Yasushi Inoue, who has been aptly described as the Grand Old Man of Japanese letters, was also one of the most popular novelists in Japan. His novel Confucius (Koshi) topped sales of 700,000 copies in its first year of publication. The story is told through the eyes of Yen-chiang, a fictitious disciple of the Master, who, in his advanced years, lectures a younger generation of followers. Yen-chiang rescues Confucius from the obscurity of the past with a series of vivid set pieces. He guides his listeners - and the reader - across the vast Chinese landscape and the turmoil of the warring states on an intimate journey with the Sage. The brilliantly crafted historical narrative is interwoven with famous lines from the Analects, immortalized through the centuries. Tantalizing glimpses of Confucius himself flicker from the pages, his extraordinariness harmonizing with his humanness. An elusive yet lifelike portrait of Confucius emerges. At the same time the novel provides a stimulating introduction to the great philosopher for readers uninitiated in Far Eastern thought, and a refreshing new perspective for the veteran Sinologist.
Author
Yasushi Inoue (井上靖) was a Japanese writer whose range of genres included poetry, essays, short fiction, and novels. Inoue is famous for his serious historical fiction of ancient Japan and the Asian continent, including Wind and Waves, Tun-huang, and Confucius, but his work also included semi-autobiographical novels and short fiction of great humor, pathos, and wisdom like Shirobamba and Asunaro Monogatari, which depicted the setting of the author's own life—Japan of the early to mid twentieth century—in revealing perspective. 1936 Chiba Kameo Prize —- Ruten,流転 1950 Akutagawa Prize —- Tōgyu,闘牛 1957 Ministry of Education Prize for Literature —- The Roof Tile of Tempyo,天平の甍 1959 Mainichi Press Prize —- Tun-huang,敦煌 1963 Yomiuri Prize —- Fūtō,風濤 (from Wikipedia)
