, also known as the , is a Japanese collection of over one thousand tales written during the late Heian period (794–1185). The entire collection was originally contained in 31 volumes, of which 28 remain today. The volumes cover various tales from India, China and Japan. Detailed evidence of lost monogatari exist in the form of literary critique, which can be studied to reconstruct the objects of their critique to some extent.

Title

Each tale in the Konjaku Monogatarishū starts with the phrase (lit. now long ago), which in its Japanese reading is pronounced ima wa mukashi. The Sino-Japanese reading of this phrase is konjaku, and it is from the Chinese-style reading that the collection is named. These stories try to appeal to average people of the time by presenting Buddhism in a simple yet meaningful way, one that people from any background can understand. In these tales both the reward for faith and the punishment for sin will be immediate. The secular aspect of these tales is that they can entertain an audience as well as provide enjoyment for an individual reader.

A cryptic line in Akutagawa's classic short story "Rashōmon" says 「旧記の記者の語を借りれば、『頭身の毛も太る』ように感じたのである。」 (To borrow a phrase from the writers of the chronicles of old, he felt as if 'even the hairs on his head and body had grown thick'.) This is a reference to a line from the Konjaku Monogatarishū, the last part figuratively meaning that he was scared; he felt as if his hair was standing on end.

Selected translations

  • Chinese
  • English (Abridged)
  • Of Birds and Beasts, Fish and Fowl: Japanese Tales of Times Now Past, De Wolf, Charles, editor and translator, with Masayuki Furuse, Takatoshi Kuhara, Fuyuko Yamamoto, Kenji Yoshida, 2017, Babel Press, Tokyo
  • French
  • German
  • Portuguese

See also

  • The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter

References

  • National Treasure - Konjaku monogatari-shu (Suzuka Ed.) Kyoto University Rare Materials Digital Archive (RMDA)