Heike-e 平家絵

Keywords
Art History
Painting

Lit. paintings of Heike. The usual abbreviation of Heike monogatari-e 平家物語絵, illustrations of famous incidents concerning the Taira 平 family (Heike) taken primarily from the epic war-tale, Heike monogatari 平家物語 (The Tale of The Heike). The prose-tale features numerous events which became the subject of pictures either illustrating the original narrative or illustrating one of the many *noh 能, jōruri 浄瑠璃, or *kabuki 歌舞伎 plays on which it is based. Battle scenes concerning the Heike wars (12th century) with the Minamoto 源 clan (Genji 源氏) include *Ichinotani kassen 一ノ谷合戦, *Yashima kassen 屋島合戦, *Ujigawa no kassen 宇治川の合戦, and *Horikawa yo'uchi 堀川夜討. Sometimes specific events during the battle are illustrated, such as *Yuminagshi 弓流し and *Hassōtobi 八艘飛. Other frequently illustrated incidents involve the Taira clan as courtiers in the capital and include *Nuetaiji 鵺退治, *Ōhara gokō 大原御幸, *Kogō 小督, and Shunkan 俊寛. Heike-e are found in formats ranging from screens to wood-block prints. The dramatic and often tragic events were frequently painted during 15th-17th century by the *Kano-ha 狩野派 and *Tosa-ha 土佐派 and later depicted by *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists. Edo period publications of Heike monogatari were often illustrated. The term heike-e sometimes is used in contra-distinction to *genji-e 源氏絵. However genji-e refers to depictions of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji), a Heian novel unrelated to the Minamoto clan (Genji), of Heike monogatari.