Coordinating archaeological discoveries and
reinterpretations of well-known texts, this dissertation traces
the
early history of writing in the Japanese archipelago from the
first
appearances of inscribed objects to the rise of written vernacular
styles and bureaucratic communication. After examining the
talismanic and diplomatic functions of highly prized but
largely unread inscriptions during the first six centuries C.E.,
it
investigates
the causes and consequences of the emergence of widespread written
communication
in the 7th century, emphasizing the importance of reading and
writing
techniques
that enabled texts to simultaneously be both 'Chinese' and
'Japanese.'
Imported inscribed objects arrived in the archipelago from around the last century B.C.E., and in the 5th century swords with inscriptions referring to central kings, written by scribes from the Korean peninsula, began to appear in outlying regions. However, until the 7th century, such written objects functioned in a largely illiterate environment, in which their texts were rare symbols of political authority or spiritual power, laden with a great deal of meaning but rarely carrying a specific message.
Contrastingly, unearthed objects and transmitted texts reveal an explosion of written material through much of the archipelago in the mid- to late 7th century. Influenced by the pre-existing written culture of the Three Kingdoms of the Korean peninsula, this explosion involved the development of techniques for logographic reading and writing in an environment of bureaucracy construction and text-based state-building. Such kundoku techniques for interpreting character texts in a new vernacular register, which make it impossible to maintain a linguistic opposition between 'Chinese texts' and 'Japanese texts,' were the key to the rapidity of this transformation.
A principle [sic] obstacle to appreciating
these
circumstances has been the preface to the 712 Kojiki,
which has
been misread as evidence
for transcription of oral narratives, as a reliable account of
early
history
compilation, and as a theoretical statement about the limitations
of
early
Japanese inscription. Reconsidering this preface reveals
that it
attempts
to legitimize the historical project of the main text by creating
an
idealized
image of early orality, so that it cannot be relied upon to
specify the
nature
of early Japanese inscription.
On the relationship
between this dissertation and my 2011 book, click here.
page created 24 November 2001; modified 12 October 2011