Photo/Illutration A copy of “You Xian Ku” (A visit to the hermit’s grotto), a designated important cultural property that dates back to the 14th century and is kept by Kongoji temple, is shown with almost all the pages restored. (Provided by the Kyoto National Museum)

KYOTO--The last half of what is regarded as Japan’s first imported novel has gone on display here for the first time.

The previously missing part of the fantastical story titled “You Xian Ku” (A visit to the hermit’s grotto), which came from Tang Dynasty China (618-907), was found at Kongoji temple in Kawachi-Nagano, Osaka Prefecture.

The confirmed piece is the oldest among extant copies of the book, and its latter portion was spotted nearly a century after a fragment of the novel was initially identified.

The novel, written by Zhang Wencheng (c. 660-c. 740), is said to have been conveyed to Japan during the Nara Period (710-784).

The story centers on the protagonist straying into a supernatural being’s cave, whereupon he is warmly welcomed by the fairy. They spend a night reaching out to each other through poetry exchanges.

The title is marked by its elegant writing style as well as witty conversations and poetry.

Tomofusa Uesugi, a research fellow at the Kyoto National Museum in the ancient capital’s Higashiyama Ward, which recently uncovered the lost half, explained what the novel meant to people of the time.

“It was like a latest TV drama from overseas for people today,” said Uesugi. “The work was famous for its refined text and it exerted an impact on the ‘Manyoshu’ (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) poetry anthology and ‘Genji Monogatari’ (The Tale of Genji). It was long popular among readers in Japan.”

Although the story’s copies were scattered and lost in China, more than one old reproduction exists in Japan.

In 1918, historian Katsumi Kuroita (1874-1946) reported that a copy was kept at Kongoji.

Half-folded, pasted sheets of paper originally constituting a book were found separately at the time. Efforts by numerous researchers afterward resulted in the gradual discovery of a succession of pieces.

The postscript that emerged in 1986 specifies that kana script was added in 1321, meaning it is the earliest reproduction in existence.

The copied work was designated by the government as an important cultural property in 2014, although only 16 of its 40 pages had been identified by then.

In June 2017, a full 99 years after the first report of the reproduction, 22 pages from its second half were found during the museum’s survey of Kongoji’s Maniin hall.

The remaining two pages have yet to be found, but 38 have already been restored to their original condition, so almost the entire content of the book can be read.

“‘You Xian Ku’ was initially uncovered in the main hall, but the latest discovery was from one of the boxes in the Maniin (small hall on the grounds of Kongoji),” said Uesugi. “We did not expect to make such an extraordinary find but quickly realized they are associated with ‘You Xian Ku,’ because the characters’ names are written on them.”

Perhaps even more startling was that the aim of the museum's Maniin hall study was simply to check boxes one by one to see what was inside. The museum staff had never expected to come across missing text from “You Xian Ku.”

“This latest achievement is a result of many scholars’ forging ahead with research and Kongoji’s decision to open its doors to researchers for many years,” Uesugi said.

As one of those academics, Uesugi said he has been studying Kongoji since he was a graduate student more than two decades ago.

The book, now almost restored to its former glory, is currently on display at the Kyoto National Museum to coincide with its special exhibition “Kanshinji and Kongoji,” its first such occasion, 700 years after the written copy was produced.

The event will continue through Sept. 11.

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