is a historical record of the

Inbe clan Imbe clan (also spelled Imibe clan or Inbe clan) was a Japanese clan during the Yamato period. They claimed descent from Futodama. The Inbe clan originally had a religious function by preparing and taking care of offerings. Overview As the n ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

written in the early

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...

(794–1185). It was composed by Inbe no Hironari (斎部広成) in 807 using material transmitted orally over several generations of the

Background

Historically, both the Inbe and Nakatomi clans had long performed

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

religious services for the

Japanese imperial court The Imperial Court in Kyoto was the nominal ruling government of Japan from 794 AD until the Meiji period (1868–1912), after which the court was moved from Kyoto (formerly Heian-kyō) to Tokyo (formerly Edo) and integrated into the Meiji gover ...

. However, at the beginning of the

, the

Fujiwara clan was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since the ancient times and dominated the imperial court until th ...

, whom the Nakatomi clan are a branch of, seized political power. This strengthened the Nakatomi clan while weakening the Inbe clan and caused conflict between the two clans. Hironari, whose date of birth and death are unknown, wrote this text to clarify the history and legitimize the rights of the Inbe clan as well as to argue the injustice of the Nakatomi clan and decline of the Inbe clan. He presented it to

Emperor Heizei , also known as ''Heijō-tennō'', was the 51st emperor of Japan,#Kunaichō, Emperor Heizei, Yamamomo Imperial Mausoleum, Imperial Household Agency according to the traditional List of Emperors of Japan, order of succession. Heizei's reign las ...

in 807.

The text consists of three major sections: #The historical events of clan ancestor Amenofutodama no Mikoto and his grandson Amamito no Mikoto. #A description of the

creation myth A creation myth (or cosmogonic myth) is a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it., "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop ...

and the national history from

Emperor Jinmu was the legendary first emperor of Japan according to the '' Nihon Shoki'' and '' Kojiki''. His ascension is traditionally dated as 660 BC.Kelly, Charles F"Kofun Culture"Emperor Tenmu was the 40th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 天武天皇 (40) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. Tenmu's re ...

. #Eleven points of discontent with the Nakatomi clan and the decline of the Inbe clan. The first two sections serve as evidence and reference for legitimatizing the third and main section.

Value

The historical events described within the ''Kogo Shūi'' are nearly identical with those found in ''

Kojiki The , also sometimes read as or , is an early Japanese chronicle of myths, legends, hymns, genealogies, oral traditions, and semi-historical accounts down to 641 concerning the origin of the Japanese archipelago, the , and the Japanese imperia ...

'' and '' Nihon Shoki'', the oldest written histories of Japan. However, there are several events unique to the text, so the ''Kogo Shūi'' serves as a valuable source of early Japanese history not found in the national histories. Linguistically, the text contains a large number of old words written in

man'yōgana is an ancient writing system that uses Chinese characters to represent the Japanese language. It was the first known kana system to be developed as a means to represent the Japanese language phonetically. The date of the earliest usage of this ...

which make it a valuable resource for studying

Old Japanese is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language, recorded in documents from the Nara period (8th century). It became Early Middle Japanese in the succeeding Heian period, but the precise delimitation of the stages is controversial. Old Jap ...

References

External links

Scans
of manuscript,

Waseda University Library The collections of Waseda University Library (早稲田大学図書館; ''Waseda Daigaku Toshokan'') form one of the largest libraries in Japan. Established in 1882, they currently hold some 5.6 million volumes and 46,000 serials. History The W ...

Searchable text and English translation

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kogo Shui 9th-century Japanese books Old Japanese texts Late Old Japanese texts 807 9th century in Japan Shinto texts Heian-period books

Background

Contents

Value

See also

References

Further reading

External links