The Orthodoxy Question

Taisekiji Temple preserves the so-called "Two-Transfer Documents." According to the Dictionary of Buddhist Terms and Concepts, published by Nichiren Shôshû International Center in 1983, these documents are: 1. Nichiren Ichigo Guhô Fuzoku Shû written by Nichiren at Minobu in September 1282, in which Nichiren transferred the entirety of his teachings to Nikkô and entrusted him with the mission of propagating true Buddhism, and 2. Minobusan Fuzoku Shû written by Nichiren at the residence of Ikegami Munenaka on October 13, 1282, in which Nichiren appointed Nikkô as the High Priest of Minobusan Kuonji, and proclaimed that all the disciples of Nichiren should follow Nikkô. The two documents are given as the Minobu Sôjô and the Ikegami Sôjô respectively in the Nichiren Shû Shûgaku Zensho, Vol. 11.

The existence of the two documents was mentioned for the first time in the Hyakugojikkajô, written by Nikkyô (1428-1489) in 1480, but the contents of the two documents in this mentioning are different from what are preserved at Taisekiji Temple today. This shows that several forgeries had already been made by the time of Nikkyô. It is interesting to see that Nichidô (1283-1341), the fourth Chief Priest of Taisekiji Temple, clearly states in his Nikkô Shônin Goden Sôan (The Biography of Nikkô) that Nikkô stayed at Minobu for three years, not for six years.

The Minobu Sôjô bears the statement that the Hommon no Kaidan (the Precepts Platform of True Buddhism) should be established at Fujisan Hommonji. Fujisan Hommonji is another name for Nishiyama Hommonji, which was founded by Nichidai (1294-1394), who had been ousted from Kitayama Hommonji because of a succession dispute. The Minobu Sôjô may have been created by a successor of the chief priesthood of Nishiyama Hommonji. At one time, Nishiyama Hommonji was friendly with Taisekiji. Therefore, Taisekiji had no objection to keeping the document although the place of the Kaidan was assigned to Nishiyama Hommonji, and not to Taisekiji. The two temples became hostile with each other after Taisekiji produced the Ita-honzon. Incidentally, the dictionary published by the Nichiren Shôshû on-tits the statement about Fujisan Hommonji in the Minobu Sôjô that the Hommon no Kaidan should be established at Fujisan Hommonji.

These forgeries were made not by Nikkô but by some of his successors who wished to justify their schools by claiming that it was orthodox while the other branches of Nichiren Buddhism were not. The orthodoxy question was an outcome of the unstable political condition of the time. There were two factions in the Imperial family in those days. The split was fomented as early as 1259, when the Ex-Emperor Gosaga dethroned the Emperor Gofukakusa, his first son, in favor of his second son, who became the Emperor Kameyama. Gofukakusa became the head of the Jimyôintô House; and Kameyama, that of the Daikakujitô House. When the Emperor Godaigo of the Daikakujitô House fled to Yoshino, south of Kyoto, in 1336, the Daikakujitô House was called the Southern Dynasty, and the Jimyôintô House, who installed the Emperor Kômyô in Kyoto, was called the Northern Dynasty. Kitabatake Chikafusa (1293-1354) wrote the Jinnô-shôtô-ki in 1339, in which he contended that the Southern Dynasty was the orthodox lineage of the Imperial family. The Southern Dynasty was amalgamated into the Northern Dynasty in 1392, but some people were still active in their attempts to restore the Southern Dynasty.