Mappou Shisou - Mappou Shisou

This is the idea that after the death of Shakyamuni, the number of people who could practice and attain enlightenment in his teachings decreased over time, and Buddhism began to decline. Initially, in India, the theory that the true and correct Dharma existed for 1,000 years (500 years) was published (Zaoagama 25, Gobunritsu 29, Pali Zosibukyouten 5, Kudonyahon in the 8th collection, Mahavibhasa-ron 183, etc.). Later, due to the decline of monks and the destruction of Buddhism by various kings, the theory that the true Dharma would disappear in 500 years (1,000 years) and that the similarity theory would be lost. A theory was put forward that the pseudo-Buddhist teaching of the Semblance Law would only be practiced for 1,000 or 500 years (see Miscellaneous Agamas 32, Mahāhōtaku-kyō 2 and 89, Mahasanghika-kyō section on the protection of the wise, Mahasanghika-kyō 56, Saddharma-ka-kyō 7, Mahāmaya-kyō vol. 2, and Mahāyāna Sanjūsange-kyō). Nagarjuna (around 200 AD) at the beginning of his Madhyamaka-karika and in chapters 44, 63, and 88 of his Chido-ron, denigrates Buddhists of the Hinayana sect as fake Buddhists who lived 500 years after the Buddha's death. In response to this idea that True and Semblance Dharma Buddhism was in decline, the idea of ​​the end of the Latter Day of the Dharma was perfected in China. Thus, the idea of ​​the end of the True and Semblance Dharma was limited to this idea at first, but from the end of the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Sui and early Tang dynasties, the idea of ​​the three periods of the True and Semblance Dharma began to appear. Eshi (515-577) of Tendai proposed in his "Rissei Ganmon" that the True Law would last 500 years, the Semblance Law 1,000 years, and the Latter Day of the Law 10,000 years. Shingyo (540-594) advocated the practice of Three-Stage Buddhism in the Latter Day of the Law. Doshaku (562-645) advocated Pure Land Nembutsu in the Latter Day of the Law and the Five Corrupt and Evil Ages. Dosen (596-667) of the Nanzan Ritsu school preached the revival of the precepts in the Latter Day of the Law in his "Shibunritsu Gyojisho" and "Zokukosoden" (Continuation of the Biography of High Priests). Furthermore, Hosso Kiki (632-682) wrote in his Daijohoen Girinjo and other works that in the True Law, the three elements of "teaching, practice, and realization" are in place, but in the Semblance Law, there is only "teaching and practice," and in the Latter Day of the Law, there will only be "teaching," so he went on to teach that one should devote oneself to the Buddhist path. The Sanron Gengi and Jyumonronso by Kichizo of Sanron (549-623) also suggest the theory that the True Law will last 500 years, the Semblance Law 1000 years, and the Latter Days of the Law 10,000 years, but Eisi, Shingyo, Doshaku, Dosen, and others directly took the historical view that the Latter Days of the Law would decline during the Buddhist Zouki (the end of the Semblance Law period) and strongly advocated the revival of Buddhism in a practical way. In particular, Shingyo preached the intense practical training of the three-stage Buddhism and the universal law of Fushin Fusho (all true and correct things) that does not depend on one Buddha or one teaching, while Doshaku advocated the practice of the easy path of Pure Land Nembutsu, and had a great influence on the Buddhist world in later times.

In Japan, following these trends, there was a rise in the idea of ​​the Latter Day of the Law, as seen in the Shozomatsumon by Saicho, the founder of the Japanese Tendai sect, and the Mappōtōmyōki, which is said to have been written by him. In particular, the theory of Shōgo, Sōsen, and Mappōtōmyōki, which states that the Buddha entered Nirvana on the day of Jinshin (949 B.C.), in the 53rd year of the reign of King Mu of Zhou, had a major influence on the Buddhist world from the middle to the end of the Heian period to the Kamakura period, along with the theory of Shōsen, Sōsen, and Mappōtōmyōki, which was later published in the Fusōryakuki by Kōen. From Enchin's "Jubosa Tsukai Giki" (Record of the Precepts Given to the Bodhisattva), Genshin's "Ojoyoshu" (Essentials for Rebirth in the Pure Land), Eikan's "Ojojuin" (Seven Causes for Rebirth in the Pure Land), and especially from Kamakura Buddhists Honen (Genku)'s "Senjakushu" (Senshu), Eisai's "Kouzen Gokokuron" (The Treatise on the Founding of Zen and the Protection of the Nation), and Jokei's "Gumei Hatsushinshu" (Gumei Hatsushinshu) In works such as "Meihoshinshu," Koben's "Kegon Bukkakokanbomon," Shinran's "Kyogyo Shinsho," Dogen's "Eihei Koroku," and Nichiren's "Kenbutsu Miraiki," while keenly aware of the idea of ​​the decline of Buddhism in the Latter Day of the Law, they advocate the practice of absolute, eternal, immortal Buddhism that transcends the three periods of righteousness, image, and end.

[Mitsuyuki Ishida]

“Lecture on Buddhism Thoughts: Final Dharma Thoughts” by Mitsuyuki Ishida (1974, Risosha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

釈迦(しゃか)入滅後、その教法(きょうぼう)を実行し証(さと)りうるものが時の経過とともに少なくなり、仏法が衰滅するという思想である。当初、インド方面で、真実正法(しょうぼう)1000年（500年）存在説（『雑阿含(ぞうあごん)』25、『五分律(ごぶんりつ)』29、パーリ『増支部経典(ぞうしぶきょうてん)』5の第8集の「六瞿曇弥品(くどんやほん)」、『大毘婆沙論(だいびばしゃろん)』183など）が出され、のち、比丘(びく)の堕落、諸国王の仏教破壊などにより、正法は500年（1000年）で滅し、相似(そうじ)の似而非(えせ)の仏法たる像法(ぞうぼう)が1000年または500年行われるにとどまるとの説が出されてくる（『雑阿含』32、『大宝積経(だいほうしゃくきょう)』2・89、『大集経賢護分(だいじゅうきょうけんごぶん)』、『大集経(だいじゅうきょう)』56、『悲華経(ひけきょう)』7、『摩訶摩耶経(まかまやきょう)』下、『大乗三聚懺悔経(だいじょうさんじゅさんげきょう)』など）。龍樹(りゅうじゅ)（200年ごろ）の『中論(ちゅうろん)』の最初や『智度論(ちどろん)』44、63、88など、部派仏教者を、仏滅後500年の像似(ぞうじ)の贋(にせ)仏教者と貶(へん)称する。このような正法・像法仏教衰滅思想を受けて、中国で、大成されるのが末法法滅(まっぽうほうめつ)思想である。このように、当初は、正法・像法法滅思想にとどまるが、南北朝末より隋(ずい)、唐初に至るや、正像末三時の思想が表れてくる。天台の慧思(えし)（515―577）は『立誓願文(りっせいがんもん)』に正法500年、像法1000年、末法(まっぽう)1万年説を出し、信行(しんぎょう)（540―594）は末法時の三階(さんがい)仏教の実践を提唱し、道綽(どうしゃく)（562―645）は『安楽集(あんらくしゅう)』に末法五濁悪世(ごじょくあくせ)時の浄土念仏(じょうどねんぶつ)を主唱し、南山律(なんざんりつ)の道宣(どうせん)（596―667）は『四分律行事鈔(しぶんりつぎょうじしょう)』『続高僧伝(ぞくこうそうでん)』などに像末時の戒律復興を説いている。また、法相(ほっそう)の窺基(きき)（632―682）は『大乗法苑義林章(だいじょうほうおんぎりんじょう)』などに、正法時には「教(きょう)・行(ぎょう)・証(しょう)」の三つが整っているも、像法時は「教(きょう)・行(ぎょう)」のみで、末法時には「教(きょう)」のみとなるゆえ、仏道に専精(せんしょう)するようにと説くに至る。三論(さんろん)の吉蔵(きちぞう)（549―623）の『三論玄義(さんろんげんぎ)』『十二門論疏(じゅうにもんろんそ)』などにも、正法500年・像法1000年（500年）・末法1万年説を示すが、慧思、信行、道綽、道宣などが、仏教像季(ぞうき)（像法時の末）末法衰滅史観に直接たち、実践的に仏法興隆を強く叫ぶ。とくに、信行は一仏一教によらない普真普正(ふしんふしょう)（あらゆる真・正なるもの）の三階仏法・普法(ふほう)の激しい実践修行を説き、道綽は浄土念仏易行道(いぎょうどう)の実践を主張し、後の仏教界へ多く影響した。

　日本においても、以上の動向を受け、日本天台の祖最澄(さいちょう)の『正像末文(しょうぞうまつもん)』やその著とされる『末法燈明記(まっぽうとうみょうき)』などの末法思想の高揚がある。とくに、『末法燈明記』の周(しゅう)の穆王(ぼくおう)53年壬申(じんしん)仏入滅（前949）とする正五・像千・末万説は、後の皇円(こうえん)の『扶桑略記(ふそうりゃくき)』29などに示す正千・像千・末万説とともに、平安朝中末期より鎌倉期の仏教界に、多大の影響を与える。円珍(えんちん)の『授菩薩戒儀記(じゅぼさつかいぎき)』、源信(げんしん)の『往生要集(おうじょうようしゅう)』、永観(えいかん)の『往生拾因(おうじょうじゅういん)』などより、とくに、鎌倉仏教者法然(ほうねん)（源空）の『選択集(せんじゃくしゅう)』、栄西(えいさい)の『興禅護国論(こうぜんごこくろん)』、貞慶(じょうけい)の『愚迷発心集(ぐめいほっしんしゅう)』、高弁(こうべん)の『華厳仏光観法門(けごんぶっこうかんぼうもん)』、親鸞(しんらん)の『教行信証(きょうぎょうしんしょう)』、道元(どうげん)の『永平広録(えいへいこうろく)』、日蓮(にちれん)の『顕仏未来記(けんぶつみらいき)』などに至るや、末法仏教衰滅思想痛感のなかに、正像末三時超越の絶対永遠不滅仏教の実践を主張する。

［石田充之］

『石田充之著『講座仏教思想　一　末法思想』（1974・理想社）』

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