This study builds on the author’s previous research to postulate the form of the original version of the Keizan Shingi 瑩山清規 （T. 2589）, Keizan’s Monastic Regulations.
My previous research has found that the source version held by the Zenrin-ji 禅林寺, currently the oldest extant manuscript, is close in form to the original version by Keizan Jōkin 瑩山紹瑾 （1264–1325）; subsequent revisions and modifications to the text produced the version edited by Bonsei 梵清本 and the Shōbō-Shingi 正法清規, among others. This study examines the pertinent issues by focusing on the major points of difference between versions of the Keizan Shingi.
Considering that the version edited by Bonsei and the Shōbō-Shingi were produced independently but share common content, we can conclude that both texts are derived from a common predecessor text, and that the differences in interpretation on the part of their respective authors led to textual variations between them. This study posits that the common predecessor text is close to the original version; therefore, it is an important task to reconstruct the manuscript chain leading to the common predecessor text by excluding the revisions and modifications in the version edited by Bonsei and the Shōbō-Shingi.
The raison d’être of the common predecessor text was to preserve the form of the original version, whereas the manuscript chain of versions held by the Zenrin-ji, deriving from a source version held by the Zenrin-ji, was established by derivation from the common predecessor text. The raison d’être of the versions held by the Zenrin-ji was to maintain appropriate ritual practice by replacing the content, whenever required, to align with the characteristics of the region where the temple was located.
On the basis of the above findings, this study specifies the process whereby the currently extant variants of the Keizan Shingi were established.
