Azuma Kagami

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A page of Azuma Kagami from the Kikkawabon edition

The Azuma Kagami ( Japanese 吾 妻 鏡 , also 東 鑑 with the same reading; literally “Mirror of the East”) is a Japanese historical chronicle .

The medieval text records events of the Kamakura shogunate from Minamoto no Yoritomos rebellion against the Taira clan in Izokuni in 1180 to Munetaka Shinnō (the sixth shogun ) and his return to Kyōto in 1266. The work is also called Hōjōbon ( 北 条 本 ), named after the family of later generations Hōjō in Odawara ( Kanagawa Prefecture ), in whose possession it was in before it Tokugawa Ieyasu was made a gift. It is not known whether the original work was finished and how many maki it consisted of. It is believed to have originated around the end of the Kamakura period around 1300. The traditional Hōjōbon consisted of 52 chapters, whereby the 45th chapter was lost. Despite its many shortcomings, it is considered an important document from the Kamakura period . In addition to the Hōjōbon, the Kikkawabon ( 吉川 本 ) and the Shimazuhon ( 島 津 本 ) editions are also significant.

history

The Azuma Kagami was compiled after 1266 under the guidance of the Hōjō Shikken (officially a regent for the Shōgun, but de facto the ruler) and is a diary-like record of events in Japan. Since it was written in a Japaneseized version of Classical Chinese known as wafū hentai kanbun ( 和風 変 体 漢文 ), the voluminous work was not understandable to most Japanese until an edition in Furigana notation was published in 1626 . In 1603 it was given to the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu as a gift. The latter received the missing section from other daimyōs and then initiated the publication of the Fushimi version as a Kokatsujiban edition (printed with movable type). This edition in turn became the basis for today's print editions. Ieyasu saw the book as the result of historical wisdom, always had it with him and consulted it frequently.

content

The Azuma Kagami provides an extremely detailed record of the various events centered on the Shogun. It has almost daily entries that even include the weather. It is considered an official Kamakura-Bakufu diary , but it also contains sections on events from distant areas that were written down on the day of the event. It is assumed that these entries were made after the fact. The content of the chronicle ranges from the words and deeds of the Shogun, his officials and members of the military to poems, literary pieces, descriptions of hunts and banquets to weather records. It is therefore likely a compilation of information from the Hōjō period from archives of the Hōjō, the Adachi and other noble houses, and temple and shrine records. Predictably, it is shaped by a Hōjō perspective, but due to its wealth of detail, the document is nevertheless important for an understanding of the Kamakura shōgunate.

Problem of reliability

As a historical document, the Azuma Kagami suffers from the problem of reliability. First, it has inexplicable loopholes; for example, the three years following the death of Minamoto no Yoritomo are missing . Whether these loopholes are scattered and insignificant losses or deliberate and systematic censorship is unclear and opinions are divided. There are also dubious allegations that Ieyasu himself ordered the deletion of paragraphs that he deemed shameful to a famous military leader like Yoritomo.

The book also shows an obvious anti-Minamoto and pro-Hōjō tendency. It depicts the Hōjō enemies Minamoto no Yoriie and Kajiwara Kagetoki as exaggerated villains. In return, Minamoto no Yoshitsune is spoken of in the highest tones, probably because he was hunted down and forced to commit suicide by his brother Yoritomo. This partisanship is evident in many other cases. Take the Hōjō Masako flattering episode of Shizuka Gozen , who was captured by Hōjō Tokimasa and troops loyal to Yoritomo, as an example . After several versions of this story, she was forced to dance for the new shogun in the Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū .

Last but not least, the document also contains many factual errors.

Weng Guangping and the Wuqi jing bu

The Chinese scholar Weng Guangping (1760–1847) read a copy of the book and found it valuable but defaced by mistakes. After much effort to get a complete edition, he decided to improve the work and add other Japanese and Chinese texts to it. After seven years of work, he finished the Wuqi jing bu ( Chinese  吾 妻 鏡 補  /  吾 妻 镜 补  - "Improvements to Azuma Kagami") in 1814 . As far as is known, Wuqi jing bu had two editions, one consisting of 28 chapters and the other of 30 chapters, both handwritten. Because Weng has never been to Japan, the book had major limitations in various areas, but still became a valuable introduction to Japanese culture.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Louis-Frédéric (2005). Azuma Kagami . In: Japan Encyclopedia , p. 64.
  2. ↑ a b c National Archives of Japan
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Feng, Wang
  4. ↑ a b 吾 妻 鏡 . In: デ ジ タ ル 版 日本人 名 大 辞典 + Plus at kotobank.jp. Retrieved July 16, 2014 (Japanese).
  5. ↑ 吾 妻 鏡 ・ 明治 の 研究 . Hokkaido Kurabu, March 20, 2008, accessed July 17, 2014 (Japanese).