The Textual Value of Senkan’s Hokke-sanshū-sōtaishō

Abstract

Senkan (918–983) began to write his Hokke-sanshū-sōtaishō 法華三宗相対抄 in the year 962 before Ouwa’s 応和 religious controversy. It now is found in the Eizan library preserved in an old manuscript of the Heian era.

This book of 50 chapters with 8 additional volumes, cites the Fahua xuanzan yaoji 法華玄賛要集. Thus, by gathering those quotes one can restore fragments of the Fahua xuanzan yaoji to some extent.

In Genshin’s (942–1017) Ichijō yōketsu 一乗要決, the Fahua xuanzan yaoji is quoted in two places. There are also quotarions from Senkan’s Hokke-sanshū-sōtaishō. Thus, it appears that Genshin quoted the sentences of Senkan as a doctrinal point.

As a result of my research on the contents of this document, it can be concluded that this text is of remarkable value for research on Tendai Buddhism in Heian Japan.