Paper short abstract:

In the 14th century, the preaching form known as jikidan "direct sermons" appeared. This style was more concerned with explaining the content of a teaching in a readily comprehensible manner, and marks a movement toward an Early Modern religious mode founded upon popularization of knowledge.

Paper long abstract:

Teachings and the way in which they are preached to people change with the times. The original model for Buddhism in Japan was the Chinese form of Buddhism imported during the ancient period. For this reason, Buddhist services in Japan took a Chinese Buddhist ceremonial form and interpretations of scripture were based on Chinese commentaries. Commentarial works in Chinese characters by Indian and Chinese monks held authority, and were interpreted line by line by Japanese scholar monks.

Buddhist Studies progressed through this type of painstaking academic work. From the Middle Ages onward, however, increasing numbers of people sought knowledge of Buddhism, wishing to understand its teachings. Examples of monks explaining Buddhist teachings to members of the general populace may also be observed from that time onward. In the 14th century, the preaching form known as jikidan 直談 ("direct sermons") appeared. This preaching style was more concerned with explaining the content of a teaching in a readily comprehensible manner than with academic accuracy, and placed exegesis provided by the preacher monks themselves at the fore.

From the latter half of the 15th century onward, collections were produced of hortatory work based on the jikidan style of preaching. These were known as jikidanmono 直談物 ("writings on direct sermons"). This trend marks the emergence of a movement toward an Early Modern religious mode founded upon popularization of knowledge. Certain aspects of this trend are analogous with similar developments in the west at that time. Even as Japan entered its Early Modern period, the acceleration in the diffusion of religious texts led not to a weakening of oral preaching but to a widening of its audience.