On Four Seasons in the Keizan Shingi

Abstract

The Shisetsu 四節 or Four Seasons, which means the four kinds of Buddhist service, is one of the most important events in Zen Buddhist temples. It refers to the four important turning points in the year, ketsuge 結夏,kaige 解夏,touji 冬至 and joya 除夜.

The Keizan Shingi 瑩山清規 was compiled by Keizan Zenji 瑩山禅師,the fourth generation Zen master of the Sōtō school. In this paper, I use the Keizan Shingi discovered at Zenrinji 禅林寺 temple in Fukui prefecture. I try to shed light upon the establishment of the Keizan Shingi by comparing it with various Shingi texts which were compliled in China and Japan in the same period. Those Shingi texts are bulky, however, so I focus on the ketsuge, and compare the accounts about it in detail.

Moreover, I also try to compare the Keizan Shingi with the “Ango” 安居 chapter of the Shōbōgenzō 正法眼蔵,written by Dōgen Zenji 道元禅師,who belongs to the first generation of the Sōtō school. I trust that this study clarifies the most important aspects of the establishment of the Keizan shingi.