Chapter 2 foreword

Mr. Yasushi Inoue is a famous Japanese novelist. Many historical novels with Chinese themes he created have been translated and introduced one after another, and are already widely known to Chinese readers, such as, ,, "The Biography of Concubine Yang", etc.However, as far as I remember, I have only introduced one of Inoue’s old Japanese-themed historical novels. It is really a grand event for Chongqing Publishing Group to introduce it to Chinese readers. It can be said to be the pinnacle of Inoue's old historical novels. It is well known to women and children in Japan and has been adapted into film and television dramas many times.I have watched three of them, namely the 1969 film produced by Toho, the 2006 NHK "Niyao Western Painting Theater" single TV drama, and the 2007 NHK Taiga drama, played by Mifune Toshiro, Kitaoji Shinya and Uchino Masaaki The main character is Kansuke Yamamoto.

This Kansuke Yamamoto is a legendary figure in Japanese history, and he is one of the three most popular military advisers in the Warring States Period.However, Hanbei Takenaka in the Three Army Division does have a real person, and Usami Sadayuki has his prototype (Usami Sadaman), only the figure of Yamamoto Kansuke is always shrouded in heavy fog, which makes people dazzled, and it is difficult to distinguish the authenticity. The Warring States Period in Japan is equivalent to the middle of the Ming Dynasty in my country, from about the mid-fifteenth century to the mid-sixteenth century, and lasted for a full hundred years.During this century, the feudal lords separatist regimes and warlords fought, and the Japanese archipelago fell into unprecedented turmoil. The troubled times produced heroes, and the most famous one was Takeda Shingen, the lord of Kai.

Takeda Shingen is good at internal affairs and strategy, and he is also an excellent tactical commander. He used "Fenglin Volcano" as the banner to continuously launch annexation wars. Kansuke Yamamoto was the genius military adviser that Shingen relied on most in his youth. However, the name Kansuke Yamamoto could not be found in the various historical documents of that era. The reason why this person is well-known in Japan is due to a historical work "Koyo Junkan" completed in the early seventeenth century.This book claims to be written by Masanobu Takasaka (Torazuna Kasuga), an important minister of Takeda Shingen, and Sojiro Kasuga, his nephew. There are always suspicions that it is a fake book.

Some people think that the author of "Jiayang Junjian" is not Takasaka's uncle and nephew, but the monk Tieyi, the son of Kansuke Yamamoto. Therefore, his father Kansuke Yamamoto, who was originally very humble in status and role, is full of color, and many other people's achievements are also included. On Kansuke, making him become the most trusted genius military adviser of Takeda Shingen from an unknown person.Others believe that the author of "Koyo Military Mirror" is the survivor of the Takeda family, Kobata Jingxian. Jingxian was born in 1572, and Takeda Shingen passed away the next year. When he was 10 years old, the Takeda family had already perished, so According to folk rumors, he created this book under the name of Takasaka's uncle and nephew. The historical value is very low, and it is full of various unintentional mistakes and intentional forgery.

The above two statements are tantamount to denying Kansuke Yamamoto, or this person does not exist, or this person is just a small role.Just like the well-known story of "The General of the Yang Family" in China, in the real history, the only son named by Yang Ye is Yang Yanlang (Yan Zhao), that is, Yang Liulang in folklore. The other sons either did not exist at all, Either they have never led troops to fight ambassadors, which is not enough to leave their names in history books. According to "Koyo Military Mirror", Kansuke Yamamoto was born in Mikawa Ushiwa, came to Kai after middle age, served as an official in Takeda Shingen, and became a general through hard work.Needless to say, Shingen listened to Kansuke’s words. He built many castles in the process of annexing the Shinano country, basically all of which were the credit of Yamamoto Kansuke. They were called "Kansuke Liu". The cities of my family (Takeda’s family) are mostly Kansuke.” Including the famous Takato Castle, Komoro Castle, Haijin Castle, and so on.And two of the "Four Great Ministers of Takeda"-Baba Xinfang and Takasaka Masanobu-all also learned the art of fortification from Yamamoto Kansuke, and they are Kansuke's disciples.

Most of the wars in the Warring States Period in Japan were based on the fortifications. Just being good at building fortifications is enough to show that Kansuke Yamamoto is a pivotal figure in the Takeda Army.Is it all false? In the 1960s, Japanese scholars discovered a historical document in the family of Ryo Ichikawa in Kushiro City, Hokkaido, namely the famous "Ichikawa Documents". Send a military commander named Yamamoto Kansuke to convey the order.Scholars believe that this Yamamoto Kansuke is likely to be the prototype of the legendary Yamamoto Kansuke. Referring to the records in "Ichikawa Documents", it can be seen that there was indeed a person surnamed Yamamoto in the Takeda Army, or a family surnamed Yamamoto. As a member of the family, since Kansuke Yamamoto could be appointed as an envoy, his status should not be low.At the same time, some linguists pointed out that "Jiayang Junjian" does have the stylistic expression of the Warring States Period. Although it is very likely that the final draft was completed by Xiaoban Jingxian or Tieyi Monk, the original manuscript was indeed written by the core generals of the Takeda Army. —Of course, it may not be Uncle Kosaka.

The Japanese use of Chinese characters is not as rigorous as that of our country. One pronunciation often corresponds to several Chinese characters with similar meanings, so there are many homonyms and even complete typos. For example, Shichuan can also be written as Shihe.For another example, Sakagaki Nobukata who appeared in the novel also writes Sakagaki Nobugata, Fanfu Huchang also writes Fufu Huchang, Suwa County also writes Sukata County, etc., and Kansuke himself can also write Kansuke at the same time. between.In this case, it is reasonable for Kansuke Yamamoto to mistakenly write Kansuke Yamamoto, or Kansuke Yamamoto to be Kansuke Yamamoto.

Inoue’s novel was first published in 1955. He had not seen “Ichikawa Documents” during the creation process. At that time, the theory that Kansuke Yamamoto did not exist was still very popular. As a historical novel, of course, fiction is allowed. Mr. Inoue painted heavy colors for Kansuke Yamamoto, which is even more so than "Koyo Military Kan".In order to meet the needs of creation and highlight the role of the protagonist Kansuke Yamamoto, the novel reshaped many historical events.For example, put the "Breakdown of Toishi" in 1550 before the "Uedahara Battle" in 1548, and at the same time let Amari Huyasu, who died in battle with Sakagaki Nobukata in the "Uedawara Battle", die two years earlier , went to "Toishi no collapse" to accompany Yokota Takamatsu, and so on.

In Inoue's writing, Kansuke Yamamoto is indeed an inexhaustible genius. Whether he is fighting people or fighting against stories, he can win with his instinctive intuition.Although he had been living in Sunfu Castle before becoming an official of Takeda Shingen, and had never been in the three kingdoms of Shun, En, and Sanguo ruled by the Imagawa Clan, he had never fought with real swords and guns, let alone fought in battle, but for the first time he He chopped down Aoki Ozen, who was good at swordsmanship, with a single swing of his sword. He got a salary of 200 kan when he talked with Takeda Shingen for the first time, and he basically solved the problem in Suwa County by making a plan for the first time.

"He himself didn't know what kind of tricks to use to deal with Aoki Daizen, but he just wanted to slash him with a sword, so he swung his sword and slashed..." Just like wielding a sword, Kansuke seemed to be able to see through Takeda Shingen's heart Yes, he knows exactly what Shingen longs for, what he needs, and how to get it.It is also because of this that Shingen and his master and subordinate get along well, and even disregard the opposition of the old minister Gan Lihutai to make an exception and promote him.And Kansuke also dedicated all his energy and wisdom to Shingen, and spared no effort to plan and fight for Shingen's hegemony.

However, Kansuke, who can directly point to people's hearts in both politics and war, is as naive as a child when it comes to emotional issues.He has never loved any woman. Before meeting Yu Buji, it can be said that there is no trace of women in his life.But suddenly, Yubuki appeared, and Kansuke's loyalty seemed to be transferred from Shingen to Yubuki in an instant.Although he doesn't know what Yubu Ji really needs, or how to make this beautiful and noble princess happy, he can only use his genius intuition of politics and warfare to plan for Yubu Ji from a political point of view—— In a sense, this is the real tragedy. Kansuke's subsequent life course, and even the development direction of the Takeda family, were doomed.In order to protect Yubuki, he stubbornly supports the battle between Shingen and Murakami Yoshiki, and at the same time, in order to raise the status of Yubuki's son Katsuyori, he seems to be deliberately delaying the final decisive battle with Uesugi Kenshin.This procrastination resulted in the single and greatest blunder of Kansuke's life, leading to his eventual death in battle. A great feature of Inoue's old novels is that the characters in the novels often act on the basis of emotion and instinct, and rationality flickers in them, which does not constitute the main axis of growth and development.This kind of emotion and instinct is indescribable, and readers often ask "why did he do this" during the reading process, but because of the rationality of the author's arrangement of details, construction of the environment, and shaping of characters, At the same time, readers also sighed "it should be so". This is exactly how Mr. Inoue shaped Kansuke Yamamoto, the protagonist of the novel, which greatly improved the sense of existence of this mysterious historical figure.At the same time, the shaping of other main characters is undoubtedly quite successful. In a sense, Takeda Shingen is the shadow of Kansuke, or rather Kansuke is the shadow of Shingen.When discussing politics and warfare, Shingen and Kansuke have the same ideas and reactions, and they are both external and internal to each other. If only this is the case, Shingen's sense of existence will be quite weak.But the wonderful thing is that when it comes to the emotional field, Xinxuan is completely different from Kansuke. Compared with Kansuke's innocence to the point of ignorance, Xinxuan is so old-fashioned that it is frightening. Get closer to Kansuke.The hero's true colors come alive on paper. As for Yu Buji, the most important female character in the novel, there is also a prototype in history, which is called "Suwa Royal Material", which means the concubine who was brought in from the Suwa family.When she first appeared on the stage, Bu Ji gave readers the feeling of being weak, helpless, and full of desire to survive, but as the plot unfolded, her character became multi-layered and all levels were consistent.The external weakness is covered with tenacious and unyielding feelings and thoughts, and because of the limited status, this kind of tenacity forces him to eventually perish.From the initial survival to the final death, too many tragic colors were painted on this troubled woman, and this tragic color was reflected on Kansuke, which inspired another layer of Kansuke's bewilderment and helplessness. Kansuke Yamamoto in Inoue's old works is a genius, but he is not a hero, let alone a perfect man. He is a pitiful little character who is full of tragedy and cannot protect his beloved in the tide of the times. Finally, I would like to talk about Mr. Xu Ning's translation, which can retain the original style as much as possible under the premise of smooth writing, and is close to the highest requirements of "credibility, expressiveness, and elegance" in translation, which is really commendable.There is a big difficulty in translating ancient Japanese literature and historical novels, that is, how to explain those proprietary words in Japanese that are derived from Chinese characters but are completely different from the original meaning of Chinese characters.If the translation is not in place, or if it is difficult to find the corresponding Chinese but forced to translate, it may not only destroy the flavor of the original text, but may even make a joke.This problem exists in many translations. For example, nouns such as "Ichinomaru" and "Ninomaru" were translated as "One Castle" and "Second Castle" in the past.However, the types of walled cities in the Warring States Period in Japan are rare in ancient China. Even if there are, there are not so many proper names. The meaning of "bao" is a high-defense building with a roof, but the so-called "wan" is closer to a high-defense courtyard, and it is difficult to find a corresponding word in Chinese.For similar problems, Mr. Xu Ning chose to keep the original words and add annotations, which is very appropriate and scientific. For a good translation, it is not only necessary to be proficient in the languages ​​and characters of the two countries, but also to be familiar with the author's style of writing and the background of the times depicted in the article.Compared with this article, it is difficult to be "faithful, expressive, and elegant" if you don't understand Inoue's writing style, and if you don't understand Japanese history, especially the history of the Warring States Period.As far as I know about Mr. Xu Ning, he possesses these qualities, and he is the best candidate for translation, and after reading his translations carefully, I am more sure of this.