Kojiki
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Template:Jmyth navbox tall Kojiki or Furukotofumi (古事記), also known in English as the Records of Ancient Matters, is the oldest surviving historical book dealing with the ancient history of Japan. It also mentions an older compilation said to have been destroyed by fire.
According to the preface, the book was presented by O no Yasumaro based on a story memorized by Hieda no Are in 712 under the order of the Imperial Court. The Kojiki was followed by the Nihonshoki.
The Kojiki does not recount official history like the later Nihonshoki. Other than the Kojiki, no other history has claimed that it was compiled on an official order. This has led some to claim that the Kojiki was a forgery that actually appeared much later than the Nihonshoki but this claim has little support.
Kojiki begins with the very beginning of the world as it was created by the kami (deities) Izanagi and Izanami and ends with the era of Empress Suiko. It contains various myths and legends of Japan. It also contains various songs. While the historical records and myths are written in a form of Chinese with a heavy admixture of Japanese elements, the songs are written with Chinese characters used to convey sounds only. This special use of Chinese characters is called Manyogana, a knowledge of which is critical to understanding these songs. These songs are in the dialect of the Yamato area from about 7th century to 8th century CE, a language called Jōdai Nihongo (lit. "upper age Japanese").
The Kojiki is divided into three parts: Kamitsumaki (lit. upper roll), Nakatsumaki (lit. middle roll), and Shimotsumaki (lit. lower roll).
The Kamitsumaki includes the preface and is focused on the deities that made Japan and the births of various deities.
The Nakatsumaki begins with the story of Emperor Jimmu, the first Emperor, and his conquest of Japan, and ends with the 15th Emperor, Emperor Ojin. Many of the stories it contains are mythological, and the allegedly historical information in them is highly suspect. For unknown reasons, the 2nd to 9th Emperors are listed but their achievements are largely missing.
The Shimotsumaki covers the 16th to 33rd Emperors, and, unlike previous volumes, has very limited references to interactions with deities so prominent in the first and second volumes. Information on the 24th to 33rd Emperors are largely missing as well.
In the Edo period, Motoori Norinaga studied the Kojiki intensively, the results of which were published in his Kojiki-den (Kojiki Commentary). It was first claimed in the Edo period that the Kojiki may have been forged later than it was supposed to have been written.
A well-regarded English translation of the Kojiki was made by Donald L. Philippi from Columbia University Press, October 1982 (ISBN 0-86008-320-9).
See also
- mahoroba
External links
- The Internet Sacred Text Archive - An online version of Basil Hall Chamberlain's 1919 translation of Kojiki.
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