Research Note – A Japanese Curriculum of 757

Ross Bender

Zhao Lu

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Premodern Japanese Studies (pmjs.org)

Copyright © Ross Bender and Zhao Lu 2010

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Research Note – A Japanese Curriculum of 757

Ross Bender and Zhao Lu

A Japanese imperial edict from the Empress Kōken孝謙天皇 in 757 CE, inscribed in

the Shoku Nihongi 続日本紀 (Tenpyō Hōji 天平宝字 1.11.9), provides a snapshot of

the curriculum at the National Academy (Daigakuryō 大学寮) of the time. It lists seven

major fields of study and the Chinese classics which are to be mastered in each. The

seven fields are Classics, History, Medicine, Acupuncture, Astronomy, Yinyang, and

Calendar. Some of the works to be studied are well-known classics, while others are

relatively obscure. Following the primary text provided below, we have added notes

from the Shoku Nihongi editors (Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei edition), Chinese

reference works, and Western scholars of Chinese history. A short reference list is

appended.

Shoku Nihongi Vol. 3: 236 (Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 14)

経生者、三経。

伝生者、三史。

医生者、大素 ·甲乙· 脈経 · 本草。

針生者、 素問 · 針経· 明堂· 脈決。

天文生者、天文書 · 漢晋天文志 · 三色簿讃 · 韓楊要集。

陰陽生者、周易 · 新撰陰陽書 ·皇帝金匱 ·五行大義。

暦勖生者、漢晋律暦志 ·大衍暦議 ·九章 ·六章 ·定天論。

経生者 (or明経生) Classics Students

The Shikiinryō 職員令 14 of the Ritsuryō 律令 (167) specifies that there should be 400

classics students in the Daigakuryō (大学寮).

Although the edict specifies only the “three classics,” the Shoku Nihongi (Vol. 3: 236)

editors comment that this also included the Analects and the Classic of Filial Piety (論

語 Lunyu and 孝経 Xiaojing as fundamental required texts. The “three classics” were

defined thus:

• 大経 -- 礼記 Liji, 左伝 Zuozhuan (Book of Rites, Tso Commentary)

• 中経 -- 詩経 Shijing, 周礼 Zhouli, 儀礼 Yili (Book of Odes, Rites of Chou, Rites

and Ceremonies)

• 小経 -- 易経 Yijing, 書経 Shujing (Book of Changes, Book of History)

The indication of “great,” “medium” and “small” refers perhaps to the size of the works

rather than their importance. See Gakuryō 7 of the Ritsuryō (263) for this tripartite

classification, and note that the latter specifies the Chou Yi rather than Yijing.

Ross Bender and Zhao Lu 2

伝生者 History Students

The “three histories” were the 史記 Shiji, 漢書 Hanshu, and 後漢書 Hou Hanshu.

医生者 Medical Students

The Shikiinryō 44 of the Ritsuryō (180) specified there should be 40 students in the

Ten’yakuryō 典楽寮. The Ishichiryō 医疾令 (Ritsuryō 421) lists Jiayi, Maijing, and

Bencao as texts for the medical students.

• 大素 Taisu

• 甲乙 Jiayi (“ABC” – short for Zhenjiu jiayijing,  Classic ABC of Acupuncture and

Moxibustion 針灸甲乙経)

• 脈経 Maijing (Classic of the Pulse)

• 本草 Bencao (Materia Medica)

Maijing is short for a book called 王叔和脈経 Wang Shuhe Maijing attributed to Wang

Shuhe 王叔和 from the Western Jin 晉 dynasty (265-316 CE). The real author might be

高陽生 Gao Yangsheng from the Six Dynasties period (222-589 CE). (Li Xueqin,

1655)

針生者 Acupuncture Students

The Ishichiryō 医疾令 (Ritsuryō 421) specifies the following four texts for the 20

students of acupuncture.

• 素問 Suwen

• 針経 Zhenjing (Classic of Acupuncture) [Zhenjing is also called 霊枢 Lingqu]

• 明堂 Mingtang

• 脈決 Maijue

Suwen and Lingqu are two chapters from the Huangdi nei jing 黄帝内經 (Inner Canon

of the Yellow Emperor) (Li Xueqin, 1658). (Note -- Needham translates this as the

“Yellow Emperor’s Compendium of Corporeal Healing.”)

Mingtang is short for Huangdi neijing mingtang lei cheng 黄帝内經明堂類成. It was

written by Yang Shangshan 楊上善 of the early Tang (618-907 CE). (Li Xueqin, 1656)

Maijue was written by Zhang Taisu 張太素, who was a Taoist figure from the Tang

dynasty. (Li Xueqin, 1659)

“The name ‘Huang ti nei ching’ is usually prefixed to the titles of four books, Su wen,

Ling shu, T’ai-su, and Ming t’ang… All except Su wen are T’ang or Sung

reconstructions from recensions and fragments of Han origin. Although the Su wen was

Ross Bender and Zhao Lu 3

not lost, it shows signs of more substantial revision by its T’ang and Sung editors than

the other books.”

-- Nathan Sivin, in Loewe, ed. Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide, 196-215.

天文生者 Astronomy Students

The Shikiinryō 9 (Ritsuryō 164-5) specifies that there should be 10 students of

astronomy in the Onmyōryō, but not does not give the curriculum.

• 天文書 Tianwenshu

• 漢晋天文志 Hanjin tianwenzhi (Astronomical Treatise of the Han and Jin)

• 三色簿讃 Sanse buzan

• 韓楊要集 Hanyang yaoji

陰陽生者 Yinyang Students

The Shikiinryō 9 (Ritsuryō 164-65) specifies that there should be 10 students of Yinyang

in the Onmyōryō, but does not give the curriculum.

• 周易 Zhouyi

• 新撰陰陽書 Xinzhuan yinyangshu

• 皇帝金匱 Huangdi jingui (Yellow Emperor’s Collection of Prescriptions)

• 五行大義 Wuxing dayi

Zhouyi 周易 is also called Yijing 易經, with the name suggesting that the divination

system in the text was used by the Zhou people. However, the fact that Yijing is already

included separately in the curriculum of the Classics students, and Zhouyi is here listed

with other Yinyang texts, might suggest a Yinyang tradition of the latter text, such as

Jing’s tradition of the Yi (Jing Shi Yi Zhuan京氏易傳) from the Eastern Han dynasty

(25-220 CE). (Li Xueqin, pp. 1789; Edward Shaughnessy, in Loewe, ed., Early Chinese

Texts: A Bibliographical Guide, 216-28)

暦勖生者 Calendar Students

The Shikiinryō 9 (Ritsuryō 164-65) specifies that there should be 10 students of the

calendar in the Onmyōryō, but does not give the curriculum.

• 漢晋律暦志 Kanjin lulizhi (Treatise on the Pitchpipes and Calendar from Han

and Jin)

• 大衍暦議 Dayan liyi (Calendar of Dayan)

• 九章 Jiuzhang (Nine Chapters)

• 六章 Liuzhang (Six Chapters)

• 定天論 Dingtianlun

Ross Bender and Zhao Lu 4

“Chiu chang suan shu” 九章算術 – This work is a classified collection of 246 problems

with accompanying solutions, evidently designed to give a comprehensive account of

the mathematical knowledge of the day… The Chiu chang suan shu is the world’s

earliest extant comprehensive arithmetical textbook… has never been doubted that it is

a Han work, but much of the mathematical knowledge that it contains must go back at

least as far as the Warring States.”

--Christopher Cullen, in Loewe, ed. Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide 16-

23.

“Apart from the works so far described, it is certain that there were many other

mathematical books current during the Han dynasty. Unfortunately, all were afterwards

lost. But we know the titles of some of the, such as the Lǖ Li Suan Fa 律暦算法

(Mathematical Methods concerned with the Pitchpipes and Calendar), though the

author’s name has not survived.”

-- Needham, Science and Civilization in China, vol 3: 27-28.

Dayan Liyi 大衍曆議 probably indicates the calendar called the Calendar of Dayan

installed in the seventeenth year of Kaiyuan ㊰曼 (729 CE) in the Tang dynasty. It was

invented by the Buddhist monk Yixing 一行. (Ouyang Xiu, 1548)

The Royal Confucian Academy of Silla (Sources of Korean Tradition, 65-66).

The Samguk Sagi (Historical Records of the Three Kingdoms, 12th

C) records the

following about the Confucian Academy during the time roughly contemporaneous with

the Nara period:

“The Royal Confucian Academy belongs to the Ministry of Rites. Established in the

second year of King Sinmun [682 CE], the academy was called Taehakkam by King

Kyŏngdŏk [r. 742-765 CE], but was again called Kukhak by King Hyegong [r. 765-780

CE]… The curriculum included the Book of Changes, the Book of Documents, the Book

of Odes, the Record of Rites, the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Tso Commentary, and

the Anthology of Refined Literature…

“One erudite or instructor of mathematics was made to teach the Chui Ching, the San-

k’ai, the Nine Chapters on the Art of Mathematics, and the Six Chapters on the Art of

Mathematics.”

About the Authors

Ross Bender is an independent scholar in Philadelphia. Zhao Lu is a Ph.D. student in

the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of

Pennsylvania.

Ross Bender and Zhao Lu 5

References

Aoki Kazuo et al., eds. Shoku Nihongi. In Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei, vols. 12-

16. (Iwanami Shoten, 1989-1998).

Cheng Menglei et al., ed., Gujin Tushu Jicheng Yi Bu Quan Lu, in Zhongyi Guji Zhengli

Congshu, (Beijing: Renmin weisheng chuban she, 1988).

Inoue Mitsusada et al., eds. Ritsuryō. In Nihon Shisō Taikei, vol. 3. (Iwanami Shoten,

1976).

Lee, Peter H. and Wm. Theodore de Bary, eds., Sources of Korean Tradition, Volume

One: From Early Times Through the Sixteenth Century. (Columbia University

Press, 1997).

Li Xueqin and Lü Wenyu et al., eds., Si Ku Da Cidian, (Changchun: Jilin daxue chuban

she, 1996).

Loewe, Michael, ed. Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide (U. of California,

Berkeley 1993).

Needham, Joseph. Science and Civilization in China, volume 3. (Cambridge University

Press, 1959)

Ouyang Xiu et al., Xin Tang Shu (Beijing: Zhonghua, 1975).

Wilkinson, Endymion. Chinese History: A Manual (Revised and Enlarged). (Harvard

University Press, 2000).