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The Hyōsei-shū written in four horizontal scrolls and the Kanjō Ajari Senji Kanchō in one scroll, recently discovered in the Shōren-in Monastery in Kyoto by Prof. AKAMATSU Toshihide of the Kyoto University and Mr. ŌTA Kizō of the Kyoto Municipality, attract out attention as they have valuable writings inscribed on the back sides of their paper base. The Hyōsei-shū in Chinese : Piao-chih-chi) is a record concerning the T'ang priest Pu-K'ung San-tsang, its original being in six scrolls; the latter is a collection of Imperial documents investing kanjō ajari (ācārya or masterpriests qualified to baptize others) in the Enryaku-ji Monastery, and documents from the Prime Minister investing ajari (ācārya) in the Gangyō-ji and Hosshō-ji Monasteries, its original probably consisting of two scrolls. Both are manuscripts associated with the Esoteric Buddhism, and are imagined to have been possessed by Ryōyū, the head priest of the Shōren-in in its second generation from the eleventh to twelfth centuries. Both the documents were inscribed on the blank reverse sides of used sheets of paper. The obverse sides are chiefly manuscripts and letters addressed to a priest, presumably the above-mentioned Ryōyū, and some other letters and discarded documents. (Translator's note: In early times when paper was precious, back sides of already used paper sheets were frequently utilized for writing. Very often the second writings are more important historically, so that the original obverse sides with the first writings are treated as if they were the reverse sides. In these cases the original writings are called “paper-back writings”.) The Hyōsei-shū was inscribed by priest Shunchō in 1087. The Kanjō Ajar i Senji Kanchō was inscribed about the same time by an unknown calligraphist, probably on the model of the same documents originally owned by the priest Jikaku Daishi. The present study is devoted to researches on the contents, characteristics and the significance in the history of Japanese calligraphy, of the manuscripts and letters on the original obverse sides of the scrolls. They comprise sixty--five items altogether, consisting of eight documents, seven letters in Chinese characters, and fifty letters in kana (Japanese syllabaries). Most of the letters are by members of the family of the courtier FUJIWARA Tamefusa (1049-1115): eleven Chinese-character letters by Tamefusa, forty-two kana letters by Tamefusa's wife, and two Chinese-character letters supposedly by Tamefusa's son. Their dates are mostly in the Ōtoku era (1084-1086). Other items include documents with dates of Eiho 3 to 4 (1082-1084) and Ōtoku 2 (1085), and kana letters whose writers and dates are unknown. It is interesting to find in one of them a statement about smallpox, for it is recorded in history that the Crown Prince Sanehito died of smallpox on the eighth day of the eleventh month of Ōtoku 2 (1085). The kana letters by Tamefusa's wife are the only examples of the sort known to date. They are very important materials in the history of calligraphy, for they enable us to date the surviving portions of the anthology Reika shu (known as “Kōshi-gire”, calligraphed by Ko-ōgimi) and of the Collected Poems by Lady Saigū (known as “Kōjima-gire”, calligraphed by Ono-no-Tōfū) showing marked resemblance in style to them, in approximately the same period as these letters. Furthermore, some of the kana letters by unknown writers contain early specimens of calligraphic style akin to those of the “Indigo Paper Version” of the anthology Man-yo-shu ascribed by some scholars to the hand of FUJIWARA Koremochi, and of the record of a poetry contest known as “Jūgo-ban Uta-awase”; the kana letters by Tamefusa written to his children also are unique examples. To summarize, the discovery of the writings on the back of these scrolls supplies us valuable materials of kana writing which help us in chronological editing of other specimens in the second half of the eleventh century. It is significant also that they include kana letters with dates and the names of writers. |
