The Nihon Shoki (Nihongi):The Chronicles of Japan

by Ō no Yasumaro

Of old, Heaven and Earth were not yet separated, and the In and Yo not yet divided. They formed a chaotic mass like an egg which was of obscurely defined limits and contained germs. The purer and clearer part was thinly drawn out, and formed Heaven, while the heavier and grosser element settled down and became Earth. The finer element easily became a united body, but the consolidation of the heavy and gross element was accomplished with difficulty. Heaven was therefore formed first, and Earth was established subsequently. Thereafter divine beings were produced between them. Hence it is said that when the world began to be created, the soil of which lands were composed floated about in a manner which might be compared to the floating of a fish sporting on the surface of the water. At this time a certain thing was produced between Heaven and Earth. It was in form like a reed-shoot. Now this became transformed into a God, and was called Kuni-toko-tachi no Mikoto. Next there was Kuni no sa-tsuchi no Mikoto, and next Toyo-kumu-nu no Mikoto, in all three deities These were pure males spontaneously developed by the operation of the principle of Heaven. In one writing it is said: '"When Heaven and Earth began, a thing existed in the midst of the Void. Its shape may not be described. Within it a deity was spontaneously produced, whose name was Kuni-toko-tachi no Mikoto, also called Kuni-soko-tachi no Mikoto. Next there was Kuni no sa-tsuchi no Mikoto, also called Kuni no sa-tachi no Mikoto. Next there was Toyo-kuni-nushi no Mikoto, also called Toyo-kumu-nu no Mikoto, Toyo-ka-fushi-no no Mikoto, Uki-fu-no-toyo-kahi no Mikoto, Toyo-kuni-no no Mikoto, Toyo-kuhi-no no Mikoto, Ha-ko-kuni-no no Mikoto, or Mi-no no Mikoto." In one writing it is said: "Of old, when the land was Young and the earth young, it floated about, as it were floating oil. At this time a thing was produced within the land, in shape like a reed-shoot when it sprouts forth. From this there was a deity developed, whose name was Umashi-ashi-kabi-hiko-ji no Mikoto. Next there was Kuni no toko-tachi no Mikoto, and next Kuni no sa-tsuchi no Mikoto." In one writing it is said: " When Heaven and Earth were in a state of chaos, there was first of all a deity, whose name was Umashi-ashi-kabi-hiko-ji no Mikoto. Next there was Kuni-soko-tachi no Mikoto." In one writing it is said: "When Heaven and Earth began, there were deities produced together, whose names were, first, Kuni-no-toko-tachi no Mikoto, and next Kuni no satsuchi no Mikoto." It is further stated: "The names of the gods which were produced in the Plain of High Heaven were Ama no mi-naka-nushi no Mikoto, next Taka-mi-musubi no Mikoto, next Kami-mi-musubi no Mikoto." In one writing it is said: "Before Heaven and Earth were produced, there was something which might be compared to a cloud floating over the sea. It had no place of attachment for its root. In the midst of this a thing was generated which resembled a reed-shoot when it is first produced in the mud. This became straightway transformed into human shape and was called Kuni no toko-tachi no Mikoto."

Genres: Japan, History, Classics, Japanese Literature, Mythology, Religion, Nonfiction

92 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 720

About the author

Yasumaro was a Japanese nobleman and chronicler of folklore and myth who is most remembered for his work on the Kojiki, and his likely work on the Nihon, both of which were early Japanese chronicles of folklore, mythology and the Japanese creation myth.

Reviews

[Lee]

Things I have learned, so far:
1.) Reading this goes a lot faster if you skip the footnotes.
2.) A lot of this material is already in the Kojiki. Seriously, I've read the Kojiki and I don't think I would have missed very much by not reading this.
3.) This translation is so old that the dirty bits (totally innocuous by today's standards, btw) are in Latin. Thankfully, I know Latin. :D

[Myridian]

Wow. This was almost unreadable. Part of me feels obligated to give it a higher star rating just because the preservation of the earliest known Japanese history is worthy regardless of whether it's enjoyable to read. But I just couldn't. Perhaps this is an expression pf my Western bias, but I was expecting something akin to a coherent narrative. Instead what I got was the fact that gods sprang out of everything initially, and then a listing of the heritages of every emperor. There were sketched out lists of facts of this individual traveling somewhere, the people they conquered and exacted tribute from, and attempts at rebellion, all quickly put down. I was able to glean a little of what was valued by the monarchy but not in any way that made it worth continuing the torture of this 800+ pg monster. Again, I'm glad it exists. But I'm also not enough of a historian to want to read it.

[Sarah]

This was absolutely astounding. Much like The Kojiki but it was more detailed. It also dealt more with the Emperors and their line after about the first 100 pages. I learned a lot reading this book and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in Japanese culture.

[Celio]

Very dense.

[Sandra Yokota]

Fiquei muito entristecida que as crônicas são extremamente machistas, desvalorizam a mulher e a potência de ação dela. Dá para entender da onde vem a cultura japonesa, subalternando sua posição em relação aos homens.

[Cristiana Passos]

Eu gostei das crônicas no começo do livro, porém os últimos capítulos estão todos em japonês, acredito que seja uma versão original dos textos traduzidos nos primeiros capítulos, mas não tenho a total certeza

[Paolla Monticelli]

A pluralidade de deuses é bem interessante. Mas, o melhor é que nenhum deles é totalmente bom, aproximando-os da humanidade.

[R.K. Cowles]

2 3/4 stars

[Alan Bach]

I not sure what made me want to read the Nihongi when I wasn't a fan of the Kojiki. I actually liked the mythological accounts more here despite the translator's strange derision of the text he was working on. I'm not sure how much of that has to do with the version of the Kojiki that I had read long ago translating all names to English even when the Japanese name is better known even in the English speaking parts of the world. Unfortunately, the details of the gods are scant and like the Kojiki you don't really get a good picture of any of them.

A greater portion of the book tells accounts of the various emperors/empresses. I was quite surprised how many empresses there were given I thought I heard that enpresses nowadays are not allowed to see the imperial regalia. This section of the book on the surface seems similar to the Norse Heimskringla, which gives a long account of kings in sequence. But while the Heimskringla generally gave a general feel of each king and went into detail of their major exploits the Nihongi feels a lot more like listing all the fragmentary details it knows of each ruler. This was fine when details were more scant of the early rulers, and so what survived were the major events (although it was funny that this text is partially used to justify the divine rule of the emperors/empresses, yet one early emperor struggled to defeat 80 bandits. Plus the many rulers that followed that struggled to control their Korean vassals). It became tedious when there were more details on the more recent rulers and I had to read all the random edicts and promotions issued and trips taken in the the ruler's life.

[Monica]

It's a difficult book, indeed.I tried so many times to read all Japanese name without get bored.But at least, it's a must have-book to all Japanese mania.The story is perfect to told about ancient Japan and the tradition among them.

[Suzanne]

First: please look at my review to the kojiki.
Most of that written there is also topic of the nihongi.
Nihon is Land of the Sun, one of many names of Japan. In difference to kojiki the nihongi is full of gods (mostly) and goddesses (very fewer) who are supposed to create a relation between kami (goddesses, gods) and old Japanese noble families.
As kojiki is more real, the nihongi is more phantasy.
The kojiki mentions 50 per cent female, 50 per cent male kami.
The kojiki seems to be next to Shintoo (the old Japanese religion: way of the kami), the nihongi next to Buddhism.

I own both books and read them uncountable times. If I have to say, what is better I say kojiki.