FY2011
Vol.26 The Chunan Family Documents and Nakano Yoshio's Okinawan Materials undergoing restoration and digitization
November 17, 2011
FY2011 The Institute for Research in Okinawan Culture has been promoting the "Chunan Family Documents Restoration and Digitization Project" as a priority project to be undertaken over a five-year period starting in FY2009.
The Chunan family archives are documents that belonged to the Chunan family, who were involved in diplomatic affairs with China in the former Kume Village (Chinese settlement area) of the Kingdom of the Ryukyus from the 18th to 19th centuries. According to researcher Yuko Kizu, professor at Kyoto University Graduate School, the large number of Chinese books (printed editions and abridged editions) in the collection is extremely important for understanding the reality of Chinese studies in the Ryukyu Islands in the early modern period, and "its value not only far exceeds the Yaeyama samurai Miyara-dennai Collection owned by Ryukyu University in terms of quantity, but also shows that it was a major player in Chinese studies in the Ryukyu Islands. It is not only far superior in quantity to the Yaeyama samurai MIYARA TONNAI BUNKO owned by the University of the Ryukyus, but also has an extremely important and diverse historical value in terms of quality, as it is based on the old collection of the Chunan family, a samurai tribe in Kume Village who were the main leaders of Chinese studies in the Ryukyus.
Among them, the three study books for learning early to mid-Qing dynasty official languages (common Chinese), "Xinqing Guanyin xixiaoxue yiyinxue", "Xinqing Guanyin xixiaoxue yilan", and "Ganzheng Guanyin shizuo yiyinxue yilan" (photo above) were lost early in mainland China and now only one copy of "Xinqing Guanyin xixiaoxue yiyinxue" exists at the Taiwan Central Library (branch library), making it one of the rare books of this type. It is a rare book.
This is a set of three especially valuable documents from the Chunan family: "Newly-engraved ganzi zhiye zhiye zhiye zhiye zhiye zhiye zhiye zhiye", " Newly-engraved official-tonal lexicon (in Japanese)", and " Compendium of the Essentials and Customs of the Official Ganon System". This collection is also valuable for research on the history of Chinese language learning in Okinawa.
Among the documents of the Chunan family, "Yi Jing (lower part)" (right) and " Hatsuichi Shihshou ed.".
The Chunan family's documents, which "will undoubtedly provide important clues not only for Ryukyuan studies, but also for elucidating Ryukyu's position in the sea area from southeast China to Southeast Asia, including Fujian and Guangdong, and its connections with other regions" (from Professor Kizu's document), have been damaged and deteriorated, and so they are being restored and digitized. The restoration and digitization of the documents was undertaken because they were damaged and deteriorating. The restoration and digitization work is being conducted in Okinawa, the document's hometown.
Documents from Yoshio Nakano's "Okinawa Documentation Center" stored in the archives
Among the documents, a spelling of "Kyoiku Shinbun" (Education Newspaper) of Okinawa Teachers Association.
Hosei University's Institute for Okinawan Studies was established in 1972 as a direct result of the transfer to Hosei University of materials from the Okinawa Resource Center, which was run by English literature scholar Yoshio Nakano (1903-1985). The Okinawa Resource Center was established in the early 1960s, when the Okinawa issue became a political issue in Japan, to provide information on the actual situation in Okinawa on the mainland. The materials include union journals, leaflets, flyers, and other items of topical content related to Okinawa under military rule. The Okinawa Culture Research Institute is in the process of digitizing these materials, and some of them, such as union journals, are already available on DVD.
The materials will be gradually digitized and made available on DVD.
For inquiries about materials, please contact
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