Discource about jindai moji (the script of the divine age) in Tokugawa Japan

要旨

It is a well known fact that the contemprorary Japanese is written with hiragana, katakana and the Chinese characters. There is a theory that claims that an ancient alphabet existed in Japan before any of the aforementioned writing systems. This alphabet is often refered to as kamiyō moji or jindai moji. This theory has emerged during the 14th century in Japan but it recieved most attention during the Tokugawa period. This master thesis focuses on works on jindai moji that were written during the Tokugawa period. I seek to answer auestions such as: What is jindai moji? What did Tokugawa scholars have to say about it? How do different alphabets that claim to be the jindai moji compare to each other? But most importantly: Why did jindai moji recieve so much attention exactly during the Tokugawa period? This master thesis presents five works on jindai moji that were written during the Tokugawa period (one of which is written by the famous Kokugaku scholar Hirata Atsutane), two works on jindai moji that were written during the 14th century and one work on jindai moji that was written during the early Meiji period. These works vary greatly and my main point is that different authors had a very different approach to the jindai moji. Some only used jindai moji it as a supporting argument for some kind of theory, while others were more interested in comparing different alphabets that claim to be the jindai moji. Also at the beguinning of the Tokugawa period the discuassion around jindai moji was connected to the idea of the sankyō itchi (unity of Buddhism, Confucianism and Shinto) while as we approach the end of the Tokugawa period the discource around jindai moji becomes more nativist. One of the works on jindai moji that was written during the Tokugawa period (Iroha Monben) has never been translated to English language before. This master thesis includes my full translation of it (Chapter 4). Also I discuss a book called «Alphabets from the heavenly kingdom» (Chapter 8) that features 19 different examples of the alleged jindai moji. I found this book at the Akiruno city document archive. Accoarding to the archive I am the first customer ever to take an interest in this book. This might be the first time this book has been used in a reseach dedicated to jindai moji.

主題