Shiratori Kurakichi (白鳥 庫吉, March 1, 1865 – March 30, 1942) was a Japanese historian and
Sinologist
Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the ex ...
who was one of the pioneers of the field of "Oriental History".
Biography
Shiratori graduated from
Tokyo Imperial University and joined the staff of
Gakushūin University in 1890. He later returned to Tokyo Imperial University where he became a professor.
Kurakichi had, at one time, studied under
Ludwig Riess
Ludwig Riess (1 December 1861 – 27 December 1928) was a Germany, German-born historian and educator, noted for his work in late 19th century Japan.
Biography
Riess was born in Wałcz, Deutsch-Krone, Province of Prussia, Prussia (present-day W ...
, who was himself a former student of
Leopold von Ranke
Leopold von Ranke (; 21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of ...
.
In 1905, he founded the Asia Research Society (亜細亜学会 ''Ajia Gakkai'').
Writings
Japanese history
Beginning in 1910, Kurakichi was one of several historians who argued that the previously high value placed on female state and military leaders in Japanese history should be reduced as all of them, such as
Himiko
, also known as , was a shamaness-queen of Yamatai-koku in . Early Chinese dynastic histories chronicle tributary relations between Queen Himiko and the Cao Wei Kingdom (220–265) and record that the Yayoi period people chose her as ruler fo ...
and ancient Japanese empresses, were, in Kurakichi's estimation, merely religious leaders concerned with performing rites and not leaders with actual administrative power.
East Asian history
In addition to domestic Japanese history, Kurakichi has also been identified as a leading pioneer of "oriental history" (東洋史 ''Tōyōshi'') studies in Japan by focusing on the unique history of East Asia and Japan's place in it, such that Kurakichi and likeminded historians could "create a realm that would allow the assertion of an identity at once distinct from and equal to the West." The writer Stefan Tanaka has argued that this process involved removing the traditional stress on
Chinese civilization as the centre of East Asians' understanding of their own history, and instead treating seminal Chinese icons such as
Confucius
Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...
as representatives of "East Asian" history more broadly. This would allow, for instance, equality between Confucian China and Confucian Japan as two parts of a shared oriental history, and so on. Furthermore, this would also allow modern East Asian history to be framed in such a way as to have Japan as the leading nation instead of China, as had been common in the past,
and, by 1918, he had argued that it would be best for China to be administered by Japan. This framework would allow Japan to be seen as a culturally superior nation and thus on par with the great European powers of the day. Moreover, Kurakichi, like most Japanese nationalists of his day,
equated the people with the state and believed that history should be used to bolster the state.
Kurakichi's interests stretched to include much of Asian beyond only China. Kurakichi has been identified as a pioneering
Koreanist
Korean studies is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of Korea, which includes the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and diasporic Korean populations. Areas commonly included under this rubric include K ...
, and had been studying the historical linguistics of the
Korean language
Korean ( South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographic ...
and supported the
Altaic hypothesis
Altaic (; also called Transeurasian) is a controversial proposed language family that would include the Turkic, Mongolic and Tungusic language families and possibly also the Japonic and Koreanic languages. Speakers of these languages are c ...
as early as 1905. He was also interested in
Manchurian regional history as early as 1913, and argued for the view of Korea and Manchuria as being historically interconnected and inseparable.
He wrote on the topic of the ancient
Balhae state and noted the presence of both Chinese and non-Chinese sounding names in records of Balhae emissaries, interpreting this as a marker of ethnic diversity between
Goguryeo
Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled most ...
Koreanic and
Mohe individuals respectively.
Kurakichi had argued that the
Liugui land described in ancient Chinese records was
Sakhalin
Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...
and that it was inhabited by
Ainu people
The Ainu are the indigenous people of the lands surrounding the Sea of Okhotsk, including Hokkaido Island, Northeast Honshu Island, Sakhalin Island, the Kuril Islands, the Kamchatka Peninsula and Khabarovsk Krai, before the arrival of the Y ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shiratori, Kurakichi
1865 births
1942 deaths
19th-century Japanese historians
Japanese sinologists
20th-century Japanese historians
University of Tokyo faculty