The study of the recognition of history in Heian period

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K22011
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0103:History, archaeology, museology, and related fields
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Oshio Kei 東京大学, 史料編纂所, 助教 (80880765)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-09-11 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 時代認識 / 聖代 / 祥瑞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

As suggested by the term the “glorious rule” of Engi and Tenryaku, the aristocrats in the Heian period sometimes respected some previous rules.
Previous studies in Japanese history have been focusing on the terms “Engi and Tenryaku” and the “glorious rule”, leaving the cases without a direct reference to the “glorious rule” or the rules other than “Engi and Tenryaku” little examined. In this study, I investigated which rules tended to be respected by collecting data from old diaries, and examined how such respected rules differed from those referred to in the historical tales and collections of tales. Along with this main research, I collected and examined the examples of auspicious omens (shozui) in the Sekkan period and later, which have been not much examined by previous studies.

Free Research Field

日本史学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

延喜・天暦という時代は、時代によって評価の揺れを伴いながらも、近代にいたるまで日本における模範として仰がれた特異な時代である。その実態が必ずしも「聖代」とはいえないものであったことや、聖代視された要因についてなど、先行研究では様々な観点から検討が加えられている。しかし、聖代と称されたほかの時代との違いや、そもそもなぜ聖代たり得たのかなど、なお明らかでない点も多い。本研究では、特定の時代がやがて実態を離れて虚実交えながら賛美の対象となっていく、その過程の解明を目指すが、これは今日的問題にも通ずるテーマであるといえよう。