In the field of Japanese literature there is an oral genre as well as various written literary forms. I approach this oral genre through a survey of the Etoki on Bungaku (medieval Japanese preaching by explanation of pictures which depict the legend of Prince Shotoku), survivals of which may still be found in that area of Japan which faces the Japan Sea. In an earlier article in the monthly journal Nihon Bungaku (1963, vo1. 12, No. 10) I reported on the relationship between the Tun-huang pien-wen and Japanese literature (the literary world of the etoki). In this article I tried to develop a general view of the character of the pien-wen taken from Tun-huang cave (materials dealing with popular Buddhist preaching at the end of the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties in China) in its relationship to the etoki-shodo literature which is one of the archetypes of the literature of Japan. In this paper I should like to trace the history of Japanese etoki throunh an actual inspection of the eioki of Shotoku Taishi Den E (The Illustrated Legends of the Life of Prince Shotoku): The author of the Nihon Shoki recorded the history of Prince Shotoku (A. D. 574-622) one hundred years after his death and by the ninth century the legends of his life had compiled. Prince Shotoku studied Asian classics under Korean scholars, had faith in the "foreign God," "Buddha," and devoted himself to the expression of his faith through social practice during a dark tempestuous struggle for power which included plots, assassinations, and a coup d' etat. In spite of his efforts, his twenty-five princes, all his sons and grandsons were killed at the hands of his enemies, after his death. He was the hero of this great tragedy and didn't come near to the throne as in Henry IV. And his uncle, Emperor Sushun, was killed as in Macbeth. In the eighth century the story and legends of his tragic life were depicted by paintings on the walls of Tennoji and Horyuji temples. Professional priests known as etoki-hoshi used these pictures in preaching. The preaching of the legends consists of two elements, historical facts and fictitious stories which present Prince Shotoku as a supernatural being. Murasaki Shikibu's Genii Monagatari shows inflences of his some legends of this genre. The text of the etoki of the life of prince Shotoku was written by the famous poet Fujiwara no Kanesuke (also known Tsutsumi Chunagon) in the tenth century. Thie text and the etoki shodo style of preaching were perpetuated by priests of the Jyodo Shinsu sect of Japanese Buddhism because its founder, Shinran, had a deep-abiding faith in Prince shotoku. Not a few manuscripts of this text and old scroll paintings which depict the legends of Prince Shotoku have been found in Fukui, Ishikawa, and Toyama prefectures. It is especially interesting that the etoki style of preaching still survives in people's homes and temple in Inami in Toyama prefecturs.
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