, also read as ''Jōgū Shōtoku Hōō Taisetsu'', is a biography of

Shōtoku Taishi Shōtoku may refer to: * 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 Has ...

. It is one scroll in length and is a National Treasure of Japan.

Background

The author (or authors) of the text is unknown. It originally belonged to

Hōryū-ji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Nanto Shichi Daiji, Seven Great Temples, located in Ikaruga, Nara, Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Built shortly after Buddhism was introduced to Japan, it is also one of the oldest Buddh ...

, but it was transferred to Chion-in in 1879. The text consists of five distinct sections written over distinct time periods. In addition, the reverse side also contains some content. While some parts seem to have been written by the early eighth century, the complete manuscript dates from around 1050.

The first section lists Shōtoku's genealogy, including his mother and father, wife, and children. This is the oldest section and was written sometime before 701 or 708. The second section describes his achievements. These include his Buddhist contributions such as his sutras as well as the enactment of the Twelve Level Cap and Rank System. The third section contains the full text of three inscriptions: *the

Yakushi Nyorai Bhaiṣajyaguru (, zh, t= , , , , ), or ''Bhaishajyaguru'', formally Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabha-rāja ("Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light"; zh, t=藥師琉璃光(王)如來, , , ), is the Buddha of healing and medicine i ...

status at

*the group of three Buddha known as at

*the Tenjukoku Mandara embroidered curtain Much of the text of the curtain is now lost, so this text is invaluable in reconstructing the missing text. It also contains three poems from Kose no Mitsue (巨勢三杖). The fourth section contains a number of historical events. These include the introduction of Buddhism to Japan from

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (; ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BCE to 660 CE. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. While the three kingdoms were in separate existence, Baekje had the h ...

, the creation of the Seventeen-article constitution, the destruction of the Yamashiro family by

Soga no Emishi was a statesman of the Yamato imperial court. His alternative names include Emishi () and Toyora no Ōomi (). After the death of his father Soga no Umako, Emishi took over '' Ōomi '', the Minister of State, from his father. According to th ...

and

Soga no Iruka (died July 10, 645) was the son of Soga no Emishi, a statesman in the Asuka Period of Japan. He was assassinated at court in a coup d'état involving Nakatomi no Kamatari and Prince Naka-no-Ōe (see: Isshi Incident), who accused him of tryi ...

, and the destruction of Soga no Emishi and Soga no Iruka by Naka-no-Ōe. This section was written between 708 and 715. The fifth section details the reigns of five generations of rulers:

Emperor Kinmei was the 29th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 欽明天皇 (29) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Titsingh, Isaac. (1834)pp. 34–36 Brown, Delmer. (1979) ''Gukanshō,'' pp. 261–2 ...

, Emperor Bidatsu,

Emperor Yōmei was the 31st Emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 用明天皇 (31)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Yōmei's reign spanned the years from 585 until his death in 587. Traditional narrative He was ca ...

, Emperor Sushun, and

Empress Suiko (554 – 15 April 628) was the 33rd monarch of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō''): She introduced Buddhism in Japan and built many Buddhist temples, but she held the balance between Buddhism and Shintoism. Under her rule, Japan ...

. Included is the years of their reigns, death, and tomb information. Finally, it concludes with Shōtoku's own death. The reverse side of the scroll contains details about

Soga no Umako was the son of Soga no Iname and a member of the powerful Soga clan of Japan. Conflicting evidence has suggested that Soga no Umako was actually an emperor during the Asuka period. Umako conducted political reforms with Prince Shōtoku during t ...

and the construction of the

Yamada-dera file:210401 Model of the garan of Yamada-dera seen from east side.jpg, 290px, Model of Yamada-dera Temple at the time of its construction. A part of the 1/1000 model of Fujiwara-kyo in the Kashihara-shi Fujiwara-kyo reference room. was a Buddhist ...

and Han'nya-ji temples.

References

* * * * The only full translation into a Western language is the German of Bohner, Hermann
Jōgū Shōtoku Hōō Tei-setsu, Jōgū Kōtaishi Bosatsu-den
Tokyo 1936 (OAG) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jogu Shotoku Hoo Teisetsu Asuka period Old Japanese texts National Treasures of Japan Texts about the history of Buddhism Prince Shōtoku Books about Buddhism in Japan Books of Buddhist biography

Background

Contents

See also

References