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Kojiki
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, 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, known as Man'yogana
A document claiming to be an older work, the Kujiki (which the Kojiki dates to 620 AD), also exists, but its authenticity is questioned.
Kojiki was presented by O no Yasumaro to Emperor Temmu in 680 AD, based upon the events that had been memorized from the previous book, the Kujiki, and by those who held the stories that had been passed down over generations, as well as stories that had been memorized by Hieda no Are in 712.
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, 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, known as Man'yogana
A document claiming to be an older work, the Kujiki (which the Kojiki dates to 620 AD), also exists, but its authenticity is questioned.
History
The Kojiki was presented by O no Yasumaro to Emperor Temmu in 680 AD, based upon the events that had been memorized from the previous book, the Kujiki, and by those who held the stories that had been passed down over generations, as well as stories that 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 that 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 where 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.
Originally, the Kojiki may have been written specifically to "historically cleanse" with the fall of the Soga clan in 645 and to add legitimacy to the Imperial Throne. Althought this is based on circumstantial history, the Kojiki clearly intended to add legitimacy to the Imperial Throne particularly in documenting the divine origins of the imperial family’s lineage, sacred sword (Kusanagi), jewel (Yasakani no magatama), and mirror (Yata no kagami). The Nihon Shoki although written a few years later than the Kojiki, does not mential the imperial regalia. Also, when the shogunate rose to power, the entire Kojiki fell out of favor until the Meiji Restoration when it was again used as propaganda. In addition, the earlier Kujiki, which was prefaced by Soga no Umako and is in fact mentioned in the Kojiki, was destroyed soon after his son's, Soga no Emishi, attempted coup. This earlier document may have legitimized the rule of the Soga clan. The Soga ancestor, Kose no O Kara Sukune, the Nihon Shoki states the names of the brothers of Kose, all as "Asomi", meaning very high rank nobility, instead of "sukune" as in Kojiki. In other words, the Kojiki and its mythology have a deep propagandist history.
Story 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 that 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 on 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'yogana, 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 Jodai 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 Ojin. 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 manuscript of 1371-1372 and the manuscripts. The Doka sub-branch consists of:
- the manuscript of 1381; only the first half of the first volume remains
- the manuscript of 1424; only the first volume remains, and there are many defects
- the manuscript of 1426; one volume
The Urabe branch consists of 36 existing manuscripts all based on the 1522 copies by Urabe Kanenaga.
The Shinpukuji manuscript (1371-1372) is 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 Onakatomi 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 that he used to transcribe.
See also
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
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