Fusō Ryakuki


The Fusō Ryakuki is a Japanese historical text compiled at the end of the twelfth century. It is also called the Fusō-ki or Fusō-shū.

Overview

The Fusō Ryakuki is a Japanese historical text compiled at the end of the Heian period. It is also called the Fusō-ki or Fusō-shū. It was compiled by the Enryaku-ji monk, who died in 1169. It is written in kanbun, in an annal style.
According to the , it was originally in thirty books, but of these only books 2 through 6 and 20 through 30, or sixteen books in total, are extant. The complete work originally chronicled Japan's history from the reign of Emperor Jinmu in the seventh century BCE to Kanji 8. Using surviving extracts, however, the Ryakukis accounts of the reigns of Emperor Jinmu through Emperor Heizei can be reconstructed to some extent.
It utilizes the Six National Histories, as well as diaries, engi, biographies of famous monks and temple traditions to construct a narrative history of Japan, with a particular emphasis on topics of Buddhist interest. It supposedly also included an account of the age of the gods, but this has not survived and its contents are unknown.

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