, alternatively known as ''Kuni tsu Fumi'' meaning "National Record", is a Japanese historical text purported to have been written in 620 by
Shōtoku Taishi and
Soga no Umako
was the son of Soga no Iname and a member of the powerful Soga clan of Japan.
Umako conducted political reforms with Prince Shōtoku during the rules of Emperor Bidatsu and Empress Suiko and established the Soga clan's stronghold in the g ...
. It is recorded in the ''
Nihon Shoki'', but there are no known extant copies. Assuming that it did in fact exist, it would predate both 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 ...
'' (712) and the ''Nihon Shoki'' (720).
According to the ''Nihon Shoki'',
On this year, Hitsugi no Miko and Shima no Ōomi worked together on ''Tennōki
, alternatively known as ''Sumera Mikoto no Fumi'', is a historical text purported to have been written in 620 by Shōtoku Taishi and Soga no Umako. It is recorded in the '' Nihon Shoki'', but no extant copies are known to exist.
According to the ...
'' and ''Kokki'', composing the true history of the various court nobles.
During the
Isshi Incident in 645, the residence of
Soga no Emishi (a successor of Soga no Umako) was burned down. The ''Nihon Shoki'' records that the ''Kokki'' burned along with the ''Tennōki'', but the ''Kokki'' was saved before being destroyed.
On the thirteenth day as Soga no Emishi was about to be killed, flames burned the ''Tennōki'', ''Kokki'', and treasures. Fune no Fubitoesaka
Fune is a Local Government Area in Yobe State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Damagum in the southwest of the area on the A3 highway at. It has an area of 4,948 km and a population of 300,760 at the 2006 census. The postal cod ...
quickly grabbed the burning ''Kokki'' and presented it to Naka no Ōe.[Sakamoto, p. 264.]
However, this copy or its remains did not apparently survive.
On November 13, 2005, the remains of
Soga no Iruka Soga may refer to:
People
* Soga clan, a Japanese clan of the Yamato period
* Soga clan (Sagami Province), a Japanese clan
* Soga people, of the Busoga kingdom in present-day Uganda
* Machiko Soga, Japanese voice actress
* Soga Tokimune, Jap ...
's residence were discovered in
Nara
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It ...
, supporting the description found in ''Nihon Shoki''.
Researchers speculate whether parts of the ''Tennōki'' or ''Kokki'' may be found.
See also
*
Historiography of Japan
The historiography of Japan ( ') is the study of methods and hypotheses formulated in the study and literature of the history of Japan.
The earliest work of Japanese history is attributed to Prince Shōtoku, who is said to have written the ''Te ...
Notes
References
* {{cite book
, last = Sakamoto
, first = Tarō
, author2=Ienaga Saburō , author3=Inoue Mitsusada , author4=Ōno Susumu , author4-link=Ōno Susumu , title = Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei: Nihon Shoki (vol. 2)
, publisher =
Iwanami Shoten
is a Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo.Louis Frédéric, ''Japan Encyclopedia'', Harvard University Press, 2005, p. 409.
Iwanami Shoten was founded in 1913 by Iwanami Shigeo. Its first major publication was Natsume Sōseki's novel ''K ...
, year = 1965
, ISBN = 4-00-060068-0
Asuka period
7th-century history books
Old Japanese texts
7th-century Japanese books
Lost books