Variant title: Myōhō rengekyō kachū 妙法蓮華經科註 [妙法蓮華経科註]. Variant title: Hokekyō kachū 法華經科註 [法華経科註]. Author/compiler: Shoulun 守倫, Chinese monk, Song period. Imprint: N.p., n.d. [Enpō 8, 1680 ?] . No colophon. Preface dated Enpō 6, 1678. Description: 4 kan (of 8 ?), comprising maki 1 (上 and 下), 2 (上 and 下), 4 and 6. Incomplete copy, lacking maki 3, 5, and probably also 7 and 8. Formerly in 6 satsu, now rebound in 1 vol. (western style). 27.8 x 19.3 cm. Fukurotoji. Blockprint. Printing frame variable between 23.8 and 24.5 x 17.5 cm. Single-line borders around three sides; upper border varying between single- and quintuple-line. No fishtail design on hanshin. Kanbun text with printed kunten, kutōten and shōten. 7 lines of large characters to page, 17 large characters to line, with headnotes above main text. Renewed yellow front cover of maki 1 (上) only, embossed with hexagonal design, within a modern western style half-leather binding. Handwritten gedai (late-Edo period) on title slip of same date: Kachū hokekyō 1 科註法華經 一. Title from naidai. Hashiragaki: Chū hoke maki 1 jō (etc.) 註法華巻一上 (等) + folio no. Edition: At least two distinct works of this title (or the alternative titles noted above) are recorded in Bussho kaisetsu daijiten 仏書解説大辞典. The present work clearly comprises the commentary of the Song Buddhist scholar Shoulun, of which the only blockprinted Japanese edition is that of Enpō 8, 1680. The Chinese kanki of the Ming edition on which this is based is reprinted at the end of each maki of the present copy. Kanki at end of maki 6 reads (in part) : 大明崇禎二年己巳歳玉溪菩提菴識. Contents: Commentary by Shoulun 守倫 on the Lotus Sutra, Myōhō rengekyō, revised by the monk Faji 法濟 of the Ming period. Text preceded by two prefaces, the first by Shengxing 聖行 and the second by the compiler.
Kachū myōhō rengekyō 科註妙法蓮華經 [科註妙法蓮華経]
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or.64.d.7
- Dates of Creation
- 1680
- Language of Material
- Japanese
- Physical Description
- 1 volume Condition: Good, apart from minor worm damage at beginning and end. Impression: For the most part sharp and clear. llustrations: Sumizuri frontispiece showing the Buddha and two disciples, on unnumbered folio preceding the first preface. Seals of ownership: None.
Scope and Content
Access Information
Not Public Record(s)
Unrestricted
Acquisition Information
Acquired from Alexander von Siebold, 22 July 1868.
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 2. Basic mahayana scriptures 主要大乗経典
Bibliography
Bussho kaisetsu daijiten 仏書解説大辞典, vol. 10, pp. 28, 371 (first entry); Kokatsujiban no kenkyū 古活字版の研究, pp. 295, 301, 303, 309 (movable type editions).