Siddham

It also refers to the study of Sanskrit (Bongo) that was introduced to Japan, and the characters used in it. The name Siddham is said to have come from the custom of writing nama sarvajñāya siddham at the beginning of a table of Sanskrit sounds (called a alphabet), and celebrating the creation of the alphabet. Sanskrit alphabets were of course created in India and used for children's studies, but in China during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, they became actively studied along with the interpretation of the characters section of the Nirvana Sutra. During the Tang Dynasty, they were also studied as a language, and Zhiguang's Siddham Jiji is particularly detailed on pronunciation. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, as esoteric Buddhism became more popular, emphasis was placed on the view of phonetic mysticism, and mantras and dharanis chanted in Sanskrit became popular. Its teachings and doctrines were introduced to Japan in the early Heian period, and along with the rise of esoteric Buddhism, the study of Siddham also began to flourish. The Eight Schools of Buddhism that Traveled to China (Saicho, Kukai, Jōkyō, Engyō, Ennin, Eun, Enchin, and Sōei) all appear to have had connections with Siddham, but Kukai became the founder of the Siddham of the Shingon sect, and Ennin became the founder of the Siddham of the Tendai sect. The Siddham of these periods was compiled in An'nen's "Siddhamzō." After that, the study was passed down in various branches of the Shingon and Tendai sects, and further studied phonetically by the Tendai scholar Myokaku during the Insei period, and gradually it was integrated with Chinese language studies to form what could be called rhyming studies. This was the beginning of the momentum for Japanese language research. After the Meiji period, it was replaced by Western Sanskrit studies, but its contribution in laying the foundations for language research in Japan must be greatly acknowledged, and even modern Sanskrit studies cannot ignore the existence of this study, which spread to the East in ancient times.

[Kazuo Mabuchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

日本に伝来した梵語(ぼんご)（サンスクリット）についての学問、およびそれに用いられた文字のことをもいう。悉曇Siddhamという名称は、梵語の音を表にしたもの（字母表という）の頭初に、nama sarvajñāya siddhamと書いて、その字母表の成立を祝福する習慣があったことから出たとされる。梵語字母表はもちろんインドで作成され、子供の学習に用いられたものであるが、中国では南北朝時代に、『涅槃経(ねはんぎょう)』文字品(ぼん)の解釈に伴って盛んに研究されるようになった。唐代には語学としても研究され、智広(ちこう)の『悉曇字記』はことに発音に詳しい。唐代中期以後、密教が盛んとなるにつれ、音声神秘観が重視されて、梵語のままに唱える真言・陀羅尼(だらに)が盛行した。その教風・教義が平安初期に日本に渡来し、密教の隆盛とともに悉曇の学も勃興(ぼっこう)した。入唐八家(にっとうはっけ)（最澄、空海、常暁、円行、円仁(えんにん)、恵運(えうん)、円珍、宗叡(しゅうえい)）はいずれも悉曇に関係はあったようであるが、なかでも空海は真言宗の悉曇、円仁は天台宗の悉曇の祖となった。これらの時代の悉曇を集大成したのが安然(あんねん)の『悉曇蔵』である。その後、真言・天台の各宗各派においてその学は継承され、院政時代の天台の学僧明覚によってさらに音声学的に研究され、しだいに中国語学と一体となって韻学というべきものが形成されるようになった。ここから国語研究の機運がおきたのである。明治以後は西欧の梵語学と交替するが、日本における語学研究の基礎を開いた功は大としなければならず、現代のサンスクリット語学でも、古代に東方へ伝播(でんぱ)したこの学の存在を無視することはできない。

［馬渕和夫］

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