The Fascination of Japanese Traditional Books 大橋 正叔(Ôhashi Tadayoshi) Vice-President , Tenri University (1)Introduction Mr
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The Fascination of Japanese Traditional Books 大橋 正叔(Ôhashi Tadayoshi) Vice-President , Tenri University (1)Introduction Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: My name is Tadayoshi Ohashi of Tenri University. It gives me great pleasure in presenting the SOAS Brunei Gallery exhibition of “ART OF JAPANESE BOOKS”. These are some of the Kotenseki 古典籍(Japanese Antiquarian materials) treasures from the Tenri Central Library 天理図書館.It is an honour to have the opportunity to speak before you at this joint cultural event of SOAS and Tenri University. Today I Wish to talk about the attractions of KotensekiI. Wherever they come from, antiquarian books are beautiful in their own styles and traditions. Japanese antiquarian books, however, are very unique in their diversities; namely, the binding-forms and paper-materials used, not to mention the wide range of calligraphic and multi-coloured printing techniques. For your reference I have enclosed a copy of bibliographical research sheet of the National Institute of Japanese Literature 国文学研究資料館. This is the sheet We use When We conduct research on Kotenseki. This sheet is dual-format applicable for both printed books and manuscripts. But there is single purpose format either for printed books or for manuscripts. The reason Why I am shoWing you this is, that I believe that this research sheet encapsulates the essence of Kotenseki(Japanese Antiquarian materials). I am going to discuss each style one by one. I am careful in using the word KOTENSEKI rather than the more usual Word HON. Kotenseki includes not only HON (books, manuscripts and records) but also the materials written on 短冊 Tanzaku(a strip of oblong paper mainly used for Writing Waka 和歌)or Shikishi 色紙(a square of high- quality paper). There are tWo distinctive categories in Kotenseki,namely ‘printed materials’ and ‘hand-written manuscripts’. In general there is only one unique copy of ‘hand-written manuscripts’ but there are more than one ‘printed materials’ extant. This is because a manuscript copy Was made only for a feW people responsible for its production, but printed materials could be made according to the demands of a wider circle. In other words, one can assume more intimate relationship between manuscript copy and its author or oWner. As for printed books, there is less direct relationship betWeen the readers and the Work. (2) Kanpon 刊本 (printed books) First I Wish to discuss the history of printed books in Japan briefly. At the very beginning of the current exhibition you find Hyakumantô Darani 百万塔陀羅尼.As you can see in the commentary, this is one of the first printed materials not only in Japan but also in the World. With the Wish to stabilize and atone for the nation, Emperor Koken 孝謙天皇 initiated the printing four kinds of sutras in Mukujyôkô Daranikyô 無垢浄光陀羅尼経, in total of 1 million copies, and contained them in the small wooden three-layered pagodas, and placed them in 10 leading temples such as Horyuji 法隆寺 and Tôodaiji 東大寺. This Was completed in JingoKeiun 神護景雲 4 年(A.D.770). It took 5 years and 8 months. HoWever it is not certain if Hyakumantô Darani 百万塔陀羅尼 as many as 1 million copies Were printed, but there are 45,000 small pagodas found in Horyuji alone. Therefore we can be sure that great many Hyakumantô Darani 百万塔陀羅尼 were printed. As you can see Hyakumantô Darani 百万塔陀羅尼 were the first printed materials taking advantage of the 1 characteristics of printing process that can produce as many facsimile copies as you want. This took place about 1243 years ago. The printed mantras Were contained at the top of pagoda under Kurin 九輪. As for the method of printing it is more probable that it Was done by plate printing than movable type printing. HoWever, there is disagreement among scholars if the plate printing Was Wood-plate or copper-plate printing. In addition they are arguing if it was printed by either Syûsatsu 摺刷(The effect of impressing a sheet of paper on an inked Woodblock) or Ônatsu 押捺(Impression) In the Nara period, under the influence of Tang dynasty China, many hand-copied sutras Were made. Although the technique in the printing of sutra ,as shown in the case of Hyakumantô Darani 百万塔 陀羅尼,was established in Nara period, in the folloWing early Heian 平安 period We cannot discover any printed sutra in Japan. In the current exhibition you can find a printed image of Buddha(Inbutsu 印仏) of Bishamonten 毘沙門天. After the middle part of Heian period Inbutsu 印仏 and Syûkyô 摺 経 were beginning to appear. They were made in order to wish for the heavenly bliss for the dead or for the recovery from illness. Furthermore, major temples began printing sutras for trainee monks such as Kasuga 春日 edition, Todaiji 東大寺 edition,Koya 高野 edition and Gozan 五山 edition. Before the Muromachi 室町 period one can say that almost all the printed materials Were sutras, but there Were some exceptions such as the Gozan edition (five Zen 禅 temples in Kyoto and in Kamakura,in the late Kamakura and the Muromachi period) , Where they reprinted non-Buddhist materials from Chinese editions in Song(宋),Yuan(元),Ming(明)periods and Korean editions. In the Muromachi period(1392~1573), the fixed notion that a book equals a hand-written copy no longer applies. Many printed books were introduced to various places other than Gozan 五山. In particular, in the town of Sakai 堺, which was a highly developed commercial centre, many practical books and compendiums Were published. They include Rongo-shikkai 論語集解(正平 19、1364), Ishotaizen 医書大全(1528), Setsuyôsyû 節用集(1590). Meiô 明応 edition of Rongo-shikkai 論語集解,the one you see in the exhibition, was a reprinted edition of Shôhei 正平 edition, and it Was a provincial edition published by Sugi Takemichi 杉武道 of Ôuchi 大内 family in 明応 8(1499). They Were all Woodblock printed. These printed books Were widespread because the stability of Japanese society after Tokugawa 徳川 unification gave the opportunities to grow in economic and political fields. I Wish to discuss this matter later on. (3)Manuscripts 写本(hand-written materials) Let’s talk about something completely different . I am noW going to discuss the attractions of manuscripts before Muromachi 室町 period and, firstly, I Will focus on the materials you can see in our exhibition. As I mentioned before, unlike printed materials, every single manuscript is unique. This is the chief attraction of manuscripts.Before the Muromachi period We saw the development of Waka 和歌 and Monogatari 物語. They Were very much the product of aristocratic court culture; it Was a custom for the aristocrats to exchange hand-written Waka and Monogatari. The distinction was therefore made betWeen author’s own handwriting and someone else’s copied materials. You can see a copy of Turezuregusa つれづれ草 in our exhibition. Unfortunately this is not in the author, Yoshida Kenko’s 吉田兼好 own handwriting, but it is extremely rare to find an author’s original hand-written materials and most remaining materials are copied. This Turezuregusa in the exhibition shows a calligraphic style of Early Edo 江戸 period. It is assumed that this Was the hand of Honami Koetsu 本阿弥光悦, but I see Suminokura Soan’s 角倉素庵 style in the shape of letters and calligraphic style. Therefore, I Would say this is a copied manuscripts in Soan-style. It is bound in seWn books format(Tetchosô 綴葉装 A number of sheets of paper, handwritten or printed, are placed on above another and folded in half to from a section.Several 2 sections,thread-seWn through the centre,and seWn together to make a volume)and the cover is Kon- byoshi 紺表紙(Dark blue cover) with the scattered metallic powders on the sheet of paper with golden mud and floWers motif. If you look at the back of front cover you can see golden paper. Texts were written on Gubiki-gami 具引紙(Painted paper With poWderd mica dissolved in thin glue ). All in all, this book is set up in a gorgeous manners. So as I said before, all manuscripts are unique in its style of binding, calligraphic style and the paper used. These differences are due to Who made the manusciprt and With What purpose. Let’s go back to Turezuregusa つれづれ草 the maker hired a calligraphy master in certain style to write the text and made the binding in the format of Masugatabon 枡形本(a book of square form). They Were done in this Way because the maker Wanted to shoW his deep respects for classical literature. In early Edo period, Turezuregusa Was a very popular classical book. The different Ways books Were made Were expressions of deep feelings and strong opinions about the books themselves. Of course in the case of Kotenseki 古典籍 this applies to both manuscripts and printed books. Therefore, if you find a valuable copy it is important to knoW the provenance of the book. It is an act of paying a tribute to the previous owners. Paying respects to books Was very common and this practice can be found not only in the hand written manuscripts but also in the printed materials. I have already mentioned Meiô edition of Rongo shikkai 明応版論語集解, it belongs to Tenri Toshokan Kogido Bunko 天理図書館古義堂文庫 ,and the original oWner of this copy was the second-head of Kogido school Ito Togai 伊藤東涯(1670- 1736). Kogido Was a private school founded by the Confucian scholar Ito Jinsai 伊藤仁斎 (1627- 1705) in Kyoto 京都. This school Was so popular that it Was said it had 3000 disciples. Rongo shikkai 論語集解 has Shikigo 識語(A handWritten note appended to a book) by Kiyohara Nobukata 清原宣 賢, an eminent scholar of late-Muromachi period.