Nihon Shoki

8th century book of classical Japanese history

''Nihon Shoki'' (日本書紀, Nihon shoki, The Chronicles of Japan), also known as the Nihongi (日本紀), is an early book about the history of Japan up to 720 A.D.[1] It is one of the national history books which are together called the Rikkokushi.[2]

A page from the Heian period

History change

Nihon Shoki is the second oldest book of classical Japanese mythology and history. It includes details that are not in the Kojiki, which is the oldest historical record of ancient Japan.[1]

This book is important to people who study the history of Japan because it has information about the early rulers not found in other books.[3]

Dates in the Nihon Shoki before the late 7th century were likely recorded using the Genka calendar system.[4]

Related pages change

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. p. 709. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
  2. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric (2002). Japan Encyclopedia. Harvard University Press. pp. 789–790. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5.
  3. Aston, William George. (1896). Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to AD 697, pp. xiii-xvi.
  4. Barnes, Gina (2002). State Formation in Japan: Emergence of a 4th-Century Ruling Elite. Taylor & Francis. p. 226. ISBN 978-0-203-46287-4.

Further reading change

  Media related to Nihon Shoki at Wikimedia Commons