ANCIENT JAPAN
(A.D. 600-1160)
THE NIHONGI
OR
CHRONICLES OF JAPAN
TRANSLATED BY W. G. ASTON
“In all their fulness
How should we know
The days of old;
Did the august Yamato writing (the Nihongi)
Not exist in the world?”
— JAPANESE POEM BY MOTOÖRI.
“On him who breaks this oath, Heaven will send a curse, and earth a plague; demons will slay them, and men will smite them. This is as manifest as the sun and moon.”
— LAWS OF KOTOKU.
