Keio University
The "Rongo-so, Volume 6" held by the Mita Media Center (Keio University Library) (Mita Media Center) has recently been designated as a National Treasure.
One year after being designated as an Important Cultural Property, the rarity and importance of this material were re-evaluated, leading to its designation as a National Treasure.
The "Rongo-so," also known as the "Rongo Giso," is a commentary on the Analects written by Huang Kan (488–545) of the Liang dynasty, a scholar during China's Northern and Southern dynasties period. This "Rongo Giso" is widely known as an "Itsuzonsho" (lost writing), a work that was lost within China and survived only in copies preserved abroad. This material, now designated as a National Treasure, is a manuscript dating from around the 6th century—only a few decades after the original "Giso" was written—and is believed to have been brought to Japan during the early Heian period.
It is among the oldest materials brought from China to Japan. Since the "Raiki Shihon Sogi, Volume 59" (a commentary on the Book of Rites) compiled by Huang Kan and Zheng Zhuo (held by Waseda University Library), which dates from a similar period, is already designated as a National Treasure, this work has been evaluated as being of comparable significance.
Please see below for the full press release.