Genshi Jōdo shisō no kenkyū by Fujita KōtatsuReview by: Leon HurvitzJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 93, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1973), pp. 91-92Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/600536 .

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Reviews of Books Reviews of Books

it gives the material a curiously isolated feeling. No mention is made, for example, of the inordinate popularity of S6seki's Botchan (1906), and therefore there is no

attempt to explain the discrepancy between this author's indifference and the Japanese public's enthusiasm. Mc- Clellan's analysis of Kokoro is brilliant, but one wishes he had pursued the themes he uncovered in an analysis of the close affinity Japanese intellectuals feel to Soseki. The author refers to the fact that three of the novels are said to make up a trilogy but does not clarify the

vexing questions of why they are so designated or what

significance the fact has. Toson is simpler to deal with. A poetic writer, the

lyricism of his prose is his chief attraction, and McClellan is at his best describing the lovely sketches in which Toson reached his height.

In all, this is an admirable book, needing only an

expansion of much it already contains to satisfy the

contemporary student. As a colmpanion, the publishers have brought out the

first complete English translation fo S6seki's Grass on the WVayside. Once again, McClellan has shown himself to be an excellent translator, coping as well any anyone possibly can with Soseki's singularly unpoetic style. What S6seki provided in intellect and emotion, he cer-

tainly lacked in lyricism; the reader should be alerted not to expect any of the felicities of expression ordinarily associated with Japanese style.

It is a novel of unrelieved gloom. It is generally re-

garded as S6seki's autobiography. The hero, Kenz6, is

captured at a moment in his life when he is beset by a whole series of trying events. A man named Shimada, by whom he had been adopted at the age of two only to be later returned to his natural parents, reappears and tries to extort money from him. Kenz6 has none but is not able to send Shimada off firmly, feeling a

highly colnplex sense of obligation. Although the divorce of his adoptive parents had been the occasion for his return to his original home, legal release had not been obtained until he was eighteen. This blighted his entire childhood with a terrible uncertainty. Ignored by his natural father who saw him as but another mouth to feed, and held onto by his adoptive father only in the

hope that he might grow up to be financially solvent, Kenz6 never learned how to give and receive affection. At the time of the novel, he is the only member of his

family to have achieved any sort of social position- he is a university professor-and has the meager satis- faction of knowing that the older siblings for whom he had been rejected are even more miserable than he.

Kenz6 is completely absorbed in himself. Although by no means insensitive to the sufferings of those around him, he is incapable of giving expression to his warmer

it gives the material a curiously isolated feeling. No mention is made, for example, of the inordinate popularity of S6seki's Botchan (1906), and therefore there is no

attempt to explain the discrepancy between this author's indifference and the Japanese public's enthusiasm. Mc- Clellan's analysis of Kokoro is brilliant, but one wishes he had pursued the themes he uncovered in an analysis of the close affinity Japanese intellectuals feel to Soseki. The author refers to the fact that three of the novels are said to make up a trilogy but does not clarify the

vexing questions of why they are so designated or what

significance the fact has. Toson is simpler to deal with. A poetic writer, the

lyricism of his prose is his chief attraction, and McClellan is at his best describing the lovely sketches in which Toson reached his height.

In all, this is an admirable book, needing only an

expansion of much it already contains to satisfy the

contemporary student. As a colmpanion, the publishers have brought out the

first complete English translation fo S6seki's Grass on the WVayside. Once again, McClellan has shown himself to be an excellent translator, coping as well any anyone possibly can with Soseki's singularly unpoetic style. What S6seki provided in intellect and emotion, he cer-

tainly lacked in lyricism; the reader should be alerted not to expect any of the felicities of expression ordinarily associated with Japanese style.

It is a novel of unrelieved gloom. It is generally re-

garded as S6seki's autobiography. The hero, Kenz6, is

captured at a moment in his life when he is beset by a whole series of trying events. A man named Shimada, by whom he had been adopted at the age of two only to be later returned to his natural parents, reappears and tries to extort money from him. Kenz6 has none but is not able to send Shimada off firmly, feeling a

highly colnplex sense of obligation. Although the divorce of his adoptive parents had been the occasion for his return to his original home, legal release had not been obtained until he was eighteen. This blighted his entire childhood with a terrible uncertainty. Ignored by his natural father who saw him as but another mouth to feed, and held onto by his adoptive father only in the

hope that he might grow up to be financially solvent, Kenz6 never learned how to give and receive affection. At the time of the novel, he is the only member of his

family to have achieved any sort of social position- he is a university professor-and has the meager satis- faction of knowing that the older siblings for whom he had been rejected are even more miserable than he.

Kenz6 is completely absorbed in himself. Although by no means insensitive to the sufferings of those around him, he is incapable of giving expression to his warmer

feelings and repeatedly cuts himself off from others when an opportunity for contact presents itself. He is

perfectly aware that his unresponsiveness hurts his wife but he can find no way to correct it; indeed one wonders if he even cares to. At one moment he is violent, smash-

ing things others love; at another moment, he foolishly spends his last yen on some pathetically inappropriate indulgence for himself, totally ignoring his wife and newborn child. He is probably one of the most selfish heroes in world fiction.

Since we know that S6seki wrote this novel the year before his death, reflecting on the time when he first became conscious of his estrangement from those sur-

rounding him, our sympathy reaches out to this pathetic figure of a man, so great in his talent yet so miserly in his affections. We cannot but admire Soseki's ability to separate himself from his characters, thereby per- mitting their ridiculousness and irrationality to stand out clearly. Kenzo's wife has dimension. She is occasional-

ly allowed moments without his presence and, even in her consistently misinterpreted statements to her hus- band, we can see her as an independent person. Kenz6's older brother, a petty bureaucrat who has never advanced, his asthmatic sister, and his self-centred brother-in-law all attain a comendable degree of individuality. It is no small feat for S6seki to have achieved such objectivity and it in some measure compensates for the tediousness of Kenz6's behavior.

One could have hoped for more plot, more diversity of character and activity, a broader canvas for S6seki's masterful artistry to play upon. But this is his life as it actually was, and the very narrowness of its range must have some important message for us about his tortured mind.

MARLEIGH RYAN UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

feelings and repeatedly cuts himself off from others when an opportunity for contact presents itself. He is

perfectly aware that his unresponsiveness hurts his wife but he can find no way to correct it; indeed one wonders if he even cares to. At one moment he is violent, smash-

ing things others love; at another moment, he foolishly spends his last yen on some pathetically inappropriate indulgence for himself, totally ignoring his wife and newborn child. He is probably one of the most selfish heroes in world fiction.

Since we know that S6seki wrote this novel the year before his death, reflecting on the time when he first became conscious of his estrangement from those sur-

rounding him, our sympathy reaches out to this pathetic figure of a man, so great in his talent yet so miserly in his affections. We cannot but admire Soseki's ability to separate himself from his characters, thereby per- mitting their ridiculousness and irrationality to stand out clearly. Kenzo's wife has dimension. She is occasional-

ly allowed moments without his presence and, even in her consistently misinterpreted statements to her hus- band, we can see her as an independent person. Kenz6's older brother, a petty bureaucrat who has never advanced, his asthmatic sister, and his self-centred brother-in-law all attain a comendable degree of individuality. It is no small feat for S6seki to have achieved such objectivity and it in some measure compensates for the tediousness of Kenz6's behavior.

One could have hoped for more plot, more diversity of character and activity, a broader canvas for S6seki's masterful artistry to play upon. But this is his life as it actually was, and the very narrowness of its range must have some important message for us about his tortured mind.

MARLEIGH RYAN UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

Genshi J6do shis6 no kenkyu. By FUJITA K6TATSU.

Pp. xviii + 630 + 48. Tokyo: IWANAMI SHOTEN. 1970.

The present work, which bears the English title A Study of Early Pure Land Buddhism, is an encyclopaedia in the original sense of that word. It attempts-success- fully, in most cases-to deal with every aspect of Suk- havati salvationism, at least where India is concerned, and does not shy off from Tibet, China, or Japan, if the line of research carries the author in that particular direction. With its many facets and its incredibly de- tailed bibliography, by which we mean in particular the precise and copious citations of canonical literature, it is more properly a reference work. That is to say,

Genshi J6do shis6 no kenkyu. By FUJITA K6TATSU.

Pp. xviii + 630 + 48. Tokyo: IWANAMI SHOTEN. 1970.

The present work, which bears the English title A Study of Early Pure Land Buddhism, is an encyclopaedia in the original sense of that word. It attempts-success- fully, in most cases-to deal with every aspect of Suk- havati salvationism, at least where India is concerned, and does not shy off from Tibet, China, or Japan, if the line of research carries the author in that particular direction. With its many facets and its incredibly de- tailed bibliography, by which we mean in particular the precise and copious citations of canonical literature, it is more properly a reference work. That is to say,

91 91

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Journal of the American Oriental Society 93.1 (1973)

if there is any particular point in the study of Sukhavati salvationism about which a person desires information, he has only to consult the Index (26 pages in length) and read the appropriate section of the book and, most

important, the bibliography. While it is true that one central theme gives the book an over-all unity, still, as indicated above, the author lets his research carry him where it will, and the result is a Weitschweifigkeit that makes review difficult unless a review article is the intention. For this reviewer that is not possible, given the subject. The best thing, it seems, is to advise the reader to use the book as a reference tool. Below, then, there shall appear a cursory summary accompanied by a few remarks.

After a Foreword (hashigaki), a table of abbreviations, and a Preface (joron), in which last he states the prob- lem, Mr. Fuijta divides his work into six chapters (sho), each of which is further divided into sections (setsu), the latter into headings (k6), and the last, finally, into numbered categories with no generic name. The first

chapter deals with the literature, whether in Sanskrit, in Tibetan, or in Chinese, the first consisting of mss. as well as printed versions, the last being treated in terms of the traditional Japanese view of 'five extant and seven lost' (goson shichiketsu). The several salvationist scrip- tures are then taken up individually in the same way where the Sanskrit and/or the Tiberan survives, otherwise in terms of the Chinese alone. If there is more than one Chinese version, the different ones are treated separately and, where necessary, the identity of the respective translator is also discussed. Then Buddhist literature

apart from the salvationist scriptures, but in which the Pure Land is treated, is passed in review. The word 'review' is used advisedly, for there is a detailed chart

beginning on p. 139 and ending on p. 161. That, in turn, is followed by a list of 31 Sanskrit titles. The second

chapter deals with the origin of the salvationist doctrine, attempting to restore the original form of the several, salvationist scriptures, also to trace the idea itself, in non-Buddhist as well as in Buddhist writings. The same is done in Chapter 3 for the Buddha Amita, the goal being here to account both for the name and for the

personality. Chapter 4 treats of the concept of mila- pranidhdna, a treatment which, as above, attempts to account for the term as well. Chapter 5 devotes a similar treatment to Sukhavati, seeking, among other things, to trace the Chinese word ching t'u. The sixth and final chapter bears the somewhat misleading title of Problems Regarding Practice, (jissen ni kan-suru sho-mondai). Within that chapter, the first section treats of rebirth in Sukha- vati (for which the most usual Chinese term is wang sheng), the second with buddhdnusmrti and the many issues tangential to it, the third with the belief that at

the moment of death Amita will come down with His retinue to welcome the devotee into Sukhavati, the fourth with the question of faith, likewise a many-faceted issue. There is a Conclusion (ketsugo) dealing with the development of the salvationist concept (jido shis6 no tenkai), scarcely more than a summary restatement of certain points made in the book proper. At the very end there is an English translation of the Table of Con- tents, followed by an English summary of the book's content.

As stated above, for this reviewer a searching critique of the book in question is not really possible. It does seem, however, that there is present one feature about which anyone would be entitled to doubts. When the author discusses the possible influence of one Mahayana scripture on another, he is obviously speaking with the prejudices of the Far East. A Chinese translating one scripture might well be influenced by another in the sense that he could have the translation of the latter within reach, and, being a Chinese, hence a bibliolater, would read it. The Indians, however, were not Chinese. One may not assume that the Sanskrit texts circulated in India the way their Chinese translations circulated in China, nor that they were read by Indian monks the way the Chinese versions were certainly read by Chinese monks, nor, finally, that an Indian would copy in the way a Chinese would do. One cannot say that this did not happen, but no more can one be certain that it did. The greater likelihood is that the Indian monk had certain scriptures memorized, and that in his recitation of them the wording would vary from one occasion to the next. This does not preclude the influence of one scripture on another, but the influence is unlikely to have been exerted in the way in which a Chinese (or a person who, like Mr. Fujita, is in the Chinese tradition) would expect it to be.

Lastly, while it is plainly not the place of a foreigner to find fault with the way in which a person uses his own mother tongue, it certainly seems to this reviewer that there is far too much use of such locutions as ni tsuite and de aro. In an hypothetical case, for example, the author might indicate his intention to deal with a certain topic later on by saying ware-ware wa sore ni tsuite nochi ni fureru de ar6. He might as easily say nochi ni (kore o) ron-zuru, which would have the double advantage of being (a) truer to his mother tongue and (b) more economical of words. This is a small point, however, when measured against the Herculean erudition to which the book bears witness.

LEON HURVITZ

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

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