Written Report on Japanese Literature and the Happy Mirror: a Japanese Folktale
Japanese Literature
Reporters:
Afable, Carlo
Manasis, Fahra
Afro-Asian Literature
MTh 09:00 – 10:30
Japanese Literature
I. Introduction
Facts about Japan * Also known as “Land of the Rising Sun” * An archipelago made up of 6,852 islands * Its capital is Tokyo * Japanese is its national language * The government is Unitary Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
II. History of Japanese Literature
Japanese Literature can be divided into four main periods: ancient, classical, medieval and modern.
Ancient literature (until 794)
Before the introduction of kanji from China, Japanese had no writing system. At first, Chinese characters were used in Japanese syntactical formats, and the result was sentences that look like Chinese but were read phonetically as Japanese. Chinese characters were further adapted, creating what is known as man'yōgana, the earliest form of kana, or syllabic writing. The earliest works were created in the Nara period. These include the Kojiki (712), a historical record that also chronicles ancient Japanese mythology and folk songs; the Nihon Shoki (720), a chronicle written in Chinese that is significantly more detailed than the Kojiki; and the Man'yōshū (759), a poetry anthology. One of the stories they describe is the tale of UrashimaTarō, which has been identified as the earliest example of a story involving time travel.
Nara Period
710-794
Japanese literature traces its beginnings to oral traditions that were first recorded in written form in the early eighth century after a writing system was introduced from China. The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) and Nihon shoki (Chronicle of Japan) were completed in 712 and 720, respectively, as government projects. The former is an anthology of myths, legends, and other stories, while the latter is a chronological record of history. The Fudoki (Records of Wind and Earth), compiled by provincial officials beginning in 713, describe the history, geography,
Reporters:
Afable, Carlo
Manasis, Fahra
Afro-Asian Literature
MTh 09:00 – 10:30
Japanese Literature
I. Introduction
Facts about Japan * Also known as “Land of the Rising Sun” * An archipelago made up of 6,852 islands * Its capital is Tokyo * Japanese is its national language * The government is Unitary Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy
II. History of Japanese Literature
Japanese Literature can be divided into four main periods: ancient, classical, medieval and modern.
Ancient literature (until 794)
Before the introduction of kanji from China, Japanese had no writing system. At first, Chinese characters were used in Japanese syntactical formats, and the result was sentences that look like Chinese but were read phonetically as Japanese. Chinese characters were further adapted, creating what is known as man'yōgana, the earliest form of kana, or syllabic writing. The earliest works were created in the Nara period. These include the Kojiki (712), a historical record that also chronicles ancient Japanese mythology and folk songs; the Nihon Shoki (720), a chronicle written in Chinese that is significantly more detailed than the Kojiki; and the Man'yōshū (759), a poetry anthology. One of the stories they describe is the tale of UrashimaTarō, which has been identified as the earliest example of a story involving time travel.
Nara Period
710-794
Japanese literature traces its beginnings to oral traditions that were first recorded in written form in the early eighth century after a writing system was introduced from China. The Kojiki (Record of Ancient Matters) and Nihon shoki (Chronicle of Japan) were completed in 712 and 720, respectively, as government projects. The former is an anthology of myths, legends, and other stories, while the latter is a chronological record of history. The Fudoki (Records of Wind and Earth), compiled by provincial officials beginning in 713, describe the history, geography,