Bussokuseki and Bussokuseki-ka : Poems as Commentary(<Special Issue>Rapport in the Ancient World)

Abstract

Obviously Bussokuseki-ka (poems inscribed on the stone base of a Buddhist statue) derive to a large extent from Nehan-kyo in their morals and ideas. Bussokuseki-ki (writings on the statue base) are as strongly influenced by the same source as the former. So in this essay I will examine these poems and writings in relation to the religious text. Bussokuseki-ka possibly played the function of translating the esoteric language of Nehan-kyo into plain Japanese. The function is, however, not limited to mere translation. By turning the inaccessible style into a familiar one (here I refer to it as a "workable signifier"), the poems also worked as a commentary on Nehan-kyo and made its religious spirit available to common people.