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The shōgyō (literally “sacred texts”) is an extremely prolific genre of literature born in the Buddhist temples of medieval Japan, and especially those belonging to the esoteric schools. Such texts are written in Chinese, but read in Japanese, and sometimes even contain Sanskrit words. Their contents can vary considerably, going from ritual manuals, doctrinal commentaries or records of oral transmissions. Such sources were mainly used in the study of Buddhist doctrine, but recently, researchers working on Religious art, history of literature have pointed out their potential for grasping not only the evolution of Buddhist doctrine, but also the mentality of medieval Japan, a period when esoteric Buddhism was extremely influential.
This project will aim to recreate this worldview by providing a global understanding of these sources. This will, in turn, lead to a rethinking of extremely common (mis)conceptions in the understanding of the history of Japanese Buddhism, such as the radical decline of the esoteric schools at the end of the middle ages.
Relying on the many archives preserved in Kyoto, I will research manuscripts of “shōgyō” and provide editions of them. Then the texts will be analyzed both through traditional means, and the techniques of digital humanities. A systematized analysis of the vocabulary and expressions found in such sources will shed new light, free from the pitfalls of sectarian views, of the evolutions of Japanese Buddhism in this crucial period.