Remarks on the Authorship and Textual Development of the Pŏphwa kyŏng chiphŏmki 法華経集験記

Abstract

The Pŏphwa kyŏng chiphŏmki 法華経集験記 (Jpn. Hokekyō Shūgenki), thought to have been completed in 718 AD, was first reported by Shōjirō Ōta to exist in Japan in 1958.

However, because in this manuscript the name of the author was written only using the character Zyaku 寂, the theory was that it was written by Yiji 義寂 (919–987) from China, who was active during the period of the Song Dynasty.

In 1980, Ōta argued that the author of the manuscript was Ŭijŏk 義寂 (7th to 8th century), who was active in Silla during the Tang dynasty, but the evidence for his theory is inadequate.

In this paper I prove that Ŭijŏk of Silla was a disciple of Xuanzang 玄奘 (602–664), and because the influence of the disciples of Xuanzang can be seen in the preface to this manuscript, the author of the manuscript is Ŭijŏk of Silla.

In addition, because there are discrepancies between the records in Buddhist catalogs and the manuscript of this book, it will be clarified that this manuscript is not the original Pŏphwa hŏmki 法華験記 written by Ŭijŏk of Silla, but an abbreviated version of it.