The is a
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
ese book about laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927.
[ Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)]
"''Engi-shiki''"
in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 178.
History
In 905,
Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of the ''Engishiki''. Although previous attempts at codification are known to have taken place, neither the ''Konin'' nor the ''Jogan Gishiki'' survive making the Engishiki important for early Japanese historical and religious studies.
Fujiwara no Tokihira began the task, but work stalled when he died four years later in 909. His brother
Fujiwara no Tadahira continued the work in 912 eventually completing it in 927.
After a number of revisions, the work was used as a basis for reform starting in 967.
Contents
The text is 50 volumes in lengths and is organized by department:
*volumes 1–10:
Department of Worship: In addition to regulating ceremonials including
Daijyō-sai (the first Niiname-sai following the accession of a new emperor) and worship at
Ise Grand Shrine
The , located in Ise, Mie, Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and .
...
and
Saikū, this section of the ''Engishiki'' recorded liturgical texts, listed all 2,861
Shinto shrine
A is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more ''kami'', the deities of the Shinto religion.
Overview
Structurally, a Shinto shrine typically comprises several buildings.
The ''honden''Also called (本殿, meanin ...
s existing at the time, and listed the 3,131 officially-recognized and enshrined
Kami
are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...
.
[" Engishiki" in Stuart D. B. Pecken, ed., ''Historical Dictionary of Shinto''. Second edition. (Lanham, MD, USA: Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2011) p. 92.] Felicia Gressitt Bock published a two-volume annotated English language translation with an introduction entitled ''Engi-shiki; procedures of the Engi Era'' in 1970.
*volumes 11–40:
Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...
and
Eight Ministries
*volumes 41–49: Other departments
*volume 50: Miscellaneous laws
See also
*
Japanese Historical Text Initiative
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Japanese text and English translationat the
Japanese Historical Text Initiative
*Manuscript scans,
Waseda University Library: volume
1-50an
8-10
{{Authority control
Government of Japan
10th century in Japan
Law of Japan
Society of Japan
Late Old Japanese texts
Law books
Legal history of Japan
Shinto texts
10th century in law
10th-century Japanese books
927