This article explores the relationship between the importation of Chinese historical and divinatory texts during Japan，s Asuka period (552-645) and the contemporaneous development of notions of sagehood and sage kingship. The article argues that the rapid diffusion of these texts led to the emergence of a body of literate individuals from mainly immigrant kinship groups with unrivalled levels of control over and access to the Chinese textual tradition. As Chinese divinatory and political tropes came to pervade political discourse of the period, the court’s hermeneutic dependence upon these figures for the interpretation of portents had far-reaching consequences for the conception and representation of kingship during the period. By focusing upon a cluster of immigrant kinship groups associated with the early cult of Prince Shotoku, this article demonstrates how these groups utilized their own ancestral legends to initiate a radical redefinition of imperial authority and lineage.
目次
Whose Shotoku Cult? 64 Governance and the Diffusion ofTextuality 66 Sages and the Sun 66 Promises and Pitfalls for the Sage King 67 Divination and the Hermeneutics of Power 68 Divination and Chinese Rulership 69 The Hakuji and the Early Shotoku Cult 70 The Interpretation of the Omen 71 Sage Kings and the Chinese Canon 72 The Classification of Sages 73 Sage King and Sage Counselor in the Seventeen Article Constitution 75 Counselors of the Yamato Sage 76 Of Kings and King Makers 78 Use of the Term uSage King” by Yamato Rulers 80 Uses of the Term “Sage King” by Non-Imperial Speakers 80 Conclusion 81 References 82
