The term "National Treasure" has been used in Japan to denote cultural properties since 1897, although the definition and the criteria have changed since the introduction of the term. The written materials in the list adhere to the current definition, and have been designated National Treasures according to the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties that came into effect on June 9, 1951. The items are selected by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology based on their "especially high historical or artistic value". The list presents 58 entries from the 6th century Northern and Southern dynasties to the Kamakura period with more than half originating in China. The total number of items is higher, however, since groups of related objects have been joined as single entries. The list contains works that have been originally compiled in China by Chinese authors. A large proportion of these works are Chinese classics.
Written language was introduced to Japan around 400 AD in the form of Chinese books written in Classical Chinese. Japanese interest in Chinese writings and culture gradually increased towards the end of the 6th century when Japanese rulers sent missions to the mainland for cultural studies and to bring back books. During circa 300 years in the Sui and Tang dynasties, a large number of Chinese books were brought to Japan. By the 8th century, Chinese works were customarily copied at Japanese libraries to satisfy the demand for education of the male aristocracy. Until the early 17th century, copying in Japan was largely by hand. However, Chinese printed editions of the Song dynasty were imported following an increased trading activity at the start of the Kamakura period (after 1192). The designated manuscripts are either transcriptions of the original works produced in China or in Japan or are Chinese printed editions. The Chinese manuscripts, both handwritten and printed editions, were imported to Japan at the time. The designated treasures are housed in temples, museums, libraries, shrines, universities and in private collections.
The objects in this list represent about one fourth of the 237 National Treasures in the category "writings". They are complemented by 72 Japanese book National Treasures of the List of National Treasures of Japan (writings: Japanese books) and 107 other written National Treasures of the List of National Treasures of Japan (writings: others).
Statistics
Prefecture City National Treasures Aichi Nagoya 3 Chiba Sakura 3 Fukuoka Dazaifu 1 Hyōgo Itami 1 Kanagawa Yokohama 1 Kyoto Kyoto 9 Mie Ise 1 Miyagi Sendai 1 Nara Tenri 2 Osaka Osaka 4 Shiga Ōtsu 5 Tochigi Ashikaga 4 Tokyo Tokyo 20 Wakayama Kōya 2 Yamaguchi Hōfu 1
PeriodOnly the oldest period is counted, if a National Treasure consists of items from more than one period. National Treasures Northern and Southern dynasties 1 Tang dynasty 22 Nara period 4 Heian period 15 Southern Song dynasty 14 Kamakura period 2
Usage The table's columns (except for Remarks and Image) are sortable by pressing the arrows symbols. The following gives an overview of what is included in the table and how the sorting works. Name: the name as registered in the Database of National Cultural Properties Authors: name of the author(s) Remarks: information about the type of document and its content Date: period and year; The column entries sort by year. If only a period is known, they sort by the start year of that period. Format: principal type, technique and dimensions; The column entries sort by the main type: scroll (includes handscrolls and letters), books (includes albums, ordinary bound books and books bound by fukuro-toji) and other (includes hanging scrolls) Present location: "temple/museum/shrine-name town-name prefecture-name"; The column entries sort as "prefecture-name town-name". Image: picture of the manuscript or of a characteristic document in a group of manuscripts
Treasures
Chinese manuscripts Japan's first experience with books and written languageInscriptions on imported coins and artefacts are older but were not perceived as language by the Japanese at the time. came from books written in Classical Chinese in China, brought to Japan from the Korean kingdoms, at least by the 5th and probably by the end of the 4th century. According to legend, the scholar Wani came to Japan in 406 and brought with him the Confucian Analects and Thousand Character Classic.The Thousand Character Classic as known today was not compiled at the time of Wani throwing doubt on the accuracy of this legend. These were followed, in later years, by the Five Classics (Book of Odes, Book of History, Book of Rites, Book of Changes and the Spring and Autumn Annals), which, by the 6th century, became well known among the Japanese literary elite. The Seventeen-article constitution, compiled in 604 by Prince Shōtoku, has quotations that allow the identification of 18 Chinese books known to have existed in Japan at the time: Odes, Rites, Classic of Filial Piety, Analects, Chronicle of Zuo, the Han Chronicles (Book of Han and Book of the Later Han), Wen Xuan anthology, Zhuangzi and other classical Chinese writings.According to another source, the text composed by Prince Shōtoku shows familiarity with fifteen Chinese literary, historical, and philosophical works: the Odes, Book of History, Classic of Filial Piety, Analects, Chronicle of Zuo, Book of Rites, Guanzi, Records of the Grand Historian, Book of Han, Wen Xuan, Mencius, Mozi, Laozi, Zhuangzi and Han Feizi.
The distribution of Chinese books to Japan reached its first peak in the Sui and Tang dynasties. During this period books were brought to Japan through two sources: people, who were mostly literate, moving from the continent; and by official missions sent out by the Japanese court. Four envoys to Sui China were dispatched under Prince Shōtoku, but this number quickly increased during the Tang dynasty, which saw 16 envoys of circa 200 to 600 people, each sent to study Chinese culture and to acquire Chinese books. One of the most well-known missions was that by Kibi Makibi who left Japan in 717, spent 17 years in China and returned with books on various subjects. Examples of works imported during this period include the first Chinese pharmacopoeia (Xinxiu Bencao), compiled and imported in the same year (713), and Tang poetry by Li Bai, Wang Wei and Bai Juyi.Bai Juyi was the most influential Tang Dynasty poet in Japan and his collected works were imported in 836. Towards the end of the Tang dynasty, at the end of the 9th century, about half of the canon of Chinese literature was present in Japan, including texts of all major Tang poets. The Book Catalogue in Japan, compiled between 876 and 884 by the aristocrat and scholar Fujiwara no Sukeyo, showed entries for 1,568 Chinese books, located in Japan, in classics, history, philosophy and anthologies. Due to the cessation of missions to China in the late 9th century, relatively few Chinese books were imported through the mid and late Heian period.
Some books such as the Yupian or the Meihōki were lost early in China, because of the persecution against Buddhism or for other reasons. The titles survived, however, because of the large volume of books previously imported to Japan, which were then subsequently re-exported to China. Today, some of the oldest extant manuscripts of Chinese books dating to the Tang dynasty are located in Japan. Few of the early imported manuscripts have survived. Some of those that survived are listed as National Treasures below. Twenty two Chinese book National Treasures exist that were created in China and subsequently imported to Japan. Of these, 20 date to the Tang dynasty, one to the Southern Song and one to the Northern and Southern dynasties. The designated items are of various type: seven treasures are manuscripts of the Five Classics of Confucianism and associated commentaries, four are poetry and prose anthologies of Chinese poets, calligraphers and Emperor Huizong of Song, four are dictionaries, five are anecdote collections, one is a music score and one a traced copy of a letter.