View source for Kyūji

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{{for multi|the voice actor|Kyūji Aozora|old forms of Japanese kanji|Kyūjitai}}
{{nihongo|'''''Kyūji'''''|旧辞|}}, also known as {{nihongo|'''''Honji'''''|本辞|}} and {{nihongo|'''''Sendai no Kuji'''''|先代旧辞|}}, is an ancient [[Japan]]ese historical text. Its existence is recorded in the ''[[Kojiki]]'' which claims to have been composed based on its contents. No extant copies are known to exist anymore.
According to the ''[[Kojiki]]'' preface, [[Emperor Tenmu]] said: <blockquote>What I hear is that the ''[[Teiki]]'' and ''Honji'' brought about by the many houses already differ from the truth and contain many inaccuracies. Should those mistakes not be corrected now, the original meaning will be lost within but a few years. They are the basis of the national system and are the foundation of the imperial government. Thus, I would like to carefully examine the ''Teiki'' and ''Kyūji'', remove the errors, and establish the truth for future generations.<ref>Kurano, page 45–47</ref><ref>Yamaguchi, page 21–23</ref></blockquote>
The preface goes on to state that the emperor dictates the ''Teiki'' and ''Kyūji'' to [[Hieda no Are]], but that the emperor dies before the task is completed. The task was revived several years later during the reign of [[Empress Genmei]]:<blockquote>At this point, regretting the errors and differences in the ''Kyūji'', the Empresses tries to fix the errors and differences in the ''[[Teiki|Senki]]'', and on the ninth month and the eighteenth day of fourth year of [[Wadō (era)|Wadō]] [=711] she says to Yasumaro: "I command you to record the imperial ''Kyūji'' that Hieda no Are learned."<ref>Kurano, page 47</ref><ref>Yamaguchi, page 23–24</ref></blockquote>
==Contents==
As the text no longer exists, very little is actually known about it. The ''Kojiki'' preface states that differing versions existed with each clan, and that these differences were corrected by the imperial line. The preface also states that it was one of the primary resources in the composition of the ''Kojiki'', thus there must have been some overlap between the two, and most likely contained legendary accounts.<ref>Yamaguchi, page 22</ref>
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==References==
*{{cite book
| last = Kurano
| first = Kenji
| authorlink =
|author2=Yūkichi Takeda
| title = Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei: Kojiki
| publisher = [[Iwanami Shoten Publishing|Iwanami Shoten]]
| year = 1958
| location = [[Tōkyō]]
| pages =
| url =
| doi =
| isbn =  4-00-060001-X }}
*{{cite book
| last = Yamaguchi
| first = Yoshinori
| authorlink =
|author2=Takamitsu Kōnoshi
| title = Nihon Koten Bungaku Zenshū: Kojiki
| publisher = [[Shogakukan]]
| year = 1997
| location = [[Tōkyō]]
| pages =
| url =
| doi =
| isbn =  4-09-658001-5 }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kyuji}}
[[Category:Asuka period]]
[[Category:7th-century history books]]
[[Category:Old Japanese texts]]
[[Category:Shinto texts]]
[[Category:7th-century Japanese books]]