Setchūbai

Seijishōsetsu: Setchūbai (政治小説: 雪中梅; "A Political Novel: Plum Blossoms in Snow") is an 1886 Japanese novel written by Tetchō Suehiro.

Kyoko Kurita wrote in "The Romantic Triangle in Meiji Literature" that the novel is "a simple Aesopian story (with a happy ending), in which the characters are mere tools to advocate the author's political convictions".[1] Ozaki Yukio stated in his introduction of the novel that it is not merely a romance story but a modern Japanese novel; Kurita argued that this introduction was "generous".[1]

The book has a sequel, Kakan'ō (花間鶯).

Plot

The book begins on October 3, 2040 (Meiji 173) in Tokyo. Two men, a host and a guest, both of whom are unnamed, discuss how powerful and wealthy Japan has become. The host stated that he did not understand how Japan recovered from poor conditions in 1880 (Meiji 13), in which Japan experienced political strife, and in the period 1883-1886 (Meiji 16-19), in which political discussion had declined. The guest responds by showing two books, titled "Plum Blossoms in Snow" and "Songbirds Among Flowers."[2] They describe the main character and his eventual wife, Kunino Motoi (国野 基) and Tominaga Haru (富永 春 or お春 O-haru).[3] These notebooks were written by a professor and his wife.[4] The convention involving a novel opening with a discussion among unnamed men was common in the Tokugawa period.[2]

The primary story is set in the years 1886–1890 (Meiji 19–23). Kunino adopts an alias and moves to Tokyo in order to become involved in politics. He meets a former samurai and promises to marry the samurai's daughter, Haru, but decides not to meet her until he has established himself. However Kunino is forced to keep a low profile when the government enacts a round of persecution. Haru's parents die, and her only possession is a photograph of Kunino since her uncle has her parents' former possessions. In Meiji 19 she attends a speech given by Kunino, now ill and using his real name.[5]

Haru decides to financially sponsor and support Kunino, who works to unite the different political groups in Japan,[5] and assists him as he experiences financial difficulties and becomes incarcerated, despite the fact that her uncle wants her to marry another man.[6] She does not learn of Kunino's former identity until she shows him the photograph. Haru's uncle reveals that her father had written a will which gives Kunino the family estate.[5] They marry,[7] and continue to be involved in politics.[5]

Characters

The main characters are: Kunino Motoi, a poor man who becomes a political activist and intends to become the leader of Japan; Tominaga Haru, an educated young woman who finances the Freedom and Popular Rights Movement and becomes involved with Kunino; and Kawagishi Hyōsui (川岸 萍水), an evil man who tries to become Haru's boyfriend. The names of all three characters are based on attributes chosen by Suehiro: Motoi's name means "foundation of a nation", Haru's name means "ever-lasting fortune and spring", and Kawagishi's name means "floating weed along a river bank."[1]

Development

The author himself had devoted his life to resolving differences among the Japanese political factions,[5] and he had previously been incarcerated due to libel law violations;[8] these aspects influenced the novel.

Sequel

The sequel, written in 1888 and 1889, is Seijishōsetsu: Kakan'ō (政治小説: 花間鶯; "A Political Novel: A Nightingale Among the Flowers"[4] or "Songbirds Among Flowers"[5]), and it focuses on how Japan as a whole unifies. The country establishes a constitution and elections, and a political establishment is closed.[9] It describes how the guest discovered the books in the distant future.[5] The book's ending argues that the marriage between a wealthy benefactor and a political intellectual would cause the educated and the businesspeople to ally, causing democracy to form in Japan, a position advanced by the book's author.[9]

Legacy

It influenced the novel Future of a New China by Liang Qichao.[10]

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References
  1. Kurita, Kyoko. "The Romantic Triangle in Meiji Literature". In: Hardacre, Helen and Adam Lewis Kern (editors). New Directions in the Study of Meiji Japan (Volume 6 of Brill's Japanese Studies Library). BRILL, 1997. ISBN 9004107355, 9789004107359. p. 231.
  2. Hill, Christopher L. National History and the World of Nations: Capital, State, and the Rhetoric of History in Japan, France, and the United States (Asia-Pacific: Culture, Politics, and Society). Duke University Press, December 26, 2008. ISBN 0822389150, 9780822389156. p. 165 (Google Books PT181)
  3. Hill, Christopher L. National History and the World of Nations: Capital, State, and the Rhetoric of History in Japan, France, and the United States (Asia-Pacific: Culture, Politics, and Society). Duke University Press, December 26, 2008. ISBN 0822389150, 9780822389156. p. 165-166 (Google Books PT181-182)
  4. Matthew, Robert. Japanese Science Fiction: A View of a Changing Society (Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese Studies). Routledge, September 2, 2003. ISBN 1134983603, 9781134983605. Google Books PT18.
  5. Hill, Christopher L. National History and the World of Nations: Capital, State, and the Rhetoric of History in Japan, France, and the United States (Asia-Pacific: Culture, Politics, and Society). Duke University Press, December 26, 2008. ISBN 0822389150, 9780822389156. p. 166 (Google Books PT182)
  6. Mollard, Nicolas. "Construction d'une identité littéraire moderne à travers la relecture d'une esthétique traditionnelle : Furyu dans les écrits de Koda Rohan autour de 1890, avec une traduction de 4 nouvelles et un poème : Furyubutsu, O-Fumi-sama o tomurau, Dokushushin, Engaien, Fujibumi." PhD thesis, University of Geneva, 2007, no. L. 634. p. 51. "O‐Haru, tombée amoureuse du protagoniste Kunino Motoi lors d'un ... voudrait la marier à un autre homme."
  7. Hill, Christopher L. National History and the World of Nations: Capital, State, and the Rhetoric of History in Japan, France, and the United States (Asia-Pacific: Culture, Politics, and Society). Duke University Press, December 26, 2008. ISBN 0822389150, 9780822389156. p. 166-167 (Google Books PT182–183)
  8. Maeda, Ai. "Utopia of the Prisonhouse: A Reading of In Darkest Tokyo" (translated by Seiji M. Lippett and James A. Fujii). In: Maeda, Ai (Introduction and editing by James A. Fujii). Text and the City: Essays on Japanese Modernity. Duke University Press. March 4, 2004. ISBN 0822385627, 9780822385622. p. 30-31.
  9. Hill, Christopher L. National History and the World of Nations: Capital, State, and the Rhetoric of History in Japan, France, and the United States (Asia-Pacific: Culture, Politics, and Society). Duke University Press, December 26, 2008. ISBN 0822389150, 9780822389156. p. 167 (Google Books PT183)
  10. Wang, David D. W. "Translating Modernity." In: Pollard, David E. (editor). Translation and Creation: Readings of Western Literature in Early Modern China, 1840-1918. John Benjamins Publishing, 1998. ISBN 9027216282, 9789027216281. Start: p. 303. CITED: p. 309.

Further reading
  • Setchūbai In: Suehiro Tetchō shū, Meiji bungaku zenshū, Volume 6, Chikuma Shōbo, 1967. p. 111-162.
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