Dangibon

The dangibon (談義本^?) was a pre-modern Japanese literary genre. Texts were written in a humorous, satiric sermon-style with the purpose of educating the masses. It is type of gesaku.

Developments

Masuho Zankō (増穂残口^?) and Issai Chozan (佚斎樗山^?) are credited with establishing the early foundations upon which the genre rests. In 1715, Masuho wrote Endō Tukugan (艶道通鑑^?), and in 1727 Issai wrote Inaka Sōji (田舎荘子^?). These two texts are early forerunners of the genre. However, the genre is not fully realized until several decades later. In 1752, Jōkanbō Kōa (静観房好阿^?) wrote Imayō Heta Dangi (当世下手談義^?, "A Clumsy Sermon in the Modern Manner"), which is identified as a the first true example of the dangibon genre.

The genre existed between the 1752 c. 1800, reaching "the height of their popularity in the 1750s."^[1] It gradually evolved into the kokkeibon genre at the start of the 19th century.

Major works

• Endō Tukugan (艶道通鑑^?) (1715)
• Inaka Sōji (田舎荘子^?) (1727)
• Imayō Heta Dangi (当世下手談義^?, "A Clumsy Sermon in the Modern Manner") (1752)
• Kyōkunzō Nagamochi (教訓雑長持^?) (1752)
• Sentō Shinwa (銭湯新話^?) (1754)
• Nenashigusa (根南志具佐^?) (1763)
• Fūryū Shidōken-den (風流志道軒伝^?, "The Biography of the Jolly Shidōken") (1763)
• Wasō Byōe (和荘兵衛^?) (1774

See also

• Hiraga Gennai, one of the major dangibon authors.

External links

• Manuscript scans of Endō Tukugan: 3 volumes and 6 volumes, Waseda University Library
• Manuscript scans of Inaka Sōji: 10 volumes, Waseda University Library
• Manuscript scans of Nenashigusa: 4 volumes, 5 volumes, and 1 volume; Waseda University Library
• Manuscript scans of Fūryū Shidōken-den: 2 volumes and 5 volumes, Waseda University Library
• Manuscript scans of Wasō Byōe: 1 volume, 4 volumes, Waseda University Library

Notes

1. ^ Keene (1976: 412)

References

• Keene, Donald (1976) (in English). World Within Walls: Japanese Literature of the Pre-Modern Era 1600-1867. New York: Grove Press. ISBN 0-394-17074-1. 
• Kubota, Jun (2007) (in Japanese). Iwanami Nihon Koten Bungaku Jiten. Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 978-4-00-080310-6. 
• Nakano, Mitsutoshi (1990) (in Japanese). Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 81: Inaka Sōji, Imayō Heta Dangi, Tōsei Anasagasi. Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 4-00-240081-6. 
• Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten: Kan'yakuban. Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten. 1986. ISBN 4-00-080067-1.