Certificate of Achievement

It means "certificate of ordination". It is also called doen. It is an official document issued by the state to approve and certify the ordination of monks and nuns in the Buddhist world of China. It originated in the Northern Wei dynasty, but its clear beginning was in 747 (Tianbao 6) during the reign of Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty. It is believed that the sale of tokudo certificates began in 756 (Zhide 1) during the reign of Suzong, in response to a petition from Prime Minister Pei Yan to cover military expenses. The material used for the certificates was originally silk, but it was replaced by paper during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song dynasty. However, the sale of certificates became common around the time of Emperor Shenzong (reigned 1067-85), and as some certificates had blanks in the name column and some were counterfeit, silk certificates were revived in 1133 (Shaoxing 3) during the Southern Song dynasty. According to the Yuan Dynasty's "Imperially Imposed Rules for the Purity of the Hundred Zhangs," monks and nuns always carried this as a kind of identification card when they traveled around to various places to practice.

The docho system appears to have been adopted early on in Japan, where it appears in the Soni-ryo (701) under the name "kokucho." Since then, while undergoing various formal changes, it played a major role in the state's control of religious organizations until the Heian period, but after the Kamakura period, with the generalization of privately ordained monks and the successive arrival of foreign monks in Japan, the system began to loosen and moved toward abolition. Modern docho are issued by each sect and have different meanings.

[Kimura Kiyotaka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

「得度(とくど)の牒(ふだ)」の意。度縁(どえん)ともいう。中国仏教圏において国家が僧尼となることを認可し証明するものとして発行した公文書。北魏(ほくぎ)代に起源するが、明確な形では唐の玄宗の747年（天宝6）に始まる。またその販売、すなわち売牒は、粛宗代の756年（至徳1）、宰相の裴冕(はいべん)の上奏をいれ、軍費をまかなうために行われたのが最初と思われる。度牒の地の素材はもともと絹であったが、宋(そう)の真宗代以後、紙にかわった。しかし、神宗（在位1067～85）のころから売牒が一般化し、氏名欄の空白のものや偽造品が現れたため、南宋の1133年（紹興3）には絹の度牒が復活した。なお、元代の『勅修百丈清規(ちょくしゅうひゃくじょうしんぎ)』によれば、僧尼が各地を修行して回る際には、つねに一種の身分証明書としてこれを携行したという。

　度牒の制度は、日本でも早くから採用されたらしく、『僧尼令』（701）には「告牒」という名で出てくる。以来、さまざまの形式上の変化を重ねながらも、平安時代までは国家による教団の統制に大きな役割を担ったが、鎌倉時代以後、私度僧(しどそう)の一般化と外国僧の相次ぐ来日をきっかけとして緩み始め、廃止の方向に向かった。近・現代の度牒は各宗派が発行するもので、意味が異なる。

［木村清孝］

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