Sui-T’ang Studies in Japan in 1988

Vang Studies 8-9 (1990-91) Sui-T'ang Studies in Japan in 1988* YOSHIOKA MAKOTO £ l*l M translated by John Lee ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY The number of studies on Sui-T'ang history collected and read for this review is nearly double that of previous years, totalling over 120. Given the constraints imposed by lack of space and my own ability, I have found the task of examining and evaluating each study individually on the basis of current research trends and future challenges nearly impossible. This review will thus be, almost inevitably, little more than a listing of items grouped according to fields or themes. For this purpose, I have divided the items under review into fourteen different categories. In the following pages, I will try to review the previous year's achievements by briefly surveying each category. International Scholastic Exchange and Research Trends. The first International T'ang Studies Conference was held at National Taiwan University, Taipei, in January of 1988. In May, an international conference in honor of the late Ch'en Yin-k'o (1890-1969) was hosted by Sun Yat-sen University in Canton. (For details see Fukui Fumimasa's report in Tohogaku 1&15^ 77.) In August, the China Tunhuang and Turfan Studies Discussion Group held its third meeting, at the Peking Library. Delegations of Japanese scholars attended all three gatherings. The re-evaluation of Ch'en Yin-k'o was especially notable in China. This can be seen, for example, in the publication of a number of books by Ch'en, including Lectures on Six Dynasties History (Wei Chin Nan-pei-ch'ao shih chiang-yen lil), edited by Wan Sheng-nan, and the handwritten, manuscript edition of An Abridged Political History of the T'ang (T'ang4ai cheng-chih shih liieh kao). A plan to publish Ch'en's notes on his readings of the two T'ang standard histories has also been announced. "Originally published in Shigaku zasshi 98.5 (1989). Yoshioka Makoto teaches at the Fukushima University. 131 Lee: SZ Summary 1988 In addition, a delegation of the T'ang History Society of China, consisting of five members, is scheduled to visit Japan in July of this year (1989). We also hear that an international T'ang studies conference will be held at Hsi-an in October. Within Japan itself, Arakawa Masaharu and his colleagues have launched a group to study the materials unearthed at Turfan. The group has so far published four issues of its newsletter. The T'ang History Society (To~daishi Kenkyukai), too, has begun issuing a newsletter . Published annually, the two issues that have come out so far contain information on international research exchange and the state of research in Taiwan, South Korea, and the United States. Viewed against this background of growing international exchange in research, the fact that the Acta Asiatica, the organ of the Toho Gakkai, devoted its issue no. 55 to T'ang studies under the title "Viewpoints on T'ang China" is indeed worthy of special mention. The issue contains English translations of essays by Otagi Hajime, Tonami Mamoru, Hori Toshikazu, and Kaneko Shuichi. There is also a review article by Ikeda On, titled "A Review of T'ang Studies in Japan in Recent Years/' The four essays in the issue have all been translated from previously published studies. Ikeda's review article, on the other hand, is new and introduces more than two hundred studies published in Japan since the 1970s. A bibliography is also included. Books, Sourcebooks, Research Aids. Historical Studies of the Chinese City (Chugoku toshi no rekishsiteki kenkyu), edited by the Todaishi Kenkyukai, consists of an introduction and sixteen brief essays, eight of which are on T'ang China. Huang Wen-pi, The Archaeological Records of Lop Nor (Ropu Noru koko ki), translated by Tagawa Shunzo, is the first of a projected four-volume series of selected works by Huang. The Chinese original was published in 1948. A selection of Huang's essays on history and archaeology is also scheduled to be published in China. Medieval Rapport (Kokansuru chusei) by Amino Yoshihiko and Tanigawa Michio takes the form of a dialogue between the coauthors . It presents Tanigawa...