Honchō Tsugan

The Honchō Tsugan, or Comprehensive Mirror of Japan, is a book on the history of Japan by Hayashi Razan and his successor Hayashi Gahō which was finished in 1670. It was written in Chinese and modeled after the Zizhi Tongjian. The whole work comprises 326 scrolls.

Background

The work was finished at the Shūshikan, or Historiographic Institute, which was built for Gahō, who was also provided with enough rations for a research team of up to 95 men.

Scholarship

The work, and Razan in particular, has been praised by Japanese scholars for its relatively dispassionate attempt at understanding history, leading some scholars to view Razan as "the founder of modern historical research" and "the beginning of modern scholarship" in Japan. The work was influential on the thought of Arai Hakuseki, who is considered to have been even more objective. Nonetheless, the work was by no means perfect, as Razan was under pressure from the times to hide his sceptical views of traditional Japanese religious myths. As a result, he does not treat that subject in a critical manner as he does with other topics, and had to save his unorthodox views for private writings.