The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1306 page)

An account of Japanese mythology and early history according to the Imbe clan, a hereditary
Shinto
priestly family. It was composed and presented to Emperor Heizei in 807 CE, by Imbe no Hironari as a protest against a rival priestly family, the Nakatomi, who had increasingly eclipsed the Imbe. The author's overall intention is to picture the ancestor of the Imbe as equal in dignity and importance with that of the Nakatomi. While containing much the same material as the
Kojiki
and the
Nihongi
, the
Kogosh
i
preserves a number of interesting pieces of information that are not found elsewhere.

 
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Koheleth
:

see
ECCLESIASTES
.

 
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Kohen
(priest)
:

see
PRIEST
.

 
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(1843–1926).
Prominent US
Reform
rabbi
. Recommended by Abraham
Geiger
, he became rabbi of Temple Beth El in Detroit in 1869, and in 1879 he took over Temple Beth El of New York from his father-in-law, David
Einhorn
. His collection of sermons
Backward or Forward
(1885) led to the convening of the Pittsburgh Conference of Reform rabbis, and in 1903, he was appointed President of the
Hebrew
Union College. His best known book was
Jewish Theology
(1918).

 
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(
c.
280–340 CE).
Chinese
alchemist
(according to J. Needham, the most outstanding in this field), best known as the author of
Paop'u tzu
([Book of the] Master Who Embraces Simplicity). This consists of two parts:

(i) tells of ‘gods and genii, prescriptions and medicines, ghosts and marvels, transformations, maintenance of life, extension of years, exorcising evils, and banishing misfortune’ (Ware tr., p. 17), and belongs to the Taoist tradition;
(ii) gives ‘an account of success and failure in human affairs and of good and evil in public affairs’, and belongs to the Confucian school. He also wrote the
Shen hsien chuan
(Records of Gods and Immortals) and many other works

.

 
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Kojiki
(Records of Ancient Matters)
.

The earliest account of Japanese mythology and early history in three books. Compiled in 712 CE, it focuses on the origin of kingship in the sacred history as narrated in myths, and on the ‘smooth’ transition from myth to actual history. Emperor Temmu (672–86) initiated the process of compilation. However, it was not until 712 that the work was compiled into the
Kojiki
by another scribe in the imperial court,
no Yasumaro, and presented to Empress Gemmei (707–15).
Book i unfolds what is usually known as Japanese myths.
Book ii opens with the story narrating how Jimmu, the great-grandson of Ninigi and Japan's legendary first emperor, establishes the imperial dynasty at Yamato in central Japan.
Book iii covers the period from the reign of Emperor Nintoku to that of Empress Suiko (593–628), presenting the genealogies of the emperors and their legendary stories.
Cf.
Nihongi
.