Proclamation - Senmyo

Japanese: 宣命 - せんみょう

Imperial edicts in the Japanese style. The word means "to proclaim an order," and originally referred to an imperial envoy announcing the Emperor's orders, but in the Heian period it came to refer to the text of the order. It refers to those in the Japanese style, as distinguished from "imperial edicts" in classical Chinese. Imperial edicts continued to be made after the Heian period, but their uses were limited, and many of the phrases were based only on precedent, and the substance of the edicts has been lost, so the term is often limited to the 62 volumes in the Shoku Nihongi. The Shoku Nihongi contains imperial edicts for various occasions, such as accession to the throne, change of era, establishment of the Crown Prince, posthumous enthronement, bestowal of a title, rewards, and punishments. It was one of the common ways of conveying the Emperor's orders, and drafting the text was the responsibility of the Naiki of the Ministry of Central Affairs. The format of the senmyōgaki became a special form, but the distinctive feature of the senmyō was that it was read out (proclaimed orally) rather than the style of writing. The closing phrase, "The Emperor has issued a decree that all the imperial commands be heard and heard" (Isshō), is often used as the closing phrase of a paragraph, which clearly shows that the emperor's command is conveyed in an appealing manner to the audience. The senmyōgaki was read out with a special rhythm, and it can be inferred from the existence of the "Senmyōfu Ikan" (List of Honchō Shojaku Mokuroku), that a certain rhythm was later created. Along with the "Norito", this is an important resource in that it shows the Japanese grammar of the Nara period and also the expressions that are derived from the oral recitation stage that existed before the written form.

[Kanno Shitaka]

Declaration

This style of writing follows the Japanese word order in a way that essentially words and parts (independent words) are written in large characters, while formal words and parts (attached words) are written in small characters, right-justified or in a divided line. It is so named because it is a unique writing style used to record imperial edicts. In the past, imperial edicts were written in a series of uniformly sized kanji characters, but when the imperial edicts were read out by the imperial messengers, there was a certain way of reciting them that placed special importance on tone, and it is thought that this style was devised to prevent misreadings, indicate breaks, and make them easier to read orally.

It has been confirmed in documents since the mid-Nara period, and even at that time it was used in prayers, legends of old temples, documents, and other things other than imperial edicts, and is known to have been one of the Japanese writing styles. This writing style is noteworthy in that it is simply aware of the grammatical distinction in Japanese between independent words and dependent words, and between verbal stems and conjugated endings. As time went on, the Manyo-gana portion began to be written in cursive, hiragana, katakana, or a mixture of these, and in the late Heian period it appeared in records, lectures, and Japanese hymns, becoming one of the origins of today's mixed kanji and kana writing.

[Takuya Okimori]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

和文体の詔勅。「命(みこと)を宣(の)る」の意で、元来、天皇の命を勅使から宣べ聞かせることをいうが、平安時代に入るとその文章をさすようになった。漢文の「詔勅」と区別して、和文体のものをいう。平安時代以後にも宣命は行われているが、その用途は限られており、文詞も多く先例によるのみであって実質は失われるようになったので、とくに『続日本紀(しょくにほんぎ)』に収める62編に限定していうことが多い。『続日本紀』の宣命は、即位、改元、立太子、追尊、授位、褒賞、誅罰(ちゅうばつ)など、さまざまな場合に下されている。天皇の命を伝える一般的な形の一つであり、その文案の起草は、中務(なかつかさ)省の内記の職掌であった。その書式は宣命書(せんみょうがき)とよばれる特殊な形をつくりあげていくこととなったが、宣命の特徴は、むしろそうした文体以上に、宣読される（口頭で宣布される）ということにある。「……と詔(の)りたまふ天皇(すめら)が大命(おほみこと)を諸(もろもろ)聞き食(たま)へよと宣(の)りたまふ」（一詔(いっしょう)）を結びの定型句とする（段落の結びとしても多く用いられる）ところに、相手に訴えかけるようにして天皇の命を伝えることがよく示されている。宣読は特殊な曲節をもってなされたらしく、のちには一定の曲節をつくったことが「宣命譜一巻」（『本朝書籍(しょじゃく)目録』）のあることからも想像される。奈良時代の和文の語法とともに、文字以前の口誦の段階で形づくられた口頭詞章の系統を引く表現をそこにうかがうこともできるという点で、「祝詞(のりと)」とともども重要な資料である。

［神野志隆光］

宣命書

実質的な語や部分（自立語）を大字で、形式的な語や部分（付属語）を小字で右寄せまたは割行(わりぎょう)で書き、ほぼ日本語の語順に従って書き記す形式。宣命を記載するのに用いる独自の表記法であることから、この名称がある。古く宣命は、一様に同じ大きさの漢字で書き連ねられていたが、宣命使が読み上げる場合に、一定の朗読法があって、特別に声調を重んじたところから、誤読をなくしたり、切れ目を示したり、口頭で宣読しやすいように案出されたものと考えられる。

　奈良時代中期ごろから文献のうえで確認されるが、当時からすでに宣命以外にも祝詞(のりと)、古寺の縁起、文書などで用いられており、日本語文体の一つであったことが知られる。このような表記形式は、日本語における自立語と付属語、用言の語幹と活用語尾という文法上における区別を、素朴に意識している点で注目される。時代が下るにつれて、万葉仮名の部分が草仮名、平仮名、片仮名およびそれらの混用で書かれるようになり、平安時代後期には記録類や講式、和讃(わさん)などにもみえ、今日の漢字仮名交じり文の源流の一つとなった。

［沖森卓也］

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