The Characteristics of Complex Sentence Expression in the Shōbōgenzō: Composition Ratio and Paraphrasing of Compound Sentences

Abstract

The Shōbōgenzō 正法眼蔵, Dōgen’s 道元 (1200–1253) central work, has been characterized as difficult to understand, and many researchers have cited peculiarities in the use and interpretation of phrases of Chinese origin (kanbun) in the text as a factor. Based on these views, I tried to analyze syntactic contents in the text in terms of complex sentence structures with a fresh approach. I began by classifying over 1400 typical complex sentences, drawn from each chapter of the text, into seven types (including positive, negative, imperative/prohibitive, and paraphrastic etc.), indicating a high frequency of complex sentences. I also analyzed the entire text of five chapters of the work, including “Genjōkōan 現成公案” and “Busshō 仏性, ” indicating a rate of complex sentences of approximately 75%. I confirmed that the sermon’s use of periphrasis of complex sentences made it possible to express images like greatest common divisor, thereby enabling comprehension among his disciples, who were learning the doctrine at different levels of understanding. I think that Dōgen avoided the immobilizations of words and the conclusive discussions with single sentences, using complex sentences to aid understanding, which, in turn, resulted in intricate expressions.