1999 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
A Study of Styles and Materials used in Nichiren's Letters and Works
| Project/Area Number |
10610021
|
|---|
| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
|
| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
|---|
| Section | 一般 |
|---|
| Research Field |
印度哲学(含仏教学)
|
|---|
| Research Institution | Minobusan University |
|---|
Principal Investigator |
TERAO Eichi Minobusan University, Facility of Buddhism, Asos.Professor, 仏教学部, 助教授 (50197787)
|
|---|
| Project Period (FY) |
1998 – 1999
|
| Keywords | Nichiren / Nichiren's writings / Original text of Nichiren / Paleography / Writing-pads used for letters |
|---|
| Research Abstract |
Nichiren (1222 - 1282) is the founder priest of Nichiren Sect, one of the major Japanese Buddhist denominations. Many of his letters and works are still preserved in their original forms. In this study, we attempted at accumulating fundamental data on such original writings, regarding the materials and sizes of writing pads and how they are mounted today. For the collection of data, we concentrated on the major works among Nichiren's original writings, leaving aside some materials that we don't have direct access. Further, from today's preserved condition, we attempted at collecting data for reconstructing original condition of his writings.
As for the philological study of Nichiren's writing till today, the study of the style (I.e., types of writing pads and their size) and of the relationship between the usage of paper and the contents has not been paid proper attention. Moreover, even the fundamental data like the size of the characters in Nichiren's writing have not been studied so far. Therefore, we researched Nichiren's original writing paper by paper, and we made a kind of fundamental database on Nichiren's original writings.
Comparing to contemporary masters like Shinran and Honen, Nichiren left enormous amount of original writings. Therefore, even in paleographical terms, the present study can contribute in great deal to the study of original writings of other contemporary religious masters.
|
