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流祖上人箇條名目

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Text ID
KR6t0332
Date
1212–1247
Dynasty
日本

Liúzǔ shàngrén gètiáo míngmù 流祖上人箇條名目

Topic-by-Topic Headings from the Saint, Founder of the Line by 證空 Shōkū (記)

About the work

A single-fascicle topical compendium by 證空 Shōkū, organized as a numbered list of doctrinal-practical topics with brief expositions for each. The title’s Ryūso shōnin 流祖上人 — “the Saint, founder of the line” — refers to 源空 Hōnen, whom Shōkū is here citing as the doctrinal authority for the propositions enumerated; the work is in effect a digest of Hōnen’s teachings organized by topic, in the form of an extended gakajō 箇條 (article-by-article) checklist.

Abstract

The text consists of numbered articles, each given a brief topical title followed by Shōkū’s exposition. The opening articles establish the doctrinal scaffolding:

  1. Departing-the-three-karma nenbutsu (離三業念佛之事) — nenbutsu as transcending the threefold karma of body, speech, and mind;
  2. Three-mind completeness (三心具足事) — the three minds of the Contemplation Sūtra (sincere-mind, deep-mind, aspiration-to-rebirth-by-merit-transfer) as a unified faith-mind;
  3. Settled-mind and arising-practice (安心起行之事) — the doctrinal pair anjin (faith-disposition) and kigyō (arising-practice);
  4. Adequacy of the [Buddha’s] reflection without lack (思惟無不足之事) — that Amitābha’s kalpa-five reflection encompasses all salvific contingencies;
  5. Other-aiding truth-reality (利他眞實之事) — the Buddha’s universal compassion as the truth-content of the doctrine;
  6. Class-aiding-practice no fineness (類助業無細之事) — no auxiliary practice can be excluded from the saving scope of nenbutsu.

Subsequent articles cover the Seizan-distinctive doctrines of kihō ichinyo, ichinen go-jō, the honji (original-ground) identification of Amitābha with the practitioner’s true nature, the raigō welcoming-descent, and so forth — a comprehensive topical map of the Seizan-line reading of Hōnen.

Genre. The kajō / namoku (箇條 / 名目 — article-by-article / topic-list) format is a medieval Japanese-Buddhist genre that occupies the space between catechism and scholastic treatise: each article is short enough to be memorized but substantial enough to encode a doctrinal position. The format was widely used in medieval Shingon, Tendai, and Pure-Land traditions for kuden (oral transmission) preservation; Shōkū’s Kakajō meimoku is one of the principal Seizan-line examples.

Date. Shōkū’s mature period; no internal precise date.

Translations and research

No Western-language translation has been located. Discussed in: Fujimoto Kiyohiko 藤本淨彦, Seizan jōdokyō no kenkyū (Hōzōkan, 1988); critical text in Seizan zensho (1928–35).

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