Ryoyo Shogei and the Belief in Shotoku Taishi: in search of his acceptance of the Seppo-Myogenron

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate-through the Seppo-Myogenron _??__??__??__??__??_-the Shogei _??__??_'s relationship to the belief in Shotoku Taishi _??__??__??__??__??__??_.Ryoyo Shogei _??__??__??__??_ (1341-1420), one of the most learned monks in the Jodo sect _??__??__??_, lived in the period of the North and South Courts through the early Muromachi era. He enhanced the Jodo sect's religious position and made a great contribution to the formulation of its solid doctrine. He was also known to have had a profound knowledge of other religious and social matters, and moreover, he had a clear apprehension of the secular religions at the time.However, little is known about how Shogei was connected to the belief in Shotoku Taishi. In the middle ages, the belief in Shotoku Taishi was widely spread among people, and in due course, many kinds of books regarding Shotoku Taishi were written. One of them is the Seppo-Myogenron _??__??__??__??__??_, believed to be a work of Shotoku Taishi.My study shows that Shogei was very interested in the Seppo-Myogenron, and he made frequent reference to it in his works.Upon close examination, surprisingly, in some cases (Jodo-Ryaku-Myomokuzu_??__??__??__??__??__??_ etc), he went so far as to adopt the Seppo-Myogenron into his own religion-Jodo Buddhism _??__??__??_.From this, we can conclude that Shogei was positively influenced by the belief in Shotoku Taishi.