Everything about Kojiki totally explained
Kojiki or
Furukotofumi (古事記), also known in English as the
Records of Ancient Matters, is the oldest surviving book in
Japan. The body of the
Kojiki is written in
Chinese, but it includes numerous Japanese names and some phrases. The songs included in the
Kojiki are in archaic Japanese written phonetically with
Chinese characters.
A document claiming to be an older work, the
Kujiki (which the
Kojiki dates to 620 AD), also exists, but its authenticity is questionable.
History
The Kojiki was presented by
Ō no Yasumaro to
Emperor Temmu in 680 AD, based upon the events which had been memorized from the previous book, the
Kujiki, and by those who held the stories which had been passed down over generations, as well as stories which had been memorized by
Hieda no Are in
712. Despite the fact that many note a difference in some precepts of the Kojiki and similar Chinese stories, it's thought that these may have been stories which had traveled and become known in areas of Japan and China. Nevertheless, the idea that the Kojiki mimics deities descending from
China to Japan, is incorrect because the Kojiki is a story detailing the creation of deities, and throughout Chamberlain's translation in 1882, the area in which the events were said to have unfolded isn't explained, and is thought to occur upon the "island" or land-mass created by
Izanami and
Izanagi.
Authenticity issues
The authenticity of the
Kojiki has been called into doubt by some scholars based on the lack of independent references to the work and apparent inconsistencies in the development of the Japanese language as between the Japanese portions of the work and subsequent literature.
In fact, it could be that the Kojiki was written specifically to "historically cleanse" with the fall of the
Soga clan in 645, and to add legitimacy to the Imperial Throne. With the
Soga no Emishi's attempted coup so fresh in their minds, the
Kujiki, which was incidentally prefaced by Emishi's father
Soga no Umako, was destroyed to hide some fact. For the Soga ancestor, Kose no O Kara Sukune (巨勢雄柄宿禰), In fact, the Nihon Shoki states the names of the brothers of Kose, all as "
Asomi" (朝臣), meaning very high rank nobility, instead of
sukune (宿禰) as in Kojiki.
Story of the Kojiki
Misconceptions
On many occasions, the
Kojiki has been mistakenly referred to as "another version" of the
Nihon Shoki, or as a reference of Japanese events, and thus labeled as an entirely Japanese religious text. However, the Kojiki itself is a text which details the creation of the
Kami (deities), their siblings, and the earth, and not the history of Japan itself. The
Nihon Shoki also recounts the history of deities, but is mainly concerned with historical events.
Creation
The very beginning of the
Kojiki deals specifically with the precursory
kami, which were created in the beginning upon the plane of high heaven. The creation of the plane of high heaven is said to have taken place amongst the events of the Kujiki, but was lost and is unknown.
It also contains various songs/poems. 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
Man'yōgana, 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"). In
English, this is most commonly called
Old 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 of creation 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 Ōjin. 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 the interactions with deities which are 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.
The first and best-known English
translation of the
Kojiki was made by the renowned Japanologist
Basil Hall Chamberlain. More recently, a well-regarded translation was made by
Donald L. Philippi. It was published by
University of Tokyo Press in June
1977 (ISBN 0-86008-320-9).
Manuscripts
There are two major branches of
Kojiki manuscripts: Ise and Urabe. The Ise branch may be subdivided into the manuscript of
1371-
1372 and the manuscripts. The Dōka sub-branch consists of:
- the manuscript of 1381; only the first half of the first volume remains
- the manuscript of 1424; only the first volume remains, but there are many defects
- the manuscript of 1426; one volume
The Urabe branch consists of 36 existing manuscripts all based on the 1522 copies by Urabe Kanenaga.
The Shinpukuji manuscript (1371-1372) is presently the oldest existing manuscript. While divided into the Ise branch, it's actually a mixture of the two branches. The monk Ken'yu based his copy on Ōnakatomi Sadayo's copy. In
1266, Sadayo copied volumes one and three, but didn't have access to the second volume. Finally, in
1282, he obtained access the second volume through a Urabe-branch manuscript which he used to transcribe.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Kojiki'.
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