Guided Reading Essay: The 47 Ronin

Read the story of The 47 Ronin then answer then complete the following essay assignment under the Quiz section. Vendettas, honor, loyalty, murder and betrayal, key components of a classic and yet little known Japanese literary genre known as jitsuroku.  The word “jitsuroku” translates as “memoir” and was a genre of literature in feudal Japan that were generally exaggerated stories of political scandals and revenge.  These stories were largely based on true events, however through oral transmission and embellishment, these stories would soon intertwine fact and fiction together to the point that trying to decipher between the two would become quite difficult.  The result is that epic tales of revenge would soon become transmitted and popularized throughout Feudal Japan.  The story of the 47 Ronin is one such story. At the death of their master Asano no Kami at the hands of the wicked Kira Kotsuke no Suke, a band of Ronin (masterless samurai) hatch an elaborate plan of revenge that will take one year to complete and see through to the end.   A now classic epic, this work is a republishing of A.B. Mitford's version of the 47 Ronin from his now out of print and public domain work Tales of Old Japan.   This is the 1st installment of Justin Hagen's Jitsuroku series.  Each Jitsuroku in this series contains a republishing of a single short story from the public domain that has been updated and edited to correct some of the older terminology from their original versions.  These stories also include a common 'Foreword' discussing the Jitsuroku genre and an individualized 'Afterword' to bring historical context to each tale.