Lieh-Nü Chuan(列女伝), a Chinese literary work in the Han Dynasty, followed by Hsin Hsü Lieh-Nü Chuan (新続列女伝) in the Ming Dynasty, was widely read in Japan in the early modern period. We can see its influence upon Kanazōshi, literary works written in Kana (the Japanese Syllabric character) in those days.
The educational policy of the Edo Shogunate and the feudalistic morals based on it encouraged the womanly virtues of Confucian doctrine. It is because of such a social condition that the work became popular.
Lieh-Nü Chuan was translated into Japanese in the first year of the Meireki era (1655) and its passages were often quoted in Kanazōshi and then appeared an adaptation, while a Japanese Lieh-Nü Chuan was written after the idea of the book. The original work and the Japanese one were combined in a number of ways showing different aspects.
As the time went on, Lieh-Nü Chuan, didactic lives of women based on Confucianism, was gradually changed into those for readers’ interest, and we can even find those of prostitutes.
This article discusses chronologically the influence of Lieh-Nü Chuan in transition upon Japanese literature, introducing the related reference materials.
