The is a historical text purported to have been compiled in 681. The text is no longer extant.

Background

According to the '' Nihon Shoki'':

On the seventeenth day, the emperor, residing in his place in the Daigokuden, commanded Prince Kawashima, Prince Osakabe tc...to record a definitive edition of the ''Teiki'' and ''Jōko Shoji''.

According to the

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 ...

preface, Emperor Tenmu said:

What I hear is that the ''Teiki'' and ''Honji'' brought about by the many houses already differ from the truth and contain many inaccuracies. Should those mistakes not be corrected now, the original meaning will be lost within but a few years. They are the basis of the national system and are the foundation of the imperial government. Thus, I would like to carefully examine the ''Teiki'' and ''Kyūji'', remove the errors, and establish the truth for future generations.

He then had

Hieda no Are is primarily known for being instrumental to the compilation of the Japanese text '' Kojiki'' in 712. While birth and date are unknown, Are was active during the late 7th and early 8th century. Background Very little is known about Are's backgro ...

memorize the contents of the ''Teiki'' and ''

Kyūji , also known as and , is an ancient Japanese historical text. Its existence is recorded in the '' Kojiki'' which claims to have been composed based on its contents. No extant copies are known to exist anymore. According to the '' Kojiki'' prefa ...

'', both of which were later used as historical sources for composing the ''

''.

Title

The actual title of the text is unknown due to orthographic difficulties of old Japanese texts. The reading ''Teiki'' is taken from the

on'yomi are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

reading. In addition, traditional Japanese readings include ''Sumera Mikoto no Fumi'' and ''Sumerogi no Fumi''. All literally mean "Imperial Chronicle". The ''Kojiki'' preface makes reference to two other titles: and . Both are alternative names for the ''Teiki''.

As the text no longer exists, very little is actually known about it. The general view is that the ''Teiki'' described the imperial line. One theory claims that was a genealogy of the imperial line recording the reigns of each emperor. Another theory, based on the literal title, claims that it was a record of imperial accomplishments, but that it would not have been appropriate as a genealogy. A competing theory identifies the second and third volume of the ''Kojiki'' as the actual contents of the ''Teiki''. And yet another speculates that the ''Teiki'' and ''Kyūji'' were not two separate texts, but was rather a single unified text.

Notes

References

* * * {{cite book , last1=Yamaguchi , first1=Yoshinori , authorlink1= , last2=Kōnoshi , first2=Takamitsu , authorlink2= , title=Nihon Koten Bungaku Zenshū: Kojiki , location=

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, publisher=

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

, date=1997 , pages= , url= , doi= , isbn=4-09-658001-5 Asuka period 7th-century history books Old Japanese texts 7th-century Japanese books

Background

Title

Contents

See also

Notes

References