Re-imagining the Lost Written Culture of the Ōmi Capital: Insights from Mokkan

Re-imagining the Lost Written Culture of the Ōmi Capital: Insights from Mokkan

March 30, 2021

March 30, 2021 | 5-5:30 p.m. | Online - Zoom WebinarMarjorie Burge

Speaker: Marjorie Burge, Assistant Professor of Japanese, Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Colorado Boulder

The existence of the short-lived seventh century capital at Ōmi (667-672) has long been the subject of intense scholarly interest, largely due to its great distance from the court’s traditional home in the Asuka region. While the capital at Ōtsu on the shore of Lake Biwa only lasted five years, in eighth century works such as Kaifūsō (751) and Man’yōshū (c. 759) it is remembered as the site of the beginnings of literary culture in Japan. However, nearly all of the allegedly myriad works produced during the court’s tenure at Ōmi were lost in the aftermath of the Jinshin War of 672. This talk will evaluate the historical understanding of the Ōmi capital as an “origin” of Sinographic literary culture in Japan through an examination of mokkan (inscribed wooden strips) found in the vicinity of the former capital and in the larger Ōmi region that date to the late seventh century.

*Aspects of Japanese Studies showcases the research being done by members of the CJS community. Faculty, graduate students and alumni of CJS present a casual 15-minute online talk on their current work or key research topics in Japanese Studies. Talks are followed by questions and answers.