On Manuscripts of the Hittaishō, with a Variorum

Abstract

The Saiyōshō 才葉抄 is a calligraphic treatise by Fujiwara no Norinaga 藤原教長 (1109–80?), a court noble of the latter part of the Heian period, and it is said to have been transmitted orally in a hermitage on Mt. Kōya in 1177 (Angen 安元 3). It is also known as the Norinaga kuden 教長口傳, Hittaishō 筆躰抄, and Hippō saiyōshū 筆法才葉集. In current research on manuscripts of the Saiyōshō, manuscripts are broadly divided into three textual lineages: a 47-section version, exemplified by the Saishō nyūdō Norinaga kuden 宰相入道教長口傳 in the Sakamoto Ryūmon 阪本龍門 Library, which is regarded as the best manuscript; an 88-section version, included in the Nihon shoga'en 日本書畫苑 (compiled by Kokusho Kankōkai 国書刊行会), etc.; and a 24-section version, held by the Cabinet Library, Seikadō 静嘉堂 Library, etc.
  Close to fifty manuscripts of the Saiyōshō have been transmitted in various locations. Among these, there have been identified ten manuscripts of the 24-section version (Hittaishō), but there have been no studies that deal with all of these manuscripts. In this article, I accordingly take up all ten extant manuscripts of the Hittaishō, and as well as presenting the relevant bibliographic information about each manuscript, I examine their relative dates. In addition, I compare the 24-section version (Hittaishō) with the chief manuscripts of the other textual lineages and consider the question of how it should be situated in relation to manuscripts of the Saiyōshō.
  Furthermore, I identify the Hittaishō held by the Century Cultural Foundation (243-1/002, held on loan by Shidō Library, Keio University), considered to have been copied by Fujiki Atsunao 藤木敦直 (1582–1649), as the best manuscript among the extant manuscripts of the Hittaishō, and as well as providing a transcription of the full text, I give variants found in other manuscripts.