Risshō Ankokuron
{{Short description|Japanese Buddhist treatise by Nichiren}}
{{Orphan|date=December 2024}}
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Risshō Ankokuron (立正安国論) is a Japanese Buddhist treatise by the Kamakura-period monk Nichiren.
Authorship, date, and title
Risshō Ankokuron was written by the monk Nichiren.{{sfnm|1a1=Asai|1y=2001|2a1=Kubota|2y=2007|2p=364}} It dates to the first year of Bun'ō (1260).{{sfnm|1a1=Asai|1y=2001|2a1=Kubota|2y=2007|2p=364}} Nichiren presented it as a petition to the regent (shikken) Hōjō Tokiyori,{{sfnm|1a1=Kubota|1y=2007|1p=365}} but it was ignored,{{sfnm|1a1=Kubota|1y=2007|1p=365}} and brought the anger of the authorities down on Nichiren.{{sfnm|1a1=Kubota|1y=2007|1p=365}}
The title Risshō Ankokuron translates to "Establishing Right Doctrine and Peace of the Nation", and is occasionally abbreviated to Ankokuron.{{sfnm|1a1=Asai|1y=2001}}
Contents
The work consists of a single book in ten paragraphs.{{sfnm|1a1=Kubota|1y=2007|1p=364}} It takes the form of a dialogue between "a visitor" and "the master",{{sfnm|1a1=Asai|1y=2001|2a1=Kubota|2y=2007|2p=364}} and is written in kanbun (Classical Chinese).{{sfnm|1a1=Asai|1y=2001|2a1=Kubota|2y=2007|2p=364}}
It propounds the idea that placing one's faith in the Lotus Sutra protect the safety of the nation.{{sfnm|1a1=Kubota|1y=2007|1p=364}} 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.{{sfnm|1a1=Kubota|1y=2007|1p=364}} He attacks the Pure Land school of Hōnen as a sinister cult (邪宗 jashū){{sfnm|1a1=Kubota|1y=2007|1p=364}} and emphasizes the need to reject such false doctrines and place one's faith in the Lotus Sutra.{{sfnm|1a1=Kubota|1y=2007|1pp=364–365}}
Nichiren also predicted a foreign invasion,{{sfnm|1a1=Kubota|1y=2007|1p=365}} a prediction which came true more than a decade later when Japan was invaded by the forces of Kublai Khan.{{sfnm|1a1=Kubota|1y=2007|1p=365}}
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,{{sfnm|1a1=Asai|1y=2001}} and recommends reading it in combination with Shugo Kokkaron (守護国家論), which Nichiren had published the previous year.{{sfnm|1a1=Asai|1y=2001}}
Textual tradition
A copy of the text in Nichiren's own hand, dating to 1269, is preserved in Hokekyō-ji in Ichikawa, Chiba.{{sfnm|1a1=Asai|1y=2001}}
References
= Citations =
{{reflist}}
= Works cited =
{{Refbegin|colwidth=80em}}
- {{cite encyclopedia
|editor-last = Kubota
|editor-first = Jun
|editor-link = Jun Kubota
|encyclopedia = Iwanami Nihon Koten Bungaku Jiten
|title = Risshō Ankokuron
|script-title = ja:立正安国論
|pages = 364–365
|language = Japanese
|year = 2007
|publisher = Iwanami Shoten
}}
- {{cite encyclopedia
|last = Asai
|first = Endō
|author-link = Endō Asai
|encyclopedia = Encyclopedia Nipponica
|title = Risshō Ankokuron
|script-title = ja:立正安国論
|language = Japanese
|year = 2001
|publisher = Shogakukan
|url = https://kotobank.jp/word/立正安国論-148967#E6.97.A5.E6.9C.AC.E5.A4.A7.E7.99.BE.E7.A7.91.E5.85.A8.E6.9B.B8.28.E3.83.8B.E3.83.83.E3.83.9D.E3.83.8B.E3.82.AB.29
|access-date = 2019-11-10
}}
{{Refend}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Risshou Ankokuron}}