The flourishing period of the Taira family was of the short duration of thirty years only. As the rise of the family was very sudden, its downfall was equally abrupt. It was like a meteor traversing a corner of the long history of Japan, leaving, however, an indelible memory to posterity. The peculiar charm of the culture of the age represented by the elite of the family during its ascendency, and its chivalrous end, embellish the history of our country with a number of pathetic episodes which provided abundant themes for poems, tales, and dramas of the after-age. The most famous among this literature is a narration called the _Heike-monogatari_, Heike in Chinese characters meaning "the family of Taira." Whether the _monogatari_ or tale was first composed for the purpose of being read or recited is a question. It is certain, however, that when the story became widely known, called by the more simplified name of "the _Heike_," it was generally recited as a chant, resembling the melody of Buddhist hymns, accompanied by the playing the _biwa_, a stringed instrument the shape of which has given its name to the largest lake in Japan. This recitation is the precursor of the _utai_, which was a kind of recitation fashionable in the next age. The origin of the more modern _joruri_ recitation accompanied by the _shamisen_ may be traced to the _Heike_ also. What pleased the audiences most in the _Heike_ were the sad vicissitudes of the family and the gallant chivalry manifested in its downfall. The former, preaching the uncertainty of human life, was sufficient to touch the courtiers with keen pathos, courtiers who had lived out their time, and having been taught by Buddhism to look on every thing pessimistically, were glad to sympathise with whatever was on the wane. Differently from them, warriors were also fond of hearing the rehearsal of the _Heike_ with thrills piercing the heart, by putting themselves in the place of some gallant Taira cavalier, who had fought to the last with undaunted courage and met his death with calmness more than mortal.