唐代日本留學僧常曉的師承與參學道場 —— 兼論空海門人與西明寺=Japanese Monk Jōgyō 常曉(?–866)in Tang-China: His Lineage and Sites of Study: With a Derivative Discussion on Kūkai’s(774-835)Disciples and on the Ximing Monastery
After Japanese monks returned from China to Japan, did they feel nostalgic towards the monasteries where they studied in China, and to their predecessors? Starting from this question, this article focuses on the disciples of Kūkai 空海 (774–835) who joined the 18th Japanese mission to Tang-China. Among those in the mission, Jōgyō 常曉 (?–866) has not technically studied with Kūkai, but his fellow disciples were Kūkai’s disciples. Shūei 宗叡 (808–884) and Shinryo 真如 (?–?), in particular, followed the example of their master and studied in the Ximing Monastery 西明寺. These and other facts all reveal that during this mission, even though the Japanese monks bore the ostensible goal of studying Tiantai Buddhism and esoteric teaching, they were also influenced, in one way or another, by the Ximing Monastery where their master Kūkai had once studied. From this perspective, we could see that the Sino-Japanese Buddhist exchange represents not only a relationship between two countries but also that between the master and disciples, as the disciples came to China following the example of the master.