일본 고전문학과 향(香 )

A Study on the Japanese Classical Literature and ‘KO(香 )’

This paper attempts to look at the “cultural history of incense” in Japan from the viewpoint of “one national history” called “Japan”, using the main texts of literature as a theme, and to look at it with an extended gaze called “East Asia” we will look at the keyword “incense” and look at the fragrance and fragrant woods that have not been thoroughly examined until now, from the viewpoint of the interoperability of the East Asian situation. Traditionally, from the standpoint of placing too much emphasis on the use of the Tang Dynasty, it is concluded that the culture of incense came together with Buddhism from China and was used for the purpose of aesthetics. In order to consecrate the relics of the emperor Shomu, the Shoso in Temple was created and it was regarded as a legacy of the foreign culture transmitted from the continent through the sea through the exchange with the Tang, and the documents related to the incense shown in the concrete texts of literature. It is clear that the definition of “Tang object” was used in the sense of a maritime product containing China, in the sense that it is comparable to “the object of this morning.” From these pieces of evidence, it will be necessary to reexamine the “Chinese tradition” of China.