User:Metal Linx/sandbox

Creation of the Kojiki
Emperor Tenmu ordered Hieda no Are to memorize stories and texts from history, many of which appear to have been, until the creation of the Kojiki, commonly known oral traditions. Beyond this memorization nothing occurred until after Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu had both passed and Empress Genmei came to reign. According to the Kojiki, Empress Genmei on the 18th of the 9th month of 711 ordered the courtier Ō no Yasumaro to record what had been learned by Hieda no Are. He finished and presented his work to Empress Genmei on the 28th of the 1st month of 712.

Political Purpose of the Kojiki
As evidenced in the preface of the Kojiki, which states the purpose of its creation as "to erase falsehoods and establish truth", the Kojiki, as well as the Nihon Shoki, were works created with the primary purpose of furthering the imperial agenda. Created not long after the conclusion of the tumultuous Jinshin Rebellion, the Kojiki establishes a pro-Yamato narrative of history which combined with what would become the officially accepted imperial narrative, the Nihon Shoki, would help secure both a historical as well as a divine legitimacy and superiority to a dynasty which would survive up to the atomic era. This historical narrative is clearly broken into the Age of Gods and the Age of Human Emperors, wherein the mythology of the gods which gave birth to the land is told and is transitioned in a chronological fashion to the reign of the emperors, who descend from these same gods. This narrative clearly sets forth the divine mandate by which the Yamato line has right to rule, and through the rhetoric used in the Age of Human Emperors, much of it borrowed from Chinese sources, the historical and military qualifications were likewise established. Several of the narratives which give support to the imperial line, such as the subjugation of certain Korean Empires, have been confirmed as historically false and were included merely to erase failures and bolster reputations of emperors past. Vast amounts of the Age of Human Emperors is spent recounting genealogies, which served not only to give age to the imperial family, which was likely much newer than the Kojiki claims as little evidence has been found to support the existence of early emperors, but also served to tie, whether true or not, many existing clan's genealogies to their own. Regardless of the original intent of the Kojiki, it finalized and possibly even formulated the framework by which Japanese history was examined in terms of the reign of emperors.

Contents of the Text
What follows is a condensed summary of the contents of the text, including many of the names of gods, emperors, and locations as well as events which took place in association to them. The original Japanese is included in parentheses where appropriate.

Preface (序)

 * The handing down of old folklore and its significance
 * Emperor Tenmu and setting out the Kojiki
 * Ō no Yasumaro compiling the Kojiki

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The Kamitsumaki (上巻), or first volume
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The Nakatsumaki (中巻), or second volume
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The Shimotsumaki (下巻), or final volume
Peer review only above^.

Kojiki Things to Add

 * Add another image that shows the text, or at least a fascimile of it (found in and should appear on right
 * Expand on the Structure section or create an entirely new section utilizing the existing English link to an English translation of the Kojiki as well as through Shinpukuji-bon Kojiki (真福寺本古事記)translating the Table of Contents section on the Japanese Wikipedia page
 * Expand on the Structure section or add an additional section for the numerous people and gods that appear in the text through use of the English translation or the Japanese Wikipedia page
 * Add some citations where they are missing.
 * Chinese character use
 * Try and find a source(s) for the manuscripts section
 * Where citations can't be found, add citation needed notes
 * Add a section or at least content on the use of the Kojiki to establish Imperial legitimacy (kind of propaganda/rewriting or even writing of history?)
 * Adding content or a section on the religious use of the fetus in the Kojiki Shinpukuji-bon_Kojiki_(真福寺本古事記).png

Kojiki Sources/Notes
I can attempt to improve the Kojiki article by: References and notes on references
 * Adding references to some statements without citation
 * Adding new information from the Japanese page
 * Adding new information from English references to provide both simple facts and multiple perspectives
 * Adding images

Political Thought in Japanese Historical Writing : From Kojiki (712) to Tokushi Yoron (1712) The Idea of Writing : Writing Across Borders Man'yōshū And the Imperial Imagination in Early Japan (Brill's Japanese Studies Library
 * Preface says Emperor Tenmu commanded Hieda no Are (28) to memorize the historical texts
 * Nothing came from this
 * Empress Jitoo and Emperor Monmu happened and then finally Empress Genmei ordered Oo no Yasumaro to make the Kojiki
 * Doubt of Hieda no Are and Oo no Yasumaro as authors, but nothing conclusive and no agreement
 * Meant to establish imperial legitimacy and supremacy
 * Appears to mostly consist of a collection of previously orally transmitted tales
 * Drew language, rhetoric, and stories from Chinese sources
 * Tied the myths of the Gods to the history of the imperial house
 * Age of Gods and Age of Human Emperors historical categorization thereafter accepted as true
 * Breaking into Age of Human Emperors where it is broken into reigns accents the rule of the emperor and the rise of power
 * Genealogical information of emperors used to satisfy pride of existing families
 * Potential manipulation of ritual song into history of Emperors
 * Despite historical evidence available at the time and even in the memories of the people of the time, Japan portrayed as superior to Korea through Emperor exploits
 * Finalized or created, unclear which, a framework by which history was examined in terms of the reign of emperors
 * Symmetry and Asymmetry, Chinese Writing in Japan: The Case of Kojiki (712)
 * Tennou title used extensively in the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki to set apart Yamato rulers and delineate them as having a divine mandate and being superior to other rulers.
 * Nihon Shoki was accepted as the official imperial history whereas the Kojiki was left in a more ambiguous level
 * Drew language, rhetoric, and stories from Chinese sources like in 2
 * 4 Imperial Historiography and the Narrative Politics of the Jinshin Rebellion
 * 4 Imperial Historiography and the Narrative Politics of the Jinshin Rebellion

Thinking, Recording, and Writing History in the Ancient World Imagining the Fetus the Unborn in Myth, Religion, and Culture : The Unborn in Myth, Religion, and Culture
 * 5 Thinking, Recording, and Writing History in Ancient Japan: The Nihon shoki as a Text of Transition
 * Out of Place: Fetal References in Japanese Mythology and Cultural Memory

Choose Possible Topics
The three articles I could potentially tackle are:

Kojiki
Which I previously did an article evaluation of and found numerous areas from simple to more difficult which could be worked on

Sokushinbutsu
This article is very light on information, lacks citation, has red links, and lacks a single image. I could attempt to find sources with more information to add, fix bad citations and links, and add images. With Zelda Breath of the Wild basing a significant portion of the game on this practice, it is definitely a higher traffic page than it was 2 years ago

Edo
This article is also light on information, has some confusing organization and uses some terms with describing their context whatsoever. Some facts that are stated lack any citation. I could attempt to find sources with more information to add, fix bad citations and links, and improve organization and cohesiveness.

Article Evaluation of Kojiki

 * The talk page has some very heated debates with the most general theme of that being that the article is extremely incomplete lacking any sense of uniformity and also lacking in any attempt to present the controversies surrounding the document that are coming up in some of the more heated comments
 * The article is rather brief for such a major document. A quick glance at the Japanese Wikipedia page for 古事記 shows a significant amount more information than that on the English page.
 * Greater information on the historical evidence surrounding the Kojiki could be included
 * Questions regarding its origins could be brought up such as those brought up in the talk page about its potential Chinese origins
 * A simple breakdown of the contents could be included such as each chapter or section
 * Is Shinto the most appropriate portal to be under?
 * Missing citation notice and many dates and facts listed without any reference.
 * Some links appear to not point towards what they claim
 * This article is rated as start-class
 * Despite the article being labeled as Vital in Philosophy, and top importance in WikiProject Japan / Bibliography / History / Mythology / Shinto all of these various problems seem to have persisted for at least a decade.