Inahi no Mikoto

Inahi no Mikoto
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Inahi no Mikoto (Japanese: 稲飯命, 741-681 BC according to traditional dating) was a Japanese legendary character. In Japanese traditional mythology, he was a brother of Emperor Jimmu, the first Emperor who according to tradition lived in the 7th century BC. His name Inahi means "boiled rice".

Connections to Korea

According to the Kojiki, he became a king over part of Korea[1] which is speculated to be near the Kaya confederacy.

However, according to the Shinsen Shōjiroku, it is stated that he and the kings of Silla shared the same lineage. The kings or their lineages were never specified.

『是出於新良國。即為國主。稻飯命出於新羅國王者祖合。』

"He is from the kingdom of Silla. A ruler. Inahi no Mikoto is the ancestor to the kings of Silla."

— Shinsen Shōjiroku

The authenticity of the claim is considered vague and obscure as the record does not specify a name or a dynasty of which the Japanese god became the ancestor to the kings of Silla. However, it is quite likely that the book is alluding to Silla kings who were indeed of Japanese descent such as Talhae of Silla[2] (though the claim is sometimes disputed)[Notes 1] and the grandchild of Heulhae of Silla, who was born from the daughter of Heulhae and the prince of Japan (believed to be the son of Ugayafukiaezu) in 312 CE.[3] Interestingly, it is said that Inahi no Mikoto was one of the four sons of Ugayafukiaezu, and with the claim stating that Inahi was the ancestor to the kings of Silla, it can be speculated that Heulhae's grandson was Inahi no Mikoto's child. However, these are historical sources found only in Korea and not in Japan. Moreover, Heulhae's line (the Gyeongju Seok clan) ended with his successor, Naemul of Silla, who was a Gyeongju Kim clan, which makes the claim of the ownership of the kings of Silla after Heulhae questionable as they descended from different families.

Due to the lack of historical evidence found in Japan, modern Japanese scholars began cross-referencing other sources that may act as a bridge to the claim found in the Shinsen Shōjiroku. According to historian Takehiko Furuta, a legendary Japanese sword called "Ame no Habakiri [ja] (天羽々斬; あめのはばきり)" had an alternate name called "Orochi no Karasahi (蛇之韓鋤; をろちのからさひ)"; he posited that "Karasahi (韓鋤)" was most likely a loanword from Korean as "Kara (韓)" meant "Korea" and "hi (鋤)" meant "to cut", deriving from the native Korean verb "bi- (비-); be- (베-)" which also means "to cut".[4] Similar observation was made by Furuta on the name "Masahi (馬射戲; まさひ)", a traditional Japanese horse-riding archery event that has roots in the kingdom of Goguryeo, pointing out that the "hi" found in "Masahi" shares the same sentiment found in "Karasahi".[4]

The kingdom of Goguryeo's founder, Dongmyeong's story was compared with the story found in the Japanese mythology surrounding Inahi no Mikoto by the historian and mythologist, Shōei Mishina.[5] Mishina posited that King Dongmyeong's founding story aligned closely with Inahi no Mikoto's own background; that due to the stories surrounding Inahi no Mikoto and Korea (Silla and Goguryeo) were very similar in nature, he stated that the two were clearly related.[5] His argument was incorporated into the Nissen dōsoron.

Genealogy

Notes and references

  1. ^ Empire of Japan, Department of Education, History of the Empire of Japan (Tokyo, 1893) p. 38
  2. ^ Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies, vol. 8, Sungkyunkwan University, 2008, p. 107
  3. ^ 김, 이분 (November 26, 2020). 김이분의 양산 역사 이야기]. 양산신문. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  4. ^ a b 古田, 武彦 (2010). "「邪馬台国」はなかった". ミネルヴァ書房. ミネルヴァ書房.
  5. ^ a b 三品, 彰英 (1964). 日本神話論 (in Japanese). 平凡社.
  6. ^ a b c Borgen, Robert; Ury, Marian (April 1990). "Readable Japanese Mythology: Selections from Nihon shoki and Kojiki" (PDF). The Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese. 24 (1). American Association of Teachers of Japanese: 61–97. doi:10.2307/489230. JSTOR 489230. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  7. ^ a b https://archive.today/20230406174104/https://d-museum.kokugakuin.ac.jp/eos/detail/?id=9716
  8. ^ a b c d e Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, translated from the original Chinese and Japanese by William George Aston. Book II, page 73. Tuttle Publishing. Tra edition (July 2005). First edition published 1972. ISBN 978-0-8048-3674-6
  9. ^ a b c Akima, Toshio (1993). "The Origins of the Grand Shrine of Ise and the Cult of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami". Japan Review. 4 (4): 143. ISSN 0915-0986. JSTOR 25790929.
  10. ^ a b c Tsugita, Masaki (2001) [1977]. 古事記 （上） 全訳注 [Complete Translated and Annotated Kojiki, Part 1]. Vol. 38. 講談社学術文庫. p. 205. ISBN 4-06-158207-0.
  11. ^ a b c d e The History of Nations: Japan. Dept. of education. Japan. H. W. Snow. 1910.
  12. ^ The Kojiki: Records of Ancient Matters. Tuttle Publishing. 19 June 2012. p. 218. ISBN 978-1-4629-0511-9.
  1. ^ The dispute arises from the claim found in the Samguk sagi which states he comes from the kingdom of "Dapana (多婆那國; 다파나국)" that is "1000 li (Chinese mile) northeast from the kingdom of Wa (Japan)". Korean historians posit that the location would be too far from Japan while Japanese historians support his Japanese origin. A more recent theory posits that he was in fact an Ainu individual and not Yamato.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inahi_no_Mikoto