Translator: Kumārajīva, 4th-5th century. Imprint: N.p. [Nara ?] , ganshu Shinjō, n.d. [end of Kamakura period or very early Nanbokuchō, c. 1330-35] . Undated ganmon at end of maki 8 reads: 發護持正法 利樂有情願 窮盡未來際 彫置法華摸 ／ 庶衆人摺爲寫 廣流布諸國 互興法利生 自他共成佛 ／ 第十二度彫之願主心性. (For further notes on dating, transcription of shikigo, etc., see under Edition and manuscript notes below.). Description: 8 kan, 8 rolls (巻子本) in a paulownia wood box. Each roll is made up of 21-26 sheets of variable length, 27.9 cm. in height. Blockprint. Printing frame (height) 22.5 cm. No borders above or below text. No vertical rules. Kanbun text, with kutōten added in the form of red dots throughout. Variable no. of lines to sheet, 17 characters to line. End covers of all 8 rolls renewed in early Meiji period with stout paper, outer surface faced with grey silk, inner surface sprinkled with gold kirihaku. Renewed title slips, also early Meiji period, decorated with square-cut kirikane. Manuscript gedai on all rolls: Hokekyō dai... 法華經第... . Text paper, thin white ganpi. Black lacquered rollers, of which those on maki 3, 4 and 8 are original. Edition: Kasuga-ban. Twelfth (第十二度版) of the 15 blockprinted editions of the Hokekyō commissioned by the monk Shinjō 心性 (or Shinshō) and his successors over a period of more than 100 years. Eight of the Shinjō editions are still extant: nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 14 and 15. The fourth is dated Kōchō 3 (1263) and the fifteenth Jōji 5 (1366). A new Shinjō edition, from re-cut blocks, was printed every 91 / 2 years on average. The present edition (no. 12) is not dated, but a shikigo at the end of maki 1 and 8, signed by Sonritsu, is dated Kenmu 5 (1338) and this edition must have been printed only a few years before that date. The date of first printing of the 12th Shinjō edition cannot be fixed with any certainty, however, as the present copy was printed from blocks showing considerable signs of wear, and some badly-worn sections have been replaced by hokoku 補刻. This copy is an example of a shōsokugyō 消息経, in which a Buddhist scriptural text is printed on the verso of a series of sheets containing handwritten letters. Contents: Complete text of the Myōhō rengekyō or Hokekyō, translated into Chinese from the Sanskrit Saddharma-puṇḍarīka-sūtra.
Myōhō rengekyō 妙法蓮華經 [妙法蓮華経]
This material is held atBritish Library Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections
- Reference
- GB 59 Or.73.e.3
- Dates of Creation
- [1330-1335]
- Language of Material
- Japanese
- Physical Description
- 8 scrolls Condition: Fair to good. Frayed and dentated lower edges of most rolls, and also some worm damage. Not rebacked. Impression: Atozuri, from worn blocks. In places supplemented by hokoku 補刻. Seals of ownership: No printed seals. Manuscript note of ownership (Nanbokuchō period) at head of text in each maki: Tōdaiji Shinzen'in 東大寺新禪院. Shikigo no. 2 confirms that this copy was owned by the Shinzen'in. Manuscript notes: (1) 6-line shikigo in gyōsho script at end of maki 1 and maki 8, dated Kenmu 5 (1338) and signed by the monk Sonritsu 存律, recording the printing of this sutra on the verso of writings of his former teacher Dōgetsu 道月 (Shōnen 聖然) in commemoration of the 13th anniversary of Dōgetsu's death. The shikigo reads: 建武五年戊寅四月十四日 ／ 奉爲先師道月上人聖然 ／ 第十三年追善飜遺 筆 ／ 摺寫之供養導師 ／ 般若寺長老慈眼上人道賢 ／ 遺弟存律. (2) 7-line shikigo in gyōsho script at end of maki 1 and maki 8, dated Eishō 11 (1514) and signed by the monk Shōshū 聖秀, recording the loss of this sutra from the Shinzen'in 新禪院 temple library and its restoration to the library by Shōshū. The shikigo reads: 右此經者經藏奉納之本也然住持 ／ 代替之時全紛失爰宿緣不朽之 ／ 猶當院傳來誠以施主之懇志上人之 ／ 素意相叶者也仍當住比丘聖秀重 ／ 奉納經藏者也願以此功徳紹隆佛法僧 ／ 當院万代榮普利濁世衆而已 ／ 于時永正十一年甲戌九月廿日 沙門聖秀. (3) 6-line shikigo in gyōsho script at end of maki 8 verso, signed by the monk Fukai 普海, offering the sutra as a gift to the temple library. The shikigo reads: 爲奉報先師上人受法 ／ 習學之洪恩摺寫之後 ／ 致数部轉讀畢而爲 ／ 自然忌日講讀所令 ／ 寄進常住也 ／ 顕密遺弟沙門普海 (花押). (For English translations of these three shikigo, see article by Gardner quoted under References below.) (4) A series of letters in sōsho script written to Sonritsu 存律 by his teacher Dōgetsu 道月, extending over the verso of all 8 rolls. These letters were written before the printing of the sutra, as noted under Edition above. (For a complete transcription of letters on verso of maki 8, see Kabutogi: Hokke hangyō no kenkyū 法華版経の研究, pp. 384-9.). ''
Scope and Content
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 2. Basic mahayana scriptures 主要大乗経典
Bibliography
Bussho kaisetsu daijiten 仏書解説大辞典, vol. 10, pp. 356-67; Hokke hangyō no kenkyū 法華版経の研究, pp. 376-90 and passim; An unrecorded Japanese edition of the Lotus Sutra, in The British Museum Quarterly, vol. 27, nos. 1 / 2, pp. 15-17 and 2 plates.