110
Deviant by Design
to the Genpei War the power of a “rupture in continuity.”
55
Appearances to
the contrary notwithstanding, the disorder of the recent war does not
mark the beginning of anything new.
To be sure, one could argue that Tadachika had nowhere to turn but
the distant past, given that not much time had elapsed between the com-
position of
The New Mirror
and that of
The Water Mirror
. In terms of
imperial reigns, the 15–2
3
years between the two works would have left
Tadachika with a scant three “fresh” topics, had he confined himself to
imperial biographies: the remainder of Emperor Takakura’s reign through
1180, the short life of Emperor Antoku, and the first two-thirds of the
reign of Emperor Gotoba (1180–1239). Nevertheless, Tadachika would not
have been short of material had he been willing to consider families be-
yond the immediate imperial house, as the author of
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