Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns [Hardcover]

H. Paul. Varley (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Japanese (translation)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (October 15, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231049404
• ISBN-13: 978-0231049405
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,155,063 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great translation of a fabulous source, April 6, 2000

By 

christine (Boston, Mass.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns (Hardcover)

How I wish this were published in paperback! The _Jinno Shotoki_ of Kitabatake Chikafusa is a marvelous chronicle of Japanese history as told by a fourteenth-century scholar and courtier. The narrative sheds light on how Kitabatake views the place of Japan in the world: Japan is constantly compared to China; Japan's destiny is divine; Japan is protected by the Gods; "good" emperors and imperial advisors obey the divine will (for emporers, this meant staying out of the way and letting the "correct" advisors rule). In this text, you get a sense of the ancient imperial court's scholarly tradition, threatened place in Japan, and ideas about Japanese _mores_. Varley's translation is clear and his introduction establishes the historical circumstances very well.