View source for Bussokuseki-kahi

{{Expand Japanese|topic=hist|date=August 2024}}
{{JapaneseBuddhism}}
The {{nihongo|'''Bussokuseki-kahi'''|仏足石歌碑|}} is a well-known monument in the [[Yakushi-ji|Yakushi Temple]] in [[Nara, Nara|Nara]], consisting of a traditional [[Buddha footprint]] inscribed with twenty-one poems, known as {{Transliteration|ja|bussokusekika}} (also known as {{Transliteration|ja|Bussokuseki no Uta}}).

Numbering twenty one poems in total, they are divided into two sections:
*Seventeen poems praising the virtue of Buddha.
*Four poems warning against the impermanence of life and preaching the Buddhist path.
Part of the stone monument has worn away making the eleventh poem of the first section and the fourth poem of the second section partially unreadable.

The Buddha Foot monument at Yakushi Temple was constructed in 753 and the poems are viewed as being composed around that time. The author is unknown.

The poems are written in [[Man'yōgana]], a precursor to [[kana]] where Chinese characters are used for their phonetic value, and in Bussokuseki-style. Named after the poems, {{Nihongo|Bussokuseki-style|仏足石歌体|Bussokuseki-katai}} is an archaic poetic device in which lines are written in a 5-7-5-7-7-7 mora pattern. It is seen during the [[Nara period]] but greatly diminishes by the [[Heian period]]. It is an early form of [[waka (poetry)|waka]].

The poems are a valuable inscriptional witness to [[Old Japanese]], otherwise mainly known through later copies of 8th-century manuscripts.

== See also==
*[[Buddhist poetry]]

==References==

* {{cite book
  | last1 = Tsuchihashi
  | first1 = Yutaka
  | last2 = Konishi
  | first2 = Jin'ichi
  | title = Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 3: Kodai Kayōshū
  | publisher = [[Iwanami Shoten Publishing|Iwanami Shoten]]
  | year = 1957
  | location = [[Tōkyō]]
  | isbn =  4-00-060003-6 }}

==External links==
*Manuscript [http://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/kosho/chi10/chi10_00055/chi10_00055.html scan] (1752) at [[Waseda University Library]]

{{Buddhism topics}}
{{Japanese poetry}}

[[Category:8th-century establishments in Japan]]
[[Category:Old Japanese texts]]
[[Category:Japanese poetry]]
[[Category:Japanese Buddhist texts]]
[[Category:Waka (poetry)]]
[[Category:Japanese poetry anthologies]]
[[Category:753 establishments]]
[[Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in the 750s]]