REKIHAKU

No.130 A Witness to History

Reitokaku-shukocho

Portrait section: A picture of Shotoku Taishi	Epitaph section: Fragment of Ujibashi epitaph	Seal section: Seals from Yamashiro Province

The " Reitokaku-shukocho" is a collection of old drawings and written records compiled by the Yoshida family, a wealthy merchant family from Kureta in Sumiyoshi Village, Ubara County in Settsu Province (now the eastern part of Kobe City in Hyogo Prefecture). They were a major sake brewing family in Nada and were said to be the descendents of Yoshida Sadafusa, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, who was a personal attendant of Emperor Godaigo during the period of the Southern and Northern Courts. The family's financial power was such that it commissioned repairs to the silver pavilion at Jishoji Temple.

The Yoshida family also completed these records by utilizing its relationships with leading scholars of the day such as To Teikan of Kyoto (a historian who compiled the " Koko Nichiroku" ) and Hoida Tadatomo of Nara (a " kokugaku" scholar who arranged and presented documents from the Shosoin Repository), as well as Kyoto court nobles including the Hino Chief Councilor Sukeki who was known for his poetry and " kokugaku." During the nearly hundred year period from the An'ei and Tenmei periods in the Early Modern period through to the beginning of the Meiji period all three generations of family heads called Dokka, Setsuou and Shoou were particularly fond of the study of antiquities and were in contact with scholars and aristocrats, using these personal contacts for collecting many old documents and old objects. The family's library was called " Reitokaku," which meant a library from where the waves could be heard.

Ujibashi epitaph: Restored reproduction (reference material)	776 Income tax statement from Tsudaka County, Bizen Province (reference material)	Portrait section: Portrait of Fujiwara Kamatari

The old documents they collected were included in two folding books of old documents called " Reitokaku-cho" and " Ashikaga-cho," and the pictorial records called " Shukocho" were distributed among 46 folding books and five boxes. The " Reitokaku-cho" comprised of 45 items dating from the Nara period through the Heian and Kamakura periods that were either old documents or old hand-copied sutras. However, each item was sold separately so that they were no longer kept together. These items included documents dating from the Nara period that included the " Ise no Kuni Keikai Cho," and many documents from the early part of the Heian period such as land purchase and sale certificates called " Okuni-go Baiken" from the village of Okuni in Echi County, Omi Province. Fortunately, one of these items, the " Income Tax Statements from Tsudaka County, Bizen Province," written in 776, is currently held in the collection of the National Museum of Japanese History.

Graveyard records section: Graveyard record for Ono no Emishi

Equine accessory section: Rubbing of equine accessory excavated in Yamato	Writing materials section: Silla ink from Todaiji Temple	Game section: Game record of old-style Japanese chess

The 46 folding books of the " Shukocho" comprise of 32 sections: universe, linear measurements, measurements by volume, two on tablets, writing materials, portraits, four on writings, two on epitaph inscriptions, graveyard records, bell inscriptions, two on miscellaneous inscriptions, armors and military camps, bows and arrows, two on swords, halberds, equine accessories, musical instruments, five on seals, mirrors, woven crests, two on carriages, gems, eating dishes, foods, funerary accessories, two on household effects, boxes and bags, two on tiles, bells, games, Buddhist items and miscellaneous items. Skillfully copied drawings and rubbed copies of old utensils and old documents and copies of the engravings of old seals were attached to the large folding books that measured 33.5 cm high by 25.8 cm wide, and these were accompanied by simple written commentaries.

Funerary accessories section: Stone men and stone horses from the burial mound of Iwai, a local ruling family of Chikushi Province

The items of the most value in these pictorial records are the collections of original drawings and original rubbings of actual items and actual pictures of items from the Shosoin repository that include Shosoin documents and sacrosanct household effects, which were precious materials that were usually impossible to obtain. Even a comparison with the " Shuko Jisshu" collected by Matsudaira Sadanobu at around the same time shows that far more items had been collected, which covered a far wider scope, for the " Shukocho" and that it has a higher value than the " Shuko Jisshu" that contains many copies and reproductions.

Universe section: Drawing of fords at Todaiji Temple	Funerary accessories section: Stone men and stone horses from the burial mound of Iwai, a local ruling family of Chikushi Province	Funerary accessories section: Stone men and stone horses from the burial mound of Iwai, a local ruling family of Chikushi Province
Writing section: Imperial request from Emperor Shomu for giving of alms, dated May 20, 749

As for the five boxes of maps, tablets, portraits, bell inscriptions and bannered camps, it is assumed that large illustrated plates that would have been difficult to put together with the folding books had been distributed among the boxes, and it is conceivable that originally the old maps and portraits had been distributed in each of the boxes.

Although the boxes no longer exist, in addition to the 46 folding books there are as many as 40 large old maps and portraits appended to the books, and it is quite possible that originally these would have been distributed among several of the five boxes. Using these copied illustrations as a source, three volumes of pictorial records were issued during the time of the third generation family head Shoou under the title " Reitokaku-cho," that included large colorful prints of famous items from the family's storehouse. The first volume was printed in 1841, the second in 1855 and the third in 1864. It may be noted that Kenji Kiyono introduces archeological items contained in these illustrations in the first volume of his " Japanese Archeology and the History of Mankind."

Writing materials section: Brush used for consecration of the newly made Daibutsu and Tang paper	Staging post bells from Oki Province: Reproductions (reference material)	Bell section: Staging post bells from Oki Province

In recent years, attention has turned to the noticeable trend that occurred in the latter part of the Early Modern period concerning scholarship that investigated the ancient period when men of letters collected and studied ancient artifacts and ancient documents. It is expected that these historical materials will play a useful role in this ongoing research.

Ancient swords and knives section: Rubbings of bronze halberd excavated in Chikushi	Writing materials section: Inscriptions of titles of paper scrolls from Todaiji Temple	Writing materials section: Inscriptions of titles of paper scrolls from Todaiji Temple

Atsushi Nito (Ancient history, Research Department)