A Preliminary Essay Regarding the Handwritten Transcripts of Nichiren

Abstract

In his youth Nichiren said, “In order to come to a deep understanding of Buddhism through study it is necessary to learn the mysteries of various schools and doctrines,” and devoted his days to this research.

Nichiren took his vows in a Tendai temple, but as Endo Asai has pointed out, there is proof that Nichiren read almost all the works from the early years of the Japanese Tendai sect, from Saichō to Annen, excluding esoteric Buddhism.

I had the great fortune to examine the original transcript of the Honri taikōshūtō-yōmon 本理大綱集等要文 in Ikegami Honmonji Temple. In this paper I offer a bibliographic study regarding this transcript, considering its position as one of the many texts written by Nichiren as he established his ideas about Buddhism.

Kihachi Yamanaka’s disquisition on this text provided forerunning research. This research owes much to his work. Mr. Yamanaka confirmed various quotations in the text and considered such factors as its design and binding, but in this study I have discovered various mistakes and would like to present the continuous order on paper.