The Dai Nihonshi literally "Great History of Japan," is a book on the history of Japan

History of Japan

The history of Japan encompasses the history of the islands of Japan and the Japanese people, spanning the ancient history of the region to the modern history of Japan as a nation state. Following the last ice age, around 12,000 BC, the rich ecosystem of the Japanese Archipelago fostered human...

. It was begun in 17th century, during the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

, by Tokugawa Mitsukuni

Tokugawa Mitsukuni

or was a prominent daimyo who was known for his influence in the politics of the early Edo period. He was the third son of Tokugawa Yorifusa and succeeded him, becoming the second daimyo of the Mito domain....

, the head of the Mito branch

Mito branch

The are a branch of the Tokugawa clan based in Mito, Ibaraki.- History :Following the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu appointed his eleventh son, Tokugawa Yorifusa, as daimyo in 1608. With his appointment, Yorifusa became the founding member of the Mito branch of...

 of the Tokugawa family. After his death, work was continued by the Mito branch

Mito branch

The are a branch of the Tokugawa clan based in Mito, Ibaraki.- History :Following the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603, Tokugawa Ieyasu appointed his eleventh son, Tokugawa Yorifusa, as daimyo in 1608. With his appointment, Yorifusa became the founding member of the Mito branch of...

 until its completion in the Meiji era. The work starts with Emperor Jimmu

Emperor Jimmu

was the first Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He is also known as Kamuyamato Iwarebiko and personally as Wakamikenu no Mikoto or Sano no Mikoto....

, the legendary first emperor of Japan, during the early Kofun period

Kofun period

The is an era in the history of Japan from around 250 to 538. It follows the Yayoi period. The word kofun is Japanese for the type of burial mounds dating from this era. The Kofun and the subsequent Asuka periods are sometimes referred to collectively as the Yamato period...

, and covers the first hundred emperors, ending with Emperor Go-Komatsu

Emperor Go-Komatsu

Emperor Go-Komatsu was the 100th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He is officially considered a pretender from May 24, 1382 to October 21, 1392, when Emperor Go-Kameyama abdicated...

 after the merging of the Northern and Southern Dynasties in 1392.

The whole work comprises 397 scrolls in 226 volumes, and 5 scrolls of index.

The book is one of the major scholarly works of the Edo period, and laid the foundation of the Mito school

Mitogaku

Mitogaku refers to a school of Japanese historical and Shinto studies that arose in the Mito domain, in modern-day Ibaraki prefecture.The school had its genesis in 1657 when Tokugawa Mitsukuni , second head of the Mito domain, commissioned the compilation of the Dai Nihon-shi...

 and Kokugaku

Kokugaku

Kokugaku was a National revival, or, school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period...

. It is heavily influenced by Confucianism

Confucianism

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

, especially the later Neo-Confucianism

Neo-Confucianism

Neo-Confucianism is an ethical and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty....

 under Zhu Xi

Zhu Xi

Zhū​ Xī​ or Chu Hsi was a Song Dynasty Confucian scholar who became the leading figure of the School of Principle and the most influential rationalist Neo-Confucian in China...

.

However, instead of focusing on the Chinese classics like other Confucian schools, it centered on the Japanese classics and Japan as a land ruled by the tennō (尊王論 tennōron). This school of thought led to the Sonnō jōi

Sonno joi

is a Japanese political philosophy and a social movement derived from Neo-Confucianism; it became a political slogan in the 1850s and 1860s in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu, during the Bakumatsu period.-Origin:...

 movement, and eventually the Mito Rebellion

Mito rebellion

The , also called the Kantō Insurrection or the , is a civil war that occurred in the area of Mito Domain in Japan between May 1864 and January 1865...

 against the Tokugawa shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

 during the Bakumatsu period.