Collaborative Research
H.General Study of Medieval Ceremonial Texts
| Type of Research | Scientific Research |
|---|---|
| Project Title | Research on Advanced Digitalization of Historical Materials |
| Research Title | H.General Study of Medieval Ceremonial Texts |
| Head of the Research Team | ABE Yasuro |
| Research Period | 2008–2010 |
| Research Team |
|
| Purpose | Shodo (or preaching) documents play a central role in Japan's Buddhist culture in the medieval period. They are linked to rituals and provide a basis for shodo's development as folk performance. They have close relations with historical situations and have great value as historical materials representing the sentiments of the people of the time. A Tanaka document "Tenborin Sho" is the oldest and best among the representative documents of Agui shodo, which was the mainstream medieval shodo. As compared to Agui shodo documents archived at the Kanazawa-Bunko Museum, they are extremely well conserved and therefore indispensable for determination of their historical positions. Research involving Agui shodo documents has not seen significant progress after "Aguin Shodo Collection Vol.1" (1975). This is because many of these basic materials still remain unpublished. In order to move beyond this situation, research into and introduction of the Tenborin Sho into the NMJH archive is urgently required. By publishing them, NMJH will receive in return important materials of history and literature, as well as those of art and architectural histories. This group recognizes shodo documents as religious texts in a broad sense, emphasizing their universality as ritual texts. The group believes that this will clarify the structure and system of the Buddhist culture represented by shodo. In addition, this will also clarify the function of shodo that developed into folk performances, such as preaching and ennen. The same phenomenon was commonly observed in East Asia, where Buddhism was linked with regal powers and states. In this sense, the participation of researchers into Chinese and Korean Buddhism-related rituals and folk performances will be a good opportunity to examines the phases of shodo documents in a broader context. Furthermore, the participation of U.S. researchers who have knowledge and awareness of various issues with regard to medieval Japanese Buddhism will allow for international viewpoints on these themes. In scientific basic research (B) carried out with a grant-in-aid and titled "Research on the Intellectual System of Medieval Temples," which the head and deputy head of the research team participated in, comprehensive research on general Buddhism materials, including shodo documents, at Shinpukuji temple and other places, was conducted. In addition, as promoters of the 21st century COE Program "Construction of Integrated Text Science," the group looked into the universal structure of shodo documents as religious texts. In a newly adopted global COE Program "Hermeneutic Study and Education of Textual Configuration," the group aims to further advance from the result of past research and develop the theme of its own grant-in-aid scientific research, comprehensive research on religious texts of the medieval period, with effort view to building international cooperation. This research provides an important basis for these efforts and, combined with related research projects, will enable results of ever greater dimensions. |
2008
Progress
At the first workshop held at Shinpukuji temple in Nagoya City in May, the basic premise of the cooperative research was explained and the research plan was discussed. The group also read shodo and hogi (authentic ritual) texts archived at Osu-Bunko and sorted out and analyzed fragmented shodo documents.
The second workshop was held in Seoul, Korea, in June, where the group visited Bongwon temple to observe and record the Yeongsanjae ceremony. There was also a workshop centering on a presentation by a guest speaker Sayo Sakata on "Excursion to Kumgang Mountains and Roles of Monk." Hong Yoonsik, a professor emeritus at Dongguk University, Korea, also participated in the workshop, inducing active discussion.
At the third workshop, also held in June, the group visited a special exhibition project "Literary World of Six Inches" at Kanazawa-Bunko Museum. Yoshifumi Nishioka, a curator and cooperative researcher, presented a general view on shodo documents included in Syomyoji Shogyo shown at the exhibition. The group also read other important shodo materials.
The fourth workshop was held in August at NMJH. The group read shodo and ritual texts from the former Tanaka Collection, which is now archived at NMJH, and discussed the contents. At the workshop, Takahashi and Uchida explained the outline of the texts, while the head of the research team presented a tentative hypothesis on the shodo text system in the medieval period. Following the third workshop, Mika Abe reported on "josojo," while Kang Baocheng , a cooperative researcher and a professor at Sun Yat-Sen University in China, made a research presentation. In September, Yuko Kojima and other members conducted an investigation into hogis and shomo (sutra chanting) documents archived at Ninnaji temple.
At the fifth workshop in November, the group organized a visual forum and screened the folkloristic research films produced last year, "Hanaeshiki at Yakushiji Temple" and "Annual Event at Kasuga-Taisha and Kofukuji Temple." At the forum, cooperative researchers of the research team (Abe, the head, Matsuo, the deputy head, and Yun) made research reports. In the discussion that followed, comparison was made between cases in Japan and Korea, which have the same long history of Buddhism propagation from the Chinese continent, in terms of services of religious practitioners in the events involved in temple constructions.
At the sixth workshop in January, the group investigated medieval shodo-related materials such as "Tenborin Sho " at NMJH. Sanae Tsutsui made a research presentation titled "A Consideration on "A consideration on 'I Shodo Kuyo Doku Saimon,'" while Junji Makino reported on the progress of reprinting works for "Tenborin Sho" and preparation of bibliographical introduction to them.
Result
In the first year of the research, the group first identified the whereabouts of relevant materials for our research, medieval shodo documents and ritual texts, inherited and archived at major temples and bunkos. Next, the group confirmed the scope and position among them of the former Tanaka collection archived at NMJH.
In this process, group members also began reading and manuscript preparation of "Tenborin Sho" archived at NMJH, which is the group's major research object.
In addition, the group promoted pioneering research on newly discovered materials, including an Agui shudo material, "Jousojou" (archived at Kanazawa-Bunko Museum), and parts of "Ankyoku Gyokusensyu" (Shinpukuji temple), which are closely related to our theme.
The group also conducted fieldwork on the Yeongsanjae ceremony at Bongwon temple in Korea, as a part of the actual observation and investigation of Buddhist rituals in East Asia and the traditions of folk performances deeply involved with these rituals. Esoteric Buddhism-related manners, those combined with Zen sect rituals, as well as those based on local animism, were observed. In the future, comparison of these cases with Japanese equivalents will be indispensable in order to research the local adoption and development of Buddhism introduced through China.
