The Imperial Edicts in the Shoku Nihongi
The Imperial Edicts in the Shoku Nihongi

Author: Ross Bender

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2018-01-05

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 9781983595455

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The imperial edicts from the eighth century comprise a magnificent collection of ancient Japanese prose. Known as the senmyo, they were inscribed in Old Japanese in the court history Shoku Nihongi (Chronicles of Japan, Continued), the language of whose narrative was classical Chinese. As oracular pronouncements of monarchs who considered themselves living gods, they are an invaluable source for early Japanese history, religion, and linguistics. It was these edicts that attracted the attention of the great 18th century philologist Motoori Norinaga, who published a lengthy commentary on these venerable documents. Norinaga was greatly interested in the apparent purity of the ancient Japanese language found in these edicts as well as in the Kojiki and Man'yoshu; his commentary identified the sixty-two senmyo now comprising the canon, and his readings still form the foundation for the study of these texts to the present day.This is the first complete English translation of the imperial edicts.

Ambassadors from the Islands of Immortals
Ambassadors from the Islands of Immortals

Author: Zhenping Wang

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2005-01-01

Total Pages: 414

ISBN-13: 9780824828714

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Using recent archaeological findings and little-known archival material, Wang Zhenping introduces readers to the world of ancient Japan as it was evolving toward a centralized state. Competing Japanese tribal leaders engaged in ambassador diplomacy and actively sought Chinese support and recognition to strengthen their positions at home and to exert military influence on southern Korea. Wang brings diplomatic history to life in his descriptions of the diplomats and their personalities and literary talents as well as their ambitions and frustrations. He explains in detail the rigorous criteria of the Chinese and Japanese courts in the selection of diplomats and how the two prepared for missions abroad. He journeys with a party of Japanese diplomats from their tearful farewell party to hardship on the high seas to their arrival amidst the splendors of Yangzhou and Changan and the Sui-Tang court. The depiction of these colorful events is combined with a sophisticated analysis of premodern diplomacy using the key concept of mutual self-interest and a discussion of two major modes of diplomatic communication: court reception and the exchange of state letters. accepting, or rejecting court ceremonial arrangements.

The Cambridge History of Japan
The Cambridge History of Japan

Author: John Whitney Hall

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 636

ISBN-13: 9780521223522

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Definitive history of Japan from prehistoric times to the end of the eighth century.

The Edicts of the Last Empress, 749-770
The Edicts of the Last Empress, 749-770

Author: Ross Bender

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2015-07-16

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 9781500896027

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This is a study and translation of the Imperial Edicts in Shoku Nihongi from the years 749-770, the reign of the Last Empress of Nara Japan, Koken/Shotoku Tenno.

A History of Writing in Japan
A History of Writing in Japan

Author: Christopher Seeley

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2023-11-20

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 9004644814

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This book deals chronologically with the history of writing in Japan, a subject which spans a period of 2,000 years, beginning with the transmission of writing from China in about the first or second century AD, and concluding with the use of written Japanese with computers. Topics dealt with include the adoption of Chinese writing and its subsequent adaptation in Japan, forms of writing employed in works such as the Kojiki and Man'yoshu, development of the kana syllabaries, evolution of mixed character-kana orthography, historical kana usage, the rise of literacy during the Edo period, and the main changes that have taken place in written Japanese in the modern period (ca. 1868 onwards). This is the first full-length work in a European language to provide the Western reader with an overall account of the subject concerned, based on extensive examination of both primary and secondary materials.

The Six National Histories of Japan
The Six National Histories of Japan

Author: Taro Sakamoto

Publisher: UBC Press

Published: 2011-11-01

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 0774842962

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The Six National Histories of Japan chronicle the history of Japan from its origins in the 'Age of the Gods' to A.D. 887. Compiled in the imperial court during the eighth and ninth centuries by leading scholars and officials of the day, they have exerted a profound effect on Japanese thought for well over a millenium. In his book, renowned historian Taro Sakamoto interpreted modern scholarly findings, as well as presenting his own views, thus completing the modern re-evaluation of the controversial first history. His study is the only one to survey all six histories, identifying common features and pointing out the special characteristics of each. John Brownlee's translation makes available to English readers a valuable study of the Six National Histories which also provides insights into the methods of contemporary Japanese historians.

Man’yōshū and the Imperial Imagination in Early Japan
Man’yōshū and the Imperial Imagination in Early Japan

Author: Torquil Duthie

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2014-01-09

Total Pages: 463

ISBN-13: 900426454X

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In Man’yōshū and the Imperial Imagination in Early Japan, Torquil Duthie examines the literary representation of the late seventh-century Yamato court as a realm of "all under heaven.” Through close readings of the early volumes of the poetic anthology Man’yōshū (c. eighth century) and the last volumes of the official history Nihon shoki (c. 720), Duthie shows how competing political interests and different styles of representation produced not a unified ideology, but rather a “bundle” of disparate imperial imaginaries collected around the figure of the imperial sovereign. Central to this process was the creation of a tradition of vernacular poetry in which Yamato courtiers could participate and recognize themselves as the cultured officials of the new imperial realm.

A Descriptive and Comparative Grammar of Western Old Japanese (2 vols)
A Descriptive and Comparative Grammar of Western Old Japanese (2 vols)

Author: Alexander Vovin

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2020-09-25

Total Pages: 1310

ISBN-13: 9004422811

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This is the revised, updated and enlarged second edition of the first detailed descriptive grammar in English dedicated to the Western Old Japanese. The grammar is divided into two volumes, with the first volume dealing with sources, script, phonology, lexicon, nominals and adjectives. The second volume focuses on verbs, adverbs, particles, conjunctions and interjections.