The Tale of the Heike facts for kids

The Tale of the Heike (pronounced Hey-keh Moh-noh-gah-tah-ree) is a famous Japanese epic story. It tells about a big fight between two powerful families, the Taira clan (also called the Heike) and the Minamoto clan, in Japan a long, long time ago, at the end of the 1100s. This struggle was a very important part of Japanese history.

What is The Tale of the Heike?

This story is about a huge conflict known as the Genpei War. This war happened between 1150 and 1185. It was a time when two strong families, the Taira (Heike) and the Minamoto, fought for control of Japan. The tale shows how their power grew and fell, and it's full of brave warriors, sad goodbyes, and important battles.

English Versions of the Story

Because The Tale of the Heike is such an important story, many people have translated it into English so more people can read it. Here are some of the people who have translated this long tale:

• 1818-1821 by Arthur Lindsay Sadler
• 1956 by Fuki Wooyenaka Uramatsu
• 1975 by Hiroshi Kitagawa and Bruce Tsuchida
• 1988 by Helen McCullough
• 2012 by Royall Tyler

A shorter version of the story, translated by Burton Watson, was published in 2006.

Related pages

• Emperor Antoku
• Nihon Odai Ichiran

Images for kids

• 

  Detail of a screen portraying scenes from The Tales of Heike

• 

  "Kogō" and "The Imperial Procession to Ōhara"

• 

  Battle of Dan-no-ura (1185）

See also

In Spanish: Heike Monogatari para niños