八犬伝は、中国の豪傑小説『水滸伝』の影響を色濃く受けた伝奇小説です。時代を戦国時代に求め、結城合戦以後、房総に入って勢力をのばした里見氏の歴史を背景に、里見氏の娘伏姫ゆかりの仁義礼智忠信孝悌の霊玉を持つ八犬士の活躍を描いた架空の物語です。関東・甲信越地方を主な舞台とし、各地の伝説を取り入れた雄大な構想で、波乱曲折に富んだスケールの大きな作品です。

Greatly influenced by the heroic Chinese novel "Suikoden" or "Water Margin", Hakkenden is a romantic work of fiction.The story is about Lord Satomi's daughter and her relationship to the activities of eight samurai, each of whom represent a Confucian virtue The background for the story is Japan's feudal era. It is based on the history of Lord Satomi after a great battle, when he returns to Boso to expand his sphere of influence.Hakkenden is an extremely intricate story, written on grand scale, using central Japan (Kanto) and the prefectures of Nagano and Niigata as the stage, and incorporating the various legends and traditions of these areas.

『南総里見八犬伝』は、江戸時代の文豪曲亭馬琴がその後半生を傾けて著わした大作です。八犬伝の第一輯が出版されたのは、文化11年（1814）、馬琴47才のときです。そして、天保13年（1842）までの28年の歳月を費やして、この大著が完成したときは、馬琴はすでに74才の盲目の翁となっていました。外に黒船の影が重くのしかかり、内に天保の改革の嵐が吹きあれるなか、全部で106冊という日本の古典文学で最も長い、世界でも有数の長編小説が完成したのです。

The Hakkenden was written by a famous author of the Edo era. Kyokutei Bakin (1767-1848). He spent half his life composing this vast novel, The first of series was published in 1814 when the author was 47 years old.However,it was not until 28 years later(1842) that this work was completed By this time, the author was 74 years old and blind. By the time the novel was finished, Japan had entered a period typified by a storm of social and militaristic changes known as the Tenpo Reforms.Outside Japan, the shadow of the "black ship" of Western and European traders was becoming more menacing.It was against this background that the 106 volumes of the longest classical Japanese novels, and one of the longest novels in the world, were published.

里見八犬伝 デジタル美術館 (別ウインドウが開きます)