogatari and showed it to a blind man called Shobutsu to chant it". He also confirms the biwa connection of that blind man, who "was natural from the eastern tract", and who was sent from Yukinaga to "recollect some information about samurai, about their bows, their horses and their war strategy. Yukinaga wrote it after that". One of the key points in this theory is that the book was written in a difficult combination of Chinese and Japanese (wakan konko sho), which in those days was only mastered by educated monks, such as Yukinaga. However, in the end, as the tale is the result of a long oral tradition, there is no single true author; Yukinaga is only one possibility of being the first to compile this masterpiece into a written form. Moreover, as it is true that there are frequent steps back, and that the style is not the same throughout the composition, this cannot mean anything but that it is a collective work.
Themes
The story of the Heike was compiled from a collection of oral stories recited by traveling monks who chanted to the accompaniment of the biwa, an instrument reminiscent of the lute. The most widely read version of the Heike monogatari was compiled by a blind monk named Kakuichi in 1371. The Heike is considered one of the great classics of medieval Japanese literature.
The central theme of the story is the Buddhist law of impermanence. The theme of impermanence is captured in the famous opening passage:
The sound of the Gion Shoja bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the seila flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline. The proud do not endure, they are like a dream on a spring night; the mighty fall at last, they are as dust before the wind. -- Chapter 1.1, Helen Craig McCullough's translation
The second concept evident in the Tale of the Heike is another Buddhist idea, karma. The concept of karma says that every action has consequences that become apparent later in life. Thus, karma helps to deal with the problem of both moral and natural evil. Evil acts in life will bring about an inevitable suffering later in life. This can be seen clearly with the treatment of Kiyomori in The Tale of the Heike, who is cruel throughout his life, and later falls into a painful illness that kills him.
Classic military tale
The fall of the powerful Taira ЁC the samurai clan who defeated the imperial-backed Minamoto in 1161 symbolizes the theme of impermanence in the Heike. The Taira warrior family sowed the seeds of their own destruction with acts of arrogance and pride that led to their defeat in 1185 at the hands of the revitalized Minamoto.
The story is episodic in nature and designed to be told in a series of nightly installments. It is primarily a samurai epic focusing on warrior culture an ideology that ultimately laid the groundwork for bushido (the way of the warrior). The Heike also includes a number of love stories, which harkens back to earlier Heian literature.
The story is roughly divided into three sections. The central figure of the first section is Taira no Kiyomori who is described as arrogant, evil, ruthless and so consumed by the fires of hatred that even in death his feverish body does not cool when immersed in water. The main figure of the second section is the Minamoto general Minamoto no Yoshinaka. After he dies the main figure of the third section is the great samurai, Minamoto no Yoshitsune , a military genius who is falsely accused of treachery by his politically astute elder brother Minamoto no Yoritomo .
The Tale of the Heike has provided material for many later artistic works ranging from Noh plays to woodblock prints, and is also referenced in modern works.
Monogatari historiography
The Japanese have developed a number of complementary strategies for capturing, preserving and disseminating the essential elements of their commonly-accepted national history ЁC chronicles of sovereigns and events, biographies of eminent persons and personalities, and the military tale or gunki monogatari. This last form evolved from an interest in recording the activities of military conflicts in the late 12th century. The major battles, the small skirmishes and the individual contests (and the military figures who animate these accounts) have all been passed from generation to generation in the narrative formats of the Tale of Hogen (1156)[2] the Tale of Heiji (1159-1160)[3] and the Heike monogatari (1180-1185).
In each of these familiar monogatari, the central figures are popularly well known, the major events are generally understood, and the stakes as they were understood at the time are conventionally accepted as elements in the foundation of Japanese culture. The accuracy of each of these historical records has become a compelling subject for further study; and some accounts have been shown to withstand close scrutiny, while other presumed "facts" have turned out to be inaccurate.[4]
The most prevalent and well known edition of the Tale of the Heike today, the 1371 Kakuichi text, is generally thought to be a fictional dramatization of the Genpei War. Rather than focusing on the Genpei warriors as they actually were, but rather upon the "...ideal warrior as conceived by oral singers [5] it serves as an account of glorified conduct as a source of inspiration.
Extension
The Genpei Josuiki, also known as the Genpei Seisuiki , is a 48-book extended version of the Heike Monogatari.