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The Yōmei Library’s text of the Kanrei is an old work held by Yōmei Library (Yōmei Bunko), which preserves cultural assets of the Konoe family, the senior of five houses whose members were previously eligible for the post of regent, and Kanrei is the collective title of seven fascicles that originally formed part of a set of documents. The word kanrei itself is a common noun and signified a report on investigations of precedents about court events and their dates, appointments to court ranks and official posts, etc., that were conducted in response to inquiries from superiors, and it also referred to a document recording the results of such investigations. The Yōmei Bunko’s text of the Kanrei is a classified collection of such kanrei, and it is one of the larger such collections. But it did not circulate during the Edo period in the form of manuscripts or printed editions and has only been quoted in, for example, Chronological Source Books of Japanese History published by the Historiographical Institute or volumes of historical sources included in the histories of local bodies, and it had long remained a source of which the full extent was not known.
 
However, volumes of photographs based on microfilms could be perused in the Historiographical Institute’s library, and it was also possible to view digital images on computer terminals (which were also accessible at the Kyoto Institute, Library and Archives). In addition, an inventory of its contents was included in vol. 4 of Research on Royal and Noble Archives, edited by Tajima Isao (Shibunkaku Shuppan, 2012), and knowledge of the Kanrei had made some advances. Nonetheless, there is no denying that it has not been possible to readily consult the original text, and the present publication in two volumes in the series Old Records of Japan provides a full transcription of the Yōmei Library’s text of the Kanrei with side notes and marginal notes to facilitate the reader’s understanding, and an index has been added so that one can search for people, etc. In the future, increasing use will be made of this work as a source occupying an established position in research on aristocratic society in particular from the Heian to the Kamakura and Nanbokuchō periods.
 
As regards its contents, rather than containing passages that might overturn hitherto understanding, it consists of a succession of quite plain itemized entries. Among the more easily understandable examples, there are passages about events and the careers of individuals from the period until the first half of the Heian period for which the relevant sections of the six national histories have been lost and also passages from legal codes and diaries of court nobles, the originals of which had been lost. The section listing the standard prices for the buying and selling of official appointments in the Kamakura period, which has already been introduced elsewhere, will no doubt attract attention. Retainers of Taira no Kiyomori are included among the warriors who obtained official posts.
 
The publication of a collection of historical sources has an aspect involving research, and some new discoveries were made in the final stages.. The prime example of this is the original title. The enormous number of single-sheet materials held by Yōmei Library includes the cover of a handscroll called “Ruijū zatsurei.” The list of entries written on the reverse side of this cover tallies with the contents of the Yōmei Library’s text of the Kanrei, and it has been possible to identify it as the original cover. (It is included as an addendum in vol. 2.) As a result, it is to be understood that a work called the Zatsurei, supplemented by generations of the Nakahara family of administrative officials, formed the basis of the present work, and the multistratified character of its constituent elements has also come to light.
 
Although it is a historical source consisting of short and not very complicated passages, skill is still needed for identifying second-hand quotations and judging the extent to which it was edited during its compilation. As it comes to be increasingly utilized by researchers possessing the requisite expertise, our understanding of it as a historical source will also deepen. In one respect, the publication of a transcription of the entire text means that we have arrived at the starting point. I encourage the reader to peruse the original text while also referring to the introduction and to reports included in nos. 53 and 58 of Report on the Activities of the Historiographical Institute.
 

*Date of Publication of Book Description: 22nd May, 2024

(Written by FUJIWARA Shigeo, Associate Professor, Historiographical Institute / 2023)