Anrakuan Sakuden

A preaching monk from the early modern period. Born in Mino Province (Gifu Prefecture). Became a Jodo sect monk in his childhood, and was active as a preaching monk in the Sanyo and Kinki regions in his youth. After serving as the head priest of Jōon-ji Temple in Mino, he became the 55th head priest of Seigan-ji Temple, the head temple of Kyoto, in 1613 (Keicho 18). While living at the temple, he wrote eight volumes of the humorous story book "Seisui-shō" at the request of Kyoto shoshidai Itakura Shigemune, and in 1623 (Genwa 9) after completing the book, he retired to Chikurin-in, a subtemple of Seigan-ji Temple, and lived an elegant life in the teahouse Anraku-an. During this time he wrote "Hyakuchin-shū" and "Oshō Sotō Hikae." Sakuden made his name in his various fields as a monk, tea master and literary man, but he is best known as the father of rakugo, a form of storytelling, as he used his eloquent talent to perform comical tales on the stage during sermons and collected these stories in his comic series "Sessui Sho."

[Kazuo Sekiyama May 19, 2017]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

近世初頭の説教僧。美濃(みの)国（岐阜県）の人。幼年期に浄土宗の僧となり、青年時代に山陽、近畿地方で説教僧として活躍。美濃の浄音寺住職を経て、1613年（慶長18）京都の大本山誓願寺55世住職となる。同寺在住中に京都所司代板倉重宗(いたくらしげむね)の依頼で笑話本『醒睡笑(せいすいしょう)』8巻を著作し、同書が完成した1623年（元和9）に誓願寺塔頭(たっちゅう)竹林院に隠居し、茶室安楽庵で風雅な生活を送る。この間に『百椿集(ひゃくちんしゅう)』『策伝和尚送答控(おしょうそうとうひかえ)』を書く。策伝は僧、茶人、文人としてそれぞれの道に名を残したが、快弁をもって落し噺(ばなし)を説教の高座で実演し、その話材を『醒睡笑』に集めたため、落語の祖としての名声がもっとも高い。

［関山和夫　2017年5月19日］

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例