뉴스레터

Question:

They say there are many problems with Nihon Shoki [日本書紀; The Chronicles of Japan]. What are they?

Answer:

Compiled to glorify the imperial household

Nihon Shoki was the first official chronicle of Japanese history compiled by the Japanese imperial court. Emperor Toneri participated in the compilation. Nihon Shoki covers the period of heavenly rule [神代] up to the reign of Empress Jitto [持統; r. 687-696]. It is not in chronological order. It comprises 30 volumes as well as 1 volume on the genealogy of the imperial household. The latter, however, is no longer extant.

Nihon Shoki was compiled to support the authenticity and legitimacy of the origin of the Japanese nation and the imperial household's rule over Japan. Accordingly, it is full of embellishments, unrealistic stories, and distortions of facts. Thus, Nihon Shoki cannot be used as a historical source material if unaccompanied by a thorough and strict historical critique.

For instance, the imperial family is depicted as the direct descendants of Goddess Amaterasu [天照大神] of the heavens. This obviously cannot be true. It is also highly unlikely that the direct descendents of Emperor Jimmu could have been the rulers of Japan ever since Emperor Jimmu founded Japan in 660 BCE.

The problems are not only limited to the description of the founding of the Japanese nation but are also present in the coverage of Japan's relations with the kingdoms on the Korean peninsula. Silla, Gaya, Baekje, and Goguryeo are all portrayed as Japan's vassal states in Nihon Shoki. The coverage of Silla is especially problematic because it is depicted as one of the vanquished nations of Empress Jinggu's [神功] so-called invasion of the three kingdoms of Korea. And as an extension of the stories of conquest and vassalage is the description of the so-called Mimana Nihonfu and its activities in southern Korea.

In the past, Japanese firmly believed that Japan's Yamato imperial court ruled over the southern region of the Korean peninsula between the 4th and 6th centuries. They believed that archaeological excavations would produce evidence of Yamato rule over southern Korea. Thus, many excavations were carried out during the Japanese colonial period. However, nothing turned up.

Implications of the relations between Japan and Baekje

oday, there is a general consensus in both Korea and Japan that Nihon Shoki, which claims that the many kingdoms on the Korean peninsula were Japan's tributary states and were conquered by Empress Jinggu, cannot be considered a factual rendering of history. Even archeologically, the theory of Mimana Nihonfu is difficult to uphold.

Nevertheless, research still must be done to uncover why Japan's relations with the various kingdoms of the Korean peninsula were depicted as such in Nihon Shoki. Such research should take into consideration that when Nihon Shoki was being compiled, Goguryeo and Baekje had already collapsed, that some members of the Baekje royal family had moved to Japan and had become the Japanese emperor's vassals, and that Silla was a powerful kingdom confronting Japan.

There are many implications of the relations between Baekje and Japan. In the compilation of Nihon Shoki, Baekje's three history books—Chronicles of Baekje, New Chronicles of Baekje, and Main Chronicles of Baekje—were frequently used as reference materials. Furthermore, with many political exiles from Baekje serving as the Japanese emperor's vassals, Baekje's past exploits in southern Korea were portrayed as something Japan had carried out. The story of Empress Jinggu's conquest of the seven kingdoms of Gaya—in the origin of the theory of Mimana Nihonfu—is an illustrative example of how Baekje's activities were rendered as having been undertaken by Japan.