The Divine Emperor's Righteous Record

This work was written by Kitabatake Chikafusa, a pillar of the Southern Court during the Northern and Southern Courts period. Chikafusa wrote the first draft of this work in 1339 (Engen 4, Ryakuo 2) at Oda Castle in Hitachi Province (Ibaraki Prefecture) while fighting against the Ashikaga army, and revised it in 1343 (Kokoku 4, Koei 2) at Seki Castle in Hitachi Province. 1339 was the year Emperor Godaigo died and Emperor Gomurakami ascended to the throne at a young age. Chikafusa wrote this work primarily for Emperor Gomurakami and his closest associates, as a reference for the emperor's moral education and governance, and in the revisions he appears to have added admonitions and warnings to these people in the hope that it would be read by a wider range of ordinary people.

This book covers the period from the Age of the Gods to Emperor Go-Murakami. The ideological principles of the book are Chikafusa's own Shinto thought, which he formed by inheriting Watarai Shinto while also incorporating Buddhism and Confucianism. Based on Shinto thought, the book presents the following theories: the theory of divine nation, which considers Japan to be a country unlike any other in the world where the reign of the divine grandson and the protection of the divine have been realized without change; the theory of imperial succession and the legitimacy of the Southern Court, which holds that the Imperial Throne has been passed down according to correct principles since Emperor Jimmu, and that the Southern Court is now the legitimate one; the theory of political system, which holds that the only people in charge of government should be the Imperial Family, the descendants of the divine, and the Fujiwara clan; the theory of political path, which holds that governance must embody the three virtues of honesty, compassion, and wisdom (almost identical to the Confucian virtues of knowledge, benevolence, and courage); the theory of morality, which holds that the highest morality is the service of the people to their sovereign (the Emperor); and the theory of history, which sees history as a manifestation of the will and intentions of the Imperial Ancestors. He had a great influence on the world of modern and contemporary thought.

[Hiroyuki Tamakake]

"Jinno Shōtōki" (Iwanami Bunko) with corrected commentary by Iwasa" ▽ "Jinno Shōtō Kijūgi" by Yamada Takao (1932, Minyūsha)" ▽ "Basic Research on Jinno Shōtōki" by Hirata Toshiharu (1979, Yuzankaku Publishing)" ▽ "Jinno Shōtōki Ronkō" by Wagatsuma Kenji (1981, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

南北朝時代に南朝の柱石であった北畠親房(きたばたけちかふさ)の著。親房は本書の初稿本を1339年（延元4・暦応2）常陸(ひたち)国（茨城県）小田城にあって足利(あしかが)方の軍と対戦中に執筆し、43年（興国4・康永2）常陸国関城でこれを修訂した。1339年は後醍醐(ごだいご)天皇が崩じ、後村上(ごむらかみ)天皇が若年で即位した年で、親房は、後村上天皇とそのごく側近の人々を対象として、天皇の修身・治政の参考に資することを主目的として本書を著し、修訂にあたって、より広い一般人士に読まれることを期して、これらの人々への訓誡(くんかい)を加えたとみられる。

　本書は神代から後村上天皇までの時期を扱う。著述の思想的原理は、度会神道(わたらいしんとう)を受け継ぎながら仏教や儒教をも取り入れて形成した親房独自の神道思想である。日本を神孫君臨と神明擁護が変わることなく実現する世界に例のない国とみなす神国論、神武(じんむ)天皇以来皇位が正しい理に従って継承し来った、そして現今では南朝こそが正統だとする皇位継承論・南朝正統論、政(まつりごと)の担当者は神孫たる天皇家と藤原氏とに限定されるとする政体論、治政は正直・慈悲・智恵(ちえ)の三徳（ほとんど知・仁・勇の儒教的三徳と同一視される）を具現化したものでなければならぬとする政道論、臣民の君（天皇）への奉仕を最高の道徳とする道徳論、歴史を皇祖神の意志や計らいの顕現とみる歴史論などが、神道思想を前提にして示される。近世・近代の思想界に大きな影響を与えた。

［玉懸博之］

『岩佐正校注『神皇正統記』（岩波文庫）』▽『山田孝雄著『神皇正統記述義』（1932・民友社）』▽『平田俊春著『神皇正統記の基礎的研究』（1979・雄山閣出版）』▽『我妻建治著『神皇正統記論攷』（1981・吉川弘文館）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例