A Study of Changdao in Dunhuang Manuscripts

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22320069
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literatures/Literary theories in other countries and areas
• Research Institution: Hiroshima University
• Principal Investigator: ARAMI HIROSHI 広島大学, 総合科学研究科, 教授 (30383186)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): YUSA Noboru 明海大学, 外国語学部, 教授 (40210588)
• Project Period (FY): 2010-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 敦煌 / 仏教 / 儀礼

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Through written sources concerned with changdao from among the manuscripts of Dunhuang, this study elucidate changes in Buddhist ritual during the Tang and Five Dynasties periods and developments in performing arts and literature engendered by these changes. Many important sources such as procedural manuals employed in ceremonies and rites and records of ritual protocols are extant within the Dunhuang corpus. In this study, we will conduct a broad examination and analysis of written works in the Dunhuang corpus that appear to be related to the literature of later dynasties. We believe that through an analysis of choral works such as Pure Land hymns, written in seven-syllable verse form and popular from the later half of the 8th century, as well as a series of yuanwen prayers, which featured parallel prose of an ornamental nature, we can we can clarify the concrete processes associated with the development of these changdao literary genres seen in the literature of later dynasties.

Free Research Field

中国文学