儒教の今文古文とユダヤ教について

On the Jinwen-Guwen Conflict of Confucianism and the Origins of Judaism
The formal establishment of Judaism is traditionally traced to Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai during the Exodus (around 1280 BCE). However, since the concept of monotheism was first championed in history by King Akhenaten of Egypt (around 1364 BCE), the Hebrew people, who had deep ties with Egypt, may have had opportunities to become acquainted with this ideology.

Following the Exodus, Saul ascended to the throne in 1020 BCE. After David overthrew Saul and established a hereditary dynasty, the kingdom eventually split into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah (922 BCE). The Northern Kingdom is said to have abandoned the Yahweh faith upon its founding and remained so until its destruction by Assyria (722 BCE). Consequently, the Southern Kingdom of Judah is regarded as the successor to the “orthodox” Jewish tradition. However, the teachings of Judaism themselves appear to have been severed for at least several generations.

In 622 BCE, during the reign of King Josiah of Judah, a “Book of the Law” (the Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) was reportedly discovered during temple renovations. Upon reading it, King Josiah supposedly realized for the first time that his ancestors had violated every single divine prohibition.

This narrative brings to mind the conflict between Jinwen (Modern Text) and Guwen (Ancient Text) in China. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, when the walls of Confucius’ former residence were demolished, texts such as the Book of Documents, the Analects, and the Classic of Filial Piety were discovered. These were written in an ancient script that no one at the time could read, so Kong Anguo, an 11th-generation descendant of Confucius, transcribed them into the contemporary script.

Unlike the “discovery” of the Law under King Josiah, the various works of Confucius had not been entirely lost during that era. However, discrepancies were found between the versions transcribed by Kong Anguo and those that had been transmitted orally and in writing until that time. The versions passed down since the time of Confucius were called Jinwen, while those found within the walls during the Han Dynasty were called Guwen. In China, for a long time, the “Ancient Text” (Guwen) found in the walls was considered more valuable than the “Modern Text” (Jinwen) that had been continuously transmitted.

Yet, research in textual criticism during the Qing Dynasty eventually concluded that the “Ancient Texts” discovered in the Han Dynasty were, in fact, forgeries.

Perhaps the “Five Books of Moses,” commonly referred to as the Torah, were similarly fabricated for the political convenience of King Josiah. It is recorded that Josiah carried out a thorough religious reform based on this “discovered” Book of the Law.

In the northern Kingdom of Israel, since the Temple of Yahweh—which housed the sacred Ark containing the Ten Commandments—was located in the southern Kingdom of Judah, King Jeroboam I of the North feared that his people would be drawn back to Judah as long as they worshipped Yahweh. To prevent this, he crafted two golden calves and presented them to the people, saying, “Behold your gods, who brought you up out of Egypt,” thereby steering them away from the Temple in the South.

While the golden calf itself is depicted as an object of idolatry in the story of Moses, recent research suggests that this motif may be linked to Mithra, the god of contracts, or the god of the Aryans, symbolizing a bull. The gold of the calf might represent the sun, and the bull itself might symbolize the “Earth.”

In other words, the Northern Kingdom may not have “abandoned” their faith; rather, the Southern Kingdom of Judah, for the purpose of justifying its own political and religious legitimacy, may have rewritten history to label the North’s traditions as “heretical” or “idolatrous.” It is highly probable that Judaism, as we know it, was “constructed” during the Babylonian Exile by integrating these disparate elements into a unified, orthodox narrative.