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Shinchō Kōki

Shinchō Kōki or Nobunaga Kōki (Japanese: 信長公記, lit. 'The Chronicle of Nobunaga') is a chronicle of Oda Nobunaga, a daimyo of Japan's Sengoku period. It is also called Shinchō Ki (信長記) or Nobunaga Ki. It was compiled after Nobunaga's death by Ōta Gyūichi [ja] (太田牛一), a vassal of Nobunaga, based on his notes and diary.[1][2]

Shinchō Kōki is preserved at Yōmei Bunko, an historical archive located in Kyoto, Japan.

The original was written by about 1598. It consists of a total of 16 volumes, including the main 15 volumes and the first volume. The main volumes covers the 15 years from 1568, when Nobunaga entered Kyoto with Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the 15th shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate (later banished from Kyoto by Nobunaga), to 1582, when he died in the Honnō-ji Incident. The first volume summarizes his life from his childhood, when he was called "Kipphōshi", until he went to Kyoto.[1][3]

The chronicle contains not only subjects related to Nobunaga, but also murders, human trafficking, corruption, document forgery, and other street topics not directly related to Nobunaga, providing an insight into the public mood of the time.[4]

Original, Manuscripts, and Publications

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The book known today as Shinchō Kōki has many manuscripts and editions of the same original.[1] There are more than 60 known manuscripts, with various titles given to them, including Shinchō Ki (信長記), Azuchi Ki (安土記), Ōta Izuminokami Nikki (太田和泉守日記).[5] Some, such as the so-called Ikeda books handed down in the Ikeda clan, which was a family of daimyo, were commissioned by Ōta Gyūichi, who re-edited the contents to suit the client and transcribed it himself. Four sets of Shinchō Kōki in Gyūichi's own handwriting have now been identified, including the Ikeda book, and it is estimated that more than 70 sets existed in the past, including those written by people other than Gyūichi. However, as they are handwritten, their number is limited and only a few have survived. In particular, only two sets of Ōta Gyūichi's own handwritten books, complete with all volumes, have been found. This figure includes those that do not have all the books and those that once existed but are now missing.[1][2]

When the chronicle, rewritten in modern Japanese, was published in 1992, nearly 10,000 copies were sold by 2008, including a newly revised edition published in 2006, reflecting Nobunaga's popularity.[6]

An English translation was published in 2011 by Brill in cooperation with the Netherlands Association for Japanese Studies under the title The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga. J.S.A. Elisonas and J.P. Lamers translated and edited the book.[7]

Authorship

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As a young man, Ōta Gyūichi served the Oda clan for his skill with the bow and arrow, and served Nobunaga as a fighter, but in later years his work as a government official became his main responsibility, including serving as a magistrate for land inspection. Before the Honnō-ji Incident, he held the position of deputy of Namazumi in the Ōmi Province, and after Nobunaga's death he became secretary to Niwa Nagahide. He then served Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Hideyori. He continued to write during the reign of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and there is a memo written in 1610 when he was 84 years old.[2][4]

Ōta Gyūichi was of a very penmanship nature and wrote down daily events in diaries and notes, which led to the compilation of the chronicle.[1][4]

His lord, Nobunaga, is naturally written about favourably.[1] One episode that illustrates Nobunaga's kind-hearted side is the Yamanaka no Saru (Japanese: 山中の猿, lit. ' Yamanaka's Ape') episode. In the village of Yamanaka, there was a disabled beggar called Yamanaka no Saru. Nobunaga gave the villagers 10 pieces of cotton and asked them to build him a hut. Nobunaga further told his neighbours that he would be happy if they would share with him a harvest each year that would not be a burden on them.[4][8] However, he did not ignore what was inconvenient for Nobunaga, and on the other hand he also describes episodes that illustrate Nobunaga's misdeeds and brutality. As for the siege of Mount Hiei, the book describes the horrific scenes in a straightforward manner: Enryaku-jikonpon-chūdō and scriptures were burnt to the ground, and monks and non-monks, children, wise men and priests were decapitated. In another episode reads: The court ladies of the Azuchi Castle went on an excursion in Nobunaga's absence, but Nobunaga returned to the castle unexpectedly early. Knowing Nobunaga's character, these women were too frightened to return to the castle and asked the elder to apologise to him. This added fuel to the fire, and Nobunaga, furious as a flame, not only defeated them but also the elder.[1][4]

Accuracy

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In historiography, biographies and war chronicles are regarded as secondary sources based on primary sources such as letters. However, partly because it was written by a contemporary of Nobunaga, Shinchō Kōki is treated as a primary source. However, Gyūichi was not so senior among Oda's vassals and the information he had access to was not perfect. Also, in manuscripts, the transcribers sometimes made mistakes, intentionally rewritten or added things that were not written down. Nevertheless, it is evaluated among researchers that its credibility stands out from other war chronicles, and it is rated in line with primary historical sources.[1][2][9][10]

Title

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Most of the extant editions have the external title Shinchō Ki, but to avoid confusion with Oze Hoan's kanazōshi of the same title, which is described below, the chronicle is generally called Shinchō Kōki. In contrast, Hoan's version is called Hoan Shinchō Ki, or simply Shinchō Ki.[2]

Influence

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Shinchō Kōki is an indispensable historical book when talking about Oda Nobunaga. The life of Nobunaga, one of the most well-known figures in Japanese history, has been adapted into novels, manga, TV dramas, films, and video games many times in the past, and most of his life and episodes depicted in them are based on this book.[1][2]

Oze Hoan, a Confucian scholar of the Edo period, wrote a war chronicle called Hoan Shinchō Ki (甫庵信長記) based on Shinchō Kōki (信長公記), adding other anecdotes passed down in the public. Hoan was also the best-selling author of those days, having published other works such as Hoan Taikōki, a biography of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. It was published in the early Edo period (1611 or 1622) under the title Shinchō Ki. It then became a huge hit as a commercial publication and was reprinted throughout the Edo period. It is not highly valued as a historical document, as it contains many fictional stories. However, it was accepted by the masses because it was novelistic, written in an amusing manner, with Hoan's subjectivity and Confucian philosophy. On the other hand, Gyūichi's Shinchō ki was rarely seen by the general public throughout the Edo period. For reasons unknown, its publication as a printed book was prohibited by the Edo Shogunate and it only spread in manuscript form. Therefore, it was not Shinchō Kōki but the Hoan Shinchō Ki that was widely read by the common people, and its contents spread as a common knowledge among the people of the time. And even after the Meiji era, many people, including historians, have talked about Nobunaga until recently based on the knowledge of Hoan Shinchō Ki, which is different from historical facts.[1][2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ito, Gaichi (9 February 2023). "信長の人物像を形作った｢信長公記｣執筆の背景 本能寺での最期の様子も現場の侍女に聞き取り" [Background of the writing of "Shincho Koki" that shaped the character of Nobunaga Interviews with waiting maids at the scene of Nobunaga's final days at Honnō-ji.]. Toyo Keizai Online (in Japanese). Toyo Keizai. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Mizuno, Seishiro (6 January 2018). "信長を知るにはとにかく『信長公記』を読むしかない" [The Only Way to Know Nobunaga is to Read "Shinchō Kōki" Anyway]. Chunichi Shimbun (in Japanese). Tokyo. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  3. ^ 信長公記. Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e Wada, Yasuhiro (13 September 2018). "著者に聞く『信長公記―戦国覇者の一級史料』" [Interview with the Author, "Shinchō Kōki: First-Class Historical Documents of the Warring States Champions"]. web Chuko-Shinsho (in Japanese). Chuokoron-Shinsha. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  5. ^ Digitized versions are available on the Electronic Library of the Japanese National Diet Library.
  6. ^ "「吾妻鏡」に「日本書記」… 史書の現代語版、出版続々" [Azuma Kagami, Nihon Shoki and yet more historical documents translated into modern Japanese.]. asahi.com BOOK (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. 11 July 2020. Archived from the original on 11 January 2008. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  7. ^ Ōta, Gyūichi (2011). Elisonas, J. S. A.; Lamers, J. P. (eds.). The Chronicle of Lord Nobunaga. Leiden and Boston: Brill. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004201620.i-510.8. ISBN 978-90-04-20162-0.
  8. ^ Ishikawa, Takuji (17 March 2020). "信長見聞録 天下人の実像 - 第十五章 山中の猿" [Nobunaga Observations: The Realities of the Ruler of Japan - Chapter 15: Yamanaka no Saru]. GOETHE (in Japanese). Gentosha. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  9. ^ Brownlee, John S. (1991). Political Thought in Japanese Historical Writing: From Kojiki (712) to Tokushi Yoron (1712). Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 140. ISBN 0-88920-997-9.
  10. ^ Sansom, George Bailey (1961). A History of Japan, 1334-1615. Stanford University Press. p. 423. ISBN 0-8047-0525-9.

List of references

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