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the Kogoshui Genyosho and one must remember that this was the first block-printed Kogoshui in which together with the text a valuable commentary in Chinese is found. Later on, however, some of the succeeding commentaries are worth reading when we study the Kogoshui text. The following commentaries are always useful companions to the student, and amongst them, those written by Ikebe and by Kubo are the best:—
- (1) Ikebe-no-Mahari, the Kogoshui Shinchu.
- (2) Kubo-Sueshige, the Kogoshui Kogi.
- (3) Takada-Hakuo, the Kogoshui Jimo Setsuge.
- (4) Hirata-Atsutane, the Koshicho, Vol. I.
- (5) Tatsuno-Hirochika, the Kogoshui Genyosho.
Chapter V
The Book Kogoshui Written in a Conservative
Spirit Against the Then Overwhelming
Influence of Chinese Culture
At the opening of the ninth century was a time when Chinese culture was gaining great influence in Japan. The mother of the Emperor Kammu was descended from a certain royal family of Kudara (i.e., Pèkché), and the two celebrated Japanese Buddhist monks Dengyo Daishi (Saicho), Kobo Daishi (Kukai), and others were more or less affected by Chinese thought and civilization after visiting China. The Emperor Kammu in A.D. 785 and 787 gave orders that worship be paid to a heavenly god,
