{"product_id":"the-tales-of-the-heike-translations-from-the-asian-classics","title":"The Tales of the Heike (Translations from the Asian Classics)","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Tales of the Heike is one of the most influential works in Japanese literature and culture  remaining even today a crucial source for fiction  drama  and popular media. Originally written in the mid-thirteenth century  it features a cast of vivid characters and chronicles the epic Genpei war  a civil conflict that marked the end of the power of the Heike and changed the course of Japanese history. The Tales of the Heike focuses on the lives of both the samurai warriors who fought for two powerful twelfth-century Japanese clans-the Heike (Taira) and the Genji (Minamoto)-and the women with whom they were intimately connected.  The Tales of the Heike provides a dramatic window onto the emerging world of the medieval samurai and recounts in absorbing detail the chaos of the battlefield  the intrigue of the imperial court  and the gradual loss of a courtly tradition. The book is also highly religious and Buddhist in its orientation  taking up such issues as impermanence  karmic retribution  attachment  and renunciation  which dominated the Japanese imagination in the medieval period.  In this new  abridged translation  Burton Watson offers a gripping rendering of the works most memorable episodes. Particular to this translation are the introduction by Haruo Shirane  the woodblock illustrations  a glossary of characters  and an extended bibliography.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44984509857845,"sku":"ByrdShop_0231138024","price":40.97,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780231138024.jpg?v=1770872975","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-tales-of-the-heike-translations-from-the-asian-classics","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}