Kogo Shūi

is a historical record of the Inbe clan. It was composed by Inbe no Hironari in 807.

Background

Historically, both the Inbe and Nakatomi clans had long performed religious services for the court. However, at the beginning of the Heian period, the Fujiwara clan, 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 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 in 807.

Contents

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 national history from Emperor Jinmu through Emperor Tenmu.
#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 text are nearly identical with those found in "Kojiki" and "Nihon Shoki". However, there are several events unique to this text so it serves as a supplement to the national histories.

Linguistically, the text contains a large number of old words written in man'yōgana which make it a valuable resource for studying Old Japanese.

ee also

*Takahashi Ujibumi -- the Takahashi clan records

External links

* [http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/ri05/ri05_02493/ri05_02493.html Scans] of manuscript, Waseda University Library

References

* cite book
last = Kubota
first = Jun
title = Iwanami Nihon Koten Bungaku Jiten
publisher = Iwanami Shoten
year = 2007
id = ISBN 978-4-00-080310-6
* cite book
last = Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten Henshū Iinkai
title = Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten
publisher = Iwanami Shoten
year = 1986
language = Japanese
id = ISBN 4-00-080067-1
* cite book
last = Nishimiya
first = Kazutami
title = Kogo Shūi
publisher = Iwanami Shoten
year = 1985
language = Japanese
id = ISBN 4-00-300351-9
* cite book
last = Omodaka
first = Hisataka
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Jidaibetsu Kokugo Daijiten: Jōdaihen
publisher = Sanseidō
year = 1967
language = Japanese
id = ISBN 4-385-13237-2