Early Modern Period "KANGE" in Japan; Focus on the Activities of Kange-books Writers

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K13049
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 02010:Japanese literature-related
• Research Institution: Osaka Ohtani University (2022); The University of Tokyo (2021); Ochanomizu University (2019-2020)
• Principal Investigator: KIMURA Michiko 大阪大谷大学, 文学部, 准教授 (40836475)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 近世仏書 / 勧化本 / 宗学 / 近世出版

Outline of Final Research Achievements

By focusing on the activities of writers, the overall picture of the trend of "Kange-bon勧化本" which books promoting Pure Land Buddhism, during the early modern period, which had previously been under-researched, was elucidated. It was shown that the Jodo Shinshu Honganji school, represented by writers such as Yobu羊歩, Chiku知空, Kusei空誓, and Ryoshin了信, drove the trend of kange-bon during this period. By the Genroku period, the Nishi Honganji school had abolished the tradition of oral transmission of sermons, which led to the publication of sermons as Kange-bon. It was also demonstrated that Yobu's predecessor was a Jodo sect monk, and his writings strongly reflected the influence of Jodo sect theology, as evidenced by the content overlap with "Jodo Kange Hyomokusho浄土勧化標目章" written by the Jodo sect monk Shinkai真海. The publication of Kange-bon also hybridized the unique theologies of each sect that had previously existed.

Free Research Field

近世文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究における調査結果から、近世前期における個々の仏書作家等の具体的な活動が明らかになった。仏書作家等の活動は、一次史料の乏しい近世前期の上方出版そのものの有用な事例でもあり、これら出版成果が享保以降本格化する近世出版の礎になったことを明示するものであり、学際的研究における意義を有する。更に、本研究の対象となる仏書は、それ自体が近世文学研究の俎上にのることの乏しい分野であったが、研究成果からは、近世仏書とその作者・版元の活動が、近世文学と密接に関わっており、そこからは、例えば〈倩女離魂〉の新たな典拠といった、新見地も開けることが判明したのは、研究成果の含有する学術的意義といえよう。