Gunsho Ruiju (Collection of Historical Documents) (群書類従)
"Gunsho Ruiju" is a library of Japanese literature.
An editor, Hokiichi HANAWA, took 41 years to collect and edit them, worrying about the loss of old books. In 1819, Hokiichi HANAWA edited them. With the cooperation of a number of organizations and people, including the shogunate, territorial lords, temples, and shrines, it includes 1,273 kinds in total, which are history books and literature published by the early Edo Period.
It had a significant impact on later historical science and Japanese literature, and contributed to academic research.
Composition
The main part of the books consists of 1270 kinds, 530 volumes and 666 books, and is divided into the 25 categories below.
Jingi (gods of heaven and earth)
Teio (monarch)
Bunin (appointment)
Keifu (genealogy)
Den (legends)
Kanshoku (government posts)
Ritsuryo (codes)
Kuji (public duties)
Shozoku (costumes)
Bunpitsu (literature)
Shosoku (letters)
Waka (Japanese poems)
Renga (linked verses)
Monogatari (tales)
Nikki (diaries)
Kiko (travels)
Kangen (Japanese court music)
Kemari (a game played by aristocrats in the Heian period)
Taka (hawk)
Yuge (play)
Onjiki (eating and drinking)
Kassen (wars)
Buke (samurai)
Shakuji (Buddhist names)
Zatsu (miscellaneous)
Anecdote
Hokiichi HANAWA had the printing plate of Gunsho Ruiju made with unified 400 characters, arranged 20 characters by 20 lines, as much as possible. This became the original of the general form of the current manuscript paper.
See "The Three Greatest Collections - Cultural History of Publishing Gunsho Ruiju, Kojiruien (Dictionary of Historical Terms) and Kokusho somokuroku (General Catalogue of Japanese Writings)"
Written by Atsumi KUMATA and published by Bensey Publishing Inc. in 2009.