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xii The newly-acquired Chinese characters were soon put to practical use. Wani himself is said to have been employed to keep the accounts of the Treasury. In the reign of Nintoku we are told that Ki no Tsuno no Sukune committed to writing an account of the productions of the Corean kingdom of Pėkché. The date given for this in the Nihongi is A.D. 353, to which, as in the case of other events of this period, two cycles or 120 years should probably be added. In the following reign (Richiu's) "recorders were appointed in the provinces in order to note down words and events." But from the specimens of their reports which are preserved in the Nihongi, these officials do not seem to have contributed much of importance to historical knowledge. Fabulous stories and accounts of monstrosities and portents form the staple of their compositions. It may be inferred, however, that such functionaries were already in existence at the capital, and indeed we find mention at this time of hereditary corporations of fumi-bito or scribes, known as the Achiki Be and Wani Be, the successors of Atogi and Wani, the Corean scholars who first taught Chinese at the court of the Mikado.

History. The Kiujiki.—The first literary efforts of the Japanese took the direction of history. No doubt the Norito or rituals of the Shinto religion and some poetical compositions date from an earlier period. But they do not seem to have been committed to writing. The earliest book of which we find mention is the Kiujiki or Kujiki (Chronicle of old matters of former ages), which was compiled in A.D. 620 under high official auspices, as indeed were all the historical works which have come down to us from these ancient times. The writing of history was, and still is, regarded as pre-eminently a matter of State concern in all those Eastern countries where Chinese ideas are predominant. The Kiujiki was entrusted to the keeping of the Soga House, but on its downfall in 645, a large portion was destroyed by fire, a part only, described as Kokuki or national annals, having been saved from the flames. Whether this work is or is not identical with the Kiujiki of our own day, is a question on which I shall have more to say afterwards. At present it is sufficient to note that the latter work contains nothing which is not also to be found in the Kojiki or Nihongi except a few passages in the mythological