Library and Information Science

Shotoku Taishi Denryaku written in the early 10th century is a systematic collection of biographies of Prince Shotoku which all the biographies of Prince Shotoku written later were based on. Shotoku Taishi Den Zatsu Kanmon written as annotation to Shotoku Taishi Denryaku in 1314 by Hoku, a priest at Temple Tachibana, and Jogu Taishi Shuiki, a biography of Prince Shotoku written by the same author, are said to be the best notes to Denryaku. These two books contain quotations from not a few Japanese and Chinese books many of which have been found lost. In this article the writer shows an index to Chinese books quoted in Hoku's two books, annotates mainly lost ones among the indexed books, and inquires into the trend in studies of Chinese classics in Japan of the 13th and 14th centuries.