能海寛のたどった道

Abstract

今からざっと100年前, 中国西南の省・雲南で, 一人の日本人僧が行方不明になりました. 東本願寺系の能海寛(のうみゆたか)という人物です. 彼は正しい仏典を日本に将来することを念じ, チベットに向かいました. 最終目的地はラサです. しかし, 当時のチベットは外国人の一切の入国を認めませんでした. そこで彼は変装し, 数度の試みをしますが, 遂に金沙江上流(揚子江;長江の上流)で消息を絶ちます. 彼の身に何が起きたのか, 殺害されたのか, それとも事故と見せかけて現地の僧院に身を隠したのか, 未だ明確ではありません. 彼の調査がいつか唆昧になり, 事実すら歪曲されていくようになります. 彼の人間的性格のためだったのか, 軍関係の隠蔽工作だったのか, 当時の雲南をめぐる清-英・仏の社会事情に起因があったのか, これらの点も考慮に入れて, 改めていま一度この事件を追ってみたいと思います.

Y. Nomi (1866 - 1902?), a priest belonging to the Higashi-honganji Temple in Kyoto, started his journey to Tibet from China (Qing). He had planned to enter Tibet either from Sichuan or Yunnan Province. In Sichuan he happened to come across Enga Teramoto, also belonging to the same Temple in Kyoto. Lhasa was their common destination. Nomi and Teramoto proceeded to Batang, about 300krn west of Kangding. However, local officials and even Batang residents barred their further advance. Two Japanese were compelled to go back to Chengdu. Nomi started on a solo journey to Qinghai Province lying north of Tibet, but he was robbed on the way and couldn't go further. Nomi hoped to try to take a route to Tibet from Kunming going northwest. He became missing between the Jinsha River (a tributary of the Yangtze) and the Lancang River (Mecong). The cause of his death was unaccounted-for; he might met with an accident and was fatally wounded, or murdered by local people.