入宋僧奝然の世界観について

Abstract

In the mid-9th century, Japanese official diplomatic delegations sent to Tang Chinawere ended. From then on, the Japanese monks who made voyages to China werein the unique position to be able to go overseas and to experience a very differentworld. Therefore, their activities influenced Japan's world knowledge, and theirwritings had an important impact on the formation of perspective of the world inHeian era. This paper mainly examines the world view of monk Chonen who traveled toNorthern Song China in in the late 10th century. After his return to Japan, hisactivities had of course a great influence to the perspective of the world in mid-Heianera. On the other hand, Chonen had an ideal world view under the influence ofcontemporary values before his trip to China. In this paper, the author takes particular note of his ideal world view by readingsome historical records. Especially, the author reexamines O-no-nendaiki that waswritten by Chonen and points out this book was revealed not for emphasizing theextent of Japan’s unbroken imperial line but for rewriting the history of Japan-Chinarelations from a Buddist perspective. Furthermore the author points out the Buddhist world view which Chonen hadwas not the brainchild of him but was shared with aristocrats of the same period. Lastly, this paper makes specific mention of historical factors by which the worldview was made.