The Battle of Yashima, from The Tale of the Heike (Heike monogatari)
Tosa School Japanese
Not on view
Social upheaval and rivalries among military clans were hallmarks of the late Heian period (794–1185). A decades-long conflict between the Taira and Minamoto families over imperial dominance culminated in the Genpei War, a struggle recounted in The Tale of the Heike, compiled before 1330. At the naval Battle of Yashima in 1185, Minamoto warriors routed the Taira from their encampment by the Inland Sea. On the screen at right the young and unproven Minamoto archer Nasu no Yoichi rides his horse into the sea to shoot a distant battle fan bobbing in the prow of a Taira woman’s boat. Enmity gives way to admiration as both sides hail his remarkable achievement.
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