The Succession of the “Toketsu” 唐決: With a Focus on Genshin

Abstract

This paper will use the Jitashū Toketsu Gimon 自他宗唐決疑問 preserved in the Todaiji library （with particular focus on the questions concerning Tendai, Hossō, Kusha and Sūtra & Treatise）, in an attempt to understand, within the large frame of the flow of Buddhist thought, the questions Genshin 源信 （942–1017） sent to China. The following three points become clear.

First, the 22nd article （恵心疑問） in Genshin’s questions is a reconstruction from a critical examination of a discussion in Zhanran’s 湛然 Zhiguan fuxing chuanhong jue 止観輔行伝弘決 （T. 1912）. Second, the first article in the “Questions on Hossō” 法相疑問 is an attempt to revert questions seen in the Shiki 私記 literature of the Southern Capital 南都 Buddhists in Japan. Third, the first article on “Questions on Sūtra & Treatises” 経論疑問, while showing concern towards questions and answers within the debate on Buddha-nature, is a question constructed in critique of the doctrinal basis of the “Hossō Masters.”

In conclusion, the background out of which Genshin constructed his questions was his vast knowledge of Buddhism both in China and Japan.