Gukanshō

The Gukanshō is a significant work of historical philosophy written by the Japanese Buddhist monk and poet Jien around 1220. It is considered the first Japanese historical text to analyze facts through the lens of historical causality and a Buddhist perspective on the rise and fall of political powers.12

Jien, born into the Fujiwara family, entered a Tendai Buddhist monastery and later wrote the Gukanshō (meaning "Jottings of a Fool") to help people understand life's changes. The work reflects the pessimistic Buddhist doctrine of mappō, viewing the feudal era as a time of religious decline and societal disintegration. Jien believed in the necessity of changes within the feudal structure and supported the shogun's rise to power.1