Engishiki
Japanese book about laws and customs
The Engishiki (延喜式; "Procedures of the Engi Era") is a Japanese book of laws and customs. The major part of the writing was completed in 927.
History
Emperor Daigo ordered the compilation of the Engishiki in 905. Although previous attempts at codification are known to have taken place, neither the Konin nor the Jogan Gishiki survive, making the Engishiki important for early Japanese historical and religious studies.
Fujiwara no Tokihira began the task, but work stalled when he died four years later in 909. His brother Fujiwara no Tadahira continued the work in 912 eventually completing it in 927.
While the Engishiki was presented to the throne in 927, it was not used as a basis for enacting policy until 967. Possible reasons for this delay in application include a need for it to be revised, the fact that it was simply a record of already existing systems, and also that some of those systems functioned in name only.
Contents
The text is 50 volumes in lengths and is organized by department: it comprises in total approximately 3,100 articles, of which the regulations concerning the Department of Worship account for roughly a third of the entire compendium.
volumes 1–10: Department of Worship: In addition to regulating ceremonials including Daijōsai (the first Niiname-sai following the accession of a new emperor) and worship at Ise Grand Shrine and Saikū, this section of the Engishiki recorded liturgical texts and 2,861 officially recognized Shinto shrines as well as 3,131 officially-recognized kami.
The public source identifies “Engishiki” as japanese book about laws and customs. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Engishiki, Japanese and book.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1342448. VIAF identifies the subject as 176202384. The Library of Congress control number is n82139241. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Engishiki” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.