Yoshikawa Eiji Sangokushi The Relationship between Application of Original Text and Creation Concept

Abstract

Sangokushi was a serial novel published from August, 1939 to September, 1943. When writing this novel, Yoshikawa Eiji referred many materials, but he said：”I didn’t totally depend on any version of translations such as Tsuzokusangokushi or Sangokushiengi, instead, I picked up the advantages from those materials and wrote by my own style.” From this, it could be said that investigating the master copy of Yoshikawa’s Sangokushi was the most important step before researching this novel, and first step was to investigate the master copy of Yoshikawa’s Sangokushi, then to analyze the traits of creating skills.In this study, it was proved that, besides Tsuzokusangokushi (preface by Konan Bunzan), Yoshikawa Eiji really applied several kinds of references, and his purpose was to make the story plot easier to be read.In this study, the researcher noticed that Yoshikawaeiji stimulated his imagination by illustrations and that helped him to create lifelike scenes. Aside from putting in effort on description, he also expressed his view of history toward war by collecting many references. As mentioned above, this research was talking about how Yoshikawa Eiji applied kinds of references and created his uniqueness.