Antoku Becomes A Dragon (2/2)

*** WARNING: SPOILERS! ***

One of the most memorable scenes in the Japanese epic Tales of the Heike (Heike Monogatari) becomes one of the most poignant scenes in the NHK television dramatization of the same tale. Horrifying and tragic, humorous and depressing, this scene -- based on the true events which unfolded at Dannoura on March 24, 1185 -- has much to teach us.

1. Nothing lasts forever.

2. "You may have won the battle, but we've won the war." While the Genji did manage to eradicate the Heike, Lady Tokiko's actions thwarted the Genji's attempts to reclaim either Emperor Antoku or the Three Sacred Treasures of the Japanese imperial family. While the Genji did prevent one of the three from being lost (as depicted in this video) and while they were later able to fish out one of the others, the sword -- which legend attributes to the Sun Goddess herself, the patron deity of the Imperial family, Amaterasu -- was lost forever. Some say the sword too was later retrieved, but I wonder ...

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• dannoura
• drown
• antoku
• dragon

[Ababil666]

This is a contradiction from actual historical fact, as people those days really consider sacrifices such as this as an honorable death. And the guy in 0:23 (i believe he is one of the tairas too?) acted like a modern soft-hearted guy with no sense of honor. lol. I believe it was made this way so it would be easily accepted by audiences thru NHK. whilst dishonoring the true code of honor of ancient medieval warriors. it's a disgrace. but anyway this is just my personal view. enjoy it folks.

[SuiginChou]

You seem to be either confused or mistaken on several points.

1. The deaths here *are* being portrayed as honorable. The idea is that the women are so honorable that they would rather die than shame their lords by becoming Genji warbrides.

2. This scene is taken straight from the book, the 平家物語. It has only a few changes.

3. The book isn't new: it's centuries old, and it comes from an oral tradition that dates back to nobody knows when. (Probably mid-to-late 13th century.)

[SuiginChou]

(3, continued). The same thing goes for the moral and social views espoused by this scene: they represent the viewpoints of Muromachi-era Japanese and very probably those of Kamakura-era Japanese as well.

4. There are no Taira/Heike men anywhere near the time you mentioned. The only adult male shown around 0:23 is the main character, Yoshitsune, who is unmistakably of Minamoto/Genji descent. -_-; The women jumping into the water are precisely that -- women.

[WannaBeComposer]

Cool, I liked the music a lot. Maybe a little melodramatic, but still fitting.

[JyrkiDarling]

@Ababil666 A you seem to think that honor here is a historical fact then you are gravely mistaken, infact in medieval Japan 'honorable' is not what people think. The idea of honor is only a modern concept, as an example: the warriors just chose another side whenever they thought their side would lose... that was very common. I think it's higly amusing that you took this as 'not being correct' because there are a lot of other things which are not correct here. (example: no black teeth).

[crigueor]

Excelent my friend

Sayònara,

Axes from Spain

[Prissi20]

@Ababil666 I think Yoshitsune's reactions toward the jumping ladies is describing his psychological state, in a sense of showing the extent or aspects of what his deeds is capable of, and what 'winning & losing the war' is about. In the later scene, he's shown staring at the sunset, imagining the turns of fate and his&Minamoto's demise. Besides, the courtladies brought the 3 sacred treasure with them to the water.

[SuiginChou]

Of course he wanted to capture them. As in this depiction, Yoshitsune is such a kind-hearted, noble spirit that he doesn't want any unnecessary bloodshed / loss of life. (We see this later when he received Taira no Munemori as a prisoner, genuinely believed he would be able to reach one of the two capitals and given a war trial before being beheaded, and was then outraged when Munemori was beheaded the very next day.)

I agree that historically the scene probably didn't play out like this. :)

[Ababil666]

Or the main purpose of this part when Yoshitsune crying and asked them to not to commit suicide is to show to the audience how cruelty can war be? If that's the main point of it then I can understand, but I guess the way Yoshitsune potrays his feelings on this is not accepted in the social views of Heian and Kamakura period. Anyway, apologize of my intrusion. Thanks.

[Ababil666]

1. I agree with this one as this is the point what I am trying to mention :)

4. Apologize for saying that the guy on 0:23 scene is from Heike/taira, the fact is I never watched this drama before thus I don't know which character is which. What I was pointing out was that, why is he crying and asked the women to not to commit suicide when for them such deaths is an honorable one and accepted by the society those days? That is the main point of my comment earlier. Thanks :)

[magister62]

This definitely depicts Japan's Masada moment. Such moments in history no longer belong to the specific races of people who originally lived them, but to everybody who considers a world without honour and freedom and human decency a fate worse than death.