A Study on the history of kundoku of the Lotus Sutra

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There are many manuscripts and books printed by woodblock of the lotus Sutra with kunten(kana and special marks for translation from classic Chinese to Japanese). Linguistic studies of the manuscripts and books printed by woodblock are very important to understanding the history of the Japanese language. Recently, we have rediscoverd many hitherto unknown data regarding the Lotus Sutra at the libraries within Japan. Most impotantly, we have found some manuscripts of the Lotus Sutra with kunten dating from the Kamakura and Muromachi era(13c-16c). They are very valuable.Kundoku(translating of classic Chinese to Japanese using kunten )is a means to transfer cultures. Both the Lotus Sutra in the Chinese version and translated one have their own cultural value. The Lotus Sutra in the kana version, therefore, is very important ,too.