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Nihon Shoki

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The Nihon Shoki (日本書紀), sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical record of ancient Japan. The Nihon Shoki was finished in 720 under the editorial supervision of Prince Toneri and with the assistance of Ōno Yasumaro. The book is also called the Nihongi (日本紀).

Like the Kojiki, the Nihon Shoki begins with a series of myths, but continues its account through to events of the 8th century. It is believed to record accurately the latter reigns of Emperor Tenji, Emperor Temmu, and Empress Jitō. the Nihon shoki focuses on the merits of the virtuous rulers as well as the errors of the bad rulers. It describes episodes from mythological eras and diplomatic contacts with other countries. The Nihon Shoki was written in classical Chinese, as was common for official documents at that time. By contrast, the Kojiki was written in Japanese transliterated into Chinese characters.

Chapters

Process of compilation

Shoku Nihongi notes that "先是一品舎人親王奉勅修日本紀。至是功成奏上。紀三十巻系図一巻" in the part of May, 720. It means "Up to that time, Prince Toneri had been compiling Nihongi on the orders of the emperor; he completed it, submitting 30 volumes of history and one volume of genealogy." The volume of genealogy is no longer extant.

Contributors

The process of compilation is usually studied by stylistic analysis of each chapter. Although written in classical Chinese, some sections use styles characteristic of Japanese editors, while others seem to be written by native speakers of Chinese. According to recent studies, most of the chapters after #14 (Emperor Yūryaku chronicle) were contributed by native Chinese, except for Chapters 22 and 23 (the Suiko and Jomei chronicle). Also, as Chapter 13 ends with the phrase "see details of the incident in the chronicle of Ōhastuse(Yūryaku) Emperor" referring to the assassination of Emperor Ankō, it is assumed that this chapter was written after the compilation of subsequent chapters. Some believe Chapter 14 was the first to be completed.

References

The Nihon Shoki is said to be based on older documents, specifically on the records that had been continuously kept in the Yamato court since the sixth century. It also includes documents and folklore submitted by clans serving the court. Prior to Nihon Shoki, there were Tennōki and Kokki compiled by Prince Shōtoku and Soga no Umako, but as they were stored in Soga's residence, they were burned at the time of the Isshi Incident.

The work's contributors refer to various sources which do not exist today. Among those sources, three Baekje documents(Kudara-ki,etc) are cited mainly for the purpose of recording diplomatic affairs.[1][2] Records possibly written in Baekje may have been the basis for the quotations in the Nihon Shoki. But textual criticism shows that scholars fleeing the destruction of the Baekje to Yamato wrote these histories and the authors of the Nihon Shoki heavily relied upon those sources.[1] The use of Baekje's place names in Nihon Shoki is another piece of evidence that the history used Baekje documents.

Some other sources are cited anonymously as aru fumi (一書; other document), in order to keep alternative records for specific incidents.

Exaggeration of reign lengths

Most scholars agree that the purported founding date of Japan (660 BCE) and the first thirteen emperors of Japan are mythical. This does not necessarily imply that the persons referred to did not exist, merely that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that they existed or can be assigned to a particular period of history. It is much more likely that they were chieftains, or local kings, and that the polities they ruled would not have encompassed all, or even most, of Japan.

For those monarchs, and also for the Emperors Ōjin and Nintoku, the lengths of reign are likely to have been exaggerated in order to make the origins of the imperial family sufficiently ancient to satisfy numerological expectations. It is widely believed that the epoch of 660 BCE was chosen because it is a "xīn-yǒu" year in the sexagenary cycle, which according to Taoist beliefs was an appropriate year for a revolution to take place. As Taoist theory also groups together 21 sexagenary cycles into one unit of time, it is assumed that the compilers of Nihon Shoki assigned the year 601 (a "xīn-yǒu" year in which Prince Shotoku's reformation took place) as a "modern revolution" year, and consequently recorded 660 BCE, 1260 years prior to that year, as the founding epoch.

Kesshi Hachidai (Eight undocumented monarchs)

For the eight emperors of Chapter 4, only the years of birth and reign, year of naming as Crown Prince, names of consorts, and locations of tomb are recorded. They are called the Kesshi Hachidai (欠史八代) because no legends are associated with them. Recent studies support the view that these emperors were invented to push Jimmu's reign further back to the year 660 BCE. Nihon Shoki itself somewhat elevates the "tenth" emperor Sujin, recording that he was called the Hatsu-Kuni-Shirasu (御肇国: first nation-ruling) emperor.

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b Sakamoto, Taro. The Six National Histories of Japan: Rikkokushi. UBC Press. p. 40. ISBN 0-7748-0379-7.
  2. ^ Delmer M. Brown (ed.). The Cambridge History of Japan. Cambridge University Press. p. 170. ISBN 0-521-22352-0.

Further reading

  • 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: Wilfred Laurier University Press. ISBN 0-889-20997-9

See also

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