The Hachiman Cult and the Dokyo Incident Author(s): Ross Bender Source: Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Summer, 1979), pp. 125-153 Published by: Sophia University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2384320 Accessed: 17-03-2016 17:03 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact
[email protected]. Sophia University is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Monumenta Nipponica. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 77.80.42.241 on Thu, 17 Mar 2016 17:03:08 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions The Hachiman Cult and the D6ky6 Incident by Ross BENDER XO I NE of the gravest assaults ever made on the Japanese imperial institution was launched by the Buddhist priest D6ky6' in the 760s. Dokyo, who came from a clan of the low-ranking provincial aristocracy, gained the affection of the retired Empress K6ken2 in 761 and proceeded to gather political power to himself; by the end of the decade he stood as the paramount figure in the court bureaucracy and had already begun to usurp imperial prerogatives. It was in 769 that an oracle from the shrine of Hachiman in Kyushu was reported to Nara: the god prophesied peace in the realm if Dokyo were proclaimed em- peror.