Carl Steenstrup is a Danish translator of Japanese literature.

Carl Steenstrup is known for translating several works of Japanese literature

Japanese literature

Early works of Japanese literature were heavily influenced by cultural contact with China and Chinese literature, often written in Classical Chinese. Indian literature also had an influence through the diffusion of Buddhism in Japan...

, mostly those relating to the historical development of Bushido

Bushido

, meaning "Way of the Warrior-Knight", is a Japanese word which is used to describe a uniquely Japanese code of conduct and a way of the samurai life, loosely analogous to the concept of chivalry. It originates from the samurai moral code and stresses frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and...

, Japanese Feudal Law, and the Kakun (House Codes) of famous Samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...

 Leaders Hōjō Shigetoki

Hojo Shigetoki

Note:There were other Hojo Shigetoki within the ruling family, but with different characters. was a Japanese samurai of the Kamakura period. He was the third Kitakata Rokuhara tandai, serving from 1230 to 1247. He was also known as . His writings influenced later samurai...

 and Imagawa Ryoshun. Steenstrup's dissertation at Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 was entitled Hôjô Shigetoki (1198–1261) and his Role in the History of Political and Ethical Ideas in Japan.

He was a civil servant for the Danish Government from 1952 to 1985 and Professor of Japanese History at Munich University (1985 to 2000). From 1971 to 1972 he was a lecturer in Nordic languages for Tōkai University

Tokai University

is a private university in Tokyo, Japan. It was established in 1943 by Shigeyoshi Matsumae, who had formerly been the engineering president of the Ministry of Communications...

 in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Until his retirement, he lectured at Humboldt University in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, and the Government Academy of Law and Economics in Irkutsk

Irkutsk

Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, one of the largest cities in Siberia. Population: .-History:In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes from the Buryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov...

.

Curriculum vitae

• Candidatus Juris, University of Copenhagen (1957)
• Master of Arts in Japanese, University of Copenhagen (1971)
• PhD in Japanese History, Harvard University (1977)
• PhD in Japanese History, University of Copenhagen (1979)

Career

• Public Administration --Denmark (1952-1985)
• Lecturer, Tôkai University--Tokyo, Japan (1971-72)
• Librarian, Asia Collection, upper librarian, Abt.ltr. in daen. wiss (1972-83)
• Senior Fellow, Japanese--The Skandinavian Institute for Asia Research, Copenhagen (1983-85)
• Associate Professor of Japanese History at University of Munich (1985-2000)
• Lecturer, Humboldt University in Berlin
• Lecturer, Government Academy of Law and Economics in Irkutsk. (Sept. 2000 to July 2001)

Books

• Hôjô Shigetoki (1198-1261) and his Role in the History of Political and Ethical Ideas in Japan, London 1979. (the author's Harvard University dissertation)
• A History of Law in Japan until 1868, (Brill, 2nd ed. 1996)
• Of Japan and History, Copenhagen 1980.
• Shintô, Copenhagen 1982.
• Japan 1850–1980, Copenhagen 1982.
• Hojo Soun's Twenty-one Articles: the code of conduct of Odawara Hojo' MN 29: 3 (Autumn, 1974), 283-303. [Hôjô Sôun 北条早雲 (1432-1519), Trans. of Sôunjidono nijûichi kajô 早雲寺殿廿一箇条 ("Twenty-One Articles by Lord Sôun")
• Steenstrup, Carl. " [ ] ." Acta Orientalia XXXVI (Copenhagen, 1974). [Translations of first buke kakun (warrior family precept, see above), "The Letter to Nagatoki" (Rokuhara Sagami no kami no shisoku wo oshiuru...jô 六波羅相模守ノ教子息...状), written between 1237 and 1247, pp. 417-38. Reference in Streenstup 1977, MN 32:1

Publications

• Imagawa Ryôshun. Imagawa-jô [also called Gusoku Nakaaki seishi jôjô 愚息仲秋制詞條々 and Imagawa heikisho 今川壁書]. Trans. by Carl Steenstrup, in "The Imagawa Letter: A Muromachi Warrior's Code of Conduct Which Became a Tokugawa Schoolbook." 28:3 (1973) ("Articles of Admonition by Imagawa Ryôshun to His Son Nakaaki") Attributed to Imagawa Sadayo 今川貞世 or Ryôshun 了俊 (1325-1420).
• "Hojo Shigetoki's Letter of Instruction to his Son Nagatoki," trans. "The Letter to Nagatoki" (Rokuhara Sagami no kami no shisoku wo oshiuru...jô 六波羅相模守ノ教子息...状), written between 1237 and 1247, pp. 417-38. Acta Orientalia 36 (1974)
• Hôjô Shigetoki. Gokurakuji-dono go-shôsoku.極楽寺殿御消息 ("The Gokurakuji Letter") by Hôjô Shigetoki 北条重時 (1198-1261)Trans. by Carl Steenstrup, in "The Gokurakuji Letter: Hôjô Shigetoki's Compendium of Political and Religious Ideas of Thirteenth-Century Japan." 32:1 (1977)
• Steenstrup, Carl. "Sata Mirensho: A Fourteenth-Century Law Primer." MN 35: 4 (Winter, 1980), 405-435. [Compiled in Kamakura sometime between 1319 and 1322. Trans. of Sata Mirensho 沙汰未練書 ("A Book for Those Unskilled in Legal Matters") from p. 408.
• Pushing the Papers of Kamakura: The Nitty-gritticists versus the Grand Sweepers. Steenstrup reviews "The Development of Kamakura Rule, 1180-1250: A History with Documents." by Jeffrey P. Mass, in Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Autumn, 1980)
• Shintô, Copenhagen 1982.
• Japan 1850-1980, Copenhagen 1982.
• "The 'Deities of Evil' or magatsuhi no kami in Kojiki and After." Acta Orientalia 45,(1984)
• “Law Code Versus Political Change in China and Japan” International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations
  International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations
  The International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations is an international scholarly organization dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of civilizational issues...
  
  , Comparative Civilizations Review, Number 16, (Fall 1987)
• "Reason and borders of the human rights in the Japanese understanding", Walter Schweidler, Hrsg.: Human rights and public spirit - western and eastern way?, Sank Augustin: Academia publishing house (1998)
• The Middle Ages Survey'd. Steenstrup review of "The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 3: Medieval Japan. by Kozo Yamamura, Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Summer, 1991)
• A review of "The Taming of the Samurai: Honorific Individualism and the Making of Modern Japan." by Eiko Ikegami in Journal of Japanese Studies 22:2 (1996)
• Yoritomo and the Founding of the First Bakufu: The Origins of Dual Government in Japan Review by Carl Steenstrup, JJS 27.1 (Winter 2001)
• "Historical Jurisprudence", Kracht and Rütterman, eds., Grundriss derJapanologie (Harrassowitz, 2001), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz publishing house (2001), vii, 650 S. (IZUMI. sources, studies and materials for the culture of Japan. Given change by Klaus, Bd. 7)
• The Munakata Clan Code of 1313. How a Clan of Hereditary Shrine Priests with Warrior Status Modernized Their Rule and Survived in Power Japonica Humboldtiana (2003).
• A review of "Emperor and Aristocracy in Japan, 1467–1680: Resilience and Renewal." By Lee Butler. Harvard University Asia Center, Cambridge, Mass., 2002. Journal of Japanese Studies 30:1 (2004)

External links

• Dr. Carl Steenstrup's Homepage at the University of Humboldt (Berlin,Germany)