Kojiki

"Kojiki" or "Furukotofumi" (古事記), also known in English as the "Records of Ancient Matters", is the oldest surviving book in Japan. The body of the "Kojiki" is written in Chinese, but it includes numerous Japanese names and some phrases. The songs included in the "Kojiki" are in archaic Japanese written phonetically with Chinese characters.

A document claiming to be an older work, the "Kujiki" (which the "Kojiki" dates to 620 AD), also exists, but its authenticity is questionable.

History

The Kojiki was presented by Ō no Yasumaro to Emperor Temmu in 680 AD, based upon the events which had been memorized from the previous book, the "Kujiki", and by those who held the stories which had been passed down over generations, as well as stories which had been memorized by Hieda no Are in 712. Despite the fact that many note a difference in some precepts of the Kojiki and similar Chinese stories, it is thought that these may have been stories which had traveled and become known in areas of Japan and China. Nevertheless, the idea that the Kojiki mimics deities descending from China to Japan, is incorrect because the Kojiki is a story detailing the creation of deities, and throughout Chamberlain's translation in 1882, the area in which the events were said to have unfolded is not explained, and is thought to occur upon the "island" or land-mass created by Izanami and Izanagi. [The Kojiki itself should be read carefully. The first chapter details that the earth was created, and later chapters relate that when Amenonuhoku was dipped into the water, an island was created. This would suggest that the earth was mainly a body of water and then a land-mass was raised up (Onogoro).]

Authenticity issues

The authenticity of the "Kojiki" has been called into doubt by some scholars based on the lack of independent references to the work and apparent inconsistencies in the development of the Japanese language as between the Japanese portions of the work and subsequent literature.Fact|date=December 2007

In fact, it could be that the Kojiki was written specifically to "historically cleanse" with the fall of the Soga clan in 645, and to add legitimacy to the Imperial Throne.Fact|date=December 2007 With the Soga no Emishi's attempted coup so fresh in their minds, the "Kujiki" , which was incidentally prefaced by Emishi's father Soga no Umako, was destroyed to hide some factFact|date=December 2007. For the Soga ancestor, Kose no O Kara Sukune (巨勢雄柄宿禰), In fact, the Nihon Shoki states the names of the brothers of Kose, all as "Asomi" (朝臣), [ [http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~munyu/sujroku/08syouji.htm] ] meaning very high rank nobility, instead of "sukune" (宿禰) as in Kojiki.

tory of the Kojiki

Misconceptions

On many occasions, the "Kojiki" has been mistakenly referred to as "another version" of the "Nihon Shoki", or as a reference of Japanese events, and thus labeled as an entirely Japanese religious text. However, the Kojiki itself is a text which details the creation of the Kami (deities), their siblings, and the earth, and not the history of Japan itself. The "Nihon Shoki" also recounts the history of deities, but is mainly concerned with historical events.

Creation

The very beginning of the "Kojiki" deals specifically with the precursory kami, which were created in the beginning upon the plane of high heaven. The creation of the plane of high heaven is said to have taken place amongst the events of the Kujiki, but was lost and is unknown.

It also contains various songs/poems. While the historical records and myths are written in a form of Chinese with a heavy admixture of Japanese elements, the songs are written with Chinese characters used to convey sounds only. This special use of Chinese characters is called "Man'yōgana", a knowledge of which is critical to understanding these songs. These songs are in the dialect of the Yamato area from about 7th century to 8th century CE, a language called "Jōdai Nihongo" (lit. "upper age Japanese"). In English, this is most commonly called Old Japanese.

The "Kojiki" is divided into three parts: "Kamitsumaki" (lit. "upper roll"), "Nakatsumaki" (lit. "middle roll"), and "Shimotsumaki" (lit. "lower roll").

The Kamitsumaki includes the preface and is focused on the deities of creation and the births of various deities.

The Nakatsumaki begins with the story of Emperor Jimmu, the first Emperor, and his conquest of Japan, and ends with the 15th Emperor, Emperor Ōjin. Many of the stories it contains are mythological, and the allegedly historical information in them is highly suspect. For unknown reasons, the 2nd to 9th Emperors are listed but their achievements are largely missing. Recent studies support the view that these emperors were invented to push Jimmu's reign further back to the year 660 BCE.

The Shimotsumaki covers the 16th to 33rd Emperors, and, unlike previous volumes, has very limited references to the interactions with deities which are so prominent in the first and second volumes. Information on the 24th to 33rd Emperors are largely missing as well.

In the Edo period, Motoori Norinaga studied the "Kojiki" intensively, the results of which were published in his "Kojiki-den" (Kojiki Commentary). It was first claimed in the Edo period that the "Kojiki" may have been forged later than it was supposed to have been written.

The first and best-known English translation of the "Kojiki" was made by the renowned Japanologist Basil Hall Chamberlain. More recently, a well-regarded translation was made by Donald L. Philippi. It was published by University of Tokyo Press in June 1977 (ISBN 0-86008-320-9).

Manuscripts

There are two major branches of "Kojiki" manuscripts: Ise and Urabe. The Ise branch may be subdivided into the nihongo|Shinpukuji|真福寺本 manuscript of 1371-1372 and the nihongo|Dōka|道果本 manuscripts. The Dōka sub-branch consists of:
*the nihongo|Dōka|道果本 manuscript of 1381; only the first half of the first volume remains
*the nihongo|Dōshō|道祥本 manuscript of 1424; only the first volume remains, but there are many defects
*the nihongo|Shun'yu|春瑜本 manuscript of 1426; one volumeThe Urabe branch consists of 36 existing manuscripts all based on the 1522 copies by Urabe Kanenaga.

The Shinpukuji manuscript (1371-1372) is presently the oldest existing manuscript. While divided into the Ise branch, it is actually a mixture of the two branches. The monk Ken'yu based his copy on Ōnakatomi Sadayo's copy. In 1266, Sadayo copied volumes one and three, but did not have access to the second volume. Finally, in 1282, he obtained access the second volume through a Urabe-branch manuscript which he used to transcribe.

ee also

* Atsuta Shrine
* Kyūji
* Kokki, 620
* Tennōki, 620
* Teiki, 681
* Nihon Shoki, 720
* Kujiki, 807-936

* Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo
* International Research Center for Japanese Studies
* Historiography
* Philosophy of History

* Mahoroba

Further reading

* John R. Bentley. "The Authenticity of Sendai Kuji Hongi: A New Examination of Texts, With a Translation And Commentary". ISBN 90-04-15225-3
* Brownlee, John S. (1997) "Japanese historians and the national myths, 1600-1945: The Age of the Gods and Emperor Jimmu." Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. ISBN 0-7748-0644-3 Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press. ISBN 4-13-027031-1
*Brownlee, John S. (1991). "Political Thought in Japanese Historical Writing: From Kojiki (712) to Tokushi Yoron (1712)." Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN 0-889-20997-9
*Starrs, Roy (2005). "The Kojiki as Japan's National Narrative," in "Asian Futures, Asian Traditions", edited by Edwina Palmer. Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental, ISBN 1-901903-16-8

Notes

* Chamberlain, B.H. (1882-1919) The Kojiki - translated by Basil Hall Chamberlain [http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/index.htm Public Domain (Published before copyright)]
* Ono, Motonori Shinto: The Kami Way

References

* cite book
last = Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten Henshū Iinkai
title = Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten
publisher = Iwanami Shoten
date = 1986
location =
pages =
language = Japanese
id = ISBN 4-00-080067-1
* cite book
last = Yamaguchi
first = Yoshinori
authorlink =
coauthors = Takamitsu Kōnoshi
title = Nihon Koten Bungaku Zenshū: Kojiki
publisher = Shogakukan
date = 1997
location = Tōkyō
pages =
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 4-09-658001-5

External links

* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/shi/kj/index.htm The Internet Sacred Text Archive] - An online version of Basil Hall Chamberlain's 1919 translation of "Kojiki".
* [http://www.ceres.dti.ne.jp/~alex-x/wakan/menu-w.html 和漢籍の書棚] Online original text of Kojiki and some other texts.
* Scans of a 1644 manuscript: [http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/ri05/ri05_04868/ three volumes] , Waseda University Library