Nichiren Shōnin ichidai zue 日蓮上人一代図会

FSC-GR-780.261.1-6

Commentary by Sherry D. Fowler

Posted September 23, 2016

Nichiren 日蓮 (1222–1282) was the charismatic founder of the Nichiren, or Hokke (法華), school of Buddhism. The six-volume Nichiren Shōnin ichidai zue (Illustrated compendium of Saint Nichiren, the first generation) illustrates Nichiren’s biography in a dramatic style that includes battle scenes, dreams, and images of the Buddhist and Shinto deities that supported his mission.

The first illustration in volume two shows the two Buddhas, Shakyamuni (J. Shaka 釈迦) and Prabhūtaratna (J. Tahō 多宝), appearing before Nichiren in a blaze of light along with the Sanjūbanjin 三十番神 (Thirty guardian kami) who protect the Lotus sutra (Hokekyō 法華経). Nichiren believed that the Lotus sutra should be revered above all other Buddhist sutras because it contained the ultimate teachings of the Buddha Shakyamuni. Nichiren preached the superiority of chanting the mantra Namu myōhō rengekyō (南無妙法蓮華経)—translatable as “Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra”—as a means to end suffering, eradicate bad karma, and attain enlightenment. This mantra, which is written in the sky between the two Buddhas, is known as the Daimoku 題目 (Great title) because it refers to the sacred title as the essence of the Lotus sutra.

Following the illustrations in the preface of volume one is a depiction of Nichiren’s Dai mandara 大曼荼羅 (Great mandala; also known as the Gohonzon 御本尊, or Object of Devotion). This is the text of the Daimoku surrounded by the characters of names of other deities. Nichiren is said to have first inscribed the mandala after a failed attempt at his execution during the master’s exile on Sado Island. The fourth illustration in volume six portrays a conventional scene of Nichiren’s death, where he lies on a mat before an altar enshrining a Dai mandara. Eight scrolls of the Lotus sutra are laid out on a table before Nichiren. His disciples and supporters, their names appearing in small cartouches, gather around him in grief.

Nichiren Buddhism enjoyed widespread popularity during the Edo period, and there was a correspondingly great demand for books about its founder, Nichiren. Nichiren Shōnin ichidai zue was published in 1858 when there was a surge of publications on many different prominent Buddhist figures. Another such example in the Pulverer collection is the 1867 Nichiren Daishi shinjitsuden (FSC-GR-780.74.1-5). The preface of Nichiren Shōnin ichidai zue was written by Nittaku, the abbot of the temple Tanjōji (誕生寺), who states that the book was based on the 1797 thirty-eight volume work Honge bettō busso tōki 本化別頭仏祖統記 (Chronicle of the teachings of the original Buddha and the patriarchs) by the monk Nitchō 日潮 (1675–1748). [1] The author and compiler of Nichiren Shōnin ichidai zue, Shōtei Kinsui (1795–1862), was a lay believer of the Nichiren School. He is listed under the name Shōtei Nakamura Keinen 松亭中村経年 as the author in the colophon of this work and in another in the Pulverer collection, Kannongyō ryakuzukai (FSC-GR-780.265). It and Nichiren Shōnin ichidai zue were illustrated by the ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Isai, a student of Katsushika Hokusai.

The colophon at the end of volume six of the Pulverer copy credits Isai as the illustrator of this publication. However, other 1858 editions of this book, such as the copy in the Waseda University Library collection, have a colophon with the same publishing details but substitute Isai’s name with that of his more celebrated teacher Hokusai. [2] The Waseda volume has the title page printed on a red background, whereas that of the Pulverer copy is yellow.

This book was frequently republished, an indication of its long-standing popularity. The 1888 edition in the National Diet Library, Tokyo, retains the names of the original publishers, Okadaya Kashichi and Yamatoya Kihē, but lists Hokusai as the artist. [3] The 1996 reprint Shinshaku Nichiren Shōnin ichidai zue also persists with this claim. The questions about whether Isai actually did the illustrations himself or collaborated on them with Hokusai, who died nine years before the book’s release, or why Isai’s name was removed from the colophon are puzzling. It could be that the publishers understood that Hokusai’s name would have added greater cachet.

Selected readings

Kikuta Kanga 菊田貫雅, ed., Shinshaku Nichiren Shōnin ichidai zue 『新釈日蓮聖人一代図会』 (Tokyo: Risshō Shando Kyōkai, 1996).

Miyazaki Eishū 宮崎英修, Nichiren jiten 日蓮辞典 (Tokyo: Tōkyōdō Shuppan), 1978.

Mochizuki Masami 望月真澄, “Bakumatsuki Nichiren denkibon ni kansuru ikkōsatsu—Nakamura Keinen chō Nichiren Shōnin ichidai zue niokeru deshi, shinto, jiin ni kakawaru kisai jikō o chūshin ni” 「幕末期日蓮伝記本に関する一考察—中村経年著『日蓮上人一代図会』における弟子・信徒・寺院に関わる記載事項を中心に」, Minobu ronsō 身延論叢 15 (March 2010), 19–36.

Copies in other collections

Dōshisha University, Kyoto

Library of Congress, Washington, DC

University of Washington Library, Seattle

Waseda University, Tokyo

[1] Tanjōji is the birthplace of Nichiren and is situated in present-day Kamogawa City, Chiba Prefecture.

[2] See http://www.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kotenseki/html/he13/he13_00594/ (accessed September 19, 2016).

[3] See http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/823840/1 (accessed September 19, 2016).

Nichiren shōnin ichidai zue