zen buddhism 9

39

CHAPTER TWO

Carving the Scriptures

Tetsugen’s most significant contribution to the Buddhist world of his day was the Ōbaku edition of the Buddhist scriptures. By means of that massive un- dertaking, Tetsugen provided practical support for the “back to the original sources” trend that characterized many of the intellectual movements through- out the Tokugawa period. The scripture project spanned more than twelve years, from 1667 until 1680. Tetsugen enlisted assistance not only from his disciples, but his Dharma brothers and superiors within the Ōbaku monastic community. Tetsugen, who came to the monastic life with minimal personal economic resources, financed the project by appealing to Japanese lay people for donations, rather than seeking official government sponsorship. Although this approach required more time and footwork on his part, it fulfilled another goal that Tetsugen voiced, to provide a means for lay people to build merit and establish a connection with the Buddhist Dharma. In this way, the scriptures could serve as “curative medicine” even for those who were unable or unlikely to read the texts for themselves.

THE BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES IN JA PAN

From the time Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the sixth century, Japanese Buddhists dealt with the sutras somewhat differently than Chinese Buddhists. As a result of these differences, the Japanese faced serious problems related to availability of the sutras by the early Tokugawa period. The scriptures came to Japan piecemeal from China and Korea, just as they had poured gradually into China from India and Central Asia. Unlike the Chinese, however, the Japanese did not begin the long process of translating the scriptures into their native tongue, and so did not produce a Japanese version of the scriptures until the modern period.1 Instead, having adopted Chinese as the written language of the religious and political realms, they used Chinese translations of the scrip- tures, sometimes marking the texts for easier reading, and thus accepted the Chinese version as their canon.

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Individual sutras that were important to one or more Buddhist sects such as the Lotus Sutra were copied on a regular basis and were therefore widely available. On the other hand, sutras in less demand could be very difficult to find, except at a temple that possessed a complete edition of the Chinese Bud- dhist Scriptures. Since only a limited number of these complete editions existed in Japan, gaining access to one of them was a practical impossibility for many individual monks and scholars. At the beginning of the Tokugawa period, if a monk such as Tetsugen wished to study one of the less common sutras or to have access to a complete Chinese canon for research, he had to travel to a temple possessing a copy and request permission to use it. Generally speaking, that would entail a lengthy journey to Kyoto or Edo without any guarantee of success. Temples guarded their sutras like any other rare treasure, and many monks were turned away disappointed.

In China, woodblock editions of the complete Chinese Buddhist scrip- tures became increasingly common starting in the tenth century when the first imperially sponsored edition, known as the Szechuan edition, was completed in 983. Successive generations of Chinese leaders sponsored a series of such editions, so that approximately twenty had appeared by the early seventeenth century, with at least three separate editions produced during the Ming dynasty alone.2 Korean Buddhists had likewise produced two woodblock editions of the scriptures, in the eleventh and the thirteenth centuries, using Sung editions as their basis.3 By contrast, the Japanese had not produced a single complete printed edition before the seventeenth century and were dependent on im- ported and handwritten copies alone.4

The Japanese naturally accepted the traditional Buddhist concept that transmitting and copying the sutras was a meritorious endeavor. They made handwritten copies of individual sutras, especially such important scriptures as the Heart sutra or the Lotus sutra, as a part of their religious practice. They treasured editions of the Chinese canon that had been brought to Japan from China or Korea, usually by monks returning from years of study abroad or by émigrés. Plans had periodically arisen to produce a Japanese woodblock edition, but none of these attempts ever came to fruition before the early Tokugawa period. In the seventeenth century, several factors converged to make the time ripe for a Japanese edition, and two editions were successfully completed within a few decades of one another.

First, Japanese Buddhists came to feel the need for ready access to the scriptures more acutely in the early seventeenth century than at any previous time. Under the stable conditions of peace and economic development, and with the steady encouragement of the central and provincial governments, Buddhist monks turned their attention more and more fully to scholarship. In much the same way that scholars in other fields were rediscovering and emphasizing a return to basic sources, Buddhist scholars of all sects came to stress the need for scriptural studies. The bulk of this research took place first in Kyoto and then in Edo, where monks and nuns gathered from all over the country to study and

CARV ING THE SCRIPTURES 41

hear lectures. Educational institutes associated with the main monasteries of most sects were established in one or both major cities. The sutras were more readily available in Kyoto than in other regions of the country, but even there the situation was by no means convenient due to the heavy demand for limited resources. Once scholars left Kyoto and returned to their home provinces, they might easily find themselves with access to nothing beyond their own personal library. As one sees in Tetsugen’s essays on the subject, monks from the Kyushu area discussed this problem with their colleagues from other temples when they gathered for important lectures. Tetsugen observed in the “An Opportunity for Instruction” (Keen no so),

From the middle of last autumn, I gave a lecture series on the Lotus Sutra

here at Kōtokusan Ryūchōin in the castle town of Kumamoto. The audience

gathered like banks of clouds, and participants lined up like so many stars.

High-ranking monks from various temples, and Zen monks from the four

directions strengthened their resolve to seek the scriptures from China, and

so rain down that sweet nectar upon this nation Japan.

One can easily imagine similar discussions taking place throughout the country. Second, the Japanese populace was becoming increasingly literate and the

general social climate was conducive to supporting a major printing project like the Buddhist scriptures. Publishing rapidly became big business in Tokugawa Japan as literacy increased throughout the general population, and the num- ber of works published each year rose significantly during the period. Scholars estimate that over 700 publishing firms were operating in Kyoto alone during the seventeenth century. By the end of the century, publishers produced close to 200 new titles each year, and Buddhist texts comprised the largest portion. Kyoto publishers, for example, listed some 2,796 Buddhist titles during the second half of the century alone.5 A pool of skilled engravers who made their living carving woodblocks, paper craftsmen who were producing new types of paper especially suited for the purpose, as well as skilled printers and binders were readily available in the major printing centers, primarily Kyoto and Osaka. Various kinds of materials were published, from popular novels to scholarly treatises by Buddhist and Confucian thinkers. Not surprisingly, Buddhist sub- jects were the most common early on in the Tokugawa period, since literacy was strongest in the Buddhist world.6 Even those who could not afford to purchase texts could sometimes rent them from lending libraries that spread in the major cities. Although the scriptures would not have appealed to the general public as reading material, enough people were familiar with published works for the project to be sensible to them.

The first complete Japanese edition of the Buddhist scriptures was printed just a few decades before Tetsugen began his project. This was an official edi- tion, sponsored by government funds. A team commissioned by the Tokugawa government and headed by the Tendai monk Tenkai (1536–1643) completed the work in 1648. The Tenkai edition, as it is known, had a few notable problems

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that prevented it from becoming a standard edition that solved the scarcity problem. First, the edition was printed using a form of moveable type. Unlike woodblocks that can be preserved, thus allowing for an indefinite number of copies, the movable type was reused from text to text, limiting the number of copies to the initial printing. Only about thirty copies of the Tenkai edition were actually produced. Second, it had been based on one of the inferior Yuan editions and was so riddled with errors that it was never regarded as reliable.7

THE BEGINNING OF THE SCRIPTURE PROJECT

The Deeds of Tetsugen presents Tetsugen’s resolve to produce a woodblock edi- tion of the Buddhist scriptures for Japan as a fully developed plan. It quotes Tetsugen’s statement of intention, found in “A Brief Account of the History of Carving the Buddhist Scriptures” (Daizō o kizamu engi sō), written in 1669, as if this was Tetsugen’s idea all along. In reality, Tetsugen’s thinking evolved over a long period of time, beginning at least as early as 1663, when he composed his first essay on the topic, “An Opportunity for Instruction.” In that essay, Tetsugen set out his initial plan, which was to raise funds from ordinary people and eventually import an edition of the scriptures from China. Apparently, this particular idea did not prove practical, and he abandoned it a few years later in favor of the more ambitious project of producing the woodblocks in Japan. It is possible that Tetsugen encountered difficulties in making import arrangements with Chinese merchants, or that the cost of acquiring copies in China may have been prohibitively expensive compared to the cost of printing texts in Japan. Certainly, importing individual copies would not have solved the basic problem facing Buddhist scholars throughout the country. In any case, by 1667, Tetsu- gen had determined that publishing a Japanese edition was the best solution. He made new plans accordingly.

Tetsugen and a small group of close disciples, including Hōshū and Mue Nyokū (1610–1694), left Kyushu and moved to Osaka, which was to be their base point for the duration of the project. Tetsugen left no clues in his writings as to why he chose Osaka, but the city had many advantages for a major pub- lishing venture. First, Osaka was quickly becoming the financial center of Japan with many prospering businesses located there, starting with the rice merchants who handled much of the nation’s basic cash crop. The Tokugawa government maintained direct control of the city, but permitted daimyō from all over the country to keep households there if they wished. Therefore, both wealthy mer- chants and members of the samurai class resided there.8 In financial terms, Osaka was therefore a much likelier location for raising large sums through donations than rural Kyushu. Second, by the middle of the seventeenth century, the publishing trade had spread from Kyoto to Osaka, making it one of the three likely sites with a ready supply of the requisite craftsmen and materials.9

Third, Osaka was reasonably near Kyoto and Uji, approximately a day’s journey from each, so that Tetsugen could be in close contact with his superiors at

CARV ING THE SCRIPTURES 43

Mampukuji as well as enjoy easy access to all of the cultural resources in Kyoto. In fact, as a primary transportation node in Japan’s extensive system of river and coastal routes, Osaka provided exceptional access to the entire country. There- fore, Tetsugen could travel conveniently back and forth between Edo, Kyushu, Kyoto, and Osaka on his fund-raising missions from a central base point.

At first, while Tetsugen and his disciples went about the business of es- tablishing a financial base for the scripture project, they made their temporary abode with a merchant family named Okuda, who were already Ōbaku support- ers.10 Up until this point in time, Tetsugen had virtually no financial resources of his own on which to draw. Popular tales speak of him as being so poor that he could not even afford a metal begging bowl, so he covered a woven bowl with black paper to make it resemble the proper utensil. The first stage of his work in Osaka would be to build a temple to house the project and to provide for the daily needs for himself and his disciples. Tetsugen found a sponsor, mentioned in the “History of Carving the Buddhist Scriptures,” whose identity remains unknown, and eventually was able to lease a small dilapidated temple called Yakushiji in the Naniwa section of the city. Tetsugen gave a lecture at Yakushiji sometime during 1668, so one may assume that he took up residence there in that year. In 1670, a group of faithful lay supporters provided the resources to restore the temple and invited Tetsugen to become the official restorer and first head monk. Tetsugen then renamed the temple Jiunsan Zuiryūji (Mount Cloud of Compassion, Lucky Dragon Temple), though it later became known by its popular name, Tetsugenji.

In the spring of 1668, Tetsugen gave a lecture on the Awakening of Faith at a Sōtō temple in Osaka, Chōshōsan Gekkōin and announced publicly, perhaps for the first time, his vow to print the Buddhist scriptures. In the audience was the nun Myōu Dōnin (d. 1678) from Kannonji, who had already been gener- ous in her donations for other Ōbaku projects. Myōu was so moved when she heard Tetsugen describe his plan, that she donated one thousand ryō of gold, an enormous donation for a private individual to make.11 Tetsugen responded to her generosity saying, “I have heard it said that even a tower one thousand feet tall must begin with a foundation.12 I now have my foundation. Without a doubt, I shall print the entire Buddhist canon!” (Deeds of Tetsugen). Tradi- tion regards this as Tetsugen’s first donation, since it proved to be the impetus he needed to take further concrete steps. With a substantial sum far exceeding his own immediate needs, Tetsugen was ready to move ahead with the second stage of the project.

Before Tetsugen could proceed further, however, he needed to formally ask his superiors’ permission to undertake the project. Under normal circumstances, Zen monks would not have orchestrated this kind of endeavor, since it posed an obvious interruption in regular Zen monastic practice for an extended period of time. Sometime in the summer or early fall of 1669, Tetsugen paid a visit to Ōbakusan where he called on both Yinyuan and Muan. At that time, Yinyuan had already retired and was living at Shōdōin, his subtemple on Ōbakusan,

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while Muan had succeeded him as the abbot of Mampukuji in 1664. Tetsu- gen consulted both masters, as is recorded in their respective biographies.13

Each approved of his plan and marked the occasion with a verse presented to Tetsugen.14

Yinyuan gave Tetsugen his full and enthusiastic support for the project. “I came to Japan for the sake of the Dharma,” Yinyuan said. “The shogun gave me land and I was able to build [Mampukuji]. [Our Dharma] style has flourished, and all has gone as I hoped. The only thing missing was to print an edition of the Buddhist scriptures. Now I know that it was in order that I might hear this glorious news that my withered body has not passed away. My wishes have now been fulfilled” (Deeds of Tetsugen). Yinyuan also expressed his support in tangible terms that further promoted the project. First, he turned over to Tetsugen his own complete copy of the Chinese canon that he had brought over from China. Tetsugen used that version, a copy of the Wanli edition, as the basis for his own, replicating the Chinese text down to the Ming style of characters, page layout, and binding.15 Second, Yinyuan sectioned off a parcel of land on Ōbakusan that he turned over to Tetsugen. Tetsugen initially used this land to build a storehouse for the woodblocks that he appropriately named Hōzōin (Treasure Storehouse Temple).

The sources offer no comparable clue as to Muan’s reaction to the project beyond noting that he granted his permission. Muan’s biography includes only the terse entry, “[The master] instructed Tetsugen Jōza (High Seat) to carve [woodblocks for] the Buddhist scriptures.”16 Most secondary sources, includ- ing the Deeds of Tetsugen, do not even note that the meeting took place.

With a small financial base to build on and his superiors’ permission se- cured, Tetsugen had indeed completed the foundation for his Buddhist canon. He marked the occasion by composing a short essay, “A Brief Account of the History of Carving the Buddhist Scriptures,” which served to publicly an- nounce the start of the project. In the essay, Tetsugen set forth his reasons for undertaking it, progress to date, and his hopes for the future. The text reads in part,

Since ancient times, our country [ Japan] has been called a Buddha Land.

Since the teachings were first received in the East during the reign of Emperor

Kimmei, successive emperors have received them, while taking special care to

reverence the kami (indigenous deities of Japan). [The Buddhist teachings]

have come to be revered and followed by the whole nation, counselors, retain-

ers, and all classes of people. Moreover, when we reflect on this, [ Japan] is not

inferior to places such as India and China, except that from the beginning,

there has never been a printed edition of the scriptures published here, mak-

ing texts quite scarce. Whenever talented men from the various temples and

monasteries discuss this, they can only regret it. . . .

I bow down and pray that the counselors, officials, wealthy folk, good men and

virtuous women in all ten directions would each give rise to the thought of

CARV ING THE SCRIPTURES 45

how difficult it is to meet [a Buddha], and manifest a broad mind to help with

[the project]. Fund three to five sutras, or even just a single word or half a verse.

Doing so would tie a bond with wisdom and complete this important work,

and so turn the wheel of the Dharma and eternally bless our country.

THE PROJECT’S STRUCTURE

After meeting with Yinyuan and Muan, Tetsugen consulted with various col- leagues and lay sponsors to determine how best to proceed. They decided to review the contents of the Chinese canon and select the most important sutras for immediate publication. According to the Deeds of Tetsugen, this first set amounted to ten volumes. The project was then to proceed as steadily as funds allowed, with Tetsugen taking primary responsibility for raising the money. A certain amount is known about how the project was structured, who par- ticipated, in what capacity, and where the work was done, and so on. Tetsugen and his advisers determined many of these practical issues in 1669, just before Tetsugen set off on his first major fund-raising trip. Tetsugen’s own disciples and the craftsmen they hired performed the bulk of the work, but other mem- bers of the Ōbaku community participated as well, contributing according to their own talents and resources.

First, Tetsugen created a triangle of work sites, connecting Osaka, Uji, and Kyoto, that his followers came to refer to as the “three places” (sansho). He designated Zuiryūji in Osaka, Hōzōin on Ōbakusan, and the Inbō, or Print Shop,17 in Kyoto as the headquarters for different aspects of the project, and he assigned disciples to manage each of them in his absence. The latter two structures were built in the autumn of 1669, and Zuiryūji, formerly Yakushiji, was officially restored the following year. Zuiryūji continued to be Tetsugen’s primary temple of residence, where he stayed whenever he was not travel- ing and where the majority of his disciples remained.18 When he was away, which was much of the time, Tetsugen assigned either Hōshū or Nyokū to act as his deputy at Zuiryūji. The deputy acted in the place of the head monk to oversee the Zen practice of Tetsugen’s other disciples. Apparently, Zuiryūji functioned in much the same manner as other Ōbaku temples, except that the daily work undertaken by the monks was most often related to the scripture project.

Tetsugen built Hōzōin on the land within the temple grounds of Mam- pukuji that Yinyuan had granted to him. Although the name suggests that it was a subtemple, the first structure was nothing more than a small storehouse, where Tetsugen planned to keep the completed woodblocks. He was later able to move Hōzōin to a better site, and the new structure was spacious enough to house the actual printing work when it went into full production. Eventually, Hōzōin did become a full subtemple with an abbot’s hall and other temple buildings, but that probably occurred after Tetsugen passed away and Hōshū became head monk.

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Tetsugen set up the print shop in Kyoto, usually called simply Inbō, where the carving of the woodblocks took place.19 This site, located at Nijō and Ki- yamachi streets, in the heart of Kyoto’s thriving publishing district, was con- venient at that time for gathering the woodcarvers who abounded in Kyoto, and later as a business office for selling copies of the scriptures. As the project progressed and more woodblocks were completed, Tetsugen also used the shop as a bindery and distribution center. Since the shop served primarily secular purposes, in particular as the locus for collecting the profits from sales, Tetsu- gen never regarded it as a regular temple. Tetsugen included a special section on the Inbō in his rules for Hōzōin which reads,

The Inbō does not allow guests, neither monk nor lay, to stay overnight. Inbō

is not like other temples. Its provisions (lit. rice and vegetables) are all reserved

for the sake of the Dharma. If they are misused, then both guest and host will

have sinned grievously. Do not do this!20

The instructions were dated the first day of summer, Empō 5 (1677), and signed with Tetsugen’s seal. However, given the religious nature of the project, the Inbō did function in some respects as a religious site, and was eventually given the temple name Baiyō-dō (Tāla Leaf Hall). Baiyō is a short form of Baitarayō, or pattra in Sanskrit. The term refers to leaves, especially those of the tāla tree, on which the sutras were traditionally written. Later directors of the shop all came from Hōshū’s Dharma lineage within Ōbaku Zen, and generally served simultaneously as the head monk at Hōzōin. Later generations enshrined im- ages of Tetsugen and Hōshū in one room, where they held memorial services in their honor.21

Although Tetsugen had changed his goal and now intended to publish rather than import the scriptures from China, certain aspects of his plan re- mained constant over the years. It was always his stated resolve to involve as many ordinary people as possible in the project and thereby provide them with a special opportunity to participate in a meritorious act. Tetsugen did not limit his fund-raising activities to visits with government officials or wealthy merchants, although ultimately a large percentage of the funds collected came from them. He took his idea to the common people and used his project as a means to spread the Dharma among them. The words he wrote in “An Op- portunity for Instruction,” in 1663, described his work throughout the long years of travel.

. . . I will not shy away from the exalted nor overlook the lowly. I will not re-

gard ten thousand kan [of rice] as too much, nor one grain of rice as too little.

Whatever people can offer, I will accept. I will accept it as it is given and go on

begging. . . . If a poor woman offers even a single sen, although it may seem a

meager sum, with that fine thread she will tie a lasting bond with the Dharma.

If an orphan without savings amounting to a scrap of toilet paper should give a

single grain of millet, he will have planted the great seed of enlightenment.

CARV ING THE SCRIPTURES 47

The vast majority of the contributions that Tetsugen collected were small of- ferings made by ordinary people, sometimes donated collectively through their local religious confraternities (kō). Tetsugen and his disciples did not keep de- tailed records of the smaller donations they received, so we do not know the exact numbers. Instead, we have lists of place names representing thousands of smaller donations of precisely the sort Tetsugen described in the passage above. In the case of larger individual donations made by government officials or wealthy merchants, Tetsugen recorded the name of the individual and the number of volumes of the scriptures the donation had financed. Tetsugen had an inscription carved on the final page of each volume of the sutras, indicating the donation(s), either by groups or individuals, that had sponsored it.

Tetsugen’s primary role in the operation was to raise funds to keep the project in business. There are numerous popular tales of Tetsugen begging on the streets of Osaka or Kyoto, asking passersby for even half a sen to support his work. One story, told in a number of variations, has been used within the sect to illustrate Tetsugen’s boundless determination. Tetsugen was out beg- ging in a bitter winter storm on the Sanjō Bridge in Kyoto. A samurai passed by on horseback. Although Tetsugen called out to him, the man proceeded on without responding. Tetsugen followed the man on foot, walking as far as the town of Otsu, approximately ten kilometers away. There he addressed the samurai again, politely asking for a small donation for publishing the scriptures. The samurai tossed him a small coin, more to be rid of the tenacious pest than to support the project. But Tetsugen took up the small offering as if it were a treasure. This moved the samurai and the crowd that had gathered to watch, and the encounter gave Tetsugen an opportunity to explain his work at some length.22

Tetsugen maintained the practice of begging in the streets to raise funds in the traditional manner, but that method would neither have attracted the public attention nor garnished the funds necessary for a major undertaking. In order to raise larger sums of money, Tetsugen continued to use his greatest skill, his ability as a public speaker, as the basis for his efforts. Tetsugen had a talent for explicating difficult concepts from the Buddhist scriptures in basic terms that common people could grasp, and he had already developed a reputation in Kyushu for his lecturing style before he moved to Osaka. Buddhist lectures were a common feature in Tokugawa period life, and served as a form of enter- tainment as well as religious education in urban centers and rural villages alike. Large crowds numbering even in the thousands might gather to hear a popular speaker. During the first years of Tetsugen’s residence in Osaka, he arranged or was invited to give lectures at several temples in the area and thus began to build his reputation in the Kansai region. As Tetsugen’s name became known, he drew larger crowds, and was able to spread the message of his endeavor to a wider audience.

Tetsugen traveled throughout the Kantō, Kansai, and Kyushu regions, lec- turing in cities and small villages. Over thirteen years of actively raising funds

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for the scripture project, from 1669 through 1682, Tetsugen made five trips to Edo, lecturing not only in the capital itself, but in the outlying areas and along the route between Kantō and Kansai. He spent an extended period of time, from 1674 through 1676, traveling around Kyushu, lecturing at various temples and instructing regional officials. According to Akamatsu Shinmyō’s estima- tion, Tetsugen traveled through and collected funds in some forty provinces.23

The Deeds of Tetsugen lists only six major lecture series that Tetsugen gave at large, important temples over the thirteen years, but other sources mention at least three others. There is no way to estimate the less formal appearances that he made at smaller temples, but the number of donations from various confra- ternities around the country suggest that these must have been numerous.

Traveling was much safer during the peaceful years of the Tokugawa pe- riod than in earlier times, and the well-established routes made the process more convenient. Nonetheless, the years of traveling took their toll on Tetsugen and he faced certain hazards. There is one story of him being robbed while returning home to Osaka after a successful trip to Edo. While making his way along a route following the Kiso River, Tetsugen was attacked by a robber. The man took the packet of money that Tetsugen was carrying and pushed Tetsugen into the raging river. Tetsugen only saved himself from drowning by grabbing hold of a willow branch hanging down in the water. Tradition has it that a man named Takehara, one of the believers who sponsored the restora- tion of Yakushiji and who invited Tetsugen to serve as abbot, later confessed to Tetsugen that he had been the robber. Takehara then became one of Tetsugen’s most generous sponsors for the scripture project.24

SUPPORT FROM TH E ŌBAKU MONASTIC COMMUNITY

Hōshū indicated in his Deeds of Tetsugen that Tetsugen distributed responsibili- ties for the project among his many disciples, but we know little of the details. Nyokū was most often left as Tetsugen’s deputy at Zuiryūji, and was given the title Temple Administrator (kan’in).25 Other senior disciples would have served similar managerial roles at Hōzōin and at the Inbō to direct the work of the hired craftsmen. Hōshū probably worked primarily at the latter two sites when he was not accompanying Tetsugen on a journey. Early on in the project, Nyokū recommended to Tetsugen that they build a small temple in Fushimi to facili- tate communications between the three sites. Fushimi was a key transportation node, where travelers changed boats depending on their destination. Nyokū believed that a temple there could serve as a relay point for messages and as a convenient resting house for Ōbaku monks in transit. They assigned the job of establishing such a temple to one of Nyokū’s disciples, a young man named Kūgan‚ in the first month of 1671. Unfortunately, the arduous process of finding sponsors and arranging for government permission to build a new temple took nearly five years. The temple was not completed until the end of 1675 and never proved to be an important addition to the workings of the scripture project.

CARV ING THE SCRIPTURES 49

Somewhat more is known of the help provided by other senior Ōbaku monks, including Tetsugyū Dōki (1628–1700), Ryōō Dōkaku (1630–1707), and Damei Xingshan ( J. Daibi Shōzen; 1616–1673). Tetsugen first met Tetsugyū in 1655 in Nagasaki, when the two of them were practicing under Yinyuan at Kōfukuji. Both monks subsequently became Muan’s disciples, and Tetsugyū received inka from the master in 1667, a few years before Tetsugen began the scripture project in earnest. Even before Tetsugen consulted with Yinyuan and Muan, he requested the support of his Dharma brother Tetsugyū, who was then living in Edo.26 In the autumn of 1668, Tetsugen commissioned one of Tetsu- gyū’s disciples, Chigen Genjō (ordained 1654, d. 1697?), who visited Zuiryūji while passing through Osaka on his way to Edo, to carry his appeal to Tetsugyū. Tetsugyū responded enthusiastically to Tetsugen’s request for assistance. Ac- cording to one biography, Tetsugyū commented that he had always hoped to produce an edition of the sutras himself and would gladly extend a hand in any way possible to a Dharma brother with the same intention.27

Tetsugyū’s biography spells out a number of ways in which the master fulfilled his promise to support Tetsugen.28 First, Tetsugyū had extensive con- tacts among government officials and other leading samurai in Edo, and was well known in the city. He used these connections to promote Tetsugen’s plan, setting the stage so that Tetsugen, previously unknown in the capital, would re- ceive a warm welcome when he first visited in 1669. When Tetsugen arrived in Edo, the two men were able to confer in person and Tetsugyū advised Tetsugen how best to proceed. Tetsugyū can be partially credited with the financial suc- cess of Tetsugen’s first fund-raising expedition, since he vouched for Tetsugen’s character among the officials who made substantial donations. Tetsugyū may well have also been responsible for the unusually large turnout that came to hear Tetsugen lecture at Kaiunji in Asakusa in the fall of 1669, his first ap- pearance in the city.29 Apparently, Tetsugyū played a similar promotional role within the Ōbaku sect itself. He defended Tetsugen’s plan when other monks scoffed that it was too large a task for any individual monk to manage. He had faith in Tetsugen’s abilities when the others did not yet know his mettle, and he convinced them to support the project. Finally, it is said that Tetsugyū took it on himself to do the proofreading for most of the prepared blocks, although, given Tetsugyū’s schedule, this last item stretches credulity.

Like Tetsugyū, Ryōō centered his work in the Kantō area, so he was not di- rectly involved in the scripture project. He practiced under several Ōbaku mas- ters, including Yinyuan, Zhifei, and Gaochuan throughout his life, and became Gaochuan’s Dharma heir in 1695. His early years of Zen practice were inter- rupted several times by sickness. As a result, he studied medicine and eventually set up a successful medical school and pharmacy in Edo.30 In 1665, Ryōō made a vow to use the funds acquired from selling his medicines to purchase copies of the Buddhist canon and donate them to various temples in order to promote the Dharma. He was especially generous with Tendai and Zen temples, includ- ing several Ōbaku temples. At first, he purchased copies of the scriptures, such

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as the Tenkai and Chinese editions, as they became available to him. Later, he offered financial support to Tetsugen’s project, and after the Ōbaku edition was completed, he ordered numerous complete and partial copies that he presented as donations to various temples.

Damei was one of the Chinese monks who accompanied Yinyuan to Japan in 1654. He served as Yinyuan’s attendant until the master’s death in 1673. Damei received Yinyuan’s inka in 1665, and recognized a single Dharma heir, Bairei Dōsetsu (1641–1717). Damei assisted Tetsugen in a most unusual man- ner, by donating his own subtemple at Ōbakusan for use as the new site for Hōzōin. In 1665, Damei built himself a retreat called Tōrinin in a secluded area of the temple grounds. His site was situated to the east of the main temple, on high, dry land, and far from any other structure. His property was therefore relatively safe from the dangers of fire and water damage, making it a perfect location for storing the woodblock plates. In contrast, the land that Yinyuan originally gave to Tetsugen lay to the west of Mampukuji, on low, moist ground, close to the kitchen, which greatly raised the fire risk.

The story of Damei’s donation is preserved not only within the Ōbaku sect, but was included in the Settsu meisho zue, a Tokugawa period collection of illustrations of famous sites in Settsu province that includes some relevant tales. Damei’s Dharma heir Bairei built a temple in Settsu and named Damei as the founder. It was through this connection that a story set in Uji came to be included in a Settsu collection. The story reads

One day when Tetsugen was first at Ōbakusan, he was so poor that he did

not have a metal begging bowl for when he left the temple to beg. He found

a rough bamboo basket and covered it with black paper and used that. In

that area, there was a man called Master Damei of Tōrinin. He was a wealthy

Chinese monk. He had books, Buddhist implements and gold coins. He was a

millionaire, but had a close relationship with Tetsugen. One day, Tetsugen was

talking to himself and said, “I have completed the first half of the wood blocks

for the Buddhist scriptures, but my temple is small so there is no room to store

them. Master Damei’s lodgings are larger and off to the side of the mountain

. . .” Damei heard him muttering through the fence, and said to himself, “I

was born wealthy but my life has no merit. Though Tetsugen is poor, he has

undertaken the great merit of printing the sutras. After today, I will give him

my temple in exchange for his. After today, I will trade places with Tetsugen.”

When Damei’s disciples asked him if he were taking his Buddhist images and

texts with him, he laughed and said, “No. I said that we would change places.

The little bamboo bowl that Tetsugen had is now mine. When we trade places,

not one single treasure or implement will be moved.” One can see that Damei

was also a wise and virtuous man, and so he has been mentioned here.31

Shortly after Yinyuan died and Damei was himself sick and dying, he offered to make a trade with Tetsugen: he and his disciples would move to Hōzōin and Tetsugen would have Tōrinin. Damei prepared a deed explaining

CARV ING THE SCRIPTURES 51

the trade in order to prevent any trouble or confusion for future descendents. It read in part:

The most revered thing in the world is the Buddha; the most treasured is the

Dharma; and the most respected is the sangha. A person who believes in the

Three Treasures is called wise. With only the Buddha and not the Dharma,

one cannot save sentient beings. The sangha without the Dharma cannot at-

tain enlightenment. Therefore, bodhisattvas make expounding the Dharma

tantamount among all their practices.

Be that as it may, although this land has long been called a Buddha land, and

although the emperor, retainers, and all classes of people revered the Three

Treasures and built temples, they had the sutras alone without having the

woodblocks. Like a fire without a source or water without an origin, [the

Dharma] cannot grow and be transmitted to all [Dharma] lineages.

Tetsugen, a virtuous Zen monk and skilled at spreading the sutras, travels

everywhere to give lectures, clearly explaining the Great Teaching. His fame

is extensive. He gave rise to the mind of bodhi and practices the bodhisattva

way. He has gathered great men from the ten directions to print the Buddha’s

wise commands. His [work] will allow the Dharma to be transmitted forever.

How deep is his merit!

Now the woodblocks are halfway done, and Tetsugen believes that he will not

have sufficient storage space. He has lamented this fact to me. For the sake of

the Dharma, I have given up my whole life just to seek understanding of half

a verse. How much more readily will I give up an external thing! I think that

my land at Tōrin is especially dry and far removed from any fire hazard, and

therefore quite suitable. It is the most secluded area of Ōbakusan. . . .

Written by the hand of the founder of Tōrinin, Damei Xingshan, in agree-

ment with my ten disciples.32

The text is dated the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month 1673, less than a month before Damei’s death on the eighteenth day of the tenth month. As can be seen in the text, Damei had consulted with his disciples, and they were in agreement as well. Although the sources are not explicit on this point, it seems likely that Damei consulted with them as a part of the deathbed distribution of his property. Tetsugen took possession of Damei’s retreat and built a larger storehouse on the property, while Damei’s disciples moved to the former site of Hōzōin.

OUTSIDE SOURCES OF SUPPORT

In addition to the help that Tetsugen’s disciples and other Ōbaku monks of- fered in completing the scripture project, Tetsugen received practical assistance from outsiders. For example, according to tradition, the Tokugawa government

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official who administrated the Nara region, identified by some scholars as Mizo- guchi Nobukatsu, was said to have supported Tetsugen’s undertaking by en- abling him to use Yoshino cherry trees for the woodblocks. The cherry trees in Yoshino, reputed to be the finest cherry wood in all of Japan, were protected by government order, and cutting them was strictly forbidden. In order to make them available for use, the official proclaimed a group of the trees dead and ordered them to be cleared. He then donated the wood to Tetsugen. Although the woodblocks are indeed cherry, scholars have been unable to confirm this tradition as to the source of the wood.33 As Satō Fumitsugu points out, there are similar stories told about cherry trees being donated from other regions, so it is possible that Tetsugen received donations of wood from a number of sources.34

Tetsugen also received support from monks affiliated with other Buddhist sects. There are two examples that stand out in the sources, although a great number of Buddhist monks and nuns contributed funds and promoted the project in other ways over the years. A Shingon monk named Kakugen Jōgon (1639–1704),35 met Tetsugen in Kyoto sometime in 1674 and was deeply im- pressed by his work. Tetsugen invited Kakugen to see the printing operation and gave him a tour of the facilities. Kakugen had long wished to have access to the sutras and had arranged an extended stay in Kyoto for just that purpose. When he saw the progress being made by Tetsugen, he wanted to be of some assistance. Kakugen offered to identify the esoteric sutras so that these could easily be grouped as a subset that would then be circulated among Tendai and Shingon temples.36 Tetsugen agreed, and Kakugen created an index for the esoteric collection within the Buddhist canon.37 Kakugen also provided ap- proximately ten additional texts that were not included in the original Wanli edition, which he requested that Tetsugen include in the Ōbaku edition in order to complete the esoteric canon.38

A second example of outside assistance came from an unlikely source, a True Pure Land monk named Suiin from Hita. Sometime in 1675, shortly after Tetsugen had a serious encounter with True Pure Land believers in Mori, Suiin sent one of his disciples to see Tetsugen to reprimand him for attacking the True Pure Land sect. At that time, Tetsugen’s relations with the True Pure Land sect had deteriorated so badly that he was generally regarded as the sect’s sworn enemy. Tetsugen cordially received Suiin’s disciple and, in order to defuse a potentially volatile situation, expressed his respect for Suiin’s learning. As a result, despite the inauspicious beginning to their interchange, Suiin eventually donated one hundred gold coins for the scripture project.39

COMPLETION OF THE BUDDHIST SCRIPTURE PROJECT

After twelve years of steady work, Tetsugen’s team of assistants finally com- pleted the actual carving of the woodblocks for the Buddhist canon some- time in 1680. In the end, there was a total of 6,956 bound volumes, with over

CARV ING THE SCRIPTURES 53

60,000 individual blocks. Each wood block has four pages of text, two pages carved onto each face. The blocks measure approximately thirty-two inches by ten inches and are three-quarters of an inch thick. According to literature distributed at Hōzōin, it takes a team of five expert printers to print and bind a complete set.

In anticipation of its completion, Tetsugen ordered that an advance copy of the scriptures (approximately the first 6,930 volumes) be prepared for the retired emperor Gomizunoo in the fall of 1678. Tetsugen composed a short dedication for the emperor in ornate Chinese, “A Report on Progress Made on the New Edition of the Buddhist Scriptures” (Shin shinkoku daizōkyō hyō), dated the 17th day of the 7th month 1678, and attached it to the prepared volumes. Tetsugen then presented this first wood block copy of the Buddhist canon printed in Japan to the emperor.

According to the Deeds of Tetsugen, the emperor received the volumes with great pleasure and praised the quality of the workmanship and the magnitude of Tetsugen’s accomplishment. “The volumes of the Buddhist scriptures are as numerous as this, and yet they were well printed. One must regard [Tetsugen’s] resolve as firm and sincere. Truly he is a meritorious servant of the Buddhist teachings and will reap good fortune in his future life. Such distinguished ser- vice to the court is unprecedented.” Gomizunoo eventually dedicated his copy of the Ōbaku edition to Shōmyōji, the temple dearest to him.

By 1681, four more complete copies were ready for presentation. Tetsugen dedicated the second copy to Ishōji in Ise as an offering to the kami Amaterasu. The third was intended for the Tokugawa government, although Tetsugen was never able to present it himself. He gave the fourth copy to Lord Hosokawa, daimyō of Higo, to repay his kindness over the years. Finally, Tetsugen dedicated the fifth copy to Yinyuan at Ōbakusan Mampukuji. Tetsugen’s assistants kept a register, known as the Daizōkyō shōkyo sōchō (Complete Record of Orders for the Buddhist Scriptures), in which were recorded the destinations by province and temple of the first four hundred complete copies and the partial printings made during the same period. The register basically covers the years when Tetsugen and his disciple Hōshū were alive and managing the operation.40 Later gen- erations kept similar records, and the officials at Hōzōin today estimate that something over two thousand complete or partial copies were produced during the first 200-year history of the Ōbaku edition.

Tetsugen proceeded to Edo in 1680 in order to officially present his edi- tion of the scriptures to the Tokugawa government. Just as he had done for the emperor, Tetsugen composed a memorial essay in Chinese for the shogun, “An Account of Completing the Buddhist Scriptures,” which he planned to attach to the shogun’s copy. Because he was awaiting permission to present the volumes, Tetsugen dated the essay only with the year, 1681, leaving the month and date blank. Although Tetsugen remained in Edo throughout the entire year, he received no reply to his petition. Called away by urgent events in Osaka, Tetsugen left Edo for the last time early in 1682 without completing his

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mission. After his death, his disciple Hōshū took it upon himself to complete his master’s task. Hōshū likewise failed on his first attempt. The government finally accepted its copy of the Ōbaku edition in 1690.

THE CONTINUATION OF THE BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES PROJECT

Tetsugen’s disciples fulfilled their master’s final wishes, and the scripture project continued to prosper. Hōshū, Kyōdō, and later generations of abbots in the Zuiryū line managed the work at Hōzōin and the Inbō. Under their guidance, a few select titles were appended to the original set of woodblocks. These were primarily Ōbaku sectarian texts including works related to Tetsugen’s life and teachings. Printing activities remained in full swing well into the modern era, until the Ōbaku edition was superceded by the Taishō edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon. For two-and-a-half centuries, the Buddhist scriptures were almost inevitably associated with the name Tetsugen in Japan. In the modern period, copies of Tetsugen’s edition even made their way to Europe and the United States, and were used by Western scholars in early studies of the Bud- dhist scriptures.

The original woodblocks of the Ōbaku edition have been carefully pre- served at Hōzōin where they are stored in a new structure, specially designed to retard deterioration. Even after generations of steady use, they remain in excellent condition. Printing does continue today on a very limited basis. The temple still employs one craftsman trained in the traditional art of printing and binding who instructs visitors on the history of the woodblocks while dem- onstrating his craft. He regularly produces a few of the more popular sutras, especially the Heart sutra, and fills special orders as they arise. In this way, the temple continues to honor Tetsugen’s final command: “Printing the Buddhist scriptures is the way to spread the Buddha’s wise commands . . . See to it that [the scriptures] are transmitted forever” (Deeds of Tetsugen).