Lecture No.3: Military Technology in Previous Modern China and The Endurance Capacity of The Ninja (1st term)
Military Technology in Previous Modern China and The Endurance Capacity of The Ninja (summary)
Lecturer: Takeyuki Takamura
The Age of War (Sengoku) - Edo period was the time of "uniting of the world", and Japan was also exchanged with various neighborhood countries and Europe through commerce and military collision. Especially the firearms using gunpowder came to practical use in around 11th century in China, and Bunei・Koan War(1274・1281) came to be known in Japan. There is a description of such ninki (ninja's weapon) using gunpowder to secret book of ninjutsu "Bansenshuukai" (Fujibayashi Yasutake:1676), not a few things similar to Chinese firearms.
When the weapon indicated on Chinese tactics note called "Bubishi" (Mao Yuaryi / 1621) and "Bansenshuukai" is compared, there are multiple weapons which closely resembled in "Bubishi" and "Bansenshuukai". Chinese military technology, weapon, and tactics are developed against the background of the large-scale group competition and the country battle. But would ninja was active scene is considered to be a completely different infiltration, sabotage, guerrilla warfare, the opportunity to use a weapon that was very similar to the weapons in the Chinese tactic book will be limited.
It might come to be that real Iga・Koga ninja didn't use these weapons, and it is necessary to consider the possibility that an author of "Bansenshuukai" copied a Chinese tactics book. Above mentioned "Bubishi" is introduced into Japan and is also issued in the country in 1664, and even if an author of "Bansenshuukai" refers to it, there are no wonders. When consider the citation of multiple Chinese tactics book that has been cited in "Bansenshuukai", there is a part where I can think maybe all kinds' book on tactics quoted by "Bubishi" was quoted in "Bansenshuukai" rather than seeing the respective original(quoted at second hand), presumed strongly by above description.
Value of "Bansenshuukai" as viewed from the standpoint of oriental history is that the author was admission descendants of ninja had many citing it accepts the Chinese books in his book. An author has knowledge of a Chinese book, and this shows that it was understood sufficiently that quotation of a Chinese book raises the authority of the own book. "Bansenshuukai" is history of Edo era Chinese classics reception, Japan of the wide sense and precious historical materials of the cultural exchange of China.
