Collection of Buddhist Stories

Japanese: 仏教説話集 - ぶっきょうせつわしゅう

The teachings of Shakyamuni and his direct disciples were first passed down orally and later written down as scriptures. Many of these have a narrative structure, but as such they cannot be called collections of Buddhist tales. They are still sutras. There are two types of collections of Buddhist tales that we call collections of Buddhist tales today. The first type is a collection of stories about the actions of high priests and tales of karma that were told and spread among believers, compiled in China and other Buddhist countries. The second type is a collection of stories written in the language of each country, such as biographies of Shakyamuni and Jataka (stories of Shakyamuni's original life), taken from the sutras, vinaya, and treatises.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

釈迦やその直系の弟子たちが説いた教えは，はじめ口頭で伝承され，のち文字で書かれて経典となった。その内容も物語風な構成のものが多いが，そのままでは仏教説話集とは呼ばない。あくまで経である。現在われわれが仏教説話集と呼んでいるものは2種ある。第1は，中国その他の仏教国で編まれた，高僧たちの行状をめぐる話や，信徒間で語り広められた因果応報譚などを集録したもの。第2は，それぞれの国のことばで，経･律･論のなかから釈迦伝やジャータカ(釈迦本生譚)などを書き集めたものである。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

<<: Buddhist art

>>: Buddhist iconography