The is the title of three annotated commentaries on important Buddhist sutras:,, and .
An annotated commentary on the Lotus Sutra; four volumes in length. It is based on the annotated text Fa Hua Yi Ji (法華義記) by Liang dynasty monk Fayun (法雲, 467–529 AD). Approximately 70% of the contents are identical.
According to tradition, the Hokke Gisho was composed in 615 AD and is the oldest Japanese text, highly venerated among Tendai scholars but never shared to the public. Legend indicates that the manuscript was discovered by the Buddhist monk Gyōshin (行信), who erected the Hōryū-ji Tō-in Temple where the manuscript was kept for many centuries until 1878, when it was finally presented to the Emperor Meiji as an offertory gift.
An annotated commentary on the Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra; one volume in length. In the late 1960s, it was discovered that about 80% of this text was copied from a Liang dynasty commentary by the monk Min (旻, 467–527), which was recovered from the Dunhuang manuscripts. Traditionally said to have been completed in 611.
An annotated commentary on the Vimalakirti Sutra; three volumes in length.[1] It is based on annotated texts of the Liang dynasty priest Zhizang (458–522). Traditionally said to have been completed in 613.
Only the Hokke Gisho remains in original manuscript form, while the Shōmangyō Gisho and Yuimagyō Gisho exist only from later copies. The Hokke Gisho contains a colophon stating, "This book belongs to the private collection of King Jōgū [Prince Shōtoku] and is not from overseas." However, the brush style is different from the main text and is believed to have been later added by the priest Gyōshin.[2] The Shōmangyō Gisho and Yuimagyō Gisho have no colophon and no authorship information.[3] All three texts have been attributed to the semi-mythological Prince Shōtoku. However, current scholarly consensus disputes this and the actual authorship of the texts are unknown.
The Nihon Shoki records that in 606, Prince Shōtoku taught the Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra and the Lotus Sutra, hence the belief that he authored all three.
The oldest text to attribute the Sangyōsho to Shōtoku Taishi is the 747 . In addition, sutra records found in the Shōsōin documents credit King Kamitsumiya, one of Shōtoku Taishi's titles, for the annotated Lotus and Srimala sutras.
While historical records attribute these works to Shōtoku Taishi, a number of issues and problems have been pointed out.[4]
The precise development of these texts is strongly argued in modern scholarship with many alternative hypotheses. These include the following:
There is no academic consensus on the true authorship. If authorship is assigned to Prince Shōtoku, then the works would need to have been finally completed before 622 when he died.