# Kibi no Makibi

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Japanese scholar (695–775)

Kibi no Makibi in a book illustration by [Kikuchi Yōsai](/source/Kikuchi_Y%C5%8Dsai)

In this [Japanese name](/source/Japanese_name), the [surname](/source/Surname) is *Kibi*.

**Kibi no Asomi Makibi** (吉備 朝臣 真備; 695 – November 3, 775) was a [Japanese](/source/Japanese_people) scholar and noble during the [Nara period](/source/Nara_period).[1] Also known as **Minister Kibi** (吉備大臣, *Kibi Daijin*).

## Early life

Kibi no Makibi was born in Shimotsumichi County, [Bitchu Province](/source/Bitchu_Province) (present-day [Kurashiki](/source/Kurashiki%2C_Okayama), [Okayama Prefecture](/source/Okayama_Prefecture)) as *Shimotsumichi-no Asomi Makibi*, as a son of Shimotsumichi-no Asomi Kunikatsu. Shimotsumichi clan was a line of local elites and came from the greater [Kibi clan](/source/Kibi_clan). Kibi was also the ancient name of the area he came from ([Kibi Province](/source/Kibi_Province)), which encompassed Bitchu, [Bizen](/source/Bizen_Province), [Bingo](/source/Bingo_Province) and [Mimasaka](/source/Mimasaka_Province) Provinces.

## Career

In 717-718, Kibi was part of the [Japanese mission to Tang China](/source/Japanese_missions_to_Tang_China) (*Kentōshi*) with [Abe no Nakamaro](/source/Abe_no_Nakamaro)[2] and [Genbō](/source/Genb%C5%8D).[3] Kibi stayed in China for 17 years before returning to Japan.[4] He is credited with bringing back a number of things, introducing to Japan the game of *[go](/source/Go_(board_game))* and the art of embroidery.[1]

In 737, he received promotion to the junior fifth rank. His influence at court triggered the [Fujiwara no Hirotsugu Rebellion](/source/Fujiwara_no_Hirotsugu_Rebellion) of 740. In 751, at the senior fourth rank (upper grade), he received an appointment as vice-ambassador to the [Tang dynasty](/source/Tang_dynasty) and traveled to [China](/source/China) the following year, returning to Japan in 753.

Kibi spent some years in [Kyūshū](/source/Ky%C5%ABsh%C5%AB) as the assistant administrator of [Dazaifu](/source/Dazaifu%2C_Fukuoka) (the principal governmental post on the island); he returned to [Nara](/source/Nara%2C_Nara).

In 764, he was made head of the project to construct [Tōdai-ji](/source/T%C5%8Ddai-ji).[1] Promotion to the junior third rank followed.

He was appointed to head an army to put down the uprising by [Fujiwara no Nakamaro](/source/Fujiwara_no_Nakamaro). Reaching the second rank in 765, he took the offices of [Major Councillor](/source/Dainagon), then [Minister of the Right](/source/Udaijin). In 770, he supported a losing candidate for the throne and submitted his resignation from office. The court accepted only his resignation from military office and retained him as Minister of the Right. He finally resigned in 771, devoting himself to the study of [Confucian](/source/Confucianism) principles and their applications in Japanese administration.[1] Kibi died in 775 at the age of 80.

Kibi has sometimes been credited with inventing the *[katakana](/source/Katakana)* phonetic syllabary and writing system.[1]

A late 12th century [narrative handscroll](/source/Emaki) in the collection of the [Museum of Fine Arts, Boston](/source/Museum_of_Fine_Arts%2C_Boston) depicting Kibi's journey to China is one of the earliest of all Japanese narrative pictorial handscrolls (*e-maki*) known. It is believed to have been commissioned to help support the prestige of a school of divination that claimed connections to Kibi. Its purchase by the museum in 1932 directly led to the strengthening of Japanese laws against the removal of cultural properties of particular importance from the country.[5]

## See also

- [Japanese missions to Imperial China](/source/Japanese_missions_to_Imperial_China)

- [Japanese missions to Tang China](/source/Japanese_missions_to_Tang_China)

## Notes

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-nussbaum512_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-nussbaum512_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-nussbaum512_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-nussbaum512_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-nussbaum512_1-4) [Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric](/source/Louis-Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric). (2005). ["Kibi no Makibi"](https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&pg=PA512&dq=) in *Japan Encyclopedia*, p. 512.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Nussbaum, ["Abe no Nakamaro"](https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&pg=PA3&dq=) at p. 3.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Nussbaum, ["Genbō"](https://books.google.com/books?id=p2QnPijAEmEC&pg=PA235&dq=) at p. 235.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Fogel, Joshua. (1996). [The Literature of Travel in the Japanese Rediscovery of China,*p. 22*](https://books.google.com/books?id=MC6L3Re0yqgC&pg=PA22), p. 22, at [Google Books](/source/Google_Books); excerpt, "Like Genbō, Kibi no Makibi remained in China after the embassy ships returned to Japan, returning home himself at the same time as Genbō seventeen years later."

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Morse, Anne Nishimura et al. *MFA Highlights: Arts of Japan*. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts Publications, 2008. p. 194.

## References

- Papinot, Edmond (1910). *Historical and geographical dictionary of Japan*. Tokyo: Librarie Sansaisha.

- *Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan* (1995). Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

## External links

Media related to [Kibi no Makibi](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Kibi_no_Makibi) at Wikimedia Commons

- [Minister Kibi's Trip to China handscroll at MFA.org](https://web.archive.org/web/20070224100213/http://www.mfa.org/collections/search_art.asp?recview=true)

v t e Notable foreigners who visited pre-Qing China Pre-Yuan Kumārajīva (344–413) Dharmakṣema (385–433) Prabhakāramitra (564–633) Alopen (7th c.) Śubhakarasiṃha (637–735) Vajrabodhi (671–741) Peroz III (7th c.) Narsieh (7th c.) Ono no Imoko (7th c.) Takamuko no Kuromaro (7th c.) Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (7th c.) Bodhisena (704–760) Amoghavajra (705–774) Sugawara no Kiyotomo (770–842) Abe no Nakamaro (8th c.) Awata no Mahito (8th c.) Kibi no Makibi (8th c.) Yamanoue no Okura (8th c.) Hyecho (8th c.) Abu Zayd Al-Sirafi (9th c.) Ch'oe Ch'i-wŏn (9th c.) Egaku (9th c.) Sulaiman al-Tajir (9th c.) Vairocanavajra (12th c.) Yuan dynasty Ajall Shams al-Din Omar (1211–1279) Niccolò and Maffeo Polo (1230–1309) Ahmad Fanakati (1242—1282) Araniko (1245–1306) John of Montecorvino (1247–1328) Marco Polo (1254–1324) Odoric of Pordenone (1286–1331) Dhyānabhadra (1289–1363) Giovanni de' Marignolli (1290–1353) Sa'id of Mogadishu (1301– ? ) Ibn Battuta (1304–1369) Ming dynasty Sahajaśrī (d. 1381) Śāriputra (1335–1426) Kenchū Keimitsu (15th c.) Ghiyāth al-dīn Naqqāsh (fl. 1419–1422) Galeote Pereira (1549–1553) Jorge Álvares (16th c.) Fernão Pires de Andrade (16th c.) Tomé Pires (1465–1540) Leonel de Sousa (16th c.) 'Ali Akbar Khata'i (fl. ca. 1500–1516) Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) Johann Adam Schall von Bell (1591–1666) Ivan Petlin (17th c.)

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF FAST WorldCat National United States Japan Netherlands Other Yale LUX

v t e Gion cult Gods Main Deities Susanoo Gozu Tennō Minor gods Ashinazuchi and Tenazuchi Yashimajinumi Hōdō Somin Shōrai Hachioji Gongen [ja] Places Head Shrine Yasaka Shrine Hiromine Shrine Tsushima Shrine Other Shrines Inano Shrine Saginomori Shrine Suga Shrine Nanba Yasaka Shrine [ja; de; fr] Awata Shrine [ja] Katano Shrine [ja] Hyōzu Shrine [ja] Nunakuma Shrine Temples Take-dera [ja] Shinano Kokubun-ji Hachiōji Castle Historical figures Kibi no Makibi Other shrines of Susanoo Hikawa Shrine (Saitama)

v t e Kibi clan Main Deities Kibitsuhiko-no-mikoto Wakatakehiko [ja] Shrines Kibitsu Shrine (Bitchū) Kibitsu Shrine (Bingo) Kibitsu Shrine (Tokushima) [ja] Kibitsuhiko Shrine People Kibi no Makibi Eisai History Kingdom of Kibi Kibi Province Kibi Clan Rebellion Prince Hoshikawa Rebellion

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Kibi no Makibi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibi_no_Makibi) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibi_no_Makibi?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.