Santō Kyōden

nihongo|Santō Kyōden|山東京伝|santō kyōden|September 13, 1761 Edo–October 27, 1816 was a poet, writer and artist in the Edo period. His real name was nihongo|Samuru Iwase|岩瀬醒, and he was also known popularly as nihongo|Kyōya Denzō|京屋伝蔵|kyōya denzō. He is the brother of Santō Kyōzan.

Life

Santō Kyōden was born in Fukagawa in Edo. The Iwase family into which he was born were pawnbrokers in a lumberyard. He studied "ukiyo-e" under master nihongo|Kitao Shigenobu|北尾重寅, and began illustrating "kibyōshi under the pseudonym of nihongo|Kitao Masanobu|北尾政寅. He soon started writing these novels also under the name of Santō Kyōden; several novels are labeled as written by Santō Kyōden and illustrated by Kitao Masanobu. He wrote "kibyōshi" and "sharebon" in great numbers, and became a popular writer. During this time he married twice, both his wives being licensed workers of Yoshiwara.

During the Kansei Reforms, " [...] military and civil arts were encouraged, and the decadent writings of gesaku authors were condemned." In 1791, Kyōden published three sharebon: Nihongo|"Shikake Bunko"|仕懸文庫|, Nihongo|"Nishiki no Ura"|錦之裏|, and Nihongo|"Shōgi Kinuburui"|娼妓絹籭|. This incurred the anger of the stricter government and he was chained in manacles to his house for fifty days as punishment. [Keene (1976: 408)] [Kubota (2007: 167)]

Kyōden then broke off all ties with "sharebon" and turned to writing "yomihon". Kyokutei Bakin joined with Kyōden to write "gesaku" jointly, and independently Kyōden also wrote essentially historical texts on the manners and customs of the Edo period. Kyōden was an acute observer of life in the Edo period. While at ease with exaggeration, comedy and linguistic fun, his writing was primarily realistic.

Fiction writers prior to Kyōden generally wrote fiction as a hobby without any expectations of payment. Kyōden was one of the pioneers in turning this hobby into a livable profession.

Major works

"Kibyōshi"

*nihongo|"Those Familiar Bestsellers"|御存商売物|Gozonji no Shōbaimono (1782)
*nihongo|"Playboy, Roasted à la Edo"|江戸生艶気蒲焼|Edo umare uwaki no kabayaki (1785)
*nihongo|"The Unseamly Silverpiped Swingers"|扮接銀煙管|Sogitsugi gingiseru (1788)
*nihongo|"Shingaku Hayasomekusa"|心学早染草| (1790)

"Sharebon"

*nihongo|"Musukobeya"|令子洞房| (1785)
*nihongo|"The Palace"|通言総籬|Tsūgen Sōmagaki (1787)
*nihongo|"Kokei no Sanshō"|古契三娼| (1787)
*nihongo|"The Forty-Eight Grips in Buying a Whore"|傾城買四十八手|Keiseikai Shijūhatte (1790)
*nihongo|"Shigeshige Chiwa"|繁千話| (1790)
*Nihongo|"Shikake Bunko"|仕懸文庫| (1791)
*Nihongo|"Nishiki no Ura"|錦之裏| (1791)
*Nihongo|"The Courtesan's Silken Sieve"|娼妓絹籭|Shōgi Kinuburui (1791)

"Yomihon"

*nihongo|"Chūshin Suikoden"|忠臣水滸伝| (1799)
*nihongo|"Udonge Monogatari"|優曇華物語| (1804)
*nihongo|"Sakura Hime Zenden Akebono no Zōshi"|桜姫全伝曙草子| (1805)
*nihongo|"Mukashigatari Inazuma Byōshi"|昔話稲妻表紙| (1806)

Historical works

*Nihongo|"Kinsei Kiseki-kō"|近世奇跡考| (1804)
*nihongo|"Curios" |骨董集|kottō-shū (1813)

See also

*Kibyōshi
*Sharebon
*Tsutaya Jūzaburō

Notes

References

* cite book
last = Keene
first = Donald
authorlink = Donald Keene
title = World Within Walls: Japanese Literature of the Pre-Modern Era 1600-1867
publisher = Grove Press
date = 1976
location = New York
language = English
id = ISBN 0-394-17074-1
* cite book
author = Adam L. Kern
title = Manga from the Floating World: Comicbook Culture and the Kibyôshi of Edo Japan
publisher = Harvard University Asia Center
year = 2006
id = ISBN 0-674-02266-1
* cite book
last = Kubota
first = Jun
title = Iwanami Nihon Koten Bungaku Jiten
publisher = Iwanami Shoten
date = 2007
language = Japanese
id = ISBN 978-4-00-080310-6
* cite book
author = Earl Miner, Hiroko Odagiri and Robert E. Morrell
title = The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature
publisher = Princeton University Press
year = 1985
id = ISBN 0-691-06599-3
pages = 224–225
* This article incorporates material from the .

External links

*cite web
title = 「浮世絵類考」と写楽について (Japanese)
work = On Ukiyoe Kinds and Sharaku
url=http://www.ten-f.com/ukiyoe-ruikou.htm
accessdate = 2006-07-09