#About This Book — Sando Shinkyo

Contents

This book does not make the blade strong. Instead it explains why the hand that took up that blade trembles, or why it does not tremble.

#Introductory Fragment — The Word That Came Before the Answer

"Why does this person not retreat?" asked the player. There were Wounds left on the sheet, and there was a path to flee. Yet the NPC did not move a single step from before the door.

For a moment the GM did not look at the numbers. Instead he placed four small objects on the table. The lord's order document, the mortuary tablet of a dead child, a cracked teacup, a wet leaf picked up on a mountain path.

"Does this person hold out because of the order?" asked another player.

"He might," said the GM. "But he might be unable to retreat because of the tablet, or it might be because of the words of the master who gave the teacup. Or it might be because he believes the path that came down from the mountain has not yet closed."

Then the Pure Land Monk PC said quietly. "Then I will ask. Why he still stands there."

When that question came out, the combat scene paused for a moment. The answer was not in the rules table. But after that answer came out, the meaning of the next check will be completely different.

#Why I Write This Book

In Konsei Reiyotan, religion and thought are not background decoration.

The sutra passage of Buddhism repels yoma, the talisman of Onmyodo makes a Barrier, and the divine precinct of Shinto guards a zone. But before that, thought becomes the language by which a character interprets his own actions.

When a samurai sways between his lord's order and the lives of the Commoners, he sways in the language of Confucianism.
When a Pure Land Monk recites the nembutsu for the enemy, he sways in the language of Buddhism.
When a ronin tries to set down the fear at the blade-tip, he sways in the language of Zen.
When a shugenja carves away his own body to open a path, he sways in the language of austerity and enlightenment.

This volume provides that language.

#This Book Is Not a Rulebook

This volume has no new Sorcery. No new school either. It does not change the values of existing classes, nor does it create new ability options.

This book has three uses.

It makes a character's convictions clear.
It makes an NPC's motive quickly.
It makes the words and silences of a scene deeper.

For a quick check during combat, see co. This book is better suited to pre-session preparation and post-session reflection.

#Reading Order

If you are reading for the first time, the following order is recommended.

fc06-01-01-era-map.md — the flow of the era.
fc06-02-01-confucianism.md, fc06-02-02-buddhism.md, fc06-02-03-zen.md, fc06-02-05-xian-and-gendo.md — the four currents.
fc06-04-01-three-ways-six-hearts.md — the Three Ways and Six Hearts connection.
Read fc06-04-02-religious-classes.md according to your own PC class.

The GM may read fc06-04-03-gm-scene-tools.md first.

#The Distance Between History and the Game

This book respects historical fact, but it is not a history book. Konsei Reiyotan is a world where yoma are real and the Spirit Realm is open. Therefore words that were metaphor in real history sometimes become operating facts in this world.

For example, in real history the belief that "a sutra passage repels evil spirits" is a matter of faith and rite. In Konsei Reiyotan that belief can affect the actual battlefield and zone. Conversely, in real history Confucianism is not Sorcery, and in Konsei Reiyotan too Confucianism is not Sorcery. Confucianism is not a force-firing technique, but a language that makes order and justifies commands.

If you keep this difference, the world becomes clear.

#The Core Principles of This Volume

Principle	Meaning
Thought is not a weapon but a reason	This book does not increase the means of attack. It makes the reason for action.
Religion is not singular	One figure can hold Confucian loyalty, Buddhist compassion, and Zen no-mind at the same time.
Zen (禪) is within Buddhism	Zen is not an independent 4th Faith but a current of Buddhist practice.
xian (仙) is on the Way of Mystery side	The xian, Daoism, mountain seclusion, and natural spirituality are the core stratum of the Way of Mystery interpretation, not of Zen.
It does not correspond 1:1 with the Three Ways and Six Hearts	Confucianism strongly touches the Way of Rites, but Confucian benevolence (仁) also meets the Way of Emptiness.
It distinguishes reality from Konsei Reiyotan	It mixes the institutions of real history with the reality of yoma in the game world, but does not make them the same thing.

#Moments When This Book Is Useful

When a PC agonizes over whether to obey or refuse the lord's order.
When a monk PC sways between killing a yoma and saving it.
When a ronin or swordsman must show "no-mind" not merely in word but as a scene.
When the speech of a daimyo, monk, scholar, temple faction, or village elder NPC is needed.
When you want to make a Three Ways and Six Hearts transition as a narrative scene rather than a number.

#A Word from the Writer

Confucianism is the language of command. Buddhism is the language of suffering. Zen is the language of silence. Xian thought is the language of flow.

The good scenes of Konsei Reiyotan often arise when these four collide. One must obey the order, yet the suffering is visible; one must save the suffering, yet the blade-tip sways; the moment the blade-tip sways, no word comes out; and the flow of mountain and star does not wait for a human's decision.

When that silence is needed, open this book.

Thought lives longer in a wavering choice than when it stays on the bookshelf.