Gotō egen 五燈會元 [五灯会元]

  • This material is held at
  • Reference
      GB 59 ORB 30/160
  • Dates of Creation
      1368
  • Language of Material
      Japanese
  • Physical Description
      2 volumes Condition: Good, apart from minor worm damage in places and some water-staining. Hole caused by burn in maki 6, fol. 1, has been repaired and missing kanji supplied in manuscript. Impression: Sharp and clear, though not shozuri. Seals of ownership: Square red seal, Dokuto sōdō 讀杜艸堂 (seal of Terada Bōnan 寺田望南) on first page of each maki: large red seal in a circular frame, Ryūgei 龍華, on first page of maki 3-20. Manuscript notes: (1) Ryūgesan jōjūbutsu 龍華山常什物, in a late-Muromachi hand, on verso of original mikaeshi of maki 1 (now detached from front cover) and on mikaeshi of maki 11. (2) Shikigo reading 青原山永澤禪寺丈室之公用也, written in black ink, one ji to each folio recto, in upper margin of the first 13 folios of each maki. (3) Note in black ink signed by one Shōgan 笑巖 and dated Bunki 2 (1502), on last folio of each maki. The note reads: 峕文亀龍集壬戌 [i.e. 二年] 七月日笑巖置之. (4) Textual headnotes, probably contemporary with (3) above, throughout the text.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Puji 普濟, Chan monk, also known as Dachuan 大川. Imprint: [Kyōto] , Kenninji 建仁寺, Shūō 宗應, Jōji 7 貞治七年, 1368. Kango on fol. 71b of maki 20 reads: 此録禪徒至寶也禪行 / 我朝莫盛如今未刋行 / 焉誠為缺典廣化衆縁 / 終成美事戊申 [=1368] 重陽日 / 泉南小比丘彦貞謹識 / 版留建仁霊洞 / 法印宗應刋行. Description: 20 kan, formerly in 20 satsu, now rebound in 2 vols. western style. 27.9 x 18.8 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame variable between 21.5 and 22.6 x 15.9 cm. Single-line borders above and below text; double-line (one thick, one thin) at inner edge of each folded leaf. Vertical rules between columns. Fishtail design on hanshin. Kanbun text, with manuscript kutōten in red and some okurigana and kaeriten in black ink, probably added at the time of Shōgon's annotations (see under manuscript notes below) in 1502. 13 lines to page, 24 characters to line. Black front covers (Muromachi period) of maki 1 and 11 only. The latter has a title slip bearing manuscript gedai: 五燈會元巻十一. Title from naidai. Hashiragaki: Gotō 五灯 + maki no. + folio no. In a western style half-leather binding. Reprint, from re-cut blocks, of an earlier Chinese (Song) edition printed in 1253. This is attested by the compiler's preface (1 folio at head of maki 1) dated 淳祐壬子, 1252, and by the two closing notes (3 folios at end of maki 20) by 沈淨明 and 王槦, dated Baoyou 1 宝祐元年 (1253). Following this first Japanese edition, with batsubun by Engetsu 圓月 dated Jōji 5 貞治馬児年 (1366) and kango dated Jōji 7 (1368, see above), The next edition was a movable type print dated Kan'ei 12, 1635. Edition: Gozan-ban, printed at the Kenninji, Kyōto (Kenninji-ban). Fine hanshiki. Contents: A compendium of brief biographies of eminent Chan monks and patriarchs of the past, compiled from existing records.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired from Ernest M. Satow, 22 Sept. 1884.

Other Finding Aids

Kenneth Gardner, Descriptive Catalogue of Japanese books in the British Library printed before 1700 (London and Tenri, 1993).B. Buddhist works 仏書 11. Zen sect 禅宗

Bibliography

Bussho kaisetsu daijiten 仏書解説大辞典, vol. 3, p. 272; Gozanban no kenkyū 五山版の研究, pp. 162, 376, pl. 254-6; Ishii Sekisuiken bunko zenpon shomoku 石井積翠軒文庫善本書目, p. 94, pl. 180-4; Daitōkyū kinen bunko kichōsho kaidai 大東急記念文庫貴重書解題, vol. 2, pp. 142-3; Shinzan zenseki mokuroku 新纂禅籍目録, p. 109.