A Study of Variant Characters in Medieval Japan: On the Basis of the Three Sources of the Sounds and Glosses of the Dai hannyakyo Sutra Descended from the Mukyukai Ms.

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K00635
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02070:Japanese linguistics-related
• Research Institution: Nanzan University
• Principal Investigator: Liang Xiaohong 南山大学, 総合政策学部, 教授 (00340274)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 大般若経音義 / 無窮会本系 / 無窮会本 / 天理本 / 薬師寺本 / 漢字 / 異体字

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In the past five years, I have conducted research mainly on three kinds of sounds and glosses (the hand-copy manuscripts of the Sounds and Glosses on the Mahaprajnaparamita Stura (the Mukyukai, Tenri, and Yakushiji recensions), as well as other hand-copy manuscripts from the vantage point of Chinese character studies, and these especially in the light of comparative variant-character analyses. My research resulted in the formal publication of 20 scholarly articles, 1 monograph, and 23 conference papers. To highlight the fruits of my research, they were to put the value of studying the sounds and glosses of the Buddhist sutras in an international perspective and to introduce its scholarly importance to the academic world. Furthermore, the study of the variant characters clarified the cultural history of Chinese characters as they were introduced to Silla, Korea and Japan where they had developed in their characteristic ways.

Free Research Field

言語学、中国語史、漢文仏典語言学、漢字学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究成果学術的の意義は、日本中世の「単経音義」の代表とも称される「無窮会系本」三種を原資料に用い、それらに見られる大量の異体字に関し、様々な角度から検討することである。先ず、“専経異体字字書”の性格を具備する日本独特の「単経音義」――これは中国の「一切経音義」と対比することによりその性格が伺える――が、異体字研究に提供する価値を評価することを学術的意義に捉えた。さらに、異体字研究を通して、漢字が東伝し、新羅や日本へ流入、発展、変遷した過程を追い、漢字文化史を明らかにすること、更に「無窮会系本」の学術的価値を国際的視野の下に広く学界に紹介することでもあった。