This article consists of two connected chapters. In the first chapter, the writer relates the work of Ji-en, a Buddhist priest who wrote a book called "Gukansho" (1220) at the beginning of the Kamakura period. The purpose of the book was to restore the power of the aristocracy in the society of the period in question. Ji-en, as the most infiuencial leader of the traditional Buddhism of the Kamakura period and a man of noble birth could not be indifferent to the circumstances under which the aristocratic circles were declining. The measure which the priest introduced in his book was to have the noblemen act in cooperation with the newly risen warriors. The writer of this article attempts to clarify the reason why such a coalition between the two classes was realized by quoting the description of "Gukansho". In the second chapter, the writer points out the fact that Ji-en adopted kana (Japanese syllabary) in writing his book. It was generally accepted at that time that histories and other scholarly works should be written in the Chinese language. Ji-en, however, adopted Japanese expression with Kana Instead of the Chinese composition which had been quite Japanized. This was because the author of "Gukansho" wished to have the decayed and illiterate aristocrats read his book, by avoiding the Chinese composition with which he could not express the Japanese language vividly, and to accept the colloquial expressions which were being created successively among the Japanese people of that time. It is one of the main purposes of this chapter to study the colloquial expressions adopted in " Gukansho". It may be said that "Gukansho" reveals a kind of resistance against the rising warrior class and earnest prayer of Ji-en, the priest who was in a sense one of the last noblemen of the Heian period.

慶應義塾創立百年記念論文集