Paper short abstract:

During the remainder of the Edo Period, Taisei-kyō exerted considerable influence on popular, didactic literature of a religious nature. From this perspective, we will analyse such texts as Moto-tsu-gusa (絵入本津草; 1728), Shinkoku masuhogusa (神国増穂草; 1756), and Shōtoku-taishi den zue (聖徳太子伝図会; 1804).

Paper long abstract:

The reception of Sendai kuji hongi taisei-kyō in didactic literature of the eighteenth and nineteenth century.

Sendai kuji hongi taisei-kyō was partly printed in 1679, but in 1682 it was declared to be apocryphal and the blocks were ordered to be destroyed. Shortly thereafter, however, books about Shinto and didactic literary works began to be published that apparently based themselves on Taisei-kyō. Among these we find such illustrated works, written in a simple style, like E-iri mototsugusa 絵入本津草 (pr. 1728) and Shinkoku masuhogusa 神国増穂草 (pr. 1756). They touch on all kinds of things, ranging from the spirit, history, and worldview of Shinto to the legendary origins of objects and institutions, and even to the study of waka. They also treat the stratified nature of society, with the emperor at the top, and the correct family system. An illustrated novel, Shōtoku-taishi den zue 聖徳太子伝図会 (pr. 1804), which belongs to the genre of yomihon, adopts statements and legends from Taisei-kyō, and uses these to describe Crown Prince Shōtoku's extraordinary achievements in aiding the spread of Buddhism in the divine country of Japan and in instituting the unchanging laws of the state. On this basis, the book maintains the logic of Japan's superiority and of the enduring character of the imperial line.

Attention should be paid to the fact that books such as these were all produced by Buddhist believers. In my presentation, I will consider how Taisei-kyō's ideology of the divine country, which is based on the unity of Shinto, Buddhism, and Confucianism, was received amongst intellectuals of Buddhist convictions. Furthermore, I will reflect on the way in which, from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, this ideology widely infiltrated into the population through the medium of this didactic literature, and what kind of implications this had.