Santō Kyōden
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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 Samuru Iwase (岩瀬醒?), and he was also known popularly as Kyoya Denzo (京屋伝蔵 kyōya denzo?). He is the brother of Santō Kyōzan.
In 1791, during the Kansei Reforms, he is said to have received the punishment of Manacled Arrest (手鎖 tegusari?).
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[edit] Life
Santō Kyōden was born in Fukagawa in Edo. The Iwase family into which he was born were pawnbrokers in a lumberyard. He studied ukiyoe (浮世絵師?) under master Shigenobu Kitao (北尾重寅?), and began illustrating yellow-backed novel (黄表紙 kibyōshi?) under the pseudonym of Masanobu Kitao (北尾政寅?). He soon started writing these novels also under the name of Santō Kyōden; several novels are written by Santō Kyōden and illustrated by Masanobu Kitao— the same person! 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, governmental censors began to impose much stronger restrictions on published works. In 1791, Kyōden was chained in manacles to his house for fifty days as punishment for publishing a series of particularly disagreeable sharebon and kibyōshi.
Kyōden then broke off all ties with sharebon and turned to writing yomihon (読本?). Kyokutei Bakin (曲亭馬琴?) joined with Kyōden to write popular literature (戯作 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.
[edit] Major works
[edit] Kibyōshi
- Those Familiar Bestsellers (御存商売物 Gozonji no Shōbaimono?) (1782)
- Playboy, Roasted à la Edo (江戸生艶気蒲焼 Edo umare uwaki no kabayaki?) (1785)
- The Unseamly Silverpiped Swingers (扮接銀煙管 Sogitsugi gingiseru?) (1788)
- Shingaku Hayasomekusa (心学早染草?) (1790)
[edit] Sharebon
- Musukobeya (令子洞房?) (1785)
- Tsūgen Sōmagaki (通言総籬?) (1787)
- Kokei no Sanshō (古契三娼?) (1787)
- Keiseikai Shijūhatte (傾城買四十八手?) (1790)
- Shigeshige Chiwa (繁千話?) (1790)
[edit] Yomihon
- Chūshin Suikoden (忠臣水滸伝?) (1799)
- Udonge Monogatari (優曇華物語?) (1804)
- Sakura Hime Zenden Akebono no Zōshi (桜姫全伝曙草子?) (1805)
- Mukashigatari Inazuma Byōshi (昔話稲妻表紙?) (1806)
[edit] Historical works
- 近世奇跡考
- Curios (骨董集 kottō-shū?)
[edit] See also
- Kibyoshi
- Sharebon
- Tsutaya Juzaburo (蔦屋重三郎 tsutaya jūzaburō?)
[edit] References
- Adam L. Kern (2006). Manga from the Floating World: Comicbook Culture and the Kibyôshi of Edo Japan. Harvard University Asia Center. ISBN 0-674-02266-1.
- Earl Miner, Hiroko Odagiri and Robert E. Morrell (1985). The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature. Princeton University Press, 224–225. ISBN 0-691-06599-3.
- This article incorporates material from the equivalent article in the Japanese Wikipedia.
[edit] External links
- 「浮世絵類考」と写楽について (Japanese). On Ukiyoe Kinds and Sharaku. Retrieved on 2006-07-09.
