Kanbun

8th century book of classical Japanese history

Kanbun ( 'Han writing') is a system for writing Literary Chinese used in Japan from the Nara period until the 20th century. Much of Japanese literature was written in this style and it was the general writing style for official and intellectual works throughout the period. As a result, Sino-Japanese vocabulary makes up a large portion of the Japanese lexicon and much classical Chinese literature is accessible to Japanese readers in some resemblance of the original.

is a general term for Japan's Six National Histories chronicling the mythology and history of Japan from the earliest times to 887. The six histories were written at the imperial court during the 8th and 9th centuries, under order of the Emperors. The basic sources were the court records kept by the Ministry of Central Imperial Affairs, and the biographies of meritorious officials composed in the Ministry of Ceremonial Affairs.

book by Maeno Ryōtaku

book by Hayashi Razan

diary of Fujiwara no Sadaie (Teika)

dialectic allegory