, often abbreviated to ''Gangōji Garan Engi'', is a Japanese
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
text. It is one volume in length and was compiled by an unnamed Buddhist monk in 747.
[Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten Henshū Iinkai (1983:60-61)]
Contents
The text is made up of four major sections. The first relates the early history of Japanese Buddhism. It states that in 538
King Seong of
Baekje
Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla.
Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder Jum ...
introduced Buddhism to Japan.
[Sakurai (1975:7-22)] It tells of a struggle between pro-Buddhist
Soga no Iname
was a leader of the Soga clan and a statesman during the reign of Emperor Kinmei in the Asuka period. He was the first person to hold the position of ''Ōomi'' that can be verified with reasonable accuracy, in 536 A.D. Essentially what this m ...
and an anti-Buddhist faction. This is followed by the construction of several temples, including
Gangō-ji
is an ancient Buddhist temple, that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Nara, Japan.
History
The original foundation of the temple was by Soga no Umako in Asuka, as Asuka-dera. The temple was moved to Nara in 718, following ...
from which the text takes its title.
[Sakurai (1975:7-22)]
The second and third sections reproduce the
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 ...
stone inscriptions found on the tower
finial
A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature.
In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...
as well as those found on a Buddhist statue.
The final section is a list of the temple assets. This includes population, rice paddies, and wells.
Importance
The text is a primary source for early Buddhist history in Japan. Particularly well known is that the date given for the introduction of Buddhism from Baekje, 538, differs from that given in the ''
Nihon Shoki'', 552.
In addition, the reproduction of the stone inscriptions are considered valuable resource for the study of
Old Japanese
is the oldest attested stage of the Japanese language, recorded in documents from the Nara period (8th century). It became Early Middle Japanese in the succeeding Heian period, but the precise delimitation of the stages is controversial.
Old Jap ...
.
Notes
References
*
*
External links
* Origina
text
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gangoji Garan Engi
Old Japanese texts
Japanese Buddhist texts
8th-century Japanese books