中岩円月 : 行動・思想の変化と詩の展開 私詩から偈頌へ

抄録

Using Chugan's autobiography, An Abbreviated Genealogy, as a source, this study attempts to identify Chugan's patrons and Zen masters, thus clarifying his circumstances and doctrinal positions. Tamamura Takeji has also made a study of this subject, although he deals exclusively with Chugan's Zen masters. Tama-mura concludes from Chugan's successive study with masters from different sects that his own version of Zen was characterized by both breadth and profundity. This study proposes a different interpretation. Chugan's collected Sayings must be consulted on the succession issue, but since this lies beyond the scope of this essay, I have confined myself to tabulating the names of the masters quoted in the Sayings. That Chugan was a monk-politician of some prominence may be traced in the writings through which he sought entry into the Godaigo and Ashikaga administrations. For as long as he was interested in playing a political role, his poems were outwardly directed expressions of his goals. After the fall of Naoyoshi, however, his poetry began to turn inwards. It is this later work that is called the Gatha. Chugan's compositions may thus be classified as verses or gatha. Their evaluation must remain internal to the categories: that is, the verses should be compared to other verses, the gatha to other gatha.