This paper studies the religious teachings developed in the Sōtō sect from the early to mid-Edo period (17th to 18th century) through the study of the Shōbōgenzō-zokugenkōgi, the main work of Itsudō Kanchū (1684?–1760).
The work is regarded as a criticism of the Shōbōgenzō-benchū, Tenkei Denson’s (1648–1735) major work in his last years. Here it is found that some annotations on the Shōbōgenzō and a rebuttal to the Shōbōgenzō-benchū are quoted from several volumes of Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō. This study reviews and examines these quotations one by one.
Itsudō placed emphasis on the whole Shōbōgenzō, which is said to consist of 95 volumes in total, and criticized Tenkei, who tried not to include more than one quotation. Also, this study reveals that Itsudō explored Dōgen’s intention broadly and made use of it, unlike Tenkei, who tried to interpret the Shōbōgenzō in an arbitrary manner.
