Kara Monogatari. Medieval Japanese stories about China

Here is the commented translation of the medieval monument of Japanese literature “Kara Monogatari” (“Stories about China”) It is assumed that the text was written by the court Fuja-no Sigenori (1135–1187) at the end of the Heyan period (794–1185) “Monogatari Kara” consists of twenty -seven stories, the action of which occurs in China. The main artistic features of the work are literary Japanese language and the presence of one or more Vaka poems (“Japanese songs”) in every story. The introductory article illuminates the main issues related to the advent and existence of the text “Monogatari Kara”. The commentary discusses each of the stories included in the monument, gives translations of excerpts from possible Chinese sources and Japanese texts of the XII-XIII centuries, as well as the poems-Wak, based on the same plots. The application contains a translation of the first Japanese study dedicated to the “Monogatari Kara”, “Brief Essay“ Monogatari Kara ””, philologist Simizu Hamaomi (1776–1824)