Old Korean Books Preserved in Japan

FUJIMOTO Yukio

For more than forty years I have been seeking out old Korean books that have been preserved in different parts of Japan. In addition, I have also sought out old Korean books that survived in Japan until the early Meiji era but were subsequently taken overseas, and I have dealt with these in a similar way to books preserved in Japan. The chief among these latter are the books that were collected by the British diplomat Er-nest Mason Satow (18431929) and are now held by the British Library and the books that were collected by Yang Shoujing , a textual scholar of the Qing , and are now held by the National Palace Museum in Taiwan.

In ancient times Japan lay on the eastern edge of the East Asian cul-tural sphere centred on China, and its culture was fostered under the profound influence of China and the three ancient Korean kingdoms of Koguryo , Paekche , and Silla . Initially foreign culture was in the main assimilated directly, for instance by studying under immi-grants, but from the tenth century this practice was gradually abolished and Japan developed its own distinctive culture, different from that of mainland Asia. But it was of course impossible to sever all contact with the mainland, and although the degree of contact may have fluctuated, Japan continued to be subject to influence from mainland Asia right down to modern times.

This was also the case in the realm of books, the area of my own interests, and many books were brought to Japan from China and from Korea since the time of its three ancient kingdoms. Some of these have fortunately been preserved in the original, while others have survived as copies, but in either case they are invaluable. In particular, when the work in question no longer survives in the country where it originated, it may be the sole existing copy and will be of immeasurable value. Japan is well-known for many such works. Scholars from Qing China who came to Japan in the early Meiji era are said to have been overjoyed at seeing works that had been lost in China and they knew only by name. It is the same in the case of Korean works, and there have been preserved in Ja-

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pan books of Silla and so on that have not been preserved in Korea. But it has to be said that original copies are extremely rare. It was at the time still the dawn of the age of printing, and the majority of extant works are manuscript copies. But it is difficult to differentiate between Chinese, Korean, and Japanese manuscripts, and there are many the provenance of which is still uncertain. In Japan Buddhist works from ancient Korea were prized, and many of these were transmitted through the middle ages in the form of manuscript copies and came to be printed only in the early modern period.

It goes without saying that individual effort is necessary for the pres-ervation and transmission of books, but the character of the social system also plays an important role. In Japan the imperial family, court nobles, warrior families, and so on all followed a hereditary system, and cultural artefacts tend to be passed down from father to son. In China and Korea, on the other hand, dynasties changed and the fate of individuals too was greatly influenced by the civil service examination system, all of which occasioned ups and downs in the fortunes of the state and the individual. Consequently the amassing and dispersal of cultural artefacts occurred to an extreme degree. Herein lies a major reason for the fact that Japan has excelled in the preservation of books. Furthermore, Buddhism was transmitted to Japan during the ancient period and later various different schools were also introduced, among which sects such as Tendai and Shingon , with their emphasis on doctrine, still survive and enormous collections of works have been preserved in their temples down to the present day. In Korea Buddhism was unified under the Chan (Son) school at the start of the Choson dynasty, and since Chan schools had originally advocated non-reliance on the written word, their temples have preserved far fewer books than those of the Tendai and Shingon sects. These various circumstances have had the combined effect of mak-ing Japan today a country possessing old books on a scale rarely seen elsewhere in the world.

I. The Influx of Korean Books into Japan

In the following I shall describe in chronological order the old Ko-rean books preserved in Japan and, on the basis of my own investigations, I shall also discuss their characteristics. Taking into account the actual cir-cumstances of the transmission of Korean books, I shall broadly divide the period under consideration into (1) the Nara period (710784), (2)

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the Muromachi period (13361573), (3) Toyotomi Hideyoshis invasions of Korea (159297), (4) the Edo period (16031867), and (5) the period since the start of the Meiji era (1868). Details of the transmission of Korean books during the Heian period (7941192) and Kamakura period (11851333) are not clear, and I shall accord-ingly refrain from making reference to these periods.

(1) Nara Period (710784)

Japan received elements of advanced culture from the three Korean kingdoms of Koguryo, Paekche, and Silla, and it had especially close ties with Paekche, from where Buddhism was introduced to Japan in 538 (or 552). Eminent monks also arrived from Koguryo. But in 660 Paekche was defeated by the combined forces of Silla and Tang China, and Koguryo was similarly defeated in 668. Japan sent a relief force to Paekche to take on the combined forces of Silla and the Tang, but it was defeated in the battle of Paekchongang , whereafter its relations with Silla turned hostile. But as relations gradually improved again, monks began to be sent from Japan to study in Silla. The Japanese monk Shinj , who was active in the first half of the eighth century, brought back from Silla 170 works in 645 fascicles. It is to be surmised that extant stras copied during the Nara period or earlier include some that came from the three Korean kingdoms, but they have not yet been identified because criteria for identifying them have yet to be established. Some of the copied stras in the Shsin repository have been marked with the words Ayate , Kudarate , and Shiragite , thought to indicate that they are in the calligraphic style of China, Paekche, and Silla respectively.

The titles of many works by monks from the three Korean kingdoms have survived in records, and these works were studied and transmitted by Japanese monks, but few of them have survived down to the present day. Manuscript copies of the following works, all by monks from Silla, have survived either in their entirety or in part: the Panya paramilta simgyong chan , Inwang panyagyong so , and Haesim milgyong so by Wonchuk , the Taehyedogyong jongyo , Kumgang sammaegyong non , Muryangsugyong jongyo , Yolbangyong jongyo , Taesung gisirron so , Kisirron byolgi , and Yusim arrakto by Wonhyo , the Ilsung bopkyedo and Paekhwadoryang balwonmun

by Uisang , the Sammirukkyong so by Kyonghung

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, the Pommanggyong bosal gyebon sulgi by Sungjang , the Pophwagyongnon sulgi , Muryangsugyong suluigi , and Pommanggyong bosal gyebon so by Uijok , and the Yaksa bonwongyong gojokki and Pommanggyong gojokki by Taehyon . Some of these works were printed during the Edo period. Thus, in the area of Buddhism too there are works that have been lost in the land of their authors but have been preserved in Japan.

In recent years Miyazaki Kenji has pointed out that the copy of Wonhyos Panbiryangnon held by tani University may have been brought from Silla. He cites as grounds for this suggestion the style of calligraphy, the type of characters, and the paper (plain hemp paper), as well as the fact that it has been affixed with a seal of Empress Kmy

(701760), which must predate 760, and the fact that this work is men-tioned in a list of works brought back to Japan by Shinj. In addition, Ya-mamoto Shinkichi has surmised that a scroll of the Dafangguang fo huayan jing (fascs. 7280) held in the Shgoz repository of the Shsin was, judging from its paper and the manner in which it has been copied, probably brought from Silla. It is to be hoped that with the development of new techniques ways of resolving such ques-tions will emerge in the future.

(2) Muromachi Period (13361573)

There have been ascertained almost no instances of the arrival of books from Silla and Koryo during the Heian and Kamakura peri-ods. But during the Muromachi period Korean editions of the Chinese Buddhist canon were brought several times to Japan at the request of the Japanese. Many copies of the first edition are preserved at Nanzenji and on the island of Tsushima . Part of the canon published by Uichon is preserved at Tdaiji , and full sets of the second edition are preserved at Kongbuji , Zjji , etc. In addition, the Tang Luo Binwang shiji , Sok samgang haengsilto held by the Ty Bunko are affixed with a seal reading Dazai daiji , which was the seal of uchi Yoshitaka (150751) of the powerful uchi family of Yamaguchi , and they are there-fore thought to have been acquired by him prior to 1551. The Tang Luo Binwang shiji was compiled by the jinshi Tian Lan in Hongzhi

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18 (1505), and a copy is thought to have been brought to Korea shortly after its publication, where it seems to have been printed some time be-tween the middle of Chungjongs reign and the start of Myongjongs

reign. The original Ming edition does not appear to have survived in China. The Choson wangjo sillok includes numerous refer-ences to gifts of books