Studies on Hōnen's Writings in Japanese:The Nishi Honganji Manuscript of the Ōjō Yōgishō, narabi ni Jūni Mondō, Zenshōbō Kyōke Innenshū

The present work is a study of the Ojo yogisho, narabi ni Juni Mondo, Zenshobo Kyoke Innenshu (The Collection of Stories relating to the Essentials of Birth, the Twelve Questions and Answers, and the Proselytizing Efforts of Zenshobo), a text written by Honen and copied in 1460 by the monk Jonin. Currently held by Nishi Honganji, this work was known only from an article in the Kosha Koban Shinshu Shogyo Genson Mokuroku (Catalogue of Extant Manuscripts and Woodbkock Editions of Shin Buddhist Scriptures Works) 古写古版真宗聖教現存目録. Since there has been no complete study of this work, its contents remained a mystery. The only text available to scholars has been a manuscript copy held by Otani University. With to the cooperation of the administrators of Nishi Honganji and the efforts of the Comprehensive Research Institute at Bukkyo University, a copy of the entire text has now been preserved on microfilm. This means that a new manuscript from the early writings of Honen has now available for scholarly research. This is the first report on its contents. Philologically speaking, we have little to add to the contents of the article on this work found in the Kosha Koban Shinsha Shogyo Genson Mokuroku. This work was not extracted from the Wago Toroku and transmitted as a separate text. Athough it is difficult to determine its relationship to that the Wago Toroku, since its compiler Ryoe does mention the Ojo yogisho in that work and also uses, probably for the first time, the category of the "Twelve Questions and Answers" as well, the possibility of this text being directly influenced by the Wago Toroku is quite high. On the last line of the eighteenth and last leaf, the date of the manuscript copy is noted along with the phrase, "Respectfully copied by Jonin, in permanent residence at Zenpukuji in Azabu." An old temple, this Zenpukuji was founded by Kukai,who is said to have referred to it as the Mount Azabu in the east, in contrast to the Mount Koya in the west. When Shinran was returning from Joriku to Kyoto, he stayed there for some time, and it is thought that this resulted in the temple converting to Shinshu. It is therefore not insignificant that this temple is now affiliated with the Nishi Honganji branch of Shinshu, and the text itself coming to be housed in the Nishi Honganji collection. The work itself is written in kanbun (Chinese syntax) form, but with okurigana and at times even some furigana. However, it is believed that the original work was written in wabun (Japanese syntax). If so, it is an example of a text linked with the Wago Toroku collection that was intentionally rewritten as kanbun. In this connection, several points must be kept in mind concerning the manuscript and xylograph transmission of the Wago Toroku itself. (A) The original Wago Taroku was deeply influenced by Chinese syntax, with the okurigana incorporated into the text itself. Thus we should recognize the existence of a katakana lineage of Wago Toroku, from which came the two lines of text, the Genko period recension and the Kanei period recension. (B) The Genko period printing of the Wago Toroku should be considered to reflect the original form of the text. The later Kanei period printed edition as well as manuscript copies all derive from this text. (C) Without hazarding a guess as to what Ryoe's original text looked like, we can confirm that based upon it and in relatively close proximity to it in time, there were versions of the Wago Toroku in kanbun, katakana and hiragana that became lineages in their own right. Originally, only the hiragana form of the Wago Toroku as reflected in the Genko period printed edition was accepted as genuine. However, as the existence of the katakana Kanei period edition suggests, there also existed another, earlier lineage of manuscript editions written in this form. The fact that the present work copied by Jonin is in kanbun with some katakana rather than the hiragana form seen in the Genko edition is therefore very suggestive for this debate over the evolution of the Wago Toroku as a whole. In this study, we have transcribed the text, adding our thoughts in regards to difficult passages. In comparing this work to Honen's other early wabun writings, we have found a number of unusual characters whose appearance in a variety of sentences we do not believe are the product of mere scribal errors or intentional emendations. We expect this information will play a prominent role in later efforts to sort out the transmission lineages of Honen's wabun writings and in the effort to clarify the original text of the Wago Toroku. Regarding the text called the liini Mondo included here, it is well known that there are many other versions of this text. On the problem of the identity of the interlocutor (who has been alternatively identified as Zenshobo, Ryukan, "someone," or unspecified), we have looked at the implications of the meaning of the term "shingyo shu" that appears in the title here ("Shingyo Shu Juni Mondo"). Whatever the merits of our research, it is a cause for celebration in Honen studies whenever a previously unknown work is uncovered. If this leads to some small contribution toward clarifying the form of his original writings, it will bring unexpected joy to all of us