Fusō Ryakuki

The Fusō Ryakuki is a Japanese historical text[1] compiled at the end of the Heian period.[1] It is also called the Fusō-ki[2] or Fusō-shū.[2] It was compiled by the Enryaku-ji monk Kōen,[1] who died in 1169.[3] It is written in kanbun,[4] in an annal style.[1]

According to the Honchō Shojaku Mokuroku,[5] it was originally in thirty books,[1] but of these only books 2 through 6 (Empress Jingū to Emperor Shōmu) and 20 through 30 (Emperor Yōzei to Emperor Horikawa), or sixteen books in total, are extant.[1] The complete work originally chronicled Japan's history from the reign of Emperor Jinmu in the seventh century BCE to Kanji 8 (1094 CE).[3] Using surviving extracts, however, the Ryakuki's accounts of the reigns of Emperor Jinmu through Emperor Heizei can be reconstructed to some extent.[3]

It utilizes the Six National Histories,[6] as well as diaries,[7] engi,[7] biographies of famous monks (僧伝 sōden)[7] and temple traditions[8] to construct a narrative history of Japan,[7] with a particular emphasis on topics of Buddhist interest.[1] It supposedly also included an account of the age of the gods,[2] but this has not survived and its contents are unknown.[2]