Risshō Ankokuron

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Risshō Ankokuron (立正安国論) is a Japanese Buddhist treatise by the Kamakura-period monk Nichiren.

Authorship, date, and title[edit]

Risshō Ankokuron was written by the monk Nichiren.[1] It dates to the first year of Bun'ō (1260).[1] Nichiren presented it as a petition to the regent (shikken) Hōjō Tokiyori,[2] but it was ignored,[2] and brought the anger of the authorities down on Nichiren.[2]

The title Risshō Ankokuron translates to "Establishing Right Doctrine and Peace of the Nation", and is occasionally abbreviated to Ankokuron.[3]

Contents[edit]

The work consists of a single book in ten paragraphs.[4] It takes the form of a dialogue between "a visitor" and "the master",[1] and is written in kanbun (Classical Chinese).[1]

It propounds the idea that placing one's faith in the Lotus Sutra protect the safety of the nation.[4] Nichiren invokes the fear of natural disasters, famine and plague and quotes from a variety of Buddhist sutras to demonstrate that the reason for such problems is the failure of the sovereign to embrace the correct religious doctrine.[4] He attacks the Pure Land school of Hōnen as a sinister cult (邪宗 jashū)[4] and emphasizes the need to reject such false doctrines and place one's faith in the Lotus Sutra.[5]

Nichiren also predicted a foreign invasion,[2] a prediction which came true more than a decade later when Japan was invaded by the forces of Kublai Khan.[2]

Endō Asai, in his article on the work for the Encyclopedia Nipponica remarks that because of its status as a polemic against the religious practices of the nation, it lacks an explanation of the causes that lead to its conclusions,[3] and recommends reading it in combination with Shugo Kokkaron (守護国家論), which Nichiren had published the previous year.[3]

Textual tradition[edit]

A copy of the text in Nichiren's own hand, dating to 1269, is preserved in Hokekyō-ji in Ichikawa, Chiba.[3]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Asai 2001; Kubota 2007, p. 364.
  2. ^ a b c d e Kubota 2007, p. 365.
  3. ^ a b c d Asai 2001.
  4. ^ a b c d Kubota 2007, p. 364.
  5. ^ Kubota 2007, pp. 364–365.

Works cited[edit]

  • Kubota, Jun, ed. (2007). "Risshō Ankokuron" 立正安国論. Iwanami Nihon Koten Bungaku Jiten (in Japanese). Iwanami Shoten. pp. 364–365.
  • Asai, Endō (2001). "Risshō Ankokuron" 立正安国論. Encyclopedia Nipponica (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Risshō_Ankokuron&oldid=1177398324"