| The dissertation examines textual commerce in early 15th-century Japan through the lens of Kanmon nikki, a diary written in Court Chinese by Prince Sadafusa (1372-1456), a grandson of Emperor Suko (1334-1398) and the leader of the Fushimi no miya, a branch of the imperial line. Kanmon nikki records Sadafusa's efforts to maintain this branch's relevance in court politics and to his long-standing desire to return his line to the throne, which was accomplished when his son took the throne as Emperor GoHanazono in 1428. The diary is also a window onto what I call an imperial scribal network, a group of literary circles that copied, circulated, and consumed a variety of texts: hand-scrolls, sutras, prose narratives, folding screens, as well as texts that were sung by Heike biwa hoshi, and theatricalized by sarugaku no troupes. In my study I describe the many ways the written word was employed within this network and the complex relationship that people within medieval society had with texts, not only imperial patrons, such as Sadafusa, but those who relied upon his patronage: the aristocrats and local samurai who served him, as well as performers who sought his favor. I argue that Sadafusa began Kanmon nikki as part of his project for restoration, and that his engagement with texts---particularly his exchange of manuscripts with the retired emperor and shogun---was a way to remind the court and shogunate of an imperial legacy that Sadafusa traced to Emperor Fushimi. |
