Seventeen-article constitution

The seventeen-article constitution (十七条憲法, "jūshichijō kenpō") is, according to the Nihon Shoki of 720, a document authored by Prince Shōtoku in 604.^[1] It was adopted in the reign of Empress Suiko. The emphasis of the document is not so much on the basic laws by which the state was to be governed, such as one may expect from a modern constitution, but rather it was a highly Buddhist and Confucian document that focused on the morals and virtues that were to be expected of government officials and the emperor's subjects to ensure a smooth running of the state, where the emperor was to be regarded as the highest authority.^[2] It is one of the earliest constitutions in history.

^ W.G. Aston, trans., Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, 2 vols. in 1 (London: Keagan and Co., 1896), vol. 2, pp. 128–133.
^ William Theodore de Bary, ed. Sources of Japanese Tradition, Volume One: From Earliest Times to 1600 Columbia University Press; 2nd edition (2002), vol. 1, pp. 54-55.

[1] W.G. Aston, trans., Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697, 2 vols. in 1 (London: Keagan and Co., 1896), vol. 2, pp. 128–133.

[2] William Theodore de Bary, ed. Sources of Japanese Tradition, Volume One: From Earliest Times to 1600 Columbia University Press; 2nd edition (2002), vol. 1, pp. 54-55.

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