Japan is a Divine Land
111 views
Skip to first unread message
Ross Bender
Sep 15, 2021, 6:41:06 PM9/15/21
to pmjs
"Great Japan is a divine land." These famous opening words of Jinnō Shōtōki are the locus classicus for the concept of shinkoku. As Paul Varley pointed out in the introduction to his translation, this concept was previously voiced by a Silla king in the Nihon Shoki after acknowledging defeat by Empress Jingū.
This is ordinarily identified as a medieval view. In a 1996 article in Japanese Journal of Religious Studies the eminent medievalist Kuroda Toshio vigorously denied there was anything Shintoistic about the term, saying "In this sense it was a construct of Buddhism,
and a reactionary phenomenon arising out of the decadence of the earlier
system of government rule."
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 1996 2 3 /3 -4
The Discourse on the “Land of Kami” (Shinkoku)
in Medieval Japan: National Consciousness and International Awareness
Kuroda Toshio
Translated by Fabio Rambelli.
Shinkoku 神国 appears only once in the Six National Histories, in the supposed quotation from the King of Silla. However, in exploring the imperial edicts in the ninth century, I have found a similar term five times in Seiwa's edicts concerning depradations by Silla pirates in Kyushu. Here the term is 神明之國. (The first is in an edict of Jōgan 11.12.14 [January 19, 870],)
The reference here is very clearly to Japan's self-awareness as a divine land, the land of the gods. It comes in a setting of notably increased imperial attention to a wide variety of Shinto shrines expressed in the edicts.
Thus shinkoku thought predates the medieval references by several centuries. I would like to know if others have found any similar references between 870 and the medieval period.
Bruce Batten
Sep 15, 2021, 9:28:41 PM9/15/21
to pm...@googlegroups.com
Dear Ross,
Thank you for the interesting post. Regarding 神明之國 in the edict of Jōgan 11.12.14, I don’t have this source at hand, but once upon a time I did a lot of work on “pirate” incursions in Kyushu during the Nara and Heian periods. Although it didn’t strike me much at the time, the typical (court-ordered) response to these incidents was twofold: strengthening of defense measures by Dazaifu, and the offering of prayers at major shrines in Kyushu and elsewhere. So there was very much a sense that Japan was a land that was, or should be, protected by the deities. (That said, this type of thinking is certainly not limited to Japan.) I would be interested in reading/learning more about this topic.
Bruce Batten
--
PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAMEQgpEnovhuGUFd1iJu%2Bss%3DeYhE5TOcfNvVX-m%2B_EQpUBcTYA%40mail.gmail.com.
Avery M.
Sep 15, 2021, 9:35:23 PM9/15/21
to PMJS: Premodern Japanese Studies
Hi Ross,
Wikipedia offers a few other references from around the time period
you referenced, all related to Silla.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%A5%9E%E5%9B%BD
But when Kuroda says "shinkoku thought" he is referring to something
much more specific. I will cut and paste from the second page:
> If considered in this broad a sense the concept is indeed suprahistorical in nature, existing as it does from the time of its first occurrence in the Nihonshoki until the present day. Still, it must be kept in mind that it is the medieval interpretation of the shinkoku concept that is of particular significance, since the concept achieved its greatest maturity during that period; among all the texts dealing with the “land of the kami,” for example, it is the Jinno shotoki that is traditionally considered the most representative.
What he means by “maturity” is integration into an overall scheme of
legitimacy. This is different from the fleeting rhetoric surrounding
naval warfare with Silla. Kuroda is putting forth an argument that to
properly understand the form that shinkoku took in the era of
kokugaku, we cannot just do a Ctrl+F for the isolated characters "kami
[no] kuni" in old documents, but must consider how that phrase became
relevant to specific medieval discussions about civil authority and
historical continuity.
Kuroda's insistence on this complex argument is not mere eccentricity
on his part, but is part of his larger historical project, which is
coherent throughout his work. Kuroda's Problemstellung was an
objection to the familiar narrative of Japanese intellectual history,
which goes like "first there was primitive Shinto, then Buddhism came
along and made everything confusing for a while, then Shinto was
restored based on the simple original doctrines." Of course many can
object to the details of what happened during the "restoration" part,
but Kuroda objected to the very idea that kokugaku was an
anti-Buddhist restoration at all. He argued that the very basis of
kokugaku and the rationalization of jinja arose out of Buddhistic
concepts of legitimacy, translated in this JJRS article as
"exo-esoterism, the orthodox religion of the establishment". To reword
this article's argument, the phrase "land of the gods" became
compelling not because it was familiar from the Silla warfare sections
of the Nihon Shoki, but because it presented an alternative to
existing forms of civil authority that at the same time was not at all
revolutionary and made sense within the exo-esoteric complex.
As an aside, it should be noted that a lot of stuff written about
Shinto in Japan today is either pro- or anti-Kuroda. For example,
Inoue Hiroshi's books about Shinto are pro-Kuroda, but the official
Kokugakuin/Jinja Honcho line is of course anti-Kuroda, so their 日本神道史
which appeared this year argues for the existence of independent
Shinto traditions outside the exo-esoteric complex, only consumed by
orthodoxy during the Meiji Restoration. Kikuchi Hiroki at Todai is
attempting a "post-Kuroda" line which aims to step outside the
"exo-esoteric" hegemonic viewpoint without relapsing back to
Kokugakuin essentialism, and I'm sure others (the Allan Grapards of
the world) endorse that view as well.
Anyway, I hope this explains why that JJRS article exists and why it
focuses so much on medieval texts when you have found earlier uses of
shinkoku and related terms. Additional information about Kuroda's
thesis is available in James Dobbins' introduction to the JJRS issue
which you cite.
Avery Morrow
Brown University
Wikipedia offers a few other references from around the time period
you referenced, all related to Silla.
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%A5%9E%E5%9B%BD
But when Kuroda says "shinkoku thought" he is referring to something
much more specific. I will cut and paste from the second page:
> If considered in this broad a sense the concept is indeed suprahistorical in nature, existing as it does from the time of its first occurrence in the Nihonshoki until the present day. Still, it must be kept in mind that it is the medieval interpretation of the shinkoku concept that is of particular significance, since the concept achieved its greatest maturity during that period; among all the texts dealing with the “land of the kami,” for example, it is the Jinno shotoki that is traditionally considered the most representative.
What he means by “maturity” is integration into an overall scheme of
legitimacy. This is different from the fleeting rhetoric surrounding
naval warfare with Silla. Kuroda is putting forth an argument that to
properly understand the form that shinkoku took in the era of
kokugaku, we cannot just do a Ctrl+F for the isolated characters "kami
[no] kuni" in old documents, but must consider how that phrase became
relevant to specific medieval discussions about civil authority and
historical continuity.
Kuroda's insistence on this complex argument is not mere eccentricity
on his part, but is part of his larger historical project, which is
coherent throughout his work. Kuroda's Problemstellung was an
objection to the familiar narrative of Japanese intellectual history,
which goes like "first there was primitive Shinto, then Buddhism came
along and made everything confusing for a while, then Shinto was
restored based on the simple original doctrines." Of course many can
object to the details of what happened during the "restoration" part,
but Kuroda objected to the very idea that kokugaku was an
anti-Buddhist restoration at all. He argued that the very basis of
kokugaku and the rationalization of jinja arose out of Buddhistic
concepts of legitimacy, translated in this JJRS article as
"exo-esoterism, the orthodox religion of the establishment". To reword
this article's argument, the phrase "land of the gods" became
compelling not because it was familiar from the Silla warfare sections
of the Nihon Shoki, but because it presented an alternative to
existing forms of civil authority that at the same time was not at all
revolutionary and made sense within the exo-esoteric complex.
As an aside, it should be noted that a lot of stuff written about
Shinto in Japan today is either pro- or anti-Kuroda. For example,
Inoue Hiroshi's books about Shinto are pro-Kuroda, but the official
Kokugakuin/Jinja Honcho line is of course anti-Kuroda, so their 日本神道史
which appeared this year argues for the existence of independent
Shinto traditions outside the exo-esoteric complex, only consumed by
orthodoxy during the Meiji Restoration. Kikuchi Hiroki at Todai is
attempting a "post-Kuroda" line which aims to step outside the
"exo-esoteric" hegemonic viewpoint without relapsing back to
Kokugakuin essentialism, and I'm sure others (the Allan Grapards of
the world) endorse that view as well.
Anyway, I hope this explains why that JJRS article exists and why it
focuses so much on medieval texts when you have found earlier uses of
shinkoku and related terms. Additional information about Kuroda's
thesis is available in James Dobbins' introduction to the JJRS issue
which you cite.
Avery Morrow
Brown University
Bryan D. Lowe
Sep 16, 2021, 12:00:14 AM9/16/21
to pm...@googlegroups.com
Hi Ross,
I fully endorse Avery’s explanation for the distinction between “shinkoku thought” and references to kami protecting Japan. The only minor thing I wanted to add is a reference in case you are interested in pursuing this further. You might want
to consult Satō Hiro’o’s 佐藤弘夫 Shinkoku Nihon 神国日本 (Tokyo: Chikuma shobō, 2006). I believe this book will provide you with at least a basic and readable overview to the broader history beginning in the ancient period.
There are others I know who are working on this topic directly who can surely answer in more detail about post-870 uses as well, but I think Satō’s book is a good place to start.
Best,
Bryan
Bryan D. Lowe
Assistant Professor
Department of Religion
Princeton University
Assistant Professor
Department of Religion
Princeton University
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAEkS4eMMns90nCnPVxT1ZvG%3Dtb79dAfokm81UogAk7D5wpzO5Q%40mail.gmail.com.
Jacqueline I. Stone
Sep 16, 2021, 12:00:55 AM9/16/21
to pm...@googlegroups.com
Dear Ross (if I may),
Thank you for an important question. I looked into this a bit recently in connection with a forthcoming article on religious responses to the Mongol invasion attempts.
As far as I know, the missives that you mention sent by Emperor Seiwa in 869–870 to the kami of Ise, Iwashimizu Hachiman, Usa Hachiman, and other major shrines represent the first use of the term shinkoku (after the episode of Jingū and the Silla monarch in Nihon shoki) in the sense that Japan is divinely protected by its kami against foreign enemies. (Satō Hiroo mentions Seiwa’s edicts in his 2006 Shinkoku Nihon). After that, the meaning of the term starts to diversify. From the Heian period, it becomes assimilated to honji suijaku thought (Japan as a land where the buddhas and bodhisattva manifest as kami), or it is used to assert political or cultural norms, as when Emperor Shirakawa submitted a prayer to Iwashimizu Hachiman, beseeching the deity to chastise the armed monks of Mt. Hiei, whose unruly and lawless behavior was unacceptable to kami and unbefitting “the land of the gods” (“Shirakawa Hōkō kokubun,” Iwashimizu Hachimangū shiryō sōsho 2:422–423). Both Kuroda and Satō argue that claims about Japan as a shinkoku in the early medieval period were less a response to foreign threats than a conservative ideological formation but forward by one or another of the rival power blocs to counter perceived domestic threats to the system of governance and to reassert their own place within it. It was also invoked in asserting ritual and behavioral standards, such as pollution taboos.
However, in the thirteenth century, with the Mongol threat, one finds references to Japan as a divine country in the same sense as, and using language very similar to, Seiwa’s edicts that you mention. These include the court’s response to Kublai Khan’s first missive—drafted by the courtier Sugawara no Naganari but never sent—which says that Japan’s royal line is descended from the great deity Amaterasu, who will protected it for a hundred reigns; thus it is a divine country (shinkoku), and neither stratagems nor force can subdue it (Kamakura ibun no. 10571). Similar language occurs in prayers for the country’s protection offered by the monk Tōgan Ean at Iwashimizu Hachiman between 1260 and 1273 (Kamakura ibun nos. 10557, 10558, 10630, 10880, and 11267) and by other clerics offering protective prayers at other leading shrines.
But as your question indicates, the mystery remains: Are there any references to Japan as divinely protected against foreign enemies between Seiwa’s edicts and the beginnings of the ritual defense against the Mongols in the thirteenth century? If so, like you, I would very much like to know! Perhaps the documents Bruce Batten mentions relating to the incursions against Kyushu in Nara/Heian would be a place to look.
Jackie Stone
--
Gian-Piero Persiani
Sep 16, 2021, 3:33:56 AM9/16/21
to pm...@googlegroups.com
While I appreciate Avery Morrow’s clarification of Kuroda’s position, I see no particular basis for Kuroda’s claim that “it is the medieval interpretation of the shinkoku concept that is of particular significance” other than his own biases as a medievalist and a scholar committed to deconstructing the late medieval (and modern) understanding of Shinto. The court edicts that Ross Bender and Bruce Batten refer to are evidence that the notion existed and motivated sustained governmental and ritual action during the second half of the ninth century. Another oft-cited edict dated Jōgan 8 states that only the help of the Gods had prevented calamities such as pirate attacks and orders to make offerings to “border deities” (邑境諸神) in order to effect their protection:
『日本三代實錄』13 貞觀八年十一月十七日戊午条
十七日戊午。皇太后遷自東宮。御常寧殿。勅曰。廼者恠異頻見。求之蓍龜。新羅賊兵常窺間隙。灾變之發唯緣斯事。夫攘灾未兆。遏賊將來。唯是神明之冥助。豈云人力之所爲。冝令能登。因幡。伯耆。出雲。石見。隱岐。長門。大宰等國府。班幣於邑境諸神。以鎭護之殊効。又如聞。所差健兒。統領選士等。苟預人流。曾無才器。徒称爪牙之備。不異蟷蜋之衛。况復可敎之民。何禦非常之敵。亦夫十歩之中必有芳草。百城之内寧乏精兵。冝令同國府等勤加試練必得其人。
This seems to me to be a pretty clear articulation of the understanding of the land as sacred and guarded by deities. Why should we consider the late medieval Jinnō shōtōki treatment of the idea as its most mature expression rather than simply one articulation (or why not, a creative later elaboration) of it?
Gian-Piero Persiani
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/MN2PR04MB63813AC9205622E945D54015DFDC9%40MN2PR04MB6381.namprd04.prod.outlook.com.
Richard Bowring
Sep 16, 2021, 4:32:08 AM9/16/21
to pm...@googlegroups.com
Dear All.
I think the difference here is between a statement of belief, namely that Japan is under the protection of its gods, and a concept, namely that Japan is a divine land. I like to think (but have no basis for it) that the first is 'kami no kuni'
and the second is ‘shinkoku’, purely on the grounds that to express something with a Sino-Japanese compound somehow ‘raises' it. If you read 大日本者神国也 as 'Ōyamato wa kami no kuni nari’ you get one impression; to read it as 'Dainihon wa shinkoku nari’ you get
something completely different. The concept takes centuries to develop, and its significance will always depend on context. Chikafua’s use of the term, for example, must be read in the light of his support for the Southern Court and his belief that the regalia
(gifted by the gods) were the mark of legitimacy, and the fact that he was pitting himself against the pro-Northern Court Shingon monk Kenshun, who was using Buddhist ritual as a weapon (see Conlan’s
From Sovereign to Symbol).
But is ‘shinkoku’ best translated as 'a divine land’ or ‘the divine land’? It makes a difference, in English.
Richard Bowring
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAHo%3DuRkVO1%2BdY1B%3Dn2_gotOHZXbrcPmtco2fsqsfmLN5TRm20w%40mail.gmail.com.
Ross Bender
Sep 16, 2021, 8:48:53 AM9/16/21
to pmjs
Thank you all very much for taking the time to discuss this matter. I am still trying to digest everything that has been posted here; it is obviously a rich topic.
My current project involves the Old Japanese edicts in the ninth-century Rikkokushi, of which there are a huge number, many more than the famous senmyoo in Shoku Nihongi. One of my first findings was that imperial edicts began to be addressed, in overwhelming numbers, to imperial tombs and Shinto shrines. I'm working on an article to be titled "Shinto in the Ninth-Century Imperial Edicts" which I will probably post as a draft for discussion on Academia.
Some of my previous reflection on Shinto can be found in two articles, one a PMJS Paper, the other a response to Helen Hardacre at AAS in 2017. I believe Hardacre has significantly reset the whole playing field for debate on Shinto.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/6217359A-EEE8-43DD-9DD0-BF82E4FA5CED%40cam.ac.uk.
Michael Pye
Sep 17, 2021, 3:32:41 PM9/17/21
to pm...@googlegroups.com
Dear Colleagues,
Ross Bender has already thanked for this careful and illuminating discussion.
While proofing and indexing my impending Religionsgeschichte Japans I
just landed on footnote 287, which may be of interest to somebody:
Nach Bohner 1935, 191 (adaptiert). „Land der kami“ steht für ein
zusammenhängendes Wort: shinkoku: (shin = kami); Bohner übersetzte mit
„Gottheitsland“ jedoch wirkt „Gottheit“ in diesem Zusammenhang zu
abstrakt. Eine Übersetzung als „göttliches Land“ geht wohl für diese
Periode zu weit; es ist ein Land in dem die kami wohnen.
Sorry, couldn't resist it. Still battling with index....
Michael Pye
Zitat von Ross Bender <rosslyn...@gmail.com>:
> Thank you all very much for taking the time to discuss this matter. I am
> still trying to digest everything that has been posted here; it is
> obviously a rich topic.
>
> My current project involves the Old Japanese edicts in the ninth-century
> *Rikkokushi*, of which there are a huge number, many more than the famous
> *senmyoo* in *Shoku Nihongi*. One of my first findings was that imperial
>> 十七日戊午。皇太后遷自東宮。御常寧殿。勅曰。廼者恠異頻見。求之蓍龜。新羅賊兵常窺間隙。灾變之發唯緣斯事。夫攘灾未兆。遏賊將來。唯是*神明之冥助*
>> 。豈云人力之所爲。冝令能登。因幡。伯耆。出雲。石見。隱岐。長門。大宰等國府。班幣於*邑境諸神*
>>> other major shrines represent the first use of the term *shinkoku *(after
>>> the episode of Jingū and the Silla monarch in * Nihon shoki*) in the
>>> the buddhas and bodhisattva manifest as *kami*), or it is used to assert
>>> *and unbefitting “the land of the gods” (“Shirakawa Hōkō kokubun,”
>>> *Iwashimizu
>>> Hachimangū shiryō sōsho* 2:422–423). Both Kuroda and Satō argue that
>>> claims about Japan as a * shinkoku* in the early medieval period were
>>> stratagems nor force can subdue it (*Kamakura ibun* no. 10571). Similar
>>> Bender
>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 15, 2021 6:27 PM
>>> *To:* pmjs <pm...@googlegroups.com>
>>> *Subject:* [PMJS] Japan is a Divine Land
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Great Japan is a divine land." These famous opening words of *Jinn**ō*
>>> * Sh**ō**t**ō**ki *are the locus classicus for the concept of *shinkoku*.
>>> Journal of Religious Studies* the eminent medievalist Kuroda Toshio
>>> the “Land of Kami” (*Shinkoku*) in Medieval Japan: National
>>> .
>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/MN2PR04MB63813AC9205622E945D54015DFDC9%40MN2PR04MB6381.namprd04.prod.outlook.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
>>> .
>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAHo%3DuRkVO1%2BdY1B%3Dn2_gotOHZXbrcPmtco2fsqsfmLN5TRm20w%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
>> .
>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/6217359A-EEE8-43DD-9DD0-BF82E4FA5CED%40cam.ac.uk?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
>> .
.................................................................................................................
Professor of the Study of Religions (em.), University of Marburg, Germany
Ross Bender has already thanked for this careful and illuminating discussion.
While proofing and indexing my impending Religionsgeschichte Japans I
just landed on footnote 287, which may be of interest to somebody:
Nach Bohner 1935, 191 (adaptiert). „Land der kami“ steht für ein
zusammenhängendes Wort: shinkoku: (shin = kami); Bohner übersetzte mit
„Gottheitsland“ jedoch wirkt „Gottheit“ in diesem Zusammenhang zu
abstrakt. Eine Übersetzung als „göttliches Land“ geht wohl für diese
Periode zu weit; es ist ein Land in dem die kami wohnen.
Sorry, couldn't resist it. Still battling with index....
Michael Pye
Zitat von Ross Bender <rosslyn...@gmail.com>:
> Thank you all very much for taking the time to discuss this matter. I am
> still trying to digest everything that has been posted here; it is
> obviously a rich topic.
>
> My current project involves the Old Japanese edicts in the ninth-century
> *senmyoo* in *Shoku Nihongi*. One of my first findings was that imperial
> edicts began to be addressed, in overwhelming numbers, to imperial tombs
> and Shinto shrines. I'm working on an article to be titled "Shinto in the
> Ninth-Century Imperial Edicts" which I will probably post as a draft for
> discussion on Academia.
>
> Some of my previous reflection on Shinto can be found in two articles, one
> a PMJS Paper, the other a response to Helen Hardacre at AAS in 2017. I
> believe Hardacre has significantly reset the whole playing field for debate
> on Shinto.
>
> https://www.academia.edu/30032783/Shinto_in_Nara_Japan_749_770_Deities_Priests_Offerings_Prayers_and_Edicts_in_Shoku_Nihongi
>
>
> (PDF) RESPONSE TO HELEN HARDACRE'S SHINTO: A HISTORY | Ross Bender -
> Academia.edu
> <https://www.academia.edu/32098025/RESPONSE_TO_HELEN_HARDACRES_SHINTO_A_HISTORY>
> and Shinto shrines. I'm working on an article to be titled "Shinto in the
> Ninth-Century Imperial Edicts" which I will probably post as a draft for
> discussion on Academia.
>
> Some of my previous reflection on Shinto can be found in two articles, one
> a PMJS Paper, the other a response to Helen Hardacre at AAS in 2017. I
> believe Hardacre has significantly reset the whole playing field for debate
> on Shinto.
>
> https://www.academia.edu/30032783/Shinto_in_Nara_Japan_749_770_Deities_Priests_Offerings_Prayers_and_Edicts_in_Shoku_Nihongi
>
>
> (PDF) RESPONSE TO HELEN HARDACRE'S SHINTO: A HISTORY | Ross Bender -
> Academia.edu
>
> On Thu, Sep 16, 2021 at 4:32 AM Richard Bowring <rb...@cam.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>> Dear All.
>> I think the difference here is between a statement of belief, namely that
>> Japan is under the protection of its gods, and a concept, namely that Japan
>> is a divine land. I like to think (but have no basis for it) that the first
>> is 'kami no kuni' and the second is ‘shinkoku’, purely on the grounds that
>> to express something with a Sino-Japanese compound somehow ‘raises' it. If
>> you read 大日本者神国也 as 'Ōyamato wa kami no kuni nari’ you get one impression;
>> to read it as 'Dainihon wa shinkoku nari’ you get something completely
>> different. The concept takes centuries to develop, and its significance
>> will always depend on context. Chikafua’s use of the term, for example,
>> must be read in the light of his support for the Southern Court and his
>> belief that the regalia (gifted by the gods) were the mark of legitimacy,
>> and the fact that he was pitting himself against the pro-Northern Court
>> Shingon monk Kenshun, who was using Buddhist ritual as a weapon (see
>> Conlan’s *From Sovereign to Symbol*).
> On Thu, Sep 16, 2021 at 4:32 AM Richard Bowring <rb...@cam.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>> Dear All.
>> I think the difference here is between a statement of belief, namely that
>> Japan is under the protection of its gods, and a concept, namely that Japan
>> is a divine land. I like to think (but have no basis for it) that the first
>> is 'kami no kuni' and the second is ‘shinkoku’, purely on the grounds that
>> to express something with a Sino-Japanese compound somehow ‘raises' it. If
>> you read 大日本者神国也 as 'Ōyamato wa kami no kuni nari’ you get one impression;
>> to read it as 'Dainihon wa shinkoku nari’ you get something completely
>> different. The concept takes centuries to develop, and its significance
>> will always depend on context. Chikafua’s use of the term, for example,
>> must be read in the light of his support for the Southern Court and his
>> belief that the regalia (gifted by the gods) were the mark of legitimacy,
>> and the fact that he was pitting himself against the pro-Northern Court
>> Shingon monk Kenshun, who was using Buddhist ritual as a weapon (see
>> But is ‘shinkoku’ best translated as 'a divine land’ or ‘the divine land’?
>> It makes a difference, in English.
>> Richard Bowring
>>
>>
>> On 16 Sep 2021, at 05:43, Gian-Piero Persiani <gper...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> While I appreciate Avery Morrow’s clarification of Kuroda’s position, I
>> see no particular basis for Kuroda’s claim that “it is the medieval
>> interpretation of the *shinkoku* concept that is of particular
>> It makes a difference, in English.
>> Richard Bowring
>>
>>
>> On 16 Sep 2021, at 05:43, Gian-Piero Persiani <gper...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> While I appreciate Avery Morrow’s clarification of Kuroda’s position, I
>> see no particular basis for Kuroda’s claim that “it is the medieval
>> significance” other than his own biases as a medievalist and a scholar
>> committed to deconstructing the late medieval (and modern) understanding of
>> Shinto. The court edicts that Ross Bender and Bruce Batten refer to are
>> evidence that the notion existed and motivated sustained governmental and
>> ritual action during the second half of the ninth century. Another
>> oft-cited edict dated Jōgan 8 states that only the help of the Gods had
>> prevented calamities such as pirate attacks and orders to make offerings to
>> “border deities” (邑境諸神) in order to effect their protection:
>>
>>
>> *『日本三代實**錄**』**13** 貞觀八年十一月十七日戊午条*
>> committed to deconstructing the late medieval (and modern) understanding of
>> Shinto. The court edicts that Ross Bender and Bruce Batten refer to are
>> evidence that the notion existed and motivated sustained governmental and
>> ritual action during the second half of the ninth century. Another
>> oft-cited edict dated Jōgan 8 states that only the help of the Gods had
>> prevented calamities such as pirate attacks and orders to make offerings to
>> “border deities” (邑境諸神) in order to effect their protection:
>>
>>
>> 十七日戊午。皇太后遷自東宮。御常寧殿。勅曰。廼者恠異頻見。求之蓍龜。新羅賊兵常窺間隙。灾變之發唯緣斯事。夫攘灾未兆。遏賊將來。唯是*神明之冥助*
>> 。豈云人力之所爲。冝令能登。因幡。伯耆。出雲。石見。隱岐。長門。大宰等國府。班幣於*邑境諸神*
>> 。以鎭護之殊効。又如聞。所差健兒。統領選士等。苟預人流。曾無才器。徒称爪牙之備。不異蟷蜋之衛。况復可敎之民。何禦非常之敵。亦夫十歩之中必有芳草。百城之内寧乏精兵。冝令同國府等勤加試練必得其人。
>>
>>
>> This seems to me to be a pretty clear articulation of the understanding of
>> the land as sacred and guarded by deities. Why should we consider the late
>> medieval *Jinnō shōtōki* treatment of the idea as its most mature
>>
>>
>> This seems to me to be a pretty clear articulation of the understanding of
>> the land as sacred and guarded by deities. Why should we consider the late
>> expression rather than simply one articulation (or why not, a creative
>> later elaboration) of it?
>>
>>
>> Gian-Piero Persiani
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 15, 2021 at 11:00 PM Jacqueline I. Stone <jst...@princeton.edu>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Ross (if I may),
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thank you for an important question. I looked into this a bit recently in
>>> connection with a forthcoming article on religious responses to the Mongol
>>> invasion attempts.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> As far as I know, the missives that you mention sent by Emperor Seiwa in
>>> 869–870 to the *kami *of Ise, Iwashimizu Hachiman, Usa Hachiman, and
>> later elaboration) of it?
>>
>>
>> Gian-Piero Persiani
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 15, 2021 at 11:00 PM Jacqueline I. Stone <jst...@princeton.edu>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Ross (if I may),
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thank you for an important question. I looked into this a bit recently in
>>> connection with a forthcoming article on religious responses to the Mongol
>>> invasion attempts.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> As far as I know, the missives that you mention sent by Emperor Seiwa in
>>> other major shrines represent the first use of the term *shinkoku *(after
>>> the episode of Jingū and the Silla monarch in * Nihon shoki*) in the
>>> sense that Japan is divinely protected by its kami against foreign enemies.
>>> (Satō Hiroo mentions Seiwa’s edicts in his 2006 *Shinkoku Nihon*). After
>>> that, the meaning of the term starts to diversify. From the Heian period,
>>> it becomes assimilated to *honji suijaku* thought (Japan as a land where
>>> the buddhas and bodhisattva manifest as *kami*), or it is used to assert
>>> political or cultural norms, as when Emperor Shirakawa submitted a
>>> prayer to Iwashimizu Hachiman, beseeching the deity to chastise the armed
>>> monks of Mt. Hiei, whose unruly and lawless behavior was
>>> unacceptable to *kami
>>> prayer to Iwashimizu Hachiman, beseeching the deity to chastise the armed
>>> monks of Mt. Hiei, whose unruly and lawless behavior was
>>> *and unbefitting “the land of the gods” (“Shirakawa Hōkō kokubun,”
>>> *Iwashimizu
>>> Hachimangū shiryō sōsho* 2:422–423). Both Kuroda and Satō argue that
>>> claims about Japan as a * shinkoku* in the early medieval period were
>>> less a response to foreign threats than a conservative ideological
>>> formation but forward by one or another of the rival power blocs to counter
>>> perceived domestic threats to the system of governance and to reassert
>>> their own place within it. It was also invoked in asserting ritual and
>>> behavioral standards, such as pollution taboos.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> However, in the thirteenth century, with the Mongol threat, one finds
>>> references to Japan as a divine country in the same sense as, and using
>>> language very similar to, Seiwa’s edicts that you mention. These include
>>> the court’s response to Kublai Khan’s first missive—drafted by the courtier
>>> Sugawara no Naganari but never sent—which says that Japan’s royal line is
>>> descended from the great deity Amaterasu, who will protected it for a
>>> hundred reigns; thus it is a divine country (*shinkoku*), and neither
>>> formation but forward by one or another of the rival power blocs to counter
>>> perceived domestic threats to the system of governance and to reassert
>>> their own place within it. It was also invoked in asserting ritual and
>>> behavioral standards, such as pollution taboos.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> However, in the thirteenth century, with the Mongol threat, one finds
>>> references to Japan as a divine country in the same sense as, and using
>>> language very similar to, Seiwa’s edicts that you mention. These include
>>> the court’s response to Kublai Khan’s first missive—drafted by the courtier
>>> Sugawara no Naganari but never sent—which says that Japan’s royal line is
>>> descended from the great deity Amaterasu, who will protected it for a
>>> stratagems nor force can subdue it (*Kamakura ibun* no. 10571). Similar
>>> language occurs in prayers for the country’s protection offered by the monk
>>> Tōgan Ean at Iwashimizu Hachiman between 1260 and 1273 (*Kamakura ibun*
>>> nos. 10557, 10558, 10630, 10880, and 11267) and by other clerics offering
>>> protective prayers at other leading shrines.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> But as your question indicates, the mystery remains: Are there any
>>> references to Japan as divinely protected against foreign enemies between
>>> Seiwa’s edicts and the beginnings of the ritual defense against the Mongols
>>> in the thirteenth century? If so, like you, I would very much like to know!
>>> Perhaps the documents Bruce Batten mentions relating to the incursions
>>> against Kyushu in Nara/Heian would be a place to look.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Jackie Stone
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *From:* pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com> *On Behalf Of *Ross
>>> protective prayers at other leading shrines.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> But as your question indicates, the mystery remains: Are there any
>>> references to Japan as divinely protected against foreign enemies between
>>> Seiwa’s edicts and the beginnings of the ritual defense against the Mongols
>>> in the thirteenth century? If so, like you, I would very much like to know!
>>> Perhaps the documents Bruce Batten mentions relating to the incursions
>>> against Kyushu in Nara/Heian would be a place to look.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Jackie Stone
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Bender
>>> *Sent:* Wednesday, September 15, 2021 6:27 PM
>>> *To:* pmjs <pm...@googlegroups.com>
>>> *Subject:* [PMJS] Japan is a Divine Land
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Great Japan is a divine land." These famous opening words of *Jinn**ō*
>>> * Sh**ō**t**ō**ki *are the locus classicus for the concept of *shinkoku*.
>>> As Paul Varley pointed out in the introduction to his translation, this
>>> concept was previously voiced by a Silla king in the *Nihon Shoki *after
>>> acknowledging defeat by Empress Jingū.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> This is ordinarily identified as a medieval view. In a 1996
>>> article in *Japanese
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> This is ordinarily identified as a medieval view. In a 1996
>>> Journal of Religious Studies* the eminent medievalist Kuroda Toshio
>>> vigorously denied there was anything Shintoistic about the term,
>>> saying "In
>>> this sense it was a construct of Buddhism, and a reactionary phenomenon
>>> arising out of the decadence of the earlier system of government rule."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *Japanese Journal of Religious Studies* 1996 2 3 /3 -4 The Discourse on
>>> saying "In
>>> this sense it was a construct of Buddhism, and a reactionary phenomenon
>>> arising out of the decadence of the earlier system of government rule."
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> the “Land of Kami” (*Shinkoku*) in Medieval Japan: National
>>> Consciousness and International Awareness Kuroda Toshio Translated by Fabio
>>> Rambelli.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *Shinkoku *神国 appears only once in the Six National Histories, in the
>>> Rambelli.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> supposed quotation from the King of Silla. However, in exploring the
>>> imperial edicts in the ninth century, I have found a similar term five
>>> times in Seiwa's edicts concerning depradations by Silla pirates in Kyushu.
>>> Here the term is 神明之國. (The first is in an edict of J*ō*gan 11.12.14
>>> imperial edicts in the ninth century, I have found a similar term five
>>> times in Seiwa's edicts concerning depradations by Silla pirates in Kyushu.
>>> [January 19, 870],)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The reference here is very clearly to Japan's self-awareness as a divine
>>> land, the land of the gods. It comes in a setting of notably increased
>>> imperial attention to a wide variety of Shinto shrines expressed in the
>>> edicts.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thus *shinkoku* thought predates the medieval references by several
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The reference here is very clearly to Japan's self-awareness as a divine
>>> land, the land of the gods. It comes in a setting of notably increased
>>> imperial attention to a wide variety of Shinto shrines expressed in the
>>> edicts.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> centuries. I would like to know if others have found any similar references
>>> between 870 and the medieval period.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Ross Bender
>>>
>>> https://upenn.academia.edu/RossBender
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
>>> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
>>> For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
>>> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
>>> ---
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>>> "PMJS: Listserv" group.
>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
>>> email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
>>> To view this discussion on the web visit
>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAMEQgpEnovhuGUFd1iJu%2Bss%3DeYhE5TOcfNvVX-m%2B_EQpUBcTYA%40mail.gmail.com
>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAMEQgpEnovhuGUFd1iJu%2Bss%3DeYhE5TOcfNvVX-m%2B_EQpUBcTYA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
>>> between 870 and the medieval period.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Ross Bender
>>>
>>> https://upenn.academia.edu/RossBender
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
>>> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
>>> For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
>>> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
>>> ---
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>>> "PMJS: Listserv" group.
>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
>>> email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
>>> To view this discussion on the web visit
>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAMEQgpEnovhuGUFd1iJu%2Bss%3DeYhE5TOcfNvVX-m%2B_EQpUBcTYA%40mail.gmail.com
>>> .
>>>
>>> --
>>> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
>>> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
>>> For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
>>> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
>>> ---
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>>> "PMJS: Listserv" group.
>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
>>> email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
>>> To view this discussion on the web visit
>>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/MN2PR04MB63813AC9205622E945D54015DFDC9%40MN2PR04MB6381.namprd04.prod.outlook.com
>>> --
>>> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
>>> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
>>> For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
>>> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
>>> ---
>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>>> "PMJS: Listserv" group.
>>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
>>> email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
>>> To view this discussion on the web visit
>>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/MN2PR04MB63813AC9205622E945D54015DFDC9%40MN2PR04MB6381.namprd04.prod.outlook.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
>>> .
>>>
>>
>> --
>> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
>> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com <pm...@googlegroups.com>
>>
>> --
>> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
>> For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
>> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
>> ---
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "PMJS: Listserv" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
>> email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
>> To view this discussion on the web visit
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAHo%3DuRkVO1%2BdY1B%3Dn2_gotOHZXbrcPmtco2fsqsfmLN5TRm20w%40mail.gmail.com
>> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
>> ---
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "PMJS: Listserv" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
>> email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
>> To view this discussion on the web visit
>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAHo%3DuRkVO1%2BdY1B%3Dn2_gotOHZXbrcPmtco2fsqsfmLN5TRm20w%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
>> .
>>
>>
>> --
>> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
>> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
>> For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
>> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
>> ---
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "PMJS: Listserv" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
>> email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
>> To view this discussion on the web visit
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/6217359A-EEE8-43DD-9DD0-BF82E4FA5CED%40cam.ac.uk
>>
>> --
>> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
>> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
>> For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
>> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
>> ---
>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
>> "PMJS: Listserv" group.
>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
>> email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
>> To view this discussion on the web visit
>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/6217359A-EEE8-43DD-9DD0-BF82E4FA5CED%40cam.ac.uk?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
>> .
>>
>
> --
> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
> For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it,
> send an email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAMEQgpE8PRKxnxbs5btC0%2B_QmBgzq2JXOzKoRiuYjWA-Z5eyWw%40mail.gmail.com.
>
> --
> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com
> For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it,
> send an email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit
.................................................................................................................
Professor of the Study of Religions (em.), University of Marburg, Germany
Laffin, Christina
Sep 17, 2021, 3:33:36 PM9/17/21
to pm...@googlegroups.com
Super! I will have the students test it out but I am sure all will be well.
Christina
-----Original Message-----
From: 'Michael Pye' via PMJS: Listserv <pm...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2021 11:54 AM
To: pm...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [PMJS] Japan is a Divine Land
[CAUTION: Non-UBC Email]
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/20210917205427.Horde.QBDSb7leSwhpJfLb8mZV0hm%40home.staff.uni-marburg.de.
Christina
-----Original Message-----
From: 'Michael Pye' via PMJS: Listserv <pm...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2021 11:54 AM
To: pm...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [PMJS] Japan is a Divine Land
[CAUTION: Non-UBC Email]
Laffin, Christina
Sep 17, 2021, 3:36:35 PM9/17/21
to pm...@googlegroups.com
Apologies to PMJS readers for misaddressing my last email response. It appears this moderator needs moderation.
Christina
>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/6217359A-EEE8-43DD-9DD0-BF82E4
>> FA5CED%40cam.ac.uk
>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/6217359A-EEE8-43DD-9DD0-BF82E
Christina
>> FA5CED%40cam.ac.uk
>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/6217359A-EEE8-43DD-9DD0-BF82E
>> 4FA5CED%40cam.ac.uk?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
>> .
>>
>
> --
> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com For the PMJS Terms of
> Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAMEQgpE8PRKxnxbs5btC0%2B_QmBgzq2JXOzKoRiuYjWA-Z5eyWw%40mail.gmail.com.
.................................................................................................................
Professor of the Study of Religions (em.), University of Marburg, Germany
--
PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/20210917205427.Horde.QBDSb7leSwhpJfLb8mZV0hm%40home.staff.uni-marburg.de.
>> .
>>
>
> --
> PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
> To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com For the PMJS Terms of
> Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
> Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
> ---
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
> Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
> an email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit
> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/CAMEQgpE8PRKxnxbs5btC0%2B_QmBgzq2JXOzKoRiuYjWA-Z5eyWw%40mail.gmail.com.
.................................................................................................................
Professor of the Study of Religions (em.), University of Marburg, Germany
--
PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/20210917205427.Horde.QBDSb7leSwhpJfLb8mZV0hm%40home.staff.uni-marburg.de.
--
PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/75d5802cbf664aa6bd734c7b6c9b1d38%40ubc.ca.
PMJS is a forum dedicated to the study of premodern Japan.
To post to the list, email pm...@googlegroups.com For the PMJS Terms of Use and more resources, please visit www.pmjs.org.
Contact the moderation team at mod...@pmjs.org
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
Richard Bowring
Sep 18, 2021, 3:33:21 AM9/18/21
to pm...@googlegroups.com
Michael.
You will also have noticed that Bohner translates the title as Gott-Kaiser-Herrschafts-Linie, so Divine Sovereigns, very much a product of its time. Tsunoda (1958) also has Legitimate Succession of the Divine Sovereigns. With Varley (1980) we shift to Gods and Sovereigns. We are all slaves of our present context.
Richard Bowring
> ---You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PMJS: Listserv" group.
You will also have noticed that Bohner translates the title as Gott-Kaiser-Herrschafts-Linie, so Divine Sovereigns, very much a product of its time. Tsunoda (1958) also has Legitimate Succession of the Divine Sovereigns. With Varley (1980) we shift to Gods and Sovereigns. We are all slaves of our present context.
Richard Bowring
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pmjs+uns...@googlegroups.com.
> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/20210917205427.Horde.QBDSb7leSwhpJfLb8mZV0hm%40home.staff.uni-marburg.de.
Judith Fröhlich
Sep 18, 2021, 3:01:51 PM9/18/21
to pm...@googlegroups.com
Dear all,
1. I agree with Gian-Piero Persiani: the invocation of the land of the gods suggests a sense of distinction among the elite already in the Heian period. That is not denying the divide between pre-modern (and possibly 9th, 13th-14th, and 16th century) discourse and modern nationalist ideology.
2. The discussion seems to illustrate Wayne Farris’ point: it is useful to pay attention to the shift in the historical semantics of terms (and their translations), but nuances in translation (land of the gods, divine land etc.) don’t solve the big historical questions.
3. A question with reference to Jackeline Stone’s useful comment: Is there a gap in the linguistic registration of the term “shinkoku” between the Heian period (eighth-century Nihon shoki, tenth-century Sandai jitsuroku) and the arrival of the first Mongol delegation to Japan in the thirteenth century. Or, was it often used in internal competitions (such as Shirakawa’s prayer) as opposed to being invoked against an alien threat between the 11th and 13th c.? If it is a gap rather than a diversification of use, is there an explanation for this gap?
Best wishes,
Judith Vitale
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pmjs/3A8743F6-AC18-4C51-9E76-8A660DF82A0D%40cam.ac.uk.
Ross Bender
Sep 24, 2021, 10:44:10 AM9/24/21
to pmjs
Thanks very much to Bryan Lowe for his suggestion of
Satō Hiro’o’s 佐藤弘夫 Shinkoku Nihon 神国日本 (Tokyo: Chikuma shobō, 2006). There is a 2018 reprint of the book from Kodansha. Pages 80-91 detail usages of the term 神国 in court diaries of the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries.
Satō then moves into the Kamakura period and beyond and takes the story up into contemporary times. The book is extremely useful.
Ross Bender
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages