Kogo Shui

The Kogo Shūi ( Japanese 古語 拾遺 , dt. "Collected Remnants of Ancient Stories") is a historical record of the Japanese Inbe Clan, which was written in the early Heian period (794–1185). It was compiled in 807 by Inbe no Hironari , who used material that was passed down orally by the Inbe Klan over several generations.

background

Historically, both the Inbe and Nakatomi clans have long provided religious services to the Japanese court. At the beginning of the Heian period, the Fujiwara clan, which emerged from the Nakatomi clan, gained political power. This strengthened the Nakatomi clan while the Inbe clan was weakened, which led to conflict between the two clans.

Hironari, whose biographical dates are unknown, wrote this text to clarify the story and to legitimize the claims of the Inbe clan as well as to expound the injustice of the Nakatomi clan and the decline of the Inbe. In 807 he presented the work to Emperor Heizei .

content

The text consists of three main sections:

1. The historical events of the clan ancestor Amenofutodama no Mikoto and his grandson Amamito no Mikoto.
2. A description of the national history from Emperor Jimmu to Emperor Temmu .
3. Eleven points of discontent with the Nakatomi clan and the decline of the Inbe clan.

The first two sections serve as evidence and reference to legitimize the third and most important section.

value

The historical events described in the Kogo Shūi are almost identical to those found in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki , the two oldest written histories in Japan. However, some events are unique to this text, so the Kogo Shūi serves as a reliable source of Japanese history that cannot be found in national histories.

Linguistically, the text contains a large number of ancient words written in Man'yōgana , making it a valuable source of study of Ancient Japanese .

further reading

• Karl Florenz : Kogo-shūi or "Collected Remnants of Old Stories" . In: The historical sources of the Shinto religion . Severus, Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-95801-038-3 , pp. 413–470 (reprint of the original 1919 edition).
• Jun Kubota: Iwanami Nihon Koten Bungaku Jiten ( Japanese ). Iwanami Shoten, 2007, ISBN 978-4-00-080310-6 .
• Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten: Kan'yakuban ( Japanese ). Iwanami Shoten, 1986, ISBN 4-00-080067-1 .
• Kazutami Nishimiya: Kogo Shūi ( Japanese ). Iwanami Shoten, 1985, ISBN 4-00-300351-9 .
• Hisataka Omodaka: Jidaibetsu Kokugo Daijiten: Jōdaihen ( Japanese ). Sanseidō , 1967, ISBN 4-385-13237-2 .

See also

• Takahashi Ujibumi , the records of the Takahashi clan

Web links

• Scans of the manuscript, Waseda University library
• Full text and English translation by the Japanese Historical Text Initiative

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} "Kogo Shūi" in Encyclopedia of Japan ( Archived copy ( memento of the original from August 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ), Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2012. 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} "斎 部 広 成" (Inbe no Hironari) in Kokushi Daijiten ( archived copy ( memento of the original from August 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to instructions and then remove this note. ), Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2012. 
3. ↑ "古語 拾遺" (Kogo Shūi) in Kokushi Daijiten ( archived copy ( memento of the original from August 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and remove then this note. ) Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2012.