Jinno Shotoki
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese historical book written by Kitabatake Chikafusa
Kitabatake Chikafusa
was a Japanese court noble and writer of the 14th century who supported the Southern Court in the Nanboku-cho period, serving as advisor to five Emperors. Some of his greatest and most famous work was performed during the reign of Emperor Go-Daigo, under whom he proposed a series of reforms,...
(北畠親房), a court noble in the Nanboku-chō period. The work sought both to clarify the genesis and potential consequences of a contemporary crisis in Japanese politics, and to dispel or at least ameliorate the prevailing disorder.
The text begins with these statements as prologue:
-
- "Great Japan is the divine land. The heavenly progenitor founded it, and the sun goddess bequeathed it to her descendants to rule eternally. Only in our country is this true; there are no similar examples in other countries. This is why our country is called the divine land."
History
Chikafusa had been a careful student of the book Nihon ShokiNihon Shoki
The , sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical...
(日本書紀, "The Chronicles of Japan"), and this background is reflected in the narrative structure of his Jinnō Shōtōki. He was also well acquainted with Watarai Ieyuki (度会家行), a prominent Shinto priest at the Ise Shrine
Ise Shrine
is a Shinto shrine dedicated to goddess Amaterasu-ōmikami, located in the city of Ise in Mie prefecture, Japan. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is in fact a shrine complex composed of a large number of Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and ....
. Watarai's life of study had added significantly to clarifying the theory of Ise Shintoism, and this point-of-view is reflected in the tone of Jinnō Shōtōki.
The work as a whole was written in the years 1338-1341 at Oda fortress in Hitachi Province
Hitachi Province
was an old province of Japan in the area of Ibaraki Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Hitachi Province bordered on Iwashiro, Iwaki, Shimousa, and Shimotsuke Provinces....
, Japan (present-day Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture
Ibaraki Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan, located in the Kantō region on the main island of Honshu. The capital is Mito.-History:Ibaraki Prefecture was previously known as Hitachi Province...
) then amended in 1343 at Seki fortress.
It is believed that the major portions of the text were probably drafted in the autumn of 1339, around the time Emperor Go-Daigo died and his successor Go-Murakami was enthroned. Current scholarship accepts that the original text is missing and that all extant versions of the text thus are manuscript versions which differ slightly from the original. A sense of immediacy seems to inform the writing, and this may be due to the narrative having a specific, more narrowly focused purpose—to instruct the young Emperor Go-Murakami
Emperor Go-Murakami
was the 97th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession, and a member of the Southern Court during the Nanboku-chō period of rival courts. He reigned from September 18, 1339 until March 29, 1368 . His personal name was...
(r. 1339-1368). A curious sentence on the last page of the work, "This book is directed to some child", has been interpreted as a dedication to either Go-Murakami or Yuki Chikatomo.
Analysis
In Jinnō Shōtōki, the reign of each emperorEmperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
from the mythological period to the enthronement of Go-Murakami is described, together with personal observations by Chikafusa based on his own political and ethical beliefs. The chronicles thus serve as a context for Chikafusa to expound his views about appropriate conduct for Japanese sovereigns, and thereby attempt to justify the legitimacy of the Southern Court.
The book greatly encouraged the faction supporting the Southern Court during the Nanboku-chō period. Chikafusa's work was all the more important because of the relative weakness of the Southern Court in its extended military campaign against the Northern Court armies.
The book was early recognized as a compelling and subtle analysis of the history of Japan and its emperors. From the very beginning, it was read not only by adherents of the Southern Court, but also by supporters of the Northern Court. However, its criticism of Takauji Ashikaga was not well received in Northern Court circles, and that section of the original text was omitted in manuscript copies which circulated outside the ambit of the Southern Court.
Chikafusa argued that possessing the Imperial Regalia of Japan
Imperial Regalia of Japan
The , also known as the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan, consist of the sword Kusanagi , the mirror Yata no Kagami , and the jewel Yasakani no Magatama...
is an absolute and indispensable condition for being recognized as a Japanese monarch.
Chikafusa contended that much about the Japanese form of government was demonstrably ideal, and that it is both appropriate and beneficial for the emperor and court nobles to rule and for the 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...
and others to be led by them.
After the Northern and Southern courts were reunited, a curious, self-styled "sequel" to Jinnō Shōtōki was circulated. The book, written by Ozuki Harutomi (小槻晴富), was created under the influence of the Ashikaga Shogunate
Ashikaga shogunate
The , also known as the , was a Japanese feudal military regime, ruled by the shoguns of the Ashikaga clan.This period is also known as the Muromachi period and gets its name from Muromachi Street of Kyoto where the third shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu established his residence...
for the purpose of justifying the legitimacy of Northern Court.
Mito scholarship
Tokugawa MitsukuniTokugawa 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 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....
daimyo
Daimyo
is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...
of the Mito Domain
Mito Domain
was a prominent feudal domain in Japan during the Edo period. Its capital was the city of Mito, and it covered much of present-day Ibaraki Prefecture. Beginning with the appointment of Tokugawa Yorifusa by his father, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, in 1608, the Mito branch of the Tokugawa clan...
, valued Chikafusa's work highly, a view which he expressed in the Japanese chronicle Dai Nihon Shi (大日本史): "History of Great Japan"). Mitsukuni's patronage ensured that the perspectives and ideology of Jinnō Shōtōki were propounded at the Mito Academy
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...
(水戸学). These pre-Meiji influences contributed to the development of the Kō Koku Shi Kan (皇国史観), a view of history in which Japan is regarded as a divine nation governed by emperors in a single family line from its beginning. These concepts became even more important in the national ideology under Japanese militarism
Militarism
Militarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
during World War II.
Today, Jinnō Shōtōki stands on its own literary and historical merits. It has taken on added value over the course of the centuries.
Chikafusa's work manages to inspire; and because it does, the book effectively mirrors the serial responses of readers and thinkers throughout the periods in which it has been studied and pondered. Alternately, the work's value may have accrued because a gifted, original and mature mind "made its way onto the level of secular historical explanation."
See also
- KokkiKokki, alternatively known as Kuni tsu Fumi and literally meaning "National Record", is a historical text purported to have been written in 620 by Shōtoku Taishi and Soga no Umako. It is recorded in the Nihon Shoki, but there are no known extant copies...
, 620 - TennōkiTennoki, alternatively known as Sumera Mikoto no Fumi, is a historical text purported to have been written in 620 by Shōtoku Taishi and Soga no Umako. It is recorded in the Nihon Shoki, but no extant copies are known to exist....
, 620 - TeikiTeikiThe is a historical text purported to have been compiled in 681. The text is no longer extant.-Background:According to the Nihon Shoki: On the seventeenth day, the emperor, residing in his place in the Daigokuden, commanded Prince Kawashima, Prince Osakabe [etc...] to record a definitive edition...
, 681 - KojikiKojikiis the oldest extant chronicle in Japan, dating from the early 8th century and composed by Ō no Yasumaro at the request of Empress Gemmei. The Kojiki is a collection of myths concerning the origin of the four home islands of Japan, and the Kami...
, 712 - Nihon ShokiNihon ShokiThe , sometimes translated as The Chronicles of Japan, is the second oldest book of classical Japanese history. It is more elaborate and detailed than the Kojiki, the oldest, and has proven to be an important tool for historians and archaeologists as it includes the most complete extant historical...
, 720—historical argument, legendary perspective - GukanshōGukanshois a historical and literary work about the history of Japan. Seven volumes in length, it was composed by Buddhist priest Jien of the Tendai sect c. 1220....
, c. 1220—historical argument, Buddhist perspective - Nihon Ōdai IchiranNihon Odai Ichiranis a 17th century chronicle of the serial reigns of Japanese emperors with brief notes about some of the noteworthy events or other happenings.According to the 1871 edition of the American Cyclopaedia, the translation of Nihon Ōdai Ichiran in 1834 was one of very few books about Japan; and it was...
, 1652—historical argument, neo-Confucian perspective - Tokushi YoronTokushi YoronThe is an Edo period historical analysis of Japanese history written in 1712 by Arai Hakuseki .Hakuseki's innovative effort to understand and explain the history of Japan differs significantly from previous chronologies which were created by other writers, such as* Gukanshō by Jien, whose work...
, 1712—historical argument, rationalist perspective
- Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo
- International Research Center for Japanese StudiesInternational Research Center for Japanese StudiesThe , or Nichibunken , is an inter-university research institute in Kyoto. Along with the National Institute of Japanese Literature, the National Museum of Japanese History, and the National Museum of Ethnology, it is one of the National Institutes for the Humanities...
- HistoriographyHistoriographyHistoriography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...
- Philosophy of HistoryPhilosophy of historyThe term philosophy of history refers to the theoretical aspect of history, in two senses. It is customary to distinguish critical philosophy of history from speculative philosophy of history...