Series | Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
Edited book | Images from the Past: Intertextuality in Japanese Premodern Literature
Chapter | Nihon ryōiki: Its “Letters”, and their Relevance for the History of Literature
Nihon ryōiki: Its “Letters”, and their Relevance for the History of Literature
Abstract
Compiled in the early ninth century, Nihon ryōiki is a collection of accounts involving karmic retribution and miracles. The compilation was intended to guide readers on the Buddhist path. Much of the phraseology in Nihon ryōiki was quoted from or influenced by texts from the Chinese Buddhist canon or non-Buddhist Chinese classics. The text overall reveals a metadiscourse that associates certain personages with a saintly lineage, embodying the ideal form of the human being. However, this metadiscourse was not always faithfully recreated in subsequent writings that drew upon the text. This paper dwells on the classification of books like the Nihon ryōiki, which are today known as setsuwa anthologies. From an intertextual perspective, the study reexamines the relation between Nihon ryōiki and other texts, and discusses its historical significance. In light of this discussion, this article attempts to reevaluate the nature of ancient texts written in Chinese characters and the study thereof.
Submitted: Dec. 14, 2021 | Accepted: March 21, 2022 | Published Aug. 30, 2022 | Language: en
Keywords Text • Book indexes • Inner scriptures • Outer writings • Nihon ryōiki • Intertextuality
Copyright © 2022 Kimiko Kōno. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-608-4/009
