The is the title of three annotated commentaries on important Buddhist

sutra ''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an aph ...

s: , , and .

''Hokke Gisho''

An annotated commentary on the ''

Lotus Sutra The ''Lotus Sūtra'' ( zh, 妙法蓮華經; sa, सद्धर्मपुण्डरीकसूत्रम्, translit=Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram, lit=Sūtra on the White Lotus of the True Dharma, italic=) is one of the most influ ...

''; four volumes in length. It is based on the annotated text ''Fa Hua Yi Ji'' (法華義記) by

Liang dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was preceded by the South ...

monk Fayun (法雲, 467–529 AD). Approximately 70% of the contents are identical. According to tradition, the ''Hokke Gisho'' was composed in 615 AD and is the oldest Japanese text. This Buddhist text was highly venerated among

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Lotus School (天台法華宗 ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just "''hokke shū''") is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition (with significant esoteric elements) officially established in Japan in 806 by the Japanese m ...

scholars but never shared to the public. Legend indicates that the manuscript was discovered by the Buddhist monk Gyōshin (行信), who erected the

Hōryū-ji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Its full name is , or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, the complex serving as both a seminary and monastery. The temple wa ...

Tō-in Temple where the manuscript was kept for many centuries until 1878, when it was finally presented to the

Emperor Meiji , also called or , was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession. Reigning from 13 February 1867 to his death, he was the first monarch of the Empire of Japan and presided over the Meiji era. He was the figur ...

as an offertory gift.

''Shōmangyō Gisho''

An annotated commentary on the ''

Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra The ''Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra'' (, '' of Queen Śrīmālā'') is one of the main early Mahāyāna Buddhist texts belonging to the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras that teaches the doctrines of Buddha-nature and "One Vehicle" through the w ...

''; one volume in length. It is based on annotated texts of the

monk Min (旻, 467–527). Traditionally said to have been completed in 611.

Yuimagyō Gisho

An annotated commentary on the ''

Vimalakirti Sutra The ''Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa'' (Devanagari: विमलकीर्तिनिर्देश) (sometimes referred to as the ''Vimalakīrti Sūtra'' or ''Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra'') is a Buddhist text which centers on a lay Buddhist meditat ...

''; three volumes in length. It is based on annotated texts of the Liang dynasty priest Zhizang (458–522). Traditionally said to have been completed in 613.

Issues of authorship

Although traditionally attributed to the semi-mythological

Prince Shōtoku , also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Hashihito, who was also Yōmei's younger half-s ...

, current scholarly consensus disputes this and the actual authorship of the texts are unknown. The ''Hokke Gisho'' contains a note stating, "This book belongs to the private collection of King Jōgū rince Shōtokuand is not from overseas." However, the brush style is different from the main text and is believed to have been later added by the priest Gyōshin. The '' Nihon Shoki'' records that in 606, Prince Shōtoku taught the ''

'' and the ''

'', hence the belief that he authored all three. Only the ''Hokke Gisho'' remains in original manuscript form, while the ''Shōmangyō Gisho'' and ''Yuimagyō Gisho'' exist only from later copies. The oldest text to attribute the ''Sangyōsho'' to Shōtoku Taishi is the 747 . In addition, sutra records found in the

Shōsōin The is the treasure house of Tōdai-ji Temple in Nara, Japan. The building is in the ''azekura'' ( log-cabin) style with a raised floor. It lies to the northwest of the Great Buddha Hall. The Shōsō-in houses artifacts connected to Emperor Shō ...

documents credit King Kamitsumiya, one of Shōtoku Taishi's titles, for the annotated Lotus and Srimala sutras. While historical records attribute these works to Shōtoku Taishi, a number of issues and problems have been pointed out.Nakamura (2007: 6–7) * The oldest records are all more than a hundred years after the death of Shōtoku Taishi, so they are rendered by some scholars as unreliable. * Religious professor Inoue Mitsusada of the

University of Tokyo , abbreviated as or UTokyo, is a public research university located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1877, the university was the first Imperial University and is currently a Top Type university of the Top Global University Project by ...

says that many texts originally attributed to rulers were actually written by groups of scholars and suggests that this is the case here as well. However, the manuscript of ''Hokke Gisho'' uses a number of personal pronouns that contrasts this argument. * Calligrapher Nishikawa Yasushi studied the glyph forms used in the original with those in China and concludes that ''Hokke Gisho'' is a work corresponding to the

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...

(581–618 AD). Inoue builds on this suggesting that it is a work of Japan's

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 (or 592 to 645), although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after t ...

. The precise development of these texts is strongly argued in modern scholarship with many alternative hypotheses. These include the following: *Based on Chinese texts brought to Japan that Prince Shōtoku used as a basis for composition. *Korean priests visiting Japan wrote it under Prince Shōtoku's instructions. *Produced in China or Korea and authorship was transferred to Prince Shōtoku when it arrived in Japan. *A later work. There is no academic consensus on the true authorship. If authorship is assigned to Prince Shōtoku, then the works would need to have been finally completed before 622 when he died.

Notes

References

* Hubbard, Jamie, trans. (2012). Expository Commentary on the Vimalakīrti Sutra. Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Berkeley, . (Yuimagyō-gisho) * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sangyo Gisho Asuka period Old Japanese texts 7th-century Japanese books Mahayana texts Prince Shōtoku Books about Buddhism in Japan Buddhism in the Asuka period Kanbun