Japanese historians and the national myths, 1600-1945 : the age of the gods and Emperor Jinmu / John S. Brownlee.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brownlee, John S.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mythology, Japanese--Political aspects.

Mythology, Japanese.

Japan--History--Tokugawa period, 1600-1868--Historiography.

Japan.

Japan--History--1868---Historiography.

Physical Description:

viii, 256 p. : ill., ports. ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Vancouver : UBC Press ; Tokyo : University of Tokyo Press, c1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Ancient tales tell of Japan's creation in the Age of the Gods, and of Jinmu, a direct descendant of the Sun Goddess and first emperor of the imperial line. These founding myths went unchallenged until Confucian scholars in the Tokugawa period initiated a reassessment of the ancient history of Japan. The application of Western theories of modern scientific history in the Meiji period further intensified the attacks on traditional beliefs. However, with the rise of ultranationalism following the Meiji Constitution of 1889, official state ideology insisted on the literal truth of these myths, and scholars who argued otherwise soon met with public hostility and government suppression. In Japanese Historians and the National Myths, John Brownlee examines how Japanese historians between 1600 and 1945 interpreted the ancient myths of their origins. These myths lay at the core of Japanese identity and provided legitimacy for the imperial state. Focusing on the theme of conflict and accommodation between scholars on one side and government and society on the other, Brownlee follows the historians' reactions to pressure and trends and their eventual understanding of history as a science in the service of the Japanese nation. This is the first comprehensive study of modern Japanese historians and their relationship to nationalism. It breaks new ground in its treatment of Japanese intellectual history and provides new insights into the development of Japan as a nation. Japanese Historians and the National Myths will prove invaluable to scholars of Japanese history on both sides of the Pacific, as well as to those interested in political ideology, nationalism, censorship, and mythology.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Note on Usage

Introduction

The Tokugawa Period

Hayashi Kazan (1583-1657) and Hayashi Gahō (1618-80): Founders of Modern Historical Scholarship

Dai Nihon Shi[History of Great Japan]

Aral Hakuseki (1657-1725) and Yamagata Bantō (1748-1821): Pure Rationalism

Date Chihiro (1802-77): Three Stages in the History of Japan

The Resistance of the National Scholars

The Modern Century

European Influences on Meiji Historical Writing

The Beginning of Academic History

The Kume Kunitake Incident, 1890-2

The Development of Academic History

The Southern and Northern Courts Controversy, 1911

Eminent Historians in the 1930s: The Betrayal of Scientific History

The Commission of Inquiry into Historical Sites Related to Emperor Jinmu, 1940

Tsuda Sōkichi (1873-1961): An Innocent on the Loose

Epilogue: Historical Scholarship; Education, and Politics in Postwar Japan

Notes

References

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [237]-249) and index.

ISBN:

1-283-13161-7

9786613131614

0-7748-5361-1

OCLC:

180704225