Kimyō honganshō 歸命本願抄

This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections

  • Reference
    • GB 59 Or.64.b.19
  • Dates of Creation
    • [1400-1500]
  • Language of Material
    • Japanese
  • Physical Description
    • 1 volume Condition: Fair. Some brown stains and worm damage (repaired). Impression: Atozuri. Signs of wear in blocks apparent. Seals of ownership: None, other than Getsumeisō 月明莊, seal of the Kōbunsō. Manuscript notes: A note in a good Meiji-period hand pasted on inner front cover, written on red paper, reads as follows: 此版三部假名抄之内也 ／ 應永廿六年開版隆堯法印著述.

Scope and Content

Author/compiler: Shōken 證賢, Jōdo monk of the Shōjōkein 清浄華院, Kyōto, 1263-1345. Also known as Kōa 向阿. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [early- or mid-Muromachi period, c. 1400-1500] . See below under manuscript notes for shikigo asserting Ōei 26 (1419) as date of publication. Description: 1 kan (of 3), 1 satsu, in a chitsu case. Incomplete copy: maki 中 only. Folios numbered 20-45. 26 x 20.1 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame 21-21.3 x 18.8 cm. No borders. No vertical rules between columns. Hiragana-majiri text with kutōten points in red. 9 lines to page, 16-18 characters to line. Renewed covers of grey-green paper, old but not original. No title slip or gedai. Title from naidai. Hashiragaki: Kimyō 歸命 + folio no. Text paper: thick kōzo. Modern chitsu case of floral brocade. Edition: Jōdokyō-ban. The only recorded pre-Edo edition of this work is that of Ōei 26 (1419). There seems to be a strong possibility that the present copy may belong to it. Together with Fushi sōgō 父子相迎 (q.v.) and Saiyōshō 西要抄, this work constituted a group popularly known as the Sanbu kanashō 三部假名抄, and the three were evidently printed together in Ōei 26, 1419. This work is of great bibliographic interest, being the second earliest surviving example (after Kurodani shōnin gotōroku 黒谷上人語燈錄 of 1321) of printing in hiragana-majiri script. Contents: An interpretation in simple language of the Jōdo doctrine of salvation through invocation to Amida, as set out in the 18th of the 48 Amidist vows contained in the Muryōjukyō 無量壽經.

Access Information

Not Public Record(s)

Unrestricted

Acquisition Information

Acquired from Kōbunsō, 15 March 1974.

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 4. Jōdo, jōdo shinshū sects 浄土・浄土真宗

Bibliography

Bussho kaisetsu daijiten 仏書解説大辞典, vol. 2, p. 235; Nihon koten bungaku daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典, vol. 3, p. 136; Jōdokyō-ban no kenkyū 浄土教版の研究, pp. 119-20; Nihon kokan shomoku 日本古刊書目, p. 228; Kōbunsō kohanpon mokuroku 弘文荘古版本目録, p. 150.