The Impact of Southern Song Buddhism on the Japanese Pure Land Movement in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries: Shinran’s Thought in the Context of Sino-Japanese Buddhist Exchange
DAKE Mitsuya is a Professor, Graduate School of Intercultural Communications, Ryukoku University. He received his master’s degree from Ryukoku and has completed his Ph.D. courses for literature. His area of research include: Shinran Thought and Japanese Pure Land Buddhism; Engaged Buddhism; and Inter-faith Dialogue. He is the head of international division of Center for the World Buddhist Cultures. He also is the president of International Association of Shin Buddhist Studies and Ryukoku University Association of Shin Buddhist studies. His recent publications are as follows: Kokusai Shakai to Nihonbukkyo, 国際社会と日本仏教(共編著)[Internationa Society and Japanese Buddhism], Tokyo: Maruzenshoten 丸善書店, 2020 (Co-editor). “The Discourses of Birth in Modern Shin Buddhist Studies in Early 20th Century” Journal of Studies in Shin Buddhism 133 (2016). “Shinran’s Understanding of Amida Buddha: an example of the embodiment of hope in Buddhism,” Hope: A Form of Delusion? ed. Elizabeth Harris, London: EOS Publication (2013). Email: dake@world.ryukoku.ac.jp
This article discusses how Southern Song Buddhism, which flourished in the Taizhou 台州, Hangzhou 杭州 and Ningbo 寧波 area, positively impacted the transformational movement of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism in the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Recently, several excellent academic books were published in Japan that address the development of Buddhist thought during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907-960) and Song periods (960-1279) and Sino-Japanese Buddhist exchange from the perspective of cultural and textual relationships across East Asian during this era. These studies reveal the trans-sectarian and trans-national characteristics of Sino-Japanese Buddhist exchange during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. These studies demonstrate not only cutting-edge methodological approaches by modern scholars, but also why comprehensive research of and knowledge about transformational Japanese Buddhist movements in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries is necessary for understanding the history of the development of Chinese and Japanese Buddhism. In this article, I overview the impact of Southern Song Buddhism on the development of Japanese Buddhism, especially the transformational movement of Japanese Pure Land Buddhism in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries focusing on Shinran 親鸞 (1173-1263), who is the founder of Jōdo Shinshū or Shin Buddhist sect. He was one of the main figures of the transform movement of Japanese Pure Land in the thirteenth century. Shinran is also recognized as a seminal, sophisticated religious thinker in Japanese Buddhism, and he is remembered in modern times for his provocative and insightful writings. Here, I examine his main work, the Ken Jōdoshinjitsu Kyōgyōshō monrui 顕浄土真実教行証文類 (Collected Passages Revealing the True Teaching, Practice, and Realization; hereafter The True Teaching, Practice, and Realization) and analyze how Song-dynasty Buddhist texts, especially written by masters in the Hangzhou area brought back to Japan during this time, greatly impacted Shinran’s innovative and transformational thought.
目次
Abstract 84 Introduction 85 History of Sino-Japanese Buddhist Exchange 85 The Impact of Song Buddhism on the Transformational Movement in Japanese Buddhism 88 The Impact of Southern Song Buddhism on the Transformational Movement of Japanese Pure Land 92 Shinran’s Intention to Quote Extensive Passages from the Buddhism of Hangzhou 97 Conclusion 102 Notes 103 References 104 Primary Sources Secondary Sources
