VOLUME 3, SPRING 2018

Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University

Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University

VOLUME 3, SPRING 2018

Te Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University (JAH-Q) is a peer-reviewed journal published by Kyushu University, School of Letters, Graduate School of Humanities, Faculty of Humanities 九州大学文学部 大学院人文科学府 大学院人文科学研究院.

COPYRIGHT © 2018 KYUSHU UNIVERSITY Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University

Editorial Board Information about the journal and submissions EDITOR Cynthea J. Bogel (Kyushu University) The Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University (JAH-Q) is a non-subscription publication available MANAGING EDITOR online and in print: as PDFs indexed by article on the Tomoyuki Kubo (Kyushu University) Kyushu University Library website at https://www.lib.kyushu-u.ac.jp/publications_kyushu/jahq; CONSULTING EDITORS as a single-volume PDF at Ellen Van Goethem (Kyushu University) http://www2.lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp/en/impjh/jahq/; and Ashton Lazarus (Kyushu University) as a free printed volume for contributors, libraries, and individuals (based on availability). ADVISORY MEMBERS Karl Friday (Saitama University) We consider for publication research articles, state- Seinosuke Ide (Kyushu University) of-the-field essays, and short reports on conferences Fabio Rambelli (University of California, Santa Barbara) and other events related to Asian humanities subjects James Robson (Harvard University) (broadly defined). We also seek articles or reports for Yasutoshi Sakaue (Kyushu University) the themed section, “Kyushu and Asia,” and reviews Tansen Sen (NYU Shanghai) (book, exhibition, film) for the “Reviews” section. Takeshi Shizunaga (Kyushu University) Melanie Trede (Heidelberg University) If you would like your book to be reviewed or have [email protected] Catherine Vance Yeh (Boston University) questions, contact . Potential contributors should send e-mail to the editor after referring to the Submission Guidelines: http://www2.lit.kyushu-u.ac.jp/en/impjh/ Contents

VOLUME 3, SPRING 2018

DAVID WEISS CHARI PRADEL Slaying the Serpent: Comparative Mythological Illuminating the Sacred Presence of Hasedera’s Eleven- Perspectives on Susanoo’s Fight ...... 1 Headed Avalokiteśvara ...... 87

TOSHIFUMI KAWAHIRA D. MAX MOERMAN Chinese Poetry in : Kana-shi in Thought and Underground : The Subterranean Landscape Practice ...... 21 of the Ise Shrines ...... 115

YAN YANG Review Yamato-e: Illuminating a Concept through Historio- graphical Analysis ...... 39 BOOK REVIEW BY JAMES ROBSON Tansen Sen. , , and the World: A Connected FABIO RAMBELLI History. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. . . 129 Devices, Non-Hermeneutical Libraries, and Robot-Monks: Prayer Machines in Japanese Kyushu and Asia Buddhism ...... 57 LINDSEY E. DEWITT SATOMI YAMAMOTO Report on the 2017 Inscription of “Sacred Island of Futanari, Between and Beyond: From Male Shamans and Associated Sites in the Munakata to Hermaphrodites in Te Illustrated Scroll Region” as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . . . . . 135 of Illnesses ...... 77 Article Contributors and Summaries

Slaying the Serpent: Comparative written versions of the early eighth century. Mythological Perspectives on Susanoo’s Dragon Fight

DAVID WEISS Chinese Poetry in Hiragana: Kana-shi in Thought and Practice THE UNIVERSITY OF TÜBINGEN RESEARCH , DEPARTMENT OF JAPANESE TOSHIFUMI KAWAHIRA STUDIES KYUSHU UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF JAPANESE LITERATURE In the “Slaying of the Great Eight-Headed Serpent,” one of the most iconographic episodes in Japanese In the there was a type of poetry called , the god Susanoo rescues a maiden from a dragon kana-shi. In terms of form and it was modeled on and marries her. Comparing the Japanese Chinese poetry (kanshi) yet written with a mixture of with international dragon-slayer tales, this essay draws hiragana and . It can be thought of as a literary attention to the dragon’s close connection to water and form that occupied the space in between haikai and iron. It argues that have to be adapted to new Chinese poetry. Kana-shi was frequently composed circumstances in to remain relevant to the group in the early eighteenth century by Morikawa Kyoriku, that transmits them. In the myth of Susanoo’s dragon Kagami Shikō, and other disciples and associates fight, as related in the ancient chronicles and of Matsuo Bashō, and it took shape amid rising , these repeated adaptations are still visible nationalist sentiment and an accompanying decline as various layers of meaning. The essay illuminates in the status of Chinese poetry and prose. Influenced some of these layers and connects them to cultural by the mood of this intellectual environment, kana- techniques such as wet-rice cultivation or metallurgy. shi seems to have emerged as an ambitious literary This approach makes it possible to trace the evolution form that, while modeled on Chinese poetry, sought to of the myth, which found its culmination in the reconstruct it as Japanese. This essay considers these

iv and related issues through analyses of specific poems. periods and contexts (the shakuhachi flute as It also introduces several related poetic styles that performed by adepts of the Fuke sect, prayer developed in the same time period, arguing that kana- wheels and rotating repositories, Tokugawa shi was a precursor of famous works like Yosa Buson’s period automata, and, more recently, robot-monks and “Mourning the Old Sage Hokuju” as well as the new- virtual [online] ritual services), the article discusses form poetry (shintaishi) of the period. the status of those devices within the Buddhist cultural system and the conceptual challenge that they pose to issues of individual agency, religious practice, and, Yamato-e: Illuminating a Concept through ultimately, soteriology. Historiographical Analysis

YAN YANG Futanari, Between and Beyond: From BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COL- Male Shamans to Hermaphrodites in The LEGE, CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK Illustrated Scroll of Illnesses ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ART HISTORY SATOMI YAMAMOTO Yamato-e is a but confounding concept KYŌRITSU WOMEN’S UNIVERSITY in Japanese art history. Meaning simply “Japanese PROFESSOR OF JAPANESE ART HISTORY pictures,” the term is widely understood as much more. Scholars use it to refer to an alleged genre that In ancient and medieval , female shamans had includes pictorial artworks featuring Japanese subject the task of divining messages from the gods. Yet there matter and a distinct style most often characterized were also male shamans (otoko ) who donned as soft, colorful, and independent from outside female clothing. The “Futanari” section of Yamai influences (especially Chinese). This paper analyzes no sōshi (The Illustrated Scroll of Illnesses) depicts the twentieth-century historiography of yamato-e in one such figure: an intersex (futanari) soothsayer. terms of semantics, parameters, and narrative histories The scroll is thought to have been completed in the as established by various Japanese scholars, explains late twelfth century, around the zenith of Emperor why our current definition of yamato-e is problematic, Goshirakawa’s cultural influence. It was Goshirakawa and examines how the concept of yamato-e reveals who compiled the collection of imayō (popular songs) more about scholarly concerns of the early twentieth entitled Ryōjin hishō (Songs to Make the Dust Dance century than a specific painting style or type. on the Beams), which includes songs that ridicule male shamans for belonging to the marginal cultures of the eastern hinterlands and the emerging warrior Dharma Devices, Non-Hermeneutical class. This same mocking gaze is cast upon the intersex Libraries, and Robot-Monks: Prayer soothsayer by the figures in the scene and potentially Machines in Japanese Buddhism by the contemporaneous reader/viewer for “Futanari.” By focusing on representations of male shamans, as FABIO RAMBELLI well as Buddhist teachings that informed the treatment UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA of intersex figures, this essay explores the basis of the PROFESSOR OF JAPANESE AND ISF multiple meanings of “Futanari” and futanari. ENDOWED CHAIR IN STUDIES

This article explores the little-known subject of the presence, in the Japanese Buddhist tradition, of machines (understood here as special tools, instruments, and various mechanical devices) used for the production and proliferation of prayers and prayer-related activities. Following a description of representative examples from various historical

SPRiNG 2018 JOURNAL OF ASiAN HUMANiTiES AT KYUSHU UNivERSiTY v Illuminating the Sacred Presence of material culture produced by and for the priestly Hasedera’s Eleven-Headed Avalokiteśvara lineages of the Ise Shrines established a sustaining relationship between the gods and the buddhas and CHARI PRADEL lay the necessary substructure for later Buddhist CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, developments at the Ise Shrines. POMONA PROFESSOR OF ART HISTORY REVIEW The Buddhist mountain-temple of Hasedera ( Tansen Sen. India, China, and the World: A Prefecture) is famous for its miraculous icon, Connected History. New York: Rowman & Hase Kannon, a monumental image of Jūichimen Littlefeld, 2017. Kannon (Sk. Ekādaśamukha, the Eleven-Headed Avalokiteśvara). This essay focuses on the origins BOOK REVIEW BY JAMES ROBSON of the Hase Kannon statue as narrated in Hasedera HARVARD UNIVERSITY emaki (Illustrated Scrolls of the Accounts of JAMES C. KRALIK AND YUNLI LOU PROFESSOR OF Hasedera) and argues that the creators of the text EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES AND CIVILIZATIONS carefully constructed the sacred aura of the image by highlighting the extraordinary qualities of the material used to make the icon and its stone pedestal. To KYUSHU AND ASIA enhance the sacred nature of the image, the writer(s) Report on the 2017 Inscription of “Sacred used the idea that non-sentient beings could reach Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites enlightenment, and created a story in which the log in the Munakata Region” as a UNESCO seems to follow the various steps required before its World Heritage Site transformation into a Kannon image. Moreover, the stone pedestal where the icon stands was believed to LINDSEY E. DEWITT be connected to real and imaginary Buddhist sacred JAPAN SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF SCIENCE sites. POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW VISITING RESEARCHER, KYUSHU UNIVERSITY

Underground Buddhism: The Subterranean This report sketches the World Heritage story of Landscape of the Ise Shrines Okinoshima, a remote island off the coast of northern Kyushu, and Munakata Grand Shrine (a triad of D. MAX MOERMAN shrines that include a site on Okinoshima). The BARNARD COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY discovery of eighty thousand artifacts (collectively PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF ASIAN AND MIDDLE designated a “National Treasure” today) found on the EASTERN CULTURES island in twentieth-century archaeological excavations and a reference in the eighth-century chronicles Nihon This article analyzes the history of Buddhist practice shoki and Kojiki have catapulted the island to global by priests of the Ise Shrines, traditionally presented fame, inspiring grand about Japan’s origins as the paradigmatic site of an indigenous and premodern polity. Okinoshima and Munakata untouched by Buddhism. It challenges modern claims Grand Shrine have also drawn critical attention in of an exclusive tradition with archeological evidence the context of the World Heritage bid, first over the for the Buddhist aspirations of Ise’s sacerdotal lineages shrine’s policy of banning women from the island, and and the material record of the objects and individuals second over the Japanese government’s nationalistic responsible for the construction of Ise as a Buddhist presentation of Okinoshima that diminishes the site. By focusing on the material objects and ritual transregional significance of the island’s identity and acts created by collaborative networks of institutional material culture. groups that have been conventionally assumed to be rivals, the article argues that the ritual practices and

vi JOURNAL OF ASiAN HUMANiTiES AT KYUSHU UNivERSiTY VOLUME 3 Slaying the Serpent: Comparative Mythological Perspectives on Susanoo’s Dragon Fight

DAVID WEISS

“, too, is a part of the world and means unique to the Japanese tradition. A traveler from should be examined as such; after all it remains true a distant land learns that a maiden is to be devoured by that Japan is an island nation only in a geographical, a giant reptilian monster that demands a sacrifce every 1 but not in a cultural sense.” year. He devises a clever plan, slays the monster, and marries the maiden. Te traveler is Susanoo (Kojiki: 須 佐之男; Nihon shoki: 素戔鳴), the shady little brother Introduction of the sun goddess 天照 who has just been banished from his sister’s heavenly realm. In Izumo AMATA no orochi taiji 八岐大蛇退治 or the (the eastern part of present-day Shimane Prefecture) he “Slaying of the Great Eight-Headed Serpent” chances upon an old couple who tearfully tell him how is without doubt one of the most iconographic an eight-headed serpent that spans eight mountains and Yscenes in the ancient Japanese myths related in the eight valleys had appeared each year to devour one of court chronicles Kojiki 古事記 (Record of Ancient their eight daughters. Now only one daughter is lef and Matters, 712) and Nihon shoki 日本書紀 (Chronicles of the time of the monster’s appearance is drawing near. Japan, 720).2 A brief summary of the narrative should Susanoo promises to rescue the maiden if in return he sufce to show that the subject of the tale is by no is promised her hand in marriage. When her parents agree, Susanoo transforms the maiden into a comb that he sticks in his hair. He manages to slay the serpent by getting it drunk and hacking it to pieces in its stupor. The author would like to thank the two anonymous readers for their thoughtful comments. In its tail, he fnds the precious sword Kusanagi (Kojiki: 1 Antoni, “Japanische Totentwelt,” p. 91. All translations by the 草那芸; Nihon shoki: 草薙), which he ofers up to his author, unless otherwise stated. sister. Ten he fnds a suitable place to build his palace 2 The characters for provided in the text follow 3 the Nihon shoki. The Kojiki uses the following characters: 八 and at length consummates his marriage. 俣遠呂知. Due to the characters used to write yamata in both works, the term is often interpreted to mean “eight-forked,” but John Bentley argues that mata is an old word for “head,” being cognate with the Early Middle Korean “head” 麻帝 (*matay or 3 Kojiki, pp. 68–73; Nihon shoki, vol. 1, pp. 90–102. In addition to *matæ). Bentley, Sendai Kuji Hongi, p. 177, note 6. the main version, the Nihon shoki contains five variants of this

1 In this paper, I will subject the Japanese tale to a function as specifc representations of the universal narratological analysis by comparing it to a number character of the dragon-slayer in the tale under discus- of international dragon-slayer tales. In doing so, I will sion. place special emphasis on two aspects that the Japanese As Hayashi Michiyoshi points out, narrative has in common with other tales of this type, namely the dragon’s connection to water and to met- Myths are universal and particular at the same al.4 I will supplement this narratological analysis with time. While on the one hand motifs and structures an examination of historical sources and archaeologi- that are common to many peoples are found in cal artifacts in order to draw a connection between the mythology, signifcant diferences can be discov- yamata no orochi myth and the arrival of new metal- ered between diferent mythologies if one looks at lurgical techniques from the Asian mainland in Ko- how these common motifs are used.8 fun-period Japan (250 CE–600 CE). Such an approach, I believe, can fruitfully com- Bearing these caveats in mind, I will endeavor to point plement recent works by literary studies scholars like out both universal and particular aspects of the yamata Kōnoshi Takamitsu who regard the Kojiki, the Nihon no orochi myth. For example, I will demonstrate in the shoki, and other ancient sources as literary works, each following pages that the dragon or serpent’s connection of which has its own internal structure and coherence, to water is a universal theme that can be observed in and expresses a specifc worldview. Such studies tend to myths and folktales around the globe. However, the emphasize the diferences between particular sources idea of the dragon as giver or withholder of rain had rather than their similarities, let alone parallels outside to be adapted to the Japanese cultural context in order Japan.5 To give one concrete example, Kwŏn Tongu in to remain relevant. Tus, the myth became linked to a recent study describes the Susanoo of Kojiki and the the water-intensive business of wet-rice cultivation. Susanoo of Nihon shoki as “completely diferent Tis example also demonstrates another point that will (mattaku betsu no ).”6 For him, the Nihon shoki’s be central to the following analysis: myths change over Susanoo is a purely evil , since the work’s internal time. Tey take on new meanings as they are adapted yin and yang structure calls for a negative counterpart to changing geographical, social, cultural, or economic to Amaterasu, whereas the Kojiki’s Susanoo is purifed circumstances. Te yamata no orochi myth as it is re- by Amaterasu and ultimately becomes a great heroic lated in the ancient court chronicles is thus the result deity.7 While it is not my intention to deny the difer- of a long evolution. I will argue that the Japanese tale ences between the two chronicles and their relevance is an articulation of the universal or nearly universal for an assessment of the respective sources and their dragon-slayer myth. However, since it accreted various agendas, this interpretation seems to exaggerate the dif- layers of meaning over time and space, being adapted ferences while passing over the similarities in silence. to the specifc living conditions of the groups who re- I would rather speak of two particular articulations of ceived and transmitted it, the tale difers quite substan- a common idea—in this case, a deity—both of which tially from other articulations of this mythical theme.9

8 Hayashi, Mikoto to miko, p. 6. episode, some of which leave out important components such as 9 Nakanishi Susumu has pointed out that the myth of Susanoo the slaying of the serpent (var. 1), Susanoo’s marriage (var. 4), or consists of various layers of meaning. Nakanishi, Ama tsu both (var. 5). kami, p. 205. In his dissertation completed in Vienna in 1935, 4 The term “dragon” is used broadly in the present study to denote the anthropologist Oka Masao linked certain mythical motifs a reptilian or serpentine monster. Often are depicted with material artifacts, religious ideas, and modes of social as multiheaded and capable of flight. As will become apparent, organization and subsistence in order to reconstruct so-called these creatures share some characteristics such as their close cultural strata of ancient Japan. He connected these strata connection to water, thunder, and metal in myths and folktales with successive waves of immigration from different regions around the globe. like Indonesia or that brought their own religious ideas, 5 See, for example, Kōnoshi, Kojiki to Nihon shoki. forms of social organization, and cultural technologies with 6 Kwŏn, Susanoo no henbō, p. 128. them to Japan. Oka, Kulturschichten in Alt-Japan. On Oka and 7 Ibid. Kwŏn limits himself to the Nihon shoki’s main version of the his connection to the Viennese School of Ethnology, see, for myth and, following Kōnoshi, Kojiki to Nihon shoki, pp. 110–12, example, Kreiner, Nihon minzokugaku. Although many of Oka’s chooses to ignore all the mythical variants contained in the same conclusions did not stand the test of time, his approach inspired source. the present analysis.

2 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 Any fundamental changes in the transmitting group’s type in is the narrative of “Te - life experience, such as the emergence of a new cultural key-God Slayer” (Ikeda 300) that is attested in ffy ver- technique like wet-rice cultivation or metallurgy, by sions by Ikeda Hiroko.15 Although the “Slaying of the necessity leads to an adaptation of the myth as well.10 Great Eight-Headed Serpent” lacks the motifs of the Otherwise the myth would lose its signifcance for dogs and the impostor, it is usually subsumed under the group and eventually be forgotten. I follow Alan the same type.16 Dundes’ defnition of myth as “a sacred narrative ex- As it is related in the Kojiki and the Nihon shoki, the plaining how the world and mankind came to be in narrative is not a folktale, however, but a true myth in- their present form.”11 In other words, myth “explains the sofar as it addresses fundamental questions of human why and how of the here and now.”12 Tis defnition im- existence.17 In this context, Nelly Naumann draws at- plies that a myth would lose its raison d’être as soon as tention to the eight-headedness of the monster. While it is no longer linked to the everyday experiences of the dragons are imagined as multiheaded beasts in many transmitting group. Migration, of course, amounts to cultures, the number eight has a specifc meaning in a fundamental change in a group’s everyday life. Tus, Japanese myth: it represents “totality.” myths traditionally transmitted by the migrant group might no longer be appropriate in their new living envi- Like the eight islands [of Japan] or the eight ronment and have to be modifed or vanish. An analysis mountains and the eight valleys [mentioned in that takes these dynamics of mythical adaptations and the yamata no orochi myth] are an image of the reformulations into consideration will not only further mundane world, the eight-headed serpent monster our understanding of a particular episode of Japanese is the symbol of an all-destroying force. Tis force mythology but also allow us to place the genesis of this has to be destroyed in order to save the world.18 episode in the context of both Asian and world history. Similar interpretations have been suggested for drag- on-slayer myths outside Japan as well. Tus, the dragon The Myth of the Dragon Fight in the Indo-European as well as in the Near and Mid- dle Eastern traditions has been regarded as a symbol “Te Dragon-Slayer” (ATU 300) is one of the best of chaos: “Te dragon symbolizes Chaos, in the largest known and most widely distributed tale types docu- sense, and killing the dragon represents the ultimate mented in the international folktale index originally victory of Cosmic Truth and Order over Chaos.”19 Tis devised by Antti Aarne and later modifed by Stith cosmic struggle found expression in myth as a fght be- Tompson and Hans-Jörg Uther.13 Te index summa- tween “the sky god as champion of order” and a dragon, rizes the plot in the following manner: a youth with the “demon of disorder.”20 three wonderful dogs comes to a town and learns that In a similar vein, Miura Sukeyuki regards the myth once a year a dragon demands a virgin as a sacrifce. of Susanoo’s fght with the eight-headed serpent as a Tis particular year, the king’s daughter is to be sacri- tale of confict between culture and nature. He views fced and the king ofers her hand in marriage to who- ever might rescue her. With the help of his dogs, the youth overcomes the dragon and then disappears. In 15 Ikeda, Type and Motif Index, pp. 68–70. the meantime, an impostor claims the reward, but the 16 Ibid.; Seki, “Yamata no orochi,” p. 150. dragon-slayer returns in time, unmasks the impostor, 17 I distinguish myths from other forms of folk narrative like folktales and marries the princess.14 Te closest parallel to this (which are recognized as fictional by the society transmitting them) and legends (which are set in a specific historical period). I am fully aware that this distinction is a modern European one, but still find it useful for analytical purposes. See, for example, 10 Such adaptations could be achieved with relative ease as long Bascom, “Forms of Folklore”; Csapo, Theories of Mythology, pp. as the myth in question is not fixed in writing. Van Baaren, 5–8; Dundes, “Madness in Method”; Ellwood, Politics of Myth, “Flexibility of Myth,” pp. 218–24. p. 21. It would be a mistake to draw overly sharp distinctions, 11 Dundes, “Madness in Method,” p. 147. however, since the same motifs can and do appear in all three 12 Van Baaren, “Flexibility of Myth,” p. 223. categories of narrative. Doty, Mythography, p. 11. 13 The ATU refers to the classification according to the 18 Naumann, Mythen des alten Japan, p. 106. Aarne-Thompson-Uther index. 19 Watkins, How to Kill a Dragon, p. 299. 14 Uther, Types of International Folktales, vol. 1, p. 174. 20 Fontenrose, Python, pp. 218–19.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 3 the serpent as a river god and hence as a symbol of na- attention to the description of the serpent’s appearance, ture, whereas he believes the maiden who is about to which is indeed reminiscent of a mighty river: be sacrifced to the monster to be the symbol of a rice feld, as her Kushiinada-hime 寄稲田姫 or “Lady Its eyes are like red cherries and it has eight heads Wondrous Rice Paddy” suggests.21 Te annual sacrifce and eight tails. Covered in moss, cypress and of a daughter to the river god can thus be interpreted cedar, it spans eight valleys and eight peaks, and as a contract between Kushiinada-hime’s parents and when you look at its belly you see blood oozing the river god that ensures a rich harvest. In this situa- out everywhere.24 tion, the culture hero Susanoo descends from heaven and asks for Kushiinada-hime’s hand in marriage. Her Te Hi River frequently burst its banks until its course parents agree, thereby breaking their contract with the was redirected during the Edo period (1600–1868). On river god and entering into a new one with Susanoo. In the other hand, the river’s nourishing waters were an both cases, Miura points out, they lose their daughter to indispensable prerequisite for any form of agriculture, the representative of an otherworld. Te crucial difer- especially for the irrigation of rice paddies. Te river’s ence in his view is that whereas the daughters sacrifced signifcance for those who lived in its vicinity can be to the eight-headed serpent had only been devoured— inferred from a passage in the Izumo 出雲風土 that is, consumed—the marriage with Susanoo is pro- 記 (Topography of Izumo, 733): ductive insofar as it will bring forth children. According to Miura, this forms the core of the “culture” brought by On both sides of the river, the soil is fertile. In Susanoo. “Viewed in this light, the various character- some places, prosperous felds provide the people istics of Susanoo depicted in the serpent-slaying myth with abundant harvests of the fve sorts of grain, symbolize ‘culture’ that brings a new order.”22 Tis in- mulberry, and hemp. In other places, the soil is terpretation frmly situates the tale in the agricultural fertile and herbs and trees grow profusely. Tere context of wet-rice cultivation. are ayu 年魚 [sweetfsh], salmon, trout, dace, mul- let, and sea eel. Tey crowd the deep and shallow waters. Te people of the fve districts between The Dragon’s Connection to Water the mouth of the river and the headwaters at the village of Yokota 横田 live of the river.25 Ofen the eight-headed serpent is not only seen as a river god as in Miura’s interpretation but rather as a It is no wonder, then, that the local farmers, who de- personifcation of the Hi (Kojiki: 肥; Nihon shoki: 簸) pended on the river for their livelihood, regarded it not River (present-day Hii 斐伊 River), the largest river in only with awe but also with fear. Like the eight-headed the Izumo region, which features prominently in most serpent, the river brought both fertility and destruction. versions of the myth.23 Tis is not surprising if one pays Te dragon’s close connection to rivers and water is by no means limited to Japan. Te Egyptologist Graf- ton Elliot Smith, for instance, regarded “the control 21 This name is used only in the Nihon shoki; in the Kojiki, the young of water” as the “fundamental element in the dragon’s woman is called Kushinada-hime 寄名田比売, a name that is powers.” Tis control extends over both the “benef- not directly relatable to rice fields. However, Matsumura Takeo argues that this name resulted via elision from the one used in cient and destructive aspects [of] water” and includes the Nihon shoki. Matsumura, Nihon shinwa no kenkyū, vol. 3, pp. the regulation of tides, streams, and rainfall. Moreover, 207–208. dragons were believed to dwell in pools or wells and 22 Miura, Kojiki kōgi, pp. 122–26. I am indebted to Robert Wittkamp 26 for pointing out this reference to me. were associated with thunder and . 23 See, for instance, Aston, Shinto, p. 105; Matsumoto, Kojiki shinwa ron, p. 69; Matsumura, Nihon shinwa no kenkyū, vol. 3, pp. 188– 89; Saigō, Kojiki no sekai, pp. 73–75. All versions of the serpent- slaying myth are set beside a river. Only variant 2 of the Nihon 24 Heldt, The Kojiki, p. 26. shoki provides a name different from Hi River in this context, 25 Izumo fudoki, pp. 218–19. namely the E 可愛 River in Agi (the western part of present-day 26 Smith, Evolution of the Dragon, p. 78. Robert Miller discusses Hiroshima Prefecture). Yet even this variant mentions the Hi River a large number of Near Eastern variants of the dragon-slaying in Izumo as the site where Susanoo finally settled down with his myth, in most of which the dragon is explicitly associated with bride. rivers or the sea. Miller, “Tracking the Dragon.”

4 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 How can the dragon’s connection to water be recon- of malevolent snakes that inhabit rivers or ponds and ciled with the conception of it being an embodiment of that feature in local food legends.32 Tese conceptions chaos? A look at Greek mythology provides a possible doubtless colored the description of the eight-headed answer to this question. In Hesiod’s Teogony (eighth serpent in the ancient Japanese court chronicles. Te century BCE), Chaos is the frst deity that comes into conception of the dragon as a water god who must be being. Te goddess is depicted as one of the two pri- propitiated in order to ensure sufcient water supply mordial mothers—the other being Gaia, that is, Mother for agriculture and to prevent foods seems to form the Earth.27 Several Greek philosophers therefore identi- oldest layer of the dragon-slayer myth. In Japan this fed Chaos with water. Possibly this conception can be theme fnds a specifc expression in the eight-headed traced back to a time when the ocean formed the limit serpent’s close connection to wet-rice cultivation. of the world known to humankind, an insurmountable barrier hostile to human life. “Hence Chaos—a living state of disorder, inactivity, and preëxistent death— Perseus and Andromeda was conceived as a waste of waters.”28 Calvert Watkins, on the other hand, interprets the Indo-Iranian theme Te parallels of the “Slaying of the Great Eight-Headed of the pent-up waters or “the blockage of life-giving Serpent” with dragon-slayer myths around the globe forces, which are released by the victorious act of the have not gone unnoticed in previous scholarship. As hero,” discussed below, as a manifestation of the chaos early as 1896, W. G. Aston emphasized “the resem- symbolized by the dragon.29 blance of this story to that of Perseus and Andromeda, While it is difcult to assess whether these interpre- and many others.”33 In the same year, Edwin Sydney tations are correct, the dragon’s connection to water is Hartland included a discussion of the Japanese myth indisputably a very pronounced feature in a large num- in the last volume of his infuential study Te Legend ber of myths and folktales and can thus justifably be of Perseus.34 Since that time scholars inside and outside called a universal motif. Marinus Willem de Visser has Japan have frequently compared the myth of Susanoo amply documented this motif in the Indian, Chinese, slaying the eight-headed serpent with the Greek narra- and Japanese traditions. He demonstrated that the In- tive of Perseus and Andromeda.35 Te Greek narrative dian nagas, “serpent-shaped semi-divine kings, living can be summarized thus: Andromeda was the daugh- in great luxury in their magnifcent palaces at the bot- ter of Queen Cassiopeia who had unwisely boasted tom of the water,” share their role as givers or withhold- that was fairer than the sea . To punish this ers of rain with Chinese and Japanese dragons.30 sacrilege, Poseidon sent a food and a sea monster to Of special importance in this context is the jiao long eradicate Cassiopeia’s kingdom. According to an ora- 蛟龍, a type of dragon that is attested to in the myths cle, this disaster could only be avoided if Andromeda and folklore of central and southern China. Te jiao long was sacrifced to the monster. Hence, the princess was is variously described as a “four-legged snake,” “horn- chained to a rock at the shore, where Perseus, a son of less dragon,” or as “a snake with a tiger head, [which] Zeus, found her. Te youth killed the monster and took is several fathoms long, lives in brooks and rivers, and bellows like a bull”; it has to be distinguished from the “real dragon” (long 龍), “which can ascend to heaven, is mainly benevolent, and provides rain and fertility.” 32 Naumann, “ no Kami,” p. 89. Naumann has demonstrated Te jiao dragon, in contrast, “is usually malevolent and the presence of a number of elements associated with the dangerous for man.… [It] is a special form of the snake southern Chinese Yue 越 culture in the material and spiritual 31 culture of Izumo. Naumann, Umwandeln des Himmelspfeilers, as river god.” Nelly Naumann emphasizes the related- pp. 218–29. ness of Chinese jiao dragons to Japanese conceptions 33 Aston, Nihongi, vol. 1, p. 53, note 4. 34 Hartland, Legend of Perseus, vol. 3, pp. 51–53. 35 See, for example, Fontenrose, Python, p. 500; Lyle, “Hero,” p. 6; Matsumae, Nihon shinwa no keisei, pp. 195–97; Matsumoto, 27 Caldwell, Hesiod’s Theogony, p. 3. Kojiki shinwa ron, pp. 68–69; Matsumura, Nihon shinwa no 28 Fontenrose, Python, pp. 225, 238–39. kenkyū, vol. 3, pp. 166–69; Miura, Kojiki kōgi, p. 116; Ōbayashi, 29 Watkins, How to Kill a Dragon, p. 300. Nihon shinwa no kigen, pp. 166–70; Philippi, Kojiki, p. 406; Seki, 30 Visser, Dragon in China and Japan, p. 231. “Yamata no orochi,” pp. 164–65; Yamaguchi, Tsukurareta Susanoo 31 Eberhard, Local Cultures, pp. 378–79. shinwa, pp. 133–59.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 5 Andromeda as his wife.36 In a recent article, Emily Lyle draws on Witzel’s work Te structural parallels to the yamata no orochi myth but remarks that in the Japanese myth “aspects of the are apparent: in both cases, a girl is to be sacrifced to ‘release of the waters’ and the ‘prevention of food’ are a water dragon; she is rescued by a hero from abroad, found together.”40 According to Lyle, this is no coinci- and becomes his wife. While the dragon in the Greek dence, since both aspects can be traced to the same nar- tale is explicitly connected with a food, a similar con- rative framework, namely the “world-shaping process” nection is at least implied in the Japanese tale if we ac- in which the dragon-slayer has to fght of “a number cept the identifcation of the eight-headed serpent with of extreme conditions,” among them the situations “too the Hi River bursting its banks each spring.37 It must be dry” and “too wet.”41 emphasized, however, that the Greek tale difers from In the yamata no orochi myth the two episodes are the yamata no orochi myth insofar as it is not linked to connected by the sword Kusanagi that Susanoo extracts agriculture. from the serpent’s tail. Tis sword, Lyle argues, is in fact the sky god’s phallus that “is lef embedded in the pri- mal goddess” afer the separation of sky and earth.42 Releasing the Waters Tis interpretation becomes comprehensible if one considers the cosmogony described in Hesiod’s Teog- Michael Witzel challenges the view that the “Slaying of ony. Te Greek work relates how Gaia mated with her the Great Eight-Headed Serpent” belongs to the same son Ouranos, the frst sky god, who imprisoned their type of narratives as the myth of Perseus and Androm- children in Gaia’s body. Eventually Gaia could not eda by drawing attention to another group of myths bear the pain and therefore made a sickle for her sons that are also concerned with dragons and water, albeit to punish their father. Kronos, the youngest, took the in a diferent way: instead of a food, they deal with a sickle and castrated his father. A number of children drought. In a massive work on the origins of the world’s were born from the sky god’s blood that fell on the mythologies, Witzel endeavors to reconstruct a basic earth, and his severed phallus was transformed into the storyline that is common to most of the world’s my- goddess Aphrodite.43 thologies.38 In this storyline, he assigns an important While the castration motif is characteristic frst of position to the slaying of the dragon: afer the creation all of Near Eastern mythologies,44 the idea of the sex- of the universe, he argues, the earth has to be moist- ual embrace of sky and earth that had to be broken at ened so it can nurture living beings. In many traditions the beginning of time is widely distributed over the it is not ordinary water but the blood of a primordial globe.45 Te Nihon shoki, too, opens with the separation dragon that fertilizes the earth. He explicitly mentions of heaven and earth: the yamata no orochi myth as an articulation of this mythical idea.39 In ancient times, heaven and earth were not yet separated; the female and the male principles were not yet divided. Tey formed a chaotic mass like

36 Ingersoll, Dragons and Dragon Lore, pp. 124–25. a hen’s egg which was dark and hard to discern 37 Hartland suggested a similar interpretation for the Greek and contained germs. Te clear and bright [parts] myth: “It may, of course, be that the monster sent to devour expanded thinly and became the heaven, the Andromeda is to be regarded simply as the personification of water, or of specific rivers in their sinister aspect.” Hartland, heavy and murky [parts] lingered and became Legend of Perseus, vol. 3, p. 94. Hartland’s view, in turn, inspired the earth. Te pure and fne parts easily merged, Aston’s interpretation of the Japanese myth. Aston, Nihongi, vol. while the coagulation of the dark and murky parts 1, pp. 104–105. 38 Witzel, Origins. It goes without saying that Witzel’s undertaking is not only an ambitious but also a controversial one. A discussion of his methodology is well beyond the scope of this article. 40 Lyle, “Hero,” p. 6. Although the study draws attention to astounding parallels 41 Lyle, Ten Gods, pp. 106–107. in the structures of mythologies widely dispersed in time and 42 Lyle, “Hero,” p. 7. space, Witzel’s inattention to the textual genesis of the individual 43 Caldwell, Hesiod’s Theogony, pp. 6–7. sources under consideration is a serious drawback and his 44 Mondi, “Greek Mythic Thought,” pp. 155–56. conclusions should therefore be questioned. For a critical 45 Witzel, Origins, pp. 128–37. This is also true for Korean assessment of his work, see Lincoln, “Review.” mythology. See Hyŏn, “Nihon shinwa to Kankoku shinwa,” pp. 39 Witzel, “Slaying the Dragon,” pp. 266–67. 70–80; Yoda, Chōsen no ōken, pp. 5–11.

6 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 was completed with [greater] difculty. Terefore, obtain the mighty sword Kusanagi only afer he has the heaven came into being frst and the earth killed the eight-headed serpent? And how did he come was formed aferward. Tereafer, divine beings by the sword he used to kill the eight-headed serpent (shinsei 神聖) were born between them.46 . . . At in the frst place? If we follow Lyle’s interpretation, this this time, one thing was born between heaven and contradiction emerged when two episodes of the narra- earth. Its form was like that of a reed shoot. Ten tive sequence associated with the “world-shaping pro- it became a deity and was called Kuninotokotachi cess” were fused into one. In the frst of these episodes, no Mikoto 国常立尊 (Eternally Standing Deity of she argues, the hero plucks out the sky god’s phallus, Earth).47 which was lef embedded in the earth goddess when the sky was separated from the earth. Tereby he gains Te Kojiki frames the origin of the world somewhat a powerful weapon and releases the life-giving waters, diferently. Here heaven and earth are not separated whose fow was obstructed by the weapon/phallus. In but “frst became active.”48 Aferwards a deity called the second episode, he “uses his weapon to defeat the Amenotokotachi no Kami 天之常立神 (Eternally sea dragon” and thus to prevent a food.51 Standing Deity of Heaven) comes into being.49 In this context, Witzel regards Amenotokotachi no Kami as “the prop supporting heaven and separating heaven The Dragon’s Connection to Metal and earth.” As he shows, such props or pillars appear in a number of mythologies in diferent regions of the Te sword Kusanagi brings us to another important world. Tis may suggest that the separation of heaven aspect of the cluster of ideas and motifs centering on and earth was conceived as a violent act.50 the dragon, namely its connection to metal. While this Tis phenomenon throughout world mythology theme is not as widely distributed as the dragon’s asso- shows that it is possible to compare the Japanese ac- ciation with water, many traditions, especially in Asia, count of the separation of heaven and earth, at least in connect the dragon with metal. Tis connection is an its broad outline, with the separation of Ouranos from ambivalent one: dragons are believed to dislike iron Gaia as related by Hesiod. Terefore, Lyle’s interpreta- and can be defeated only with the help of special (ofen tion of Kusanagi as the sky god’s phallus is not impos- iron) weapons, yet at the same time they guard trea- sible, although it admittedly remains speculative. Te sures of gold and can even transform themselves into of her hypothesis is that it allows us to overcome money or swords. one of the greatest contradictions in the myth of Su- In his aforementioned study, Smith observes that sanoo’s fght against the eight-headed serpent. As dis- “throughout the greater part of the area which tradi- cussed later in this article, the magical weapon is a tion has peopled with dragons, iron is regarded as pe- typical feature of dragon-slayer myths the world over. culiarly lethal to the monsters.”52 Visser provides rich In many tales, this weapon—ofen an iron sword—is documentation for this belief in China, where dragons needed to defeat the dragon. Why then does Susanoo were commonly believed to be afraid of iron. Tis con- ception is expressed, for example, in a tale about the repairs of a dike that could be completed only afer 46 The Nihon shoki’s compilers created this passage by combining great quantities of iron were buried under the dike and sections from Chinese works like the Huainanzi 淮南子 (Master Huainan, second century BCE) and the Sanwu liji 三五暦紀 the dragons dwelling in the water were thus defeated, (Historical Records of the Three Sovereign Divinities and the Five or in the belief that one could cause rains by throwing Gods, third century CE). See Kōnoshi, Kojiki to Nihon shoki, pp. iron into ponds, thus stirring up the dragons. Te latter 116–20. Witzel points out that this might in fact only be a matter 53 of wording. Even if the ideas expressed in this cosmogonic myth practice was imported to Japan as well. were already known in the Japanese islands prior to the arrival Te idea that serpents can be killed with iron is at- of the Chinese yin and yang concept, the Chinese-educated tested by a Japanese folktale in which a farmer’s daugh- compilers of the Nihon shoki would have had to look for Chinese models in order to express it in Chinese writing. Witzel, Origins, pp. 125–26. 47 Nihon shoki, vol. 1, pp. 18–19. 51 Lyle, “Hero,” p. 7. 48 This translation follows Quiros, “Chapter 1,” p. 306. 52 Smith, Evolution of the Dragon, p. 135. 49 Kojiki, pp. 28–29. 53 Visser, Dragon in China and Japan, p. 67; Eberhard, Local 50 Witzel, Origins, pp. 131–37. Cultures, p. 376.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 7 ter prevents herself from being married of to a serpent ples belong to European traditions.59 In Korea, dragons by throwing a needle at it, thus killing the beast.54 In a were believed to inhabit mines and guard their met- similar vein, the Nihon ryōiki 日本霊異記 (Records of als jealously.60 Dragons can even turn themselves into Miracles of Manifest Retribution of Good and Evil in metal. According to a Chinese folktale, a man fnds the Land of Japan, ninth century) relates that a farmer a pot full of gold. When another man steals the pot, was surprised by a rainstorm while he was working in he fnds only snakes inside. In revenge, he pours the his rice felds. He took shelter under a tree, holding a pot’s contents through the rightful owner’s roof, where metal rod (kanazue 金杖) in his hand. the snakes retransform into gold. In a variant, the gold turns into water, supporting the interpretation of drag- When it thundered, he raised the rod in fear. At ons or serpents as water gods or even embodiments that moment the thunder struck in front of him of water.61 Te connection of serpents to treasures can in the form of a child, who made a deep bow. Te also be observed in a number of Buddhist tales, where farmer was about to strike it with the metal rod the snake is turned into a symbol of the attachment to when the child said, “Please don’t hit me. I will earthly riches.62 repay your kindness.”55 Wolfram Eberhard has pointed to the centrality of the jiao dragons in this context. He has shown that they, As a reward for not killing him, the child, who was in like snakes in general, are not only defeated by iron, but fact a thunder god, gifed the farmer with a son of su- actually embody metal.63 As already noted, these ideas, pernatural strength. Te text notes that the baby had a which form a part of the southern Chinese snake cult, snake coiled around his head.56 Tis may be taken as a can be traced in the myths of Izumo as well. An anal- hint of the child’s connection to the thunder god and ysis of the “Slaying of the Eight-Headed Serpent” has the latter’s reptile nature. According to one interpreta- to take this cultural background into account. Tere is tion, the child is a reincarnation of the deity himself.57 no need for an elaborate explanation that regards the What is important in the present context is the under- sword Kusanagi as the phallus of the sky god, as sug- lying assumption that the thunder god was afraid of the gested by Lyle, if Japanese and Chinese tales suggest a farmer’s metal rod, a tool that was believed to ward of simpler interpretation, namely that the sword is an al- water gods, dragons, or serpents in Japanese folk be- ternate form of the serpent itself. lief.58 According to Visser, Chinese dragons can “trans- Tere is another side to the dragon’s connection form themselves into old men, beautiful women, and with metal, however. Ofen dragons are believed to fshes, or sometimes assume the shapes of trees and guard treasures of gold, a concept that is known in objects, as e. g. swords.”64 A southern Chinese tale may India and , although the most famous exam- serve as an example: A man found two carp that sud- denly turned into iron. He made two swords out of them that were sharp enough to cut through rocks. With these swords, the man established himself as a 54 Ikeda 312B, Type and Motif Index, pp. 74–75; Seki, “Yamata no orochi,” pp. 150–52. Another related tale type that is attested king. As Eberhard points out, these carp are nothing to in southern Korea and Japan is that of the “Snake Paramour,” else than transformed jiao dragons.65 in which a young woman is visited every night by a stranger. As mentioned above, Susanoo found the sword Ku- She uses a needle to attach a thread to his clothes. When next morning she follows the thread, she finds that her lover is sanagi in the eight-headed serpent’s tail. Tis might actually a serpent. In Kojiki, pp. 184–88, this motif is associated with the deity of Miwa, who appears in serpent form in another passage in the Nihon shoki, vol. 1, pp. 282–84. This tale does not belong to the dragon-slayer type; however, it does imply a 59 Blust, “Origin of Dragons,” p. 520. connection between serpent and metal, since the iron needle 60 Ingersoll, Dragons and Dragon Lore, p. 88. is an important motif in all versions. See also Antoni, Miwa, pp. 61 Eberhard, Typen chinesischer Volksmärchen, pp. 229–30; 91–97; Yoda, Chōsen minzoku , pp. 26–28; Ikeda 411C, Eberhard, Volksmärchen aus Südost-China, pp. 201–202. Type and Motif Index, p. 103. Ikeda mentions Japanese versions 62 Kelsey, “Salvation of the Snake,” pp. 101–102. in which the snake husband is killed with an iron needle. Ibid. 63 Eberhard, Local Cultures, p. 378. 55 Nakamura, Miraculous Stories, pp. 105–106. 64 Visser, Dragon in China and Japan, p. 233, my emphasis. 56 Nihon ryōiki 1:3 (pp. 204–205). 65 Eberhard, Local Cultures, pp. 376–78. For another southern 57 Kelsey, “Salvation of the Snake,” p. 92. Chinese example of a snake deity turning into a sword, see 58 Ouwehand, -e, pp. 176–77. Eberhard, Volksmärchen aus Südost-China, pp. 181–82.

8 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 refect an ancient folk belief that fgures in the oral tra- The Yamata no Orochi Myth and its ditions of many regions of Japan. According to this be- Connection to Metallurgy lief, potholes (smooth cavities or holes that form in the rocks of riverbeds through erosion) were in fact drilled Many scholars have associated the myth of Susanoo’s by dragons ascending to heaven with the sharp swords fght against the eight-headed serpent with the ar- growing from their tails.66 rival of advanced techniques of metalworking from Roy Andrew Miller and Nelly Naumann draw the Korean Peninsula. In this context, rationalizing a connection between the word kusanagi and Ko- and euhemeristic interpretations abound, especially rean kurŏng’i 구렁이 (a serpent, a large snake). They in Japanese scholarship. A scholar might claim, for in- reconstruct the Old Korean form *kusïnki, “which was stance, that the serpent’s red eyes symbolized smelting then borrowed into to appear there as furnaces, and that the serpent’s blood that turned the kusanagĭ.” Yet they admit that one link is missing to river red, as we are told in Kojiki and Nihon shoki, was make this etymology “fully convincing.”67 Considering actually nothing else than red-hot iron.71 In such inter- the evidence presented in this section, it seems not pretations, Susanoo is usually regarded as the ancestral at all implausible that the sword as a pars pro toto is deity or the leader of a group of metalworkers, ofen of named after the serpent from whose tail it emerged.68 Korean descent.72 One scholar viewed the eight-headed A close connection between serpent and sword is serpent as a mountain spirit that was fond of causing also suggested by an alternate name for the sword that rainstorms and deluges. Te ensuing landslides, he ar- is mentioned in the Nihon shoki: gued, brought rich deposits of iron sand to the surface that were, in turn, made into swords. Hence, swords According to one writing, the original name [of made of iron taken from the bowels of the mountain the sword Kusanagi] was Amanomura-kumo no came to be viewed as parts of the tail of the mountain Tsurugi 天叢雲剣 (Sword of the Gathering Clouds spirit in its serpent form.73 Euhemeristic overtones can of Heaven). Perhaps it came by this name because also be perceived in an otherwise highly readable recent there were always clouds and mist over the place study by James Grayson, who maintains that Susanoo where the serpent was.69 “became the [Izumo] region’s ruler because he is the bearer of an advanced culture, the metallurgic and ag- Tus, the sword, like the serpent itself, is associated ricultural civilization of continental East Asia.”74 with clouds and rain. Tis makes it even more likely Te fundamental problem with such interpretations that the sword was perceived as a part of the serpent’s is that they regard myths as nothing more than “the al- body. legorical representation of actual historical events and Ingersoll emphasized the contradictory roles played persons,”75 thereby missing most of the various layers by the deities mentioned in Egyptian and Babylonian of meaning that constitute myth. A narrative that has myth: they were, he claimed, “dragon, dragon-slayer undergone a complex development and was adapted to and the weapon employed, all in the same personage.”70 changing social, economic, and cultural circumstances Te above entitles us at least to assert a close relation- is thus turned into an embroidered account of a spe- ship between serpent and sword in the Japanese tradi- cifc historical event, in this case the introduction of tion. metallurgical techniques by a group of immigrants. It seems much more likely that the introduction of met- alworking techniques added a new layer of meaning to a preexisting narrative. It seems plausible that by incorporating the discovery of the mighty sword Ku-

66 Matsumura, Nihon shinwa no kenkyū, vol. 3, p. 240; Takioto, Izumo no kuni fudoki, pp. 102–103. 71 Yoshino, Fudoki sekai, p. 322. 67 Naumann and Miller, “Old ,” pp. 72 See, for instance, Mizuno, Kodai no Izumo, pp. 198–99; Yoshino, 405–406. “Suson tesshinron,” p. 237. 68 Cf. Naumann, “The ‘Kusanagi’ Sword,” pp. 163–64. 73 Katō, “Yamata no orochi shinwa,” pp. 283–85. 69 Nihon shoki, vol. 1, pp. 92–93. 74 Grayson, “Susa-no-o,” pp. 482–83. 70 Ingersoll, Dragons and Dragon Lore, p. 26. 75 Burns, Before the Nation, p. 48.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 9 sanagi, the -slayer myth adapted to the 越絶書 (A History of the Glory and Fall of Yue), the introduction of a new cultural technology that was con- southern kingdoms of Wu 呉 and Yue 越 were famed nected to two aspects already addressed in the narra- throughout China for their supreme swords. Accord- tive: water and agriculture. As will be elaborated below, ing to Ōbayashi, the tales from this region show the in ancient Japan iron sand for the production of iron most striking similarities to the Japanese myth of the utensils was obtained from the bottoms of rivers; and eight-headed serpent. Te Indochinese tales, on the it goes without saying that the increased availability of other hand, are associated with Dongson culture, the iron tools from the early revolutionized frst metal-producing culture of Indochina and Indone- agriculture. I would therefore argue that it was natural sia that entered the region from the north around 800 for a myth preoccupied with the importance of rivers BCE.77 and agriculture such as the “Slaying of the Great Eight- Ōbayashi argues that these diverse manifestations Headed Serpent” to incorporate the new technological of metal culture were not unrelated to each other. He innovation and thus remain relevant in a new age. Of draws attention to the close parallels between Asian and course it is equally possible that metallurgical ideas European versions of the dragon-slayer myth and con- were already a part of the narrative when it was frst in- cludes that the tales can be traced back to a common troduced to Japan from the Asian mainland. While the origin. Situating the difusion of metallurgic techniques agricultural and the metallurgical layers of meaning are and the myths of the Perseus–Andromeda type in the relatively easy to discern in the yamata no orochi myth framework of Robert Heine-Geldern’s (1885–1968) so- as it is related in Kojiki and Nihon shoki, it is nearly im- called Pontic Migration (Pontische Wanderung),78 he ar- possible to pinpoint the exact location or timeframe of gues that they were carried from the Pontic area to East their emergence. and in the frst half of the frst millen- Rationalizing and euhemeristic approaches also fail nium BCE and were fnally transmitted to Japan from to account for the existence of strikingly similar tales in the area to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangzi diferent cultures. Ōbayashi Taryō, on the other hand, River, possibly via southern Korea.79 Te folklorist Seki compares the Japanese myth with tales of the Per- Keigo similarly argues that the Korean Peninsula func- seus–Andromeda type told among the Gilyak (Nivkh) tioned as a mediator in transmitting the dragon-slayer of Sakhalin and the Ainu as well as with similar tales myth from China to the archipelago. Like Ōbayashi, from Korea, Mongolia, southern and central China, he emphasizes the southern route of transmission of Indochina, Borneo, and the Philippines. From this the myth, focusing on variants from Korea, China, the comparison, he concludes that in most regions, motifs Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, India, and connected with swords play an important role in the Turkey.80 narrative. More specifcally, he observes the following In a more recent study, Yamaguchi Hiroshi draws at- motifs and notions: (1) a human sacrifce is necessary tention to the heroic epics of northern Eurasia, in many to obtain a magical sword (Japan, China, Indochina, of which the hero has to fght a many-headed monster. Mindanao); (2) a magical sword is obtained inside He raises examples from the Ukraine, Russia, southern a mountain or under the earth (Japan, Korea, China, Siberia, Mongolia, and China that show remarkable Mindanao); (3) a magical sword is discovered in a body parallels to the Japanese myth of Susanoo’s fght with of water (Japan, China, Indochina); and (4) sword and dragon or serpent are closely connected (Japan, Korea, China, Indochina).76 77 Ibid., pp. 169, 189–90; Villiers, Südostasien vor der Kolonialzeit, p. Te centrality of the sword, Ōbayashi argues, sug- 32. 78 According to Heine-Geldern, elements of European and gests that these tales originated in societies that pos- Caucasian cultures were transmitted to Mongolia, China, and sessed advanced knowledge of metallurgy. He points Indochina in the context of mass migrations during the ninth out that in works dating to the Later Han period (25 and eighth centuries BCE, where they gave the impetus for the emergence of Dongson culture. He bases his conclusions on CE–220 CE), like Wu Yue chun qiu 呉越春秋 (Spring typological comparisons of a number of archaeological artifacts. and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue) or Yue jue shu See Heine-Geldern, “Das Tocharerproblem,” pp. 237–38. On Heine-Geldern’s methodology, see Kaneko, “Robert von Heine- Geldern.” 79 Ōbayashi, Nihon shinwa no kigen, pp. 191–95. 76 Ōbayashi, Nihon shinwa no kigen, pp. 170–93. 80 Seki, “Yamata no orochi,” p. 196 and passim.

10 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 the eight-headed serpent.81 his wife. As Siegbert Hummel has pointed out, this is One such example is the legend of Geser, which is only one of a number of motifs in the epic of Geser that told in a number of diferent versions in southern Si- show parallels to the tale of Siegfried in the Niebelun- beria, Mongolia, and Tibet. One of the most import- genlied. Tis leads Hummel to hypothesize that motifs ant feats of Geser is his fght against a many-headed from Germanic myth might have traveled to Tibet in monster that had abducted one of his wives. In the the course of the Pontic Migration mentioned above.86 oldest extant version of the epic—a woodblock print It seems somewhat rash to postulate the occur- that was produced in Beijing in 1716 in the Mongolian rence of a full-scale Völkerwanderung from the west to language—the monster is described as a twelve-headed the east of the Eurasian continent based solely on the mangus 蟒古斯.82 Tis term connotes a monster resem- results of typological comparisons of a very limited bling a dragon or a giant serpent. It combines Indian, number of artifacts. Nonetheless Heine-Geldern’s hy- Iranian, and Buddhist notions of demons that merged pothesis accords surprisingly well with the distribution in the course of centuries.83 of the dragon-slayer tale across Eurasia. Te prominent Geser defeated the monster and cut of its heads, role played by iron swords in many of these tales sug- one afer the other. When he had already cut of eleven gests a close connection to metallurgy. Yet the difusion heads, the mangus begged him to spare his life. Geser of ideas and cultural techniques does not necessarily hesitated, but his allies warned him that the monster’s require mass migration. Trade and plundering are only body would soon turn into cast iron, making it impos- two alternative explanations. As we have seen, however, sible for Geser to kill it. Tis warning proved true: when there is strong evidence that metallurgy, including its Geser tried to separate the last head, his sword could representation in myth, was transmitted from the area not penetrate the monster’s throat; neither could his around the Black Sea to Southeast and East Asia. It blade penetrate the beast’s armpit. When Geser fnally can easily be imagined—though hardly proved—that managed to cut open its abdomen, liquid ore gushed this cultural transmission occurred in several waves out and he was able to cut of the last head.84 and split into several arms, as already suggested by Te similarity to the Japanese myth, where Su- Heine-Geldern.87 sanoo’s sword broke (Kojiki) or was blunted (Nihon Some of these arms of transmission might have shoki), when the god tried to cut of one of the tails of re-joined at the eastern rim of the Eurasian conti- the eight-headed serpent, is striking. Signifcantly, it is nent, namely on the Korean Peninsula. Archaeologists inside the serpent’s tail that Susanoo fnds the sword point out that two separate traditions of ironworking Kusanagi. Yamaguchi draws attention to this parallel entered the peninsula at roughly the same time. One and argues that the soul of the eight-headed serpent was the method of smelting ore in a bloomery furnace was transformed into an indestructible iron sword, like and forming products through smithing methods on the soul of the mangus that turned into the material for an anvil. Tis mode of ironworking was characteristic such a sword.85 for peoples in the Mediterranean region and the Mid- Other traces suggest a connection of the Geser epic dle East, from where it difused into the Central Asian with metallurgy. Te Tibetan versions of the tale, for ex- steppe and was carried to eastern Siberia by Scythians ample, relate that Geser (here called Gesar) worked as around 700 BCE. Te Chinese, in contrast, cast nearly a blacksmith’s apprentice before setting out to retrieve all iron products using huge blast furnaces. Cautioning that as of yet no one has traced the precise routes of transmission of ironworking into and down the penin-

81 Yamaguchi, Tsukurareta Susanoo shinwa, pp. 130–47. 82 Heissig, Geser-Studien, pp. 4–5; Herrmann, Kesar-Versionen aus Ladakh, p. 9; Schmidt, Die Thaten Bogda Gesser Chan’s, p. 112. 86 Hummel, “Anmerkungen zur Ge-sar-Sage,” pp. 524–33. 83 Heissig, Geser-Studien, p. 230. Geser’s dogs Asar and Husar, who assist him in his dangerous 84 Schmidt, Die Thaten Bogda Gesser Chan’s, pp. 155–56. quest, are another motif that connects the epic of Geser with 85 There are further parallels between the two tales: both Geser -slayer tales. See Nekljudov and Tömörceren, and Susanoo cut their enemies to pieces in their sleep; and Mongolische Erzählungen über Geser, pp. 123–29. As noted at Geser’s wife intoxicates two giant spiders that guard the entrance the beginning of this paper, the assistance of three wonderful to the mangus’s lair in the same way that Susanoo intoxicates the dogs forms one of the core motifs of tale type ATU 300 “The great eight-headed serpent. See Nekljudov and Tömörceren, Dragon-Slayer.” Mongolische Erzählungen über Geser, pp. 119–29. 87 Heine-Geldern, “Das Tocharerproblem,” p. 237.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 11 sula, William Farris estimates that by 400 BCE “both the a fower, which Kŏt’aji carries with him to Tang China.90 Scythian and Chinese methods were probably available While the structural similarities to the myth of Susa- to residents of northern Korea.”88 noo’s fght with the eight-headed serpent are unmistak- Even if we choose not to adopt Heine-Geldern’s hy- able, it cannot be denied that a core element—the iron pothesis with its far-reaching implications, Ōbayashi’s sword—is missing altogether, while another one—the approach to position the dragon-slayer myth in the dragon—plays a very diferent role in the Korean tale. context of metallurgy is fruitful since it allows us to Te lack of documented Korean tales comparable to take archaeological fndings into account when trying the yamata no orochi myth makes it difcult to postu- to trace the route of transmission of the mythic mo- late a transmission of the tale via the Korean Peninsula. tifs in question. Such an undertaking is hardly possi- On the other hand, a number of names mentioned in ble without the aid of archaeological data, especially variants of the Japanese myth in the Nihon shoki clearly considering the fact that most of the tales discussed point towards Korea. Most signifcantly, the sword Su- above were committed to writing at a rather late date. sanoo uses to slay the serpent is called “Serpent’s Korea If one were to consider only dragon-slayer tales in writ- Blade” (orochi-no-kara-sai no tsurugi 蛇韓鋤之剣) in ten sources older than the Japanese court chronicles, one of the variants.91 Naumann and Miller draw atten- the comparison would basically have to be limited to tion to another passage in the same source that men- Chinese tales. A related problem concerns the dearth tions a “supreme blade from Wu” (kure no masai 句礼 of dragon-slayer tales from Korea. Te Korean folktales 能摩差比)92 and remark that “karasaFĭ ‘a blade from discussed by Ōbayashi and Seki difer quite markedly Korea’ (kara) naturally points to a blade of Korean ori- from the myth of Susanoo’s fght with the eight-headed gin just as kure.nö masaFĭ, ‘a blade from Wu,’ boasts of serpent. Although the Korean tales open with a simi- its continental origin.”93 In another variant, the blade is lar situation, namely a girl who is to be sacrifced to a called orochi no ara-masa 蛇之麁正.94 While the trans- giant serpent (or centipede), in these tales the monster lation of this name is contested, the component ara has is killed not by a youthful hero but rather by a grateful been linked to Ara Kaya 阿那加耶, one of the fve Kaya toad, whom the girl had nourished and cared for. Con- states situated in the southeastern part of the peninsu- sequently, there is no marriage and no iron sword in- la.95 Both archaeological evidence and Chinese sources volved.89 Another tale, related in the Samguk yusa 三國 like the Sanguozhi 三國志 (Records of the Tree King- 遺事 (Memorabilia of the Tree Kingdoms, thirteenth doms, third century) suggest that the Kaya Federation century), not only contains the motif of marriage but was an important center of metal production with close also shows striking similarities to the overall structure ties to the Japanese islands as early as the .96 of the yamata no orochi myth. In this legend, Kŏt’aji 居 A further variant in the Nihon shoki asserts that Susa- 陁知, a Silla envoy to the Tang court, is asked for help noo crossed over to Izumo from the Korean kingdom by an old man, who introduces himself as the god of the of Silla.97 If these variants are taken into account and West Sea and explains that a young monk had appeared the transmission of the dragon-slayer tale is considered and eaten the livers of his children; now only the old in the context of the arrival of metallurgical techniques man, his wife, and their last daughter are lef. Kŏt’aji on the , the lack of Korean written hides himself and waits for the monk’s reappearance. sources can be compensated to a certain degree. When he shoots him with an arrow, the monk trans- As Michael Como rightly points out, forms back to his original shape, a fox, and dies. As a reward, the old man, who is actually a dragon, ofers his daughter’s hand to Kŏt’aji. Te wife-to-be is turned into 90 Samguk yusa, pp. 258–60; cf. Ōbayashi, Shinwa to shinwagaku, pp. 213–17. 91 Nihon shoki, vol. 1, pp. 96–97. 92 Ibid., Suiko 推古 20 (612).1.7 (vol. 2, pp. 566–67). 88 Farris, Sacred Texts, p. 70; Barnes, State Formation in Japan, pp. 93 Naumann and Miller, “Old Japanese Sword Names,” p. 411. 65–67; Barnes, Archaeology of East Asia, p. 269. 94 Nihon shoki, vol. 1, pp. 96–97. 89 Ōbayashi, Nihon shinwa no kigen, pp. 175–76; Seki, “Yamata no 95 Bentley, Sendai Kuji Hongi, p. 179, note 17; Yoshino, Fudoki sekai, orochi,” p. 150. An English translation of a version of this tale p. 322. appears as Tale 113 in Grayson, Myths and Legends from Korea, 96 Seyock, Spuren der Ostbarbaren. pp. 274–76. 97 Nihon shoki, vol. 1, pp. 98–99.

12 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 continental technologies related to sericulture, of the ffh century. In Japan, they seem to have played a medicine, and metalworking were frmly embed- leading role in establishing technologies of sericulture, ded in continental ritual and conceptual frame- weaving, irrigation, and, most important in the present works, [thus] their transmission necessitated the context, metalworking.102 simultaneous transmission and adoption of a body Te most signifcant center of iron production in of rites and legends that were part of the basic Izumo, however, seems to have been located in the fabric of popular cultic practice in the Chinese neighboring Nita District. Tis district comprised the empire(s) and in the Korean kingdoms.98 four townships of Mitokoro 三処, Fuse 布勢, Misawa 三沢, and Yokota 横田. “Te iron obtained in all of the In the last part of this paper, I will therefore shif the [four] townships mentioned above,” the Izumo fudoki focus from a narratological analysis of the yamata no relates, “is exceedingly strong. Manifold tools can be orochi myth to an examination of metal production in produced from it.”103 Tis entry becomes even more ancient Izumo, the site of the dragon fght. Tis exam- interesting if one considers that this is the region that ination will consider both written and archaeological serves as the setting for the yamata no orochi myth in evidence. both the Kojiki and the Nihon shoki—and thus is the place where the mighty sword Kusanagi was discov- ered. Strangely, the Izumo fudoki does not mention Su- Metallurgy in Izumo: Evidence from the sanoo’s fght against the eight-headed serpent. Hence, Izumo Fudoki many scholars argue that the narrative was fabricated at the imperial court and is not based on any local tra- Te Izumo fudoki contains a number of passages that dition.104 allow us to draw a rather clear picture of the locations Nonetheless, the Izumo fudoki too contains some of iron production sites in during the entries that suggest a connection of Susanoo to met- (710–794), the period during which both alworking. Te topography, for example, mentions two the Izumo fudoki and the court chronicles Kojiki and sons of Susanoo with the telling names Tsurugi-hiko Nihon shoki were completed. Te districts of Iishi 飯石 都留支日子 (Sword Prince) and Tsuki-hoko-tooyoru- and Nita 仁多 in the hinterlands of the province play a hiko 衝杵等乎而留比古 (God of the Penetrating Hal- key role in this context. berd).105 Moreover, the township of Susa, from which Te section dedicated to Iishi in the topography Susanoo, according to one theory, received his name,106 mentions that iron sand was obtained from the Hata is situated in Iishi District, one of the centers of iron 波多 River and the Iishi River.99 Historians generally production in Nara-period Izumo. All in all, the view conclude from this entry that iron sand was obtained that Susanoo must have been a deity venerated by a from the bottoms of rivers in ancient Izumo.100 Te Hata River and township of the same name located in the northeastern part of the district have ofen been as- 102 Como, Weaving and Binding, p. 254; Katō, Hatashi to sono tami, 101 pp. 109–44; Lewin, Aya und Hata, p. 34; Naumann, “Yama no sociated with the Hata group 秦氏. Te Hata Kami,” pp. 131–33. were a group with Chinese roots that lef the Korean 103 Izumo fudoki, pp. 250–53. Peninsula, where they were probably based in Silla, and 104 Miura draws attention to a passage in the Izumo fudoki that casts doubt on this view: the entry on the township of Mori 母理 in Ou emigrated to the Japanese archipelago around the turn 意宇 District relates that Susanoo’s descendant Ōnamochi 大穴持 had subjugated Eight Mouths (yakuchi 八口) of Koshi 越. Izumo fudoki, pp. 138–40. While Miura does not claim that this passage refers to the yamata no orochi myth, he points out that in the 98 Como, Weaving and Binding, p. xii. In contrast to the present Kojiki the monster is called the eight-headed serpent of Koshi paper, Como is interested mainly in the transmission of these 高志. Kojiki, pp. 68–69. Hence, it is not unreasonable to suggest technologies and legends to Japan during the Nara and some sort of connection between the two narratives. Miura, Kojiki early Heian periods and does not address protohistorical or kōgi, pp. 240–44, 252–53. prehistorical developments. 105 Izumo fudoki, pp. 160–61, 186–87. The interpretation of the latter 99 Izumo fudoki, pp. 246–49. deity’s name follows Aoki, Records of Wind and Earth, p. 110, and 100 Katō, Izumo no kuni fudoki, p. 400; Uchida, “Kodai Izumo no Katō, Izumo no kuni fudoki, p. 258. The reading and meaning of shio,” p. 235; Yoshino, “Suson tesshinron,” p. 239. the name are disputed. 101 See, for example, Lewin, Aya und Hata, p. 88; Yoshino, “Suson 106 See, for example, Aston, Shinto, pp. 140–41; Matsumura, Nihon tesshinron,” pp. 240–41. shinwa no kenkyū, vol. 2, pp. 602–604.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 13 group of metalworkers, probably of Korean descent, anese imported iron ore, raw iron, or fnished products who lived in Susa does not seem implausible.107 from the peninsula.113 Iron axes and daggers that were Tis view is supported by an interesting shrine name probably produced in China and imported via the pen- reported in the Izumo fudoki that points to the Korean insula have been excavated from Kyushu sites dating origin of metalworkers in Izumo, namely Karakama 韓 from the late centuries BCE.114 銍 Shrine in Izumo District.108 While the frst character Local production of bronze and iron products is of the name refers to the Korean Peninsula, the second thought to have begun in northern Kyushu during the means sickle.109 Te shrine is also mentioned in the En- middle Yayoi period (ca. 100 BCE–100 CE). During ex- gishiki 延喜式 (Ritual Procedures of the Engi Era, 928), cavations carried out in 1984 and 1985 at Kōjindani 荒 where the graph 竈 (stove, hearth) is used for kama. In 神谷 in Shimane Prefecture, archaeologists unearthed the same source, karakama 韓竈 (Korean stoves), are an unprecedented number of 358 bronze swords, six mentioned as utensils needed to brew sake and cook bronze bells, and sixteen bronze halberds, all dating rice at religious festivals.110 Both sickles and hearths are from around 100 CE.115 Since then, Izumo has been re- linked to metalworking, and the shrine’s connection garded as one of the most important cultural centers to the peninsula is apparent from its name. For these of Yayoi and Kofun Japan, characterized principally by reasons, the shrine has been associated with groups of its advanced skills in metalworking. In 1988, a casting metalworkers who emigrated from the Korean Pen- mold dating from around 100 CE was excavated on insula. Te Un’yōshi 雲陽誌 (Description of Un’yō [= the Hii plain, suggesting that the bronze objects found Izumo], 1717), a topography of the Izumo region com- at Kōjindani were locally produced in Izumo. Te piled by Kurosawa Nagahisa 黒沢長尚 (d. 1737) under bronze-casting technology probably entered Izumo the auspices of the lord of Matsue Domain, informs us from Silla.116 that Susanoo is the shrine’s main deity.111 Tere is no As noted above, two modes of ironworking were way of knowing whether this was already the case at known in early Korea: the Scythian mode of forging the time of the Izumo fudoki’s compilation. iron and the Chinese mode of casting iron. Te pen- insula’s inhabitants seem to have preferred the simpler Scythian method. Ironworkers on the archipelago fol- Archaeological Evidence lowed this Korean method rather than the Chinese one, which strongly suggests a transmission of ironworking It is generally assumed that the inhabitants of the Jap- technologies from the Korean Peninsula.117 anese archipelago learned about the use of bronze and During the Kofun period, the use and production iron at about the same time, probably in the fourth or techniques of iron implements gradually diversifed third century BCE.112 As noted above, Chinese written and spread over the Japanese islands. Te frst half of sources point to the special role played by southern the ffh century in particular is marked by a dramatic Korea in the transmission of iron implements to the increase in the quantity of iron objects excavated from archipelago. It is not known, however, whether the Jap- mounded tombs. During this period, the Chūgoku region (comprising the present-day prefectures of Ya- maguchi, Hiroshima, Shimane, Tottori, and Okayama) emerged as a fourth center of iron production beside 107 See Yoshino, “Suson tesshinron,” p. 237; Takioto, Izumo no kuni fudoki, pp. 61–63. 108 Izumo fudoki, pp. 214–15. 109 Takioto, Kodai no Izumo jiten, p. 190. According to Murakami 113 Seyock, Spuren der Ostbarbaren, pp. 131–32. Yasuyuki, the crescent-shaped stone blades that were used for 114 Farris, Sacred Texts, p. 71; Mizoguchi, Archaeology of Japan, p. the rice harvest during the Yayoi period were replaced in the 142; Piggott, Emergence of Japanese Kingship, p. 25. early Kofun period with iron sickles. Murakami, “Eisenerzeugnisse 115 Piggott, “Sacral Kingship,” p. 46. der Kofun-Zeit,” p. 358. 116 Mizoguchi, Archaeology of Japan, pp. 140–42; Seyock, Spuren 110 , pp. 46–47, 112–13, 672–73. Alexander Vovin argues der Ostbarbaren, p. 152; Piggott, “Sacral Kingship,” pp. 48–49. that the Middle Japanese word kama (cooking pot), which 117 Farris, Sacred Texts, pp. 70–72. While granting the possibility has been demonstrated to be part of the Old Japanese word that bloomery technology might have been transmitted to the kamaNtô (cooking place, hearth) is a loan from Korean. Vovin, peninsula by nomads of the Northeast Asian steppes, Gina Koreo-Japonica, p. 132. Barnes points out that it is equally possible that peninsular 111 Un’yōshi, p. 277; cf. Grayson, “Susa-no-o,” pp. 469–70. bronze-workers discovered the technology independently. 112 Kidder, Himiko, p. 88. Barnes, State Formation in Japan, p. 66.

14 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 Kyushu, the Inland Sea region, and the Kinai.118 As Joan and rudimentary bureaucratic institutions took Piggott points out, “iron-working and mastery of new root at the Yamato court. By the middle of the irrigation techniques proceeded together in ffh- and sixth century, service groups specializing in these sixth-century Izumo, for cultivators needed iron tools technologies already appear to have been formed to open the great river plains of eastern Izumo.”119 Te across the Japanese islands, so it would hardly be second half of the sixth century saw the emergence of surprising if, as changes in the material culture of settlements consisting of a number of smithies as well Yamato stimulated new modes of production and as settlements in which the various stages of produc- new forms of social organization, they also played tion, like smelting, forging, and timber production, an important role in the development of the cultic were implemented in the Chūgoku and Kinai regions.120 and ritual practices.124 Tis marks the culmination of a centuries-long de- velopment, in which the polities on the Korean Penin- Against this historical background, it is reasonable to sula played a decisive role. An infux of Korean-borne assume that the belief in Susanoo and the myth of his goods and services can be observed during the period fght with the eight-headed serpent mirrors the advent from the late fourth to the late seventh centuries. Farris of a group of metalworkers (perhaps the Hata) from ascribes this phenomenon to four causes: (1) trade; (2) the peninsula. Susanoo’s close connection with Izumo, the peninsular states’ foreign policies (especially that of which was an important center of metal production Paekche, which donated cultural and technological aid conveniently located at the (East Sea), sug- in return for Wa soldiers); (3) plundering by Wa sol- gests that this group may have settled in this region and diers, and, most importantly, (4) immigration.121 Te initiated Izumo’s impressive development during the substantial waves of immigration during these four Kofun period. Based on the data presented in this paper centuries can easily be explained by the tumultuous it is not possible to discern exactly how this group of situation on the Korean Peninsula, which was charac- metalworkers is connected to the metallurgical layer of terized by incessant warfare between the Korean states. the yamata no orochi myth. Possibly they brought the Tis state of afairs lasted until 668, when Silla unifed tale with them. Tis interpretation makes sense only if most of the peninsula under its rule. Te Nihon shoki the immigrant group’s life environment and everyday reports the arrival of numerous refugees from the pen- life in Izumo was so similar to that on the peninsula insula during this period; hence it seems natural to that the myth remained signifcant without major ad- ascribe a large proportion of the new ideas and tech- aptations. In this case the merging of ideas linked to nologies that emerged in Kofun-period Japan to immi- wet-rice cultivation and metallurgy would already have grant lineages.122 As a matter of course, these immigrant occurred on the continent. Another possibility is that groups brought with them not only their expertise but the tale, with no mention of the sword Kusanagi, was also their own deities and cults.123 Como draws atten- told among the farmers inhabiting the Hii plain and tion to the concurrency and interdependence of the de- acquired its new layer of meaning when the newcom- velopment of these newly arrived technologies on the ers arrived from the peninsula and turned Izumo into archipelago: a center of metal production, thus afecting the whole area. In this case the merging of agricultural and met- It is . . . probably no accident that the develop- allurgical ideas would mirror the cultural integration of ments of crafs such as weaving and metalworking the metalworkers into Izumo society. A last possibility came to permeate the Japanese islands during the is that the tale of a dragon that troubled rice farmers was same period in which writing, record-keeping, transmitted in some other region of Japan and became associated with the metallurgical powerhouse Izumo only in the late seventh or early eighth century, when 118 Farris, Sacred Texts, pp. 71–72; Murakami, “Eisenerzeugnisse der scribes writing down the imperial chronicles at the Ya- Kofun-Zeit.” 119 Piggott, “Sacral Kingship,” p. 56. mato court added the discovery of Kusanagi as a motif 120 Murakami, “Eisenerzeugnisse der Kofun-Zeit,” p. 359. in order to explain the origin of one of the imperial re- 121 Farris, Sacred Texts, p. 110. 122 Farris, Sacred Texts, pp. 108–109; Lewin, Aya und Hata, pp. 1–11; Lewin, Der koreanische Anteil, pp. 31–40. 123 Naumann, “Yama no Kami,” p. 175. 124 Como, Weaving and Binding, pp. 113–14.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 15 galia. Te association of the myth with Izumo would fourth and the sixth of the ofcial court histories—that then only mirror the court’s perception of Izumo’s par- is, the Shoku Nihon kōki 続日本後紀 (Later Chronicles amount importance as a center of metallurgical exper- of Japan Continued, 869) and the Nihon sandai jitsur- tise and metal production that had to be linked to the oku 日本三代実録 (True History of Tree Reigns of ancestors of the imperial in order to strengthen Japan, 901)—report the discovery of stone arrowheads the latter’s claim to hegemony over the region. and conclude that they must have fallen from the sky during a .127 Eliade points to the phallic connotations of the thun- Conclusion derbolt and the tools associated with it: they “‘cleaved’ the earth; they symbolized, in other words, the union Afer relating the myth of Susanoo’s fght with the between heaven and earth.” At the same time, the thun- eight-headed serpent to the transmission of metallurgi- derbolt was “the weapon of the God of Heaven,”128 as cal techniques from the Korean Peninsula, I would like can be seen in the examples of Zeus or Indra.129 Before to return to the broader comparative framework dis- the discovery of smelting, meteoritic iron was used in cussed in the frst part of this article. As noted above, many cultures to produce tools modeled on their stone the union and separation of Father Heaven and Mother counterparts. Yet the idea of the heavenly origin of iron Earth forms an important motif in many cosmogonies. ofen remained relevant even afer the discovery of A shamanist song from Jeju Island relates that heaven metallurgical techniques.130 Tus, the dragon’s special and earth separated in olden times. Aferwards, blue connection to metal does not contradict but rather re- dew descended from heaven and black dew streamed inforces Lyle’s interpretation of Kusanagi as the phallus from the earth. When the two kinds of dew mixed, of the sky god. all things came into being.125 Tis description clearly Tis is not the only possible explanation of the tale, mirrors human procreation and can thus be seen as a however. As we have seen, the myth of Susanoo’s fght variant of the Father Heaven and Mother Earth theme, with the eight-headed serpent places special emphasis although it lacks the motif of a violent separation of the on the obtaining of the sword Kusanagi, whose signif- primordial pair. In this way, the idea of a sexual union cance can be inferred from the fact that it was venerated between heaven and earth found expression in rather as one of the imperial regalia. Is it, therefore, not more diferent terms according to the cultural and historical likely that the obtaining of the sword itself, and thus of contexts. In other words, we are dealing with particular iron, is the point of the tale rather than the “releasing of articulations of a universal theme. waters”? Eliade has drawn attention to the widespread I would argue that the advent of metallurgy might conception that ores grow in the womb of Mother Earth well have caused a modifcation of this theme that also like embryos. It is the metalworkers’ task to assist in forms the background for the yamata no orochi myth. their “birth,”131 a task beftting a deity of metalworkers Mircea Eliade has emphasized that meteorites that like Susanoo. Some might object that the eight-headed fell to earth “charged with celestial sanctity” inspired serpent is commonly associated with the Hi River and many early cultures with awe. Ofen Neolithic tools not with Mother Earth. While this objection poses a were given names such as “thunderstones,” “thunder- problem for Lyle’s interpretation, it does not contradict bolt teeth,” or “God’s axes” when they were frst discov- the new one ofered here, since, as we have seen, iron ered, since the sites of their discovery were thought to sand was obtained from the bottoms of rivers in ancient have been struck by a thunderbolt.126 Tis concept is Izumo. Tus the material for the production of swords also documented in Heian Japan (794–1185), where the could in a very real sense be said to have been extracted

125 Hyŏn, “Nihon shinwa to Kankoku shinwa,” pp. 71–77; Yoda, Chōsen no ōken, pp. 5–7. of Eliade’s life and work, see Ellwood, Politics of Myth, pp. 126 Eliade, The Forge, pp. 19–20. Mircea Eliade has been rightly 79–126. criticized not only for openly sympathizing with the fascist Iron 127 Bleed, “Almost Archaeology,” p. 58. Guard in the late 1930s but also for his universalistic approach 128 Eliade, The Forge, p. 21. and his sweeping generalizations. Nonetheless, his comparative 129 Lyle, Ten Gods, p. 110; Miller, “Tracking the Dragon,” p. 226. studies have opened up new perspectives on mythology that 130 Eliade, The Forge, pp. 21–29. should not be rejected out of hand. For a balanced assessment 131 Ibid., pp. 38–42.

16 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 from the serpent’s tail.132 dividual author of a myth.136 Te same is true for the Te success of smelting, moreover, was ofen transmission process. Although changes to the yamata thought to require a human sacrifce.133 Tis idea can, no orochi myth obviously were introduced by individ- for example, be observed in the famous Chinese story uals, their agency is obscured by the same “process of of the smith Gan Jiang 干將 of Wu and his wife Mo Ye cultural amnesia.”137 Metalworkers certainly played 莫邪, who threw herself (or her hair and nails) into the a role in this process, but there is no way of knowing furnace in order to accomplish the casting of two leg- whether they brought the ready-made tale from their endary swords that were named afer the couple. Tis homeland, introduced changes to a preexisting narra- story is already mentioned in chronicles from the late tive in their new home, or whether farmers in Izumo centuries BCE.134 It would be rash, however, to interpret modifed a myth they had inherited from their ances- the sacrifce of Kushiinada-hime’s sisters in the same tors in order to accommodate the newcomers. Tere way. Both the Kojiki and the main version in the Nihon is only one group of agents in the transmission of the shoki state that the eight-headed serpent came to de- Japanese myths that we can identify with any degree vour one daughter every year.135 Tis strongly suggests of certainty, namely the courtiers who compiled Kojiki a connection to the seasonal cycle and thus to the tale’s and Nihon shoki at the imperial court in Nara. Tey in- agricultural layer that pertains to the cyclical need for troduced a new layer of meaning by weaving individual fertilizing waters (as well as the fear of foods). myths into a coherent mythohistory that explained the Te present analysis has shown that the yamata no origin of the imperial family and its mandate to rule orochi myth has undergone a long evolutionary pro- over the Japanese islands. Susanoo’s ofering up of the cess. I regarded the tale as a particular articulation of sword Kusanagi to the sun goddess Amaterasu, the the universal dragon-slayer myth. Only a comparative progenitress of the imperial family, can be ascribed to analysis that takes material from outside Japan into ac- this layer. It is only this last layer that can be addressed count can shed light on the question of how this myth by employing the literary-studies approach of Kōnoshi was appropriated on the Japanese archipelago. A central Takamitsu and others; and even this uppermost layer assumption underlying the present study is that myths can be grasped only partially since a purely text-imma- are embedded in the life experiences of the people who nent analysis cannot account for the restrictions placed transmit them. Terefore, myths can only remain rele- on the courtiers by the preexisting tales on which they vant if they adapt to changes in people’s everyday lives. based their mythohistory.138 To gain a deeper under- At a time when the Hi River was the lifeline not only standing of Japanese myths and the historical back- for wet-rice cultivators but also for metalworkers based ground of their genesis a consideration of non-Japanese in Izumo, the yamata no orochi myth had to consider material is indispensable. A comparative approach that this circumstance and incorporate the new group into takes into account both particular and universal aspects its narrative. of the myths under consideration makes it possible to Troughout this article, I have talked about myths connect Japanese mythology to the international dis- accreting new layers of meaning without specifying course on mythological studies and situate Japan in the the actors behind this process. Of course myths do not context of world history. change of their own accord. Somebody has to change them. However, it is impossible to answer who this somebody is. Myths are by defnition collective prod- ucts. Most scholars agree that a story becomes a myth only when it is transmitted within a certain group. In the process, it becomes an anonymous tale that is be- lieved to have been created by the group rather than an individual. Tus it is impossible to identify an in-

132 Cf. Matsumae, Nihon shinwa no keisei, pp. 195–96. 136 Csapo, Theories of Mythology, p. 134; Doniger, Other Peoples’ 133 Eliade, The Forge, pp. 62–70. Myths, pp. 28–30. 134 Birrell, , pp. 221–24. 137 Doniger, Other Peoples’ Myths, p. 29. 135 Kojiki, pp. 68–69; Nihon shoki, vol. 1, pp. 90–91. 138 Matsumoto, Kojiki shinwa ron, pp. 11–14, 27, 43, 67.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 17 Reference List Pearson, pp. 57–67. Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, , 1986. ▪ Primary Sources Blust, Robert. “Te Origin of Dragons.” Anthropos 95 (2000), pp. 519–36. Engishiki 延喜式. Vol. 1. Ed. Torao Toshiya 虎尾俊哉. Burns, Susan L. Before the Nation: Kokugaku and the Yakuchū Nihon shiryō 訳注日本史料. Shūeisha, 2000. Imagining of Community in Early Modern Japan. Duke Izumo fudoki 出雲風土記. In SNKZ 5, pp. 129–282. University Press, 2003. Kojiki 古事記. SNKZ 1. Caldwell, Richard S. Hesiod’s Teogony: Translated, with Nihon ryōiki 日本霊異記. SNKT 30. Introduction, Commentary, and Interpretive Essay. Nihon shoki 日本書紀. 3 vols. SNKZ 2–4. Cambridge: Focus Information Group, 1987. Samguk yusa: Yŏkchu, wŏnmun 三國遺事: 譯註·原文. Ed. Como, Michael. Weaving and Binding: Immigrant Gods and Yi Pyŏngdo 李丙燾. Seoul: Myŏngmundang, 2000. Female Immortals in Ancient Japan. University of Hawai‘i Un’yōshi 雲陽誌. Ed. Ashida Koreto 蘆田伊人. Vol. 42 of Press, 2010. 大日本地誌体系 Dai Nihon chishi taikei . 1930. Reprint, Csapo, Eric. Teories of Mythology. Malden: Blackwell, 2005. Yūzankaku, 1971. Doniger, Wendy. Other Peoples’ Myths: Te Cave of Echoes. New York: Macmillan, 1988. ▪ Secondary Sources Doty, William G. Mythography: Te Study of Myths and . University of Alabama Press, 1986. Antoni, Klaus. “Japanische Totenwelt und Flucht: Eine Dundes, Alan. “Madness in Method, Plus a Plea for kulturvergleichende Betrachtung.” In Werden und Projective Inversion in Myth.” In Myth and Method, Vergehen: Betrachtungen zu Geburt und Tod in ed. Laurie L. Patton and Wendy Doniger, pp. 147– japanischen Religionen, ed. Birgit Staemmler, pp. 67–93. 59. University Press of Virginia, 1996. Berlin: Lit, 2016. Dundes, Alan, ed. Sacred Narrative: Readings in the Teory of Antoni, Klaus. Miwa—der heilige Trank: Zur Geschichte und Myth. University of California Press, 1984. religiösen Bedeutung des alkoholischen Getränkes (Sake) in Eberhard, Wolfram. Te Local Cultures of South and East Japan. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden, 1988. Aoki, Michiko Y. Records of Wind and Earth: A Translation China. Leiden: Brill, 1968. of Fudoki, with Introduction and Commentaries. Ann Eberhard, Wolfram. Typen chinesischer Volksmärchen. Arbor: Association for Asian Studies, 1997. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1937. Aston, William G. Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Eberhard, Wolfram. Volksmärchen aus Südost-China: Earliest Times to A.D. 697. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Sammlung Mr. Ts’ao Sung-Yeh. Helsinki: Suomalainen Trübner & Co., 1896. Tiedeakatemia, 1941. Aston, William G. Shinto: Te Way of the Gods. London, Eliade, Mircea. Te Forge and the Crucible. University of New York, and Bombay: Longmans, Green, and Co, 1905. Chicago Press, 1978. Barnes, Gina L. Archaeology of East Asia: Te Rise of Ellwood, Robert S. Te Politics of Myth: A Study of C. G. Civilization in China, Korea and Japan. Philadelphia: Jung, Mircea Eliade, and Joseph Campbell. State University Oxbow Books, 2015. of New York Press, 1999. Barnes, Gina L. State Formation in Japan: Emergence of Farris, William W. Sacred Texts and Buried Treasures: Issues a 4th-Century Ruling Elite. London and New York: in the Historical Archaeology of Ancient Japan. University Routledge, 2007. of Hawai‘i Press, 1998. Bascom, William. “Te Forms of Folklore: Prose Narratives.” Fontenrose, Joseph. Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and its In Dundes, Sacred Narrative, pp. 5–29. Origins. University of California Press, 1959. Bentley, John R. Te Authenticity of Sendai Kuji Hongi: Grayson, James H. Myths and Legends from Korea: An A New Examination of Texts, with a Translation and Annotated Compendium of Ancient and Modern Commentary. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2006. Materials. Richmond: Curzon, 2001. Birrell, Anne. Chinese Mythology: An Introduction. Johns Grayson, James H. “Susa-no-o: A Culture Hero from Korea.” Hopkins University Press, 1993. Japan Forum 14:3 (2002), pp. 465–87. Bleed, Peter. “Almost Archaeology: Early Archaeological Hartland, Edwin S. Te Legend of Perseus: A Study of Interest in Japan.” In Windows on the Japanese Past: Tradition in Story, Custom and Belief. 3 vols. Grimm Studies in Archaeology and Prehistory, ed. Richard J. Library, 2–4. London: David Nutt, 1894–1896.

18 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 Hayashi Michiyoshi 林道義. Mikoto to miko no shinwagaku: Lewin, Bruno. Aya und Hata: Bevölkerungsgruppen Altjapans Nihonjin no kokoro no genkei 尊と巫女の神話学: 日 kontinentaler Herkunf. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1962. 本人の心の原型. Meicho Kankōkai, 1990. Lewin, Bruno. Der koreanische Anteil am Werden . Heine-Geldern, Robert. “Das Tocharerproblem und die Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1976. Pontische Wanderung.” Saeculum 2 (1951), pp. 225–55. Lincoln, Bruce. “Review” (Michael Witzel, Te Origins of Heissig, Walther. Geser-Studien: Untersuchungen zu den the World’s Mythologies). Asian Ethnology 74:2 (2015), pp. Erzählstoffen in den „neuen“ Kapiteln des mongolischen 443–49. Geser-Zyklus. Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1983. Lyle, Emily. Ten Gods: A New Approach to Defining the Heldt, Gustav. Te Kojiki: An Account of Ancient Matters. Mythological Structures of the Indo-Europeans. Newcastle Columbia University Press, 2014. upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars, 2012. Herrmann, Silke. Kesar-Versionen aus Ladakh. Wiesbaden: Lyle, Emily. “Te Hero Who Releases the Waters and Defeats Harrassowitz, 1991. the Flood Dragon.” Comparative Mythology 1:1 (2015), pp. Hummel, Siegbert. “Anmerkungen zur Ge-sar-Sage.” 1–12. Anthropos 54:3/4 (1959), pp. 517–35. Matsumae Takeshi 松前健. Nihon shinwa no keisei 日本神 Hyŏn Yongjun 玄容駿. “Nihon shinwa to Kankoku shinwa” 話の形成. Hanawa Shobō, 1970. 日本神話と韓国神話. In Nihon shinwa no hikaku Matsumoto Naoki 松本直樹. Kojiki shinwa ron 古事記神話 kenkyū 日本神話の比較研究, ed. Ōbayashi Taryō 大林 論. Shintensha, 2003. 太良, pp. 69–97. Hōsei Daigaku Shuppankyoku, 1974. Matsumura Takeo 松村武雄. Nihon shinwa no kenkyū 日本 Ikeda, Hiroko. A Type and Motif Index of Japanese Folk- 神話の研究. 4 vols. Baifūkan, 1954–1958. Literature. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1971. Miller, Robert D. “Tracking the Dragon across the Ancient Ingersoll, Ernest. Dragons and Dragon Lore. New York: Near East.” Archiv Orientální 82 (2014), pp. 225–45. Payson & Clarke, 1928. Miura Sukeyuki 三浦佑之. Kojiki kōgi 古事記講義. Bungei Kaneko, Erika. “Robert von Heine-Geldern: 1885–1968.” Shunjū, 2003. Asian Perspectives 13 (1970), pp. 1–10. Mizoguchi Kōji. Te Archaeology of Japan: From the Earliest Katō Kenkichi 加藤謙吉. Hatashi to sono tami: Torai shizoku Rice Farming Villages to the Rise of the State. Cambridge no jitsuzō 秦氏とその民: 渡来氏族の実像. Hakusuisha, University Press, 2013. 2009. Mizuno Yū 水野裕. Kodai no Izumo 古代の出雲. Yoshikawa Katō Yoshinari 加藤義成. Izumo no kuni fudoki sankyū 出雲 Kōbunkan, 1972. 国風土記参究. Hara Shobō, 1962. Mondi, Robert. “Greek Mythic Tought in the Light of the Katō Yoshinari. “Yamata no orochi shinwa e no ikkōsatsu” Near East.” In Approaches to Greek Myth, ed. Lowell 八岐大蛇神話への一考察. In Ōbayashi, Susanoo shinkō Edmunds, pp. 142–98. Johns Hopkins University Press, jiten, pp. 271–85. 1990. Kelsey, W. M. “Salvation of the Snake, Te Snake of Murakami, Yasuyuki. “Eisenerzeugnisse der Kofun-Zeit Salvation: Buddhist-Shinto Confict and Resolution.” und ihre Herstellung.” In Zeit der Morgenröte: Japans JJRS 8:1/2 (1981), pp. 83–113. Archäologie und Geschichte bis zu den ersten Kaisern, Kidder, J. E. Himiko and Japan’s Elusive Chiefdom of Yamatai: ed. Alfried Wieczorek, Werner Steinhaus, and Makoto Archaeology, History, and Mythology. University of Sahara, pp. 357–59. Mannheim: Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Hawai‘i Press, 2007. 2004. Kōnoshi Takamitsu 神野志隆光. Kojiki to Nihon shoki: Nakamura, Kyoko M. Miraculous Stories from the Japanese “Tennō shinwa” no rekishi 古事記と日本書紀: 「天皇神 Buddhist Tradition: Te Nihon ryōiki of the Monk Kyōkai. 話」の歴史. Kōdansha, 1999. Harvard University Press, 1973. Kreiner, Josef, ed. Nihon minzokugaku no senzen to sengo: Nakanishi Susumu 中西進. Ama tsu kami no sekai 天つ神の Oka Masao to Nihon minzokugaku no kusawake 日本民 世界. Vol. 1 of Kojiki o yomu 古事記をよむ. Kadokawa 族学の戦前と戦後: 岡正雄と日本民族学の草分け. Shoten, 1986. Tōkyōdō Shuppan, 2013. Naumann, Nelly. Das Umwandeln des Himmelspfeilers: Kwŏn Tongu 権東祐. Susanoo no henbō: Kodai kara chūsei Ein japanischer Mythos und seine kulturhistorische e スサノヲの変貌: 古代から中世へ. : Hōzōkan, Einordnung. Tokyo: Society for Asian Folklore, 1971. 2013. Naumann, Nelly. Die Mythen des alten Japan. München: Beck, 1996.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 19 Naumann, Nelly. “Te ‘Kusanagi’ Sword.” In Nenrin- Takioto Yoshiyuki 瀧音能之. Izumo no kuni fudoki to kodai Jahresringe: Festgabe für Hans A. Dettmer, ed. Klaus Nihon: Izumo chiikishi no kenkyū 出雲国風土記と古代 Müller, pp. 158–70. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1992. 日本: 出雲地域史の研究. Yūzankaku, 1994. Naumann, Nelly. “‘Yama no Kami’: Die japanische Takioto Yoshiyuki. Kodai no Izumo jiten 古代の出雲事典. Berggottheit: Teil II: Zusätzliche Vorstellungen.” Asian Shin Jinbutsu Ōraisha, 2001. Folklore Studies 23:2 (1964), pp. 48–199. Uchida Ritsuo 内田律雄. “Kodai Izumo no shio to tetsu” 古 Naumann, Nelly, and Roy A. Miller. “Old Japanese Sword 代出雲の塩と鉄. In Izumo sekai to kodai no San’in 出雲 Names and Stories Relating to Swords.” Zeitschrif der 世界と古代の山陰, ed. Takioto Yoshiyuki, pp. 225–44. Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaf 145 (1995), pp. Meicho Shuppan, 1995. 373–434. Uther, Hans-Jörg. Te Types of International Folktales: A Nekljudov, S. J., and Z. Tömörceren. Mongolische Classification and Bibliography, Based on the System Erzählungen über Geser: Neue Aufzeichnungen. Trans. of Antti Aarne and Stith Tompson. 3 vols. Helsinki: Jörg Bäcker. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1985. Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, Academia Scientiarum Ōbayashi Taryō 大林太良. Nihon shinwa no kigen 日本神話 Fennica, 2004. の起源. Kadokawa Shoten, 1974. Villiers, John. Südostasien vor der Kolonialzeit. Frankfurt am Ōbayashi Taryō. Shinwa to shinwagaku 神話と神話学. Main: Fischer, 1965. Daiwa Shobō, 1975. Visser, Marinus W. de. Te Dragon in China and Japan. Ōbayashi Taryō, ed. Susanoo shinkō jiten スサノオ信仰事 Amsterdam: J. Müller, 1913. 典. Kōshō, 2004. Vovin, Alexander. Koreo-Japonica: A Re-evaluation of a Oka Masao. Kulturschichten in Alt-Japan. 2 vols. Ed. Josef Common Genetic Origin. University of Hawai‘i Press; Kreiner. Bonn: Bier’sche Verlagsanstalt, 2012. Center for Korean Studies, University of Hawai‘i, 2010. Ouwehand, Cornelius. Namazu-e and Teir Temes: An van Baaren, Teo. “Te Flexibility of Myth.” In Dundes, Interpretative Approach to Some Aspects of Japanese Folk Sacred Narrative, pp. 217–24. Religion. Leiden: Brill, 1964. Watkins, Calvert. How to Kill a Dragon: Aspects of Indo- Philippi, Donald L. Kojiki. University of Tokyo Press, 1968. European Poetics. Oxford University Press, 1995. Piggott, Joan R. “Sacral Kingship and Confederacy in Early Witzel, Michael. “Slaying the Dragon across Eurasia.” In Izumo.” MN 44:1 (1989), pp. 45–74. In Hot Pursuit of Language in Prehistory: Essays in the Piggott, Joan R. Te Emergence of Japanese Kingship. Four Fields of Anthropology: In Honor of Harold Stanford University Press, 1997. Fleming, ed. John D. Bengtson, pp. 263–86. Amsterdam, Quiros, Ignacio. “Chapter 1: Heaven and Earth First Become Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing, 2008. Active.” Kojikigaku 古事記學 3 (2017), pp. 295–306. Witzel, Michael. Te Origins of the World’s Mythologies. Saigō Nobutsuna 西郷信綱. Kojiki no sekai 古事記の世界. Oxford University Press, 2012. Iwanami Shoten, 1967. Yamaguchi Hiroshi 山口博. Tsukurareta Susanoo shinwa Schmidt, Isaak J. Die Taten Bogda Gesser Chan’s, des 創られたスサノオ神話. Chūōkōron Shinsha, 2012. Vertilgers der zehn Übel in den zehn Gegenden: Eine Yoda Chihoko 依田千百子. Chōsen minzoku bunka no ostasiatische Heldensage, aus dem Mongolischen übersetzt kenkyū: Chōsen no kiso bunka to sono genryū o megutte von I. J. Schmidt. St. Petersburg and Leipzig: W. Gräf; 朝鮮民俗文化の研究: 朝鮮の基層文化とその源流を Leopold Voss, 1839. めぐって. Ruri Shobō, 1985. Seki Keigo 関敬吾. “Yamata no orochi no keifu to tenkai: Yoda Chihoko. Chōsen no ōken to shinwa denshō 朝鮮の王 Nihon mukashibanashi no nanpō to no kanren” 八岐 権と神話伝承. Bensei Shuppan, 2007. の大蛇の系譜と展開: 日本昔話の南方との関連. Yoshino Yutaka 吉野裕. Fudoki sekai to tetsuō shinwa 風土 In Seki Keigo chosakushū 関敬吾著作集 4, pp. 149–98. 記世界と鉄王神話. San’ichi shobō, 1972. Kyoto: Dōhōsha, 1980. Yoshino Yutaka. “Suson tesshinron josetsu: Susanoo no Seyock, Barbara. Auf den Spuren der Ostbarbaren: Zur mikoto meigikō” 素尊鉄神論序説: スサノヲノミコト Archäologie protohistorischer Kulturen in Südkorea und 名義考. In Ōbayashi, Susanoo shinkō jiten, pp. 234–48. Westjapan. Münster: Lit, 2004. Smith, Grafon E. Te Evolution of the Dragon. Manchester, London: Te University Press; Longmans, Green, and Company, 1919.

20 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 Chinese Poetry in Hiragana: Kana-shi in Thought and Practice

TOSHIFUMI KAWAHIRA TRANSLATED BY ASHTON LAZARUS

What Is Kana-shi? “Love for a Snail on a Rainy Day”

HE term hiragana no kanshi ひらがなの漢詩 Snail, snail— has the ring of a contradiction. Kanshi 漢詩 the pleasure of a rainy day. (Chinese poetry) is called kanshi because it is Twritten with kanji 漢字 (), so writing Te kingdoms on your horns are heavy, kanshi in hiragana would indeed be logically impossi- the within your shell are light. ble. And yet, in the Edo period (1603–1868) there was a literary form that can only be described as hiragana no Tough not a tiger, you live in the bamboo garden; kanshi. Te simplest way of understanding what it was though resembling a dragon, you creep around the is to take a look at an actual poem.1 bramble gate.

あめ ひ か ぎゅう あい You play among the washbasin 雨の日に蝸牛を愛す but you don’t have the slug’s dreadful reputation.

あめ ひ かたつぶり 雨の日のおもしろみ くに つの いえ から Te author is Fūkyoku 風曲, a poet of the Mameda 豆 国はおもし角のうへ 家はかるし殻のうち 田 family from Kanazawa, and it appears in a collection とら たけ その りゅう に むばら かき 虎にあらで竹の園 龍に似て茨の垣 called Wakan bunsō 和漢文操 (Te Appeal of Japanese ちょう ず ばち うき な 2 and Chinese Writing, 1727) edited by Matsuo Bashō’s 手 水鉢にあそべども なめくじりの憂名なし 松尾芭蕉 (1644–1694) disciple Kagami Shikō 各務支 考 (1665–1731). As indicated by the , the poem is about a snail on a rainy day. Te poem (see fgure 1) This translation is based on Kawahira, “Hiragana no kanshi: Kana- shi shi hotei” and incorporates material from Kawahira, “Hiragana consists of four couplets each made up of two lines of no kanshi Kanashi to sono shisō.” ranslations of poems are by fve syllables, a structure similar to that of fve-char- shton aarus unless otherwise noted. acter eight-line regulated verse (gogon risshi 五言律 1 ineation follows the original. or the sake of readability, furigana has been added aboe the kani. 詩). As is customary in regulated verse, the ends of the 2 Kagami Shikō, akan bunsō, p. 532. even-numbered lines rhyme (that is, in the original the

21 子 (Te Pillow Book, ca. 995–1004).3 Love for a snail on a rainy day—this sort of world cannot be expressed through the “refned” (ga 雅) language of waka 和歌 (court poetry) and it also resists the kanshi form with its rough lack of charm. Indeed, the invocation of “snail, snail” is what gives the poem its favor. Kana-shi 仮名詩 was hence a new kind of poetry (shi 詩) that difered from preexisting forms like kanshi, waka, and haikai 俳諧 (later known as haiku). During the Edo period the endeavor to compose avant-garde, experimental shi was undertaken by several poets. Teir poems shared much of the same spirit and method as the later shintaishi 新体詩 (new-form poetry) of the Meiji period (1868–1912), which was infuenced by Western poetry.4 But since Edo-period Chinese-style poetry written in kana—that is, kana-shi—is still not widely known, this essay aims to introduce the story of its formation and development through readings of specifc poems. It is furthermore worth noting that in the Edo period kanshi written in hiragana was known variously as kana-shi, haishi 俳詩, and 和詩. I prefer the term kana-shi and will hereafer use it to refer in general to this kind of poetry.5 Tere is a work by Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 (1716–1783) that is sometimes referred to as a miracle of the Edo pe- Figure 1. kyoku. “oe for a Snail on a ainy Day.” akan bunsō. riod. Tis “Chinese poem” mourns the death of Buson’s d. Kagami Shikō. 1727, do period. ukuoka. ermission of Kyushu 晋我 niersity. friend Shinga (d. 1745), referred to here as Old Sage Hokuju. It became widely known in the modern period, with the poet Hagiwara Sakutarō 萩原朔太郎 (1886–1942) lavishing praise upon it.6 i sound is repeated: omoshiromi, uchi, kaki, nashi). Te poem alludes to both Chinese and Japanese ほくじゅろうせん sources. Te second line is a reference to the so-called 北寿老仙をいたむ “Battle on the Horns of a Snail” passage from the “Zey- きみ さり ち ぢ ang” 則陽 section of the Zhuangzi 荘子 (ca. third cen- 君あしたに去ぬ ゆふべのこゝろ千ゝに tury BCE). It tells of how war between two kingdoms seems important to those involved, but when placed in perspective becomes as insignifcant as that which 3 Sei Shōnagon, akura no sōshi, p. 377. 4 Hino Tatsuo has pointed to translations of long-form Chinese occurs between the horns of a snail. Te ffh and sixth poetry as a forerunner of shinaishi. See Hino, “Shintaishi no ichi lines delineate a contrast: “Tough it certainly does genry.” nd while it seems that kanashi did not have a direct not appear to be a tiger, it nonetheless plays in a no- influence on shinaishi, the two share a sensibility that challenged dominant poetic forms like kanshi and waka. ble’s bamboo garden” leads to “Tough he possesses a 5 or earlier research on kanashi, see atsumoto, “Haishi ō)” and dragon horn, symbol of the emperor, he crawls about “Haishi e),” and Hori, “Kanashi no konkyo.” esides this, little the bramble-laden gate of a commoner’s dwelling.” Te of substance has been done on the topic. atsumoto’s study introduces various forms of kanashi through a rich selection fnal, eighth line of the poem asserts that the snail’s rep- of poems, while Hori’s study describes and explains kanashi’s utation is not as bad as that of the slug, which appears theoretical background. uilding on these studies, this essay in Sei Shōnagon’s 清少納言 (dates unknown) list of engages with not only the history of haikai but also problems of 枕草 intellectual history in order to analye the historical background “Exceedingly Filthy Tings” in Makura no sōshi of kanashi’s formation and later deelopment. 6 Horikiri, “uson no haishi.”

22 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 なん 何ぞはるかなる Tere’s no sound at all.” きみ おか ゆき あそ 君をおもふて岡のべに行つ遊ぶ なん You lef in the morning. In the evening, my heart in をかのべ何ぞかくかなしき たんぽぽ き なづな さき a thousand shards 蒲公の黄に 薺のしろう咲たる み ひと How far you have gone! 見る人ぞなき きぎす な きけ 雉子のあるか ひたなきに鳴くを聞ば In my hut, I have no strength to ofer a light to the とも かわ すみ Amida Buddha, 友ありき 河をへだてゝ住にき うち にしふくかぜ have given no fowers. In the twilight, lingering へげのけぶりの はと打ちれば 西吹風の を ざさはら ま snow, はげしくて 小竹原 真すげはら a sense of awe.8 のがるべきかたぞなき とも かわ すみ 友ありき 河をへだてゝ住にき けふは With refrains like, “You lef in the morning. In the evening, my heart in a thousand shards” and “I had a ほろゝともなかぬ きみ さり ち ぢ friend. He lived on the other side of the stream,” this is 君あしたに去ぬ ゆふべのこゝろ千ゝに a remarkable composition that could be described as a なん 何ぞはるかなる modern free-verse poem written in classical language. わがいお ぶつ び As several scholars have already written commentaries 我庵のあみだ仏 ともし火もものせず 9 はな 〱 たたず こ よい on the poem there is no need to go into the details of 花もまいらせず すご と彳める今宵は its formation and interpretation, though I will revisit ことにたうとき 7 its signifcance and relationship to kana-shi later in the essay.

“Mourning the Old Sage Hokuju” On the Eve of Kana-shi You lef in the morning. In the evening, my heart in a thousand shards Te creation of kana-shi according to a clear genre-con- How far you have gone! sciousness and methodology can be dated to the Kyōhō 享保 era (1716–1736). To wit, volume one (“Chinese Tinking of you, I wander in the hills. Poems”) of Shikō’s compilation Honchō bunkan 本朝 Why are the hills so sad? 文鑑 (Prose Mirror of Japan, 1718) includes eighteen kana-shi, while volume two (“Kana-shi”) of Wakan Among the yellow dandelions, shepherd’s purse bunsō (mentioned above) contains thirty-fve kana-shi. blooms white. During these twenty years the composition of kana-shi But you are not here to see this. was becoming more popular. I delve further into the development of kana-shi Is the pheasant here? I hear its mournful voice: below, but frst I would like to discuss a literary exper- iment that likely had the same roots as kana-shi and “I had a friend. He lived on the other side of the immediately preceded the period of its popularity. It stream. is a text titled Wakun santaishi 和訓三体詩 (Japanese Glosses of Santishi, 1715), written by Bashō’s disciple Eerie smoke rose and scattered, a strong west wind Morikawa Kyoriku 森川許六.10 Santishi 三体詩 (Jp. swept over the bamboo feld, over the sedge moor, Santaishi) was an anthology of mid- and late Tang (618– leaving nowhere to hide.

I had a friend. He lived on the other side of the stream; today 8 ranslation by Haruo Shirane. Shirane, Early Modern Japanese ieraure, pp. 548–49. 9 See, for example, Horikiri, “uson no haishi,” and Kiyoto, “Hokuu rōsen o itamu’ shiron.” 7 Yosa uson, sonohana, pp. 258–59. 10 urakami, “Kyoriku akun santaishi’ o megutte.”

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 23 906) poetry collected by the Song-dynasty (960–1279) “Moored at Night by Maple Bridge” poet Zhou Bi 周弼 (active mid-thirteenth century). It was read widely in Japan starting in the Muromachi pe- Crows caw, and frost flls the sky under a sinking riod (1336–1573) and especially in the early Edo period. moon. According to the preface of Wakun santaishi, be- Downcast I doze by the riverside maples, across cause Japan and China have diferent natural environ- from fshermen’s fres. ments, even poems about scenery will naturally have Outside the walls of Suzhou City, in Cold Mountain diferent content. If a Japanese poet went to Lake Xihu Temple, in China and composed a poem, it would likely be sim- Te sound of a bell rung for midnight reaches as far ilar to a Tang-period poem. And if a Chinese poet went as my boat.13 to Suma or Akashi in Japan and composed a poem, it would likely be similar to a waka. Terefore, it is only Kyoriku’s translation: natural that Chinese people are not able to understand kanshi composed by Japanese poets in Japan. “In Japa- とも や はく かじまくら むろ う ね なみ とこ しほなれごろも 鞆の夜泊の梶枕。室の浮き寝の波の床。汐馴衣ひ nese kanshi and other Sinitic forms of writing,” Kyoriku よ づま ね こぎ のぼ writes, “the particles te, ni, o, and wa are inserted in be- と夜妻。かさねて寝んと漕よせて。上りくだりの ふながか ちか づき み そらやくそく まちわび tween characters, creating something close to waka.”11 舟懸り。近 付ぶりにかいま見の。空約束に待侘る。 かど はしご とどろ むね おり In other words, Kyoriku asserts that it is a physical 門のじやらつき階子の轟き。胸つぶるゝ折からに。 impossibility for Japanese poets to compose kanshi on いなかわた し もら 田舎渡りのわけ知らず。まかれて人に囉はるゝ。 the same level as Chinese poets. If a Japanese poet com- posed a verse on Lake Xihu, it would end up infused ただひとり ね とこさむ つきおち あわ じ しま いく た もり with Japanese poetic sentiment and would be com- 只 独 寝の床寒く。月落かゝる淡路島。生田の森の むらがらす あき しも よ あ あ ま ひ ゆき pletely diferent from that composed by a Chinese poet. 村烏。秋の霜夜の明けかねて。海士のあさり火行 Something similar occurs when kanshi are translated ちが ね ざめ た ば こ はれゆく 違ひ。寝覚の多葉粉くゆらせて。すこし晴行うき into Japanese. As a way to experience more directly the ねむ まつ あらし いち たに す ま でら かね こえ なみ world of kanshi, Kyoriku advocates creating transla- 眠り。松の嵐の一の谷。須磨寺につく鐘の声。波 まくら つた き ふね みなと おしいだし tions that take into account the rhythms of the original の枕に伝ひ来て。舟は湊を押出しける。14 verse and in which Chinese place names, plants, cus- toms, and historical references are replaced by things Japanese. Moored at night, I sleep among the waves of Muro Let us look at a concrete example, a poem by Zhang with my oar for a pillow. A “wife for one night,” her Ji 張継 (active early eighth century) that is well known robes accustomed to the tides, rows in pursuit of in Japan. First is the original poem, followed by Kyori- her next customer, tying her boat to those moving ku’s translation into 7-5 syllabic verse, which functions upriver and downriver. I wait impatiently for the as a kind of poetic explication. fulfllment of false promises glimpsed while she pretends to approach. Te clattering of a gate, the scraping of a ladder: my heart racing, I feel like a country bumpkin, ignorant of the world. She leaves, 楓橋夜泊 laughing at me.

月落烏啼霜満天 江楓漁火対愁眠 Alone on the cold deck, the moon dips down past 姑蘇城外寒山寺 夜半鐘声到客船12 Awaji Island. Te crows of Ikuta Forest, the autumn

13 ranslation by eter Harris. Harris, hree unre ang oems, p. 259. Slight typographic changes hae been made for the sake of consistency. 14 orikawa Kyoriku, akun sanaishi, ol. 1, fol. 8a. or ease 11 orikawa Kyoriku, akun sanaishi, ol. 1, fol. 1b. of reading, Kyoriku’s translation has been diided into two 12 Ibid., fol. 7b. paragraphs.

24 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 frost of an endless night. Fishermen’s fres ficker, Rain like falling leaves obscures the path. You set the tobacco of wakefulness smolders. Te weather out from the capital, departing on your journey. clears up a bit and I doze on the deck. Te of Te countryside’s distant mountains stretch on pine trees at Ichinotani, the sound of the bell being and on. Along the rocky shore thick with mist, struck at Sumadera: they resound atop this pillow of wheat-stirring wind plays in the willow-green sky. waves. Te boat departs from the harbor. How cold the traveler’s lodgings in spring. I send you of warmly: while you talk of your itinerary, Te site of the original poem has been replaced by Mur- the drinking cups are ceaselessly flled and remain otsu, on the Inland Sea, and the content transformed out on the tatami. And now a popular song from into a particularly Japanese situation: a feeting tryst the buzzing capital: women waiting at the inns, with a “female entertainer from Muro.” packhorse drivers on the road—I hear you can keep Next is another famous poem, Wang Wei’s 王維 singing for ffy ri. Once past Barrier, you’re composition about a friend’s departure. sure to hear the songs of the East. But since we’re still singing the songs of the capital, stay for just one more drink. Te simmered bark of young stalks 送元二使安西 placed between pickled buds from Kurama.

渭城朝雨浥軽塵 客舎青々柳色新 Unfortunately, the translation does not quite capture the fresh atmosphere of “the morning of parting” ex- 15 勧君更尽一盃酒 西出陽関無故人 pressed so concisely in the original. But in the second half of the translation, Kyoriku skillfully transposes “Seeing of Er on His Mission to Anxi” “Yangguan Pass” as Hakone Barrier and has the speaker sing one more song from the capital for his friend who A morning rain at the city clears up the light dust, is about to depart for the eastern countries. At the guesthouse, the new willow stand, lush and In ancient Japan a unique method of reading Chi- green. nese texts called kakikudashibun 書き下し文 was de- How about take another cup of wine, my lord? veloped, in which diacritic marks and Japanese glosses Once out of the Yangguan Pass, no old friend will were added to the original to enable reading according 16 be seen. to Japanese word order. Ogyū Sorai 荻生徂徠 (1666– 1728) criticized this tradition, advocating in Yakubun Kyoriku’s translation: sentei 訳文筌蹄 (Translating with Nets and Snares, 1715) that Chinese texts be read according to their orig- らっ か あめ ふみまよ たび わかれ みやこいで ひな とおやま 落花の雨に踏迷ふ。旅の別の都出で。鄙の遠山 inal word order, from top to bottom. He furthermore びょうびょう かすみわた いそ やなぎ そら むぎ かぜ はる thought translations should make use of vernacular 渺 々と。霞渡れる磯づたひ。柳の空に麦の風。春 たび ね さむ ねんごろ わかれ おく ゆく language and capture the meaning of the original with- の旅寝や寒からん。懇に別を送つて。こしかた行 18 すえ かわらけほし たたみ out adding or subtracting anything. Yakubun sentei 末をかたらふうちに。土器干かねて畳にすえたり。 was written in 1711, just before Wakun santaishi, though いま みや こ はやり やど で おんな みち ま ご 今はやる宮古の時行ぶし。宿の出女。道の馬士。 both texts were published in 1715. So it is interesting ご じゅう り うた はこ ね せき さ that right when Sorai was developing his thesis Kyoriku 五 十 里までは諷ふとかや。箱根の関のその先きは。 かなら あ ずま うた いまうた さら いっ was experimenting with vernacular translation for an 必ず吾妻の歌なるべし。今諷ふ一ふしに。更に一 ぱい つく くら ま き め づけ からかわ entirely diferent reason. And in fact, Kyoriku’s vernac- 盃を 尽すべしと。鞍馬の木の芽漬に。にしめ辛皮 ular interpretation of kanshi—especially his attempt to はさ をぞ挟みける。17 structure it as verse with a 7-5 syllabic rhythm—bore a striking similarity to the kana-shi that Shikō would compile just a few decades later. Te next section will focus on this development. 15 orikawa Kyoriku, akun sanaishi, ol. 4, fol. 14a. 16 ranslation by Ye Yang. uo, Conise isory o Chinese ieraure, p. 289. 17 orikawa Kyoriku, akun sanaishi, ol. 4, fol. 14b. 18 gy Sorai, akubun senei, pp. 1–16.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 25 Wa-kan onicts Savoring writing in a Chinese style is the shame of our country. As a result, from the era [1704– Te origins of kana-shi can be traced back to the me- 1711] on, poets have experimented with writing dieval period, when both monk and layman alike Chinese poems in hiragana, introducing kana words composed gishi 戯詩 (parodic poetry) and kyōshi 狂 into Chinese poems, and making use of Chinese 詩 (humorous poetry), and more recently to the early verse in kana-shi. Our country’s poetry will help us modern period with the Japanese-style Chinese poetry surpass the Chinese.19 (washū 和習) written by the Hayashi 林 family of Con- fucian scholars. But it makes more sense to think of ka- In volume 2 of the same text, in a piece entitled “Preface na-shi as emerging directly from the eforts to establish to Writing Chinese Verse in Kana,” Rokuandō 鹿安道 haibun 俳文 (haikai writing) as equal to the more tra- (dates unknown) comments: ditional wabun 和文. Wabun signifes Japanese prose writings in contrast Even if words have Chinese and Japanese pronun- to verse forms like waka and renga 連歌 (linked verse). ciations, why should the content of poems be sepa- Representative works include 源氏物 rated in the same way? . . . It was perhaps six years 語 (Te Tale of Genji, ca. 1010) and Sagoromo monoga- ago when Tōkasen [Shikō], who lives in eastern tari 狭衣物語 (Te Tale of Sagoromo, ca. 1069–1077). , asked why we should disregard our On the other hand, there was initially no correspond- country’s easy-to-read kana script and study the dif- ing prose equivalent of haikai poetry. So Bashō and his fcult script of another country. He went on to create contemporaries launched a movement to create one, Chinese poetry in hiragana, and indeed a whole new and they were in the end drawn to the polar opposite of method of composing Chinese poetry. Tis should wabun: 漢文 (Chinese writing). truly be adopted as our country’s model writing.20 Kanbun consists not only of famous anthologies like Wenxuan 文選 (Jp. Monzen, Selections of Refned Lit- Te frst passage criticizes the inclination of the Jap- erature, early sixth century) and Guwen zhenbao houji anese to revere Sinographic culture by stating, “sa- 古文真宝後集 (Jp. Kobun shinpō kōshū, Later Collec- voring writing in a Chinese style is the shame of our tion of True Treasures of Ancient Writing, late thir- country.” And the second passage praises the ease of teenth century) but also works of literary analysis like kana by asking, “why should we disregard our coun- 文章軌範 Wenzhang guifan (Jp. Bunshō kihan, Mod- try’s easy-to-read kana script and study the difcult els of Composition, ca. mid-thirteenth century). Te script of another country?” What is expressed here is haikai poets took as their models the diferent styles not the conventional, fundamentally passive attitude codifed by these texts—for example, records and ac- toward Sinographic culture, but rather one that both counts (ki 記), inscriptions (mei 銘), encomia (san 賛), reevaluates kana culture and actively engages with and prefaces (jo 序), and sayings (setsu 説)—and created a transforms Sinographic culture. Tis is why the poems new, playful literary style that mixed high and low, wa of Wakun santaishi occupy a position similar to Shikō’s 和 and kan 漢. Te results are archived in the haibun collections of the time, including Kyoriku’s Honchō kana-shi: they are united by a common mentality due to monzen 本朝文選 (Te Wenxuan of Japan, 1706, also their shared open approach to Chinese poetry. In other called Fūzoku monzen 風俗文選) and Shikō’s Honchō words, with Wakun santaishi abandoning the interpre- 訓読 bunkan and Wakan bunsō (see above). Tese poets did tive restrictions of reading by gloss (kundoku ) and not stop at stylistic imitation, cultivating a Chinese kana-shi abandoning the lexical restrictions of Chinese style in the poems themselves as a way to develop a new words (kango 漢語), there was an attempt to create a lit- form of haikai. Tis was kana-shi. erary terrain in which kanshi was realized in Japanese. It is important to point out that kana-shi was not Tis attitude was anticipated by a fundamental shif, thought of as simply an “imitation” of Chinese poetry, along the lines of a kind of nationalism, in how the Jap- but seems to have been produced out of a desire to re- anese perceived Chinese poetry and writing. Te no- evaluate the and transcend Chinese poetry. In the Chinese-language preface to volume 1 of Wakan bunsō, Shikō (using the name Renjibō 蓮二房) 19 Kagami Shikō, akan bunsō, p. 504. writes: 20 Ibid., p. 525.

26 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 tion that and prose and Chinese poetry Te Japanese language consists of true words from and prose are to be treated equally can be traced back to the . It fulflls the will of the gods and ancient times. For example, Kokin wakashū 古今和歌 guides human endeavor. As such, long ago humans 集 (Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern, 905) has were able to use the language of the gods unaltered, both kana and mana 真名 (Chinese) prefaces, while but as time passed Chinese words gradually worked works such as Wakan rōeishū 和漢朗詠集 (Japanese their way in. Growing accustomed to this, we lost and Chinese Poems to Sing, ca. 1013) arrange Japanese our Japanese language and began to despise it as and Chinese poetry to be enjoyed together, and forms though it were a foreign language. It reached the such as wakan renku 和漢聯句 consist of sequences of foolish point where it was more venerable to speak alternating Japanese and Chinese verses. Such activity with Chinese words. Tis is the primary expression was supported by the idea that while “language” might of our contemptible situation of having forgotten all change, “content” was still the same—in other words, obligation to the country.23 the idea of a mutual Japanese-Chinese sensibility. But by the seventeenth century it was apparent that According to , Japanese is a “god’s language” passed this notion of “equality” was being supplanted by a dis- down from the age of the gods, but the later infux of course of the superiority of Japanese poetry and prose. Chinese words led to a tendency to revere Chinese and Various factors can be ofered in explanation, including look down on Japanese, and this was a grave mistake. the relative decline in the status of China (and Chinese As a Shinto scholar, Eiji’s use of a discourse that relativ- culture) brought about by the shifing international sit- ized Chinese is hardly surprising, but even Confucian uation triggered by the Ming-Qing transition,21 or the scholars such as Yamaga Sokō 山鹿素行 (1622–1685) spread of simple and practical kana literacy prompted undertook a radical reevaluation of Chinese civiliza- by the domestic expansion of the literate class.22 Instead tion. For example, in the “China” section of Chūchō ji- of pursuing the details of these sociohistorical explana- jitsu 中朝事実 (Facts about the Central Realm, 1669), tions, I will limit myself to introducing several exam- he wrote: ples of the theory that Japanese poetry and prose was superior. It is a matter of natural topography that Japan is Te frst example comes from Kōshi ben’inshō 紅紫 the center of the world. Te gods were born, the 弁引抄 (On Distinguishing Orthodoxy from Heresy, blood of the imperial line was passed down, and we 1662), a text written by Itō Eiji 伊藤栄治 (d. 1685), the achieved excellence in the ways of the sword and Shimabara-domain scholar of Ise Shinto and Yoshida the brush and indeed in all things. Truly it would Shinto. Eiji develops the following argument about the be appropriate to refer to Japan as the “Middle “Japanese language” (wago 和語) (that is, Japanese be- Kingdom.24 fore the introduction of kanji): And in the “Teachings of the Gods” section he contin- ued:

21 or example, in the second olume of “hōnin bukuro Imagine someone who voices the following mis- 町人嚢底払 sokobarai” mptying the erchant’s ag, 1719), giving. “China does not know much about Japan, Nishikawa Joken 西川如見 1648–1724) writes, “It is deeply troubling that the ing dynasty, despite its tremendous but its civilization fourishes. Japan has relied on expansion of knowledge, has now become the domain of the Chinese civilization and made frequent use of it. In northern barbarians’. . . . Should it then be said that countries that case, does China not surpass Japan?” Refecting where knowledge thrives are also full of disorder? There were few texts to consult in ancient apan; Shinto and uddhist on this, I fnd it mistaken. From its founding, Japan teachings spread, the country was wealthy, and the people were has been endowed with the gods’ lofy deeds and obedient.” Nishikawa oken, “hōnin bukuro sokobarai,” pp. wise teachings, and even without the knowledge 140–41. 22 or example, Konta Yōō has obsered that during the enroku of Chinese texts not a single thing was missing. 元祿 era 1688–1704) wealthy farmers in the rural areas around Fortunately, Japan learned much from China, using saka purchased and consumed large uantities of kana texts, for both educational and entertainment purposes, including ukiyozōshi 浮世草子 fiction, erakoya 寺子屋 textbooks, practical handbooks hōhōki 重宝記), and encyclopedic dictionaries 23 Itō ii, “Kōshi ben’inshō,” ol. 1, fols. 2b–3a. sesuyōshū 節用集). Konta, o no hon’ya san, pp. 55–58. 24 Yamaga Sokō, Chūhō jijisu, p. 19.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 27 the strong points to aid in the administration of tion. So for the language of the Japanese people, it is imperial rule, but this has more to do with Japan’s Japanese words and not Chinese words, kana and not tolerant attitude.25 kanji, that can communicate thoughts more completely. Te thinking here is not that Chinese words and kanji In this way, Sokō situated Japan at the center of the are essentially inferior to Japanese words and kana, but world and espoused a kind of Japanese Sinocentrism. rather that the latter occupy a position of superiority Tat he would go so far as to say “even without the within the territory of Japan. knowledge of Chinese texts not a single thing was miss- Furthermore, the Yoshida Shinto scholar Masuho ing” demonstrates, I think, Sokō’s precarious position Zankō 増穂残口 (1655–1742), in a discussion of Wakan as a Confucian scholar. rōeishū in his Suguji no tokoyogusa 直路乃常世草 Tese expressions of Japanese supremacy in the (Notes on the Direct Path to the Eternal Land, 1717), second half of the seventeenth century eventually de- makes the following argument: veloped into the nativist ideologies of kokugaku 国学 and mitogaku 水戸学 in the frst half of the eighteenth As early as Wakan rōeishū, there was the idea of century. Kana-shi reached peak popularity in the early organizing a text around recitations of Japanese and eighteenth century, right in between these two phe- Chinese poetry. Japan occupied the higher position nomena. As we will see below, it was widely accepted and Japanese readings sofened the scrap-metal during this period that Japanese poetry and prose (kana characters [i.e., kanji] of that other country, demon- writing) was superior to Chinese poetry and prose, a strating the straightforward way. Comparing the two fact that must be acknowledged if the history of ka- educates all people about the superior feelings of the na-shi is to be properly understood. country of the gods.27 Te Suika Shinto scholar Tomobe Yasutaka 伴部安 崇 (1667–1740) discussed the diferences between Japa- Zankō then writes, borrowing the words of Kenkō 兼 nese and Chinese in Wakan mondō 和漢問答 (A Dia- 好 (active fourteenth century) and Gensei 元政 (1623– logue on Japan and China, copied in 1710). He declares: 1668), “It is regrettable that compared to Japanese po- etry, Chinese poetry has no deep emotion.” In this It is foolish to look down on Japanese readings in passage Zankō develops the idea that Japanese poetry kana and venerate Chinese writing. Language is a and prose can express straightforward feelings and deep fower that blooms from the heart. If one’s heart is emotions, while Chinese poetry and prose cannot. Tis clear, one’s words will have elegance. Writing takes is close to a theory of absolute Japanese supremacy, far shape according to the country in which it develops. removed from the theory of Japan’s relative superiority Furthermore, with kanji it is always the case that or the idea of mutual Japanese-Chinese feeling. not enough can be said, and unless there is a large It seems that similar ideas infuenced the Nagasaki number of annotations the meaning will be unclear. astronomer Nishikawa Joken 西川如見 (1648–1724). When reading by gloss [kundoku] immediate un- In the frst volume of “Chōnin bukuro sokobarai” 町人 derstanding is possible with only a single character 嚢底払 (Emptying the Merchant’s Bag, 1719), he refers or perhaps a few words. Let it be known that if you to the Japanese mentality as the “Yamato heart” and its compare composing a Chinese poem to compos- expression as the “Yamato form,” and criticizes the ten- ing a Japanese poem, the meaning of the latter is dency to look down on these while extolling the “Chi- transmitted and understood more easily than that of nese form.” He writes: the former.26 [Japanese writing] is thoroughly pure and mild In other words, language is a representation of the because it took shape amid the natural environment thoughts of a people from a particular nation, and the [of Japan], greatly beneftting the Japanese peo- form of writing also refects the character of the na- ple. It is the same with Chinese poetry: originally transmitted from China, it has now developed into

25 Ibid., pp. 265–66. 26 omobe Yasutaka, “akan mondō,” fol. 6a–6b. 27 asuho ankō, Suguji no okoyogusa, p. 253.

28 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 diferent forms in Japan and China. Te Chinese The Evolution of Kana-shi heart, however, is moved only by elegant forms of Chinese origin, while the Yamato heart is sofened In this way, kana-shi developed as a literary form that and made peaceful by not only Japanese poetry but had a uniquely tense relationship with both domestic also Chinese poetry, since both forms are created in forms like waka and renga and the foreign form of Chi- this country. It follows, then, that reading and recit- nese poetry. Having given only one example of kana-shi ing a Chinese poem in a Japanese manner should be thus far, I would now like to analyze several more from 28 considered wrong. the Kyōhō era. Te frst is by Tōkasen 桃花仙, an alias of Shikō. Te Chinese poetic style was of course formed in

China, but because Chinese poetry composed by Jap- わ かん はな しょう anese poets was inevitably infuenced by the “Yamato 和漢に花を賞す heart,” it was naturally diferent from that composed はな はな み ひと by Chinese poets. According to Joken, the imbuing of 花はよし花ながら 見る人おなじからず Chinese poetry with a so-called Japanese style (washū) ちょう とり ぼたんには蝶ねむり さくらには鳥あそぶ was inevitable, and in reality poems created in Japan つづみ かね were better able to achieve the goal of composition: the たのしさを鼓にさき さびしさを鐘にちる もろこし よし の し うた cultivation of a peaceful mind. 唐 にいざ芳野あらば 詩をつくり歌よまむ 29 Tis is the opposite of Kyoriku and Sorai, who for precisely the same reasons criticized the practice of reading by gloss (kundoku) and thought the true mean- “Japanese and Chinese Praise for Flowers” ing of the original text could be reproduced through translation. But both groups shared a manner of think- Flowers are always fowers, ing that did not treat Chinese poetry and prose as abso- but the people who look at them are diferent. lute, and actively afrmed techniques of naturalization like reading by gloss and translation. A butterfy sleeps on a peony, In the end kana-shi was by no means unrelated to a bird plays amid the cherry blossoms. the appearance, during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, of this notion of the contingency Peonies bloom happily to the sound of the drum, of Chinese poetry and prose, and the accompanying cherry blossoms scatter with sadness to the sound superiority of Japanese poetry and kana prose. Longer of the bell. than waka and hokku 発句 (the opening stanza of a renga poem) but shorter than chōka 長歌 (long poems If there were indeed a Yoshino in China, of alternating 5-7 syllabic phrases) and renga sequences, we could compose both Chinese and Japanese kana-shi marks the creation of a new kind of Japanese poems. fxed-pattern poetry. In terms of form it can be thought of as a fusion of wa and kan, but from the viewpoint of Since this poem consists of four couplets, with each intellectual history it should be seen as a literary art that line made up of two fve-syllable phrases, it takes the came into being under the particularly strong infuence basic form of fve-character regulated verse (gogon ris- of wa. shi). Te even-numbered lines rhyme, ending with the sounds zu, bu, ru, and mu. Te gist of the poem is that while there may be disagreements about which fower is best, Japanese and Chinese poetry display a similar ad- miration for fowers. Te poem sets up skillful opposi- tions between wa and kan—for example, “peony” (kan) and “cherry blossom” (wa) in the second couplet—and

28 Nishikawa oken, “hōnin bukuro sokoharai,” pp. 105–106. 29 Kagami Shikō, onhō bunkan, pp. 247–58.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 29 ends with an expression of their afnity for one another. Casting out a glance at the moon-drenched night, Tis takes the form of an allusion to a haikai30 by Fuji- my thoughts accumulate like snow on the trees and wara no Tokihira 藤原時平 (871–909) from the “Mis- the thatch. cellaneous” section of Kokin wakashū: “although you retreat / deep within the Yoshino / Mountains distant Since this poem consists of four couplets, with each line as / far Cathay I am not one / who will be lef behind made up of two seven-syllable phrases, it takes the basic here”31 (唐土の吉野の山に籠もるとも遅れむと思 form of seven-character regulated verse (shichigon ris- ふわれならなくに).32 Te poem makes expert use of shi). Te even-numbered lines rhyme, ending with the contrasting lines and it is a work that truly deserves the sounds mo, yo, to, and o. Te poem encapsulates the title of hiragana no kanshi. heartbreak of wanting to visit one’s beloved but not Next is a poem by Seki Kakaku 石過角 (dates un- being able to because of the snow. Te frst two couplets known) from Naoetsu in Echigo Province: declare the speaker’s unwavering love using thoroughly waka-like imagery, while the last two couplets use two ゆき よ こい allusions to express how the speaker’s desire to imme- 雪に寄する恋 diately be with his beloved compounds like all-pervad- ing snow. “Cut of his own arm” alludes to the story of かさ こし じ ゆき ふ 笠に越路の雪踏みわけて how Huike 慧可 cut of his own arm on a snowy day こころ きみ とはぬ心を君はしらずも and ofered it to to show his dedication な かぜ ふか as a disciple. “I too pledge not to miss the boat” alludes あだなりし名の風も吹ねば かわ いろ まつ to the story of the Eastern Jin (317–420) literatus Wang 変らぬ色を松にたぐへよ Huizhi 王徽之 (courtesy name Ziyou 子猷, d. 388), ひと ひじ 人は臂さへたちあかせしに who on a snowy night took a boat to the residence of われ ふね の 戴逵 安道 我も船には乗りおくれじと his friend Tai Kui (courtesy name Andao , げ み わた つき よ d. 395?) so that they could enjoy the moon together. 実に見渡せば月の夜すがら き かや おも Coursing with elegant language (words used in waka 木にも茅にもつもる思ひを 33 and renga), the poem feels like a sustained waka and yet it is not a chōka, which shares the same 7-5 syllabic “Love Visited by Snow” rhythm. It instead forms its own coherent world. And lastly a poem by Kō Saha 高左把 (1714–1799) Beneath this sedge hat I walk the snow-covered from : Echigo road, うめ えい though you do not know I have no intention to visit. 梅を詠ず

If only no one had caught wind of my rumored bad うめ まず reputation, 梅よ 先ひらけ みんなみのえだ ゆき ふる はる then you might still think me everlasting as the 雪の 降とても 春めきながら やみ color of pines. 闇は あやなしと たれかいふらむ まど か 窓に 香をおくる あかつきのはな Like the one who cut of his own arm in pursuit, I too pledge not to miss the boat. “On Plum Blossoms”

O plum blossoms! First, bloom branches facing south. 30 he “iscellaneous” section contains a total of fiftyeight haikai, a term that in the context of Kokin wakashū signifies a humorous Snow though it falls it is springlike. poem that uses language otherwise considered unfit for waka. Darkness how foolish it is. Who said that? Rodd and Henkenius, Kokinshū, p. 348. Trough the window drifs a scent the fowers 31 Ibid., p. 359. 32 Kokin wakashū, p. 390. at dawn. 33 Kagami Shikō, onhō bunkan, p. 264.

30 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 ぐさ すみ よのなか なに う はな Tis poem about the scent of early spring plum blossoms されば、すみれ草の住よき世中に、何に卯の花の かき ほととぎす ゆく え はる is modeled on ’s 李白 (701–762) “three-fve-sev- 垣ねとはよみけむ。時鳥の行衛なからむにも、春 かりがね つい en-character poems” (unorthodox poems made up of の雁の終にかへらずやあらむ。 lines consisting of three, fve, and seven characters) 34 found in volume seven of Guwen zhenbao houji. Here ゆく かへ しからばたましゐ、いづこに行としてか、還るに a combination of three, fve, and seven characters forms みち かへりきた 39 each line, which repeated four times makes up a qua- 道なからむ。還来れ 。 train. Te lines end on an “a” rhyme: da, ra, and na. Te third line is clearly based on a poem by Ōshikōchi no Te old man’s spirit is in the west. Has he gone Mitsune 凡河内躬恒 (f. ca. 900) from Kokin wakashū: somewhere, never to return? Come back quickly, “how foolish is the / darkness on this spring night— spirit! / though it conceals the / plum blossoms’ charm and color / it cannot hide their perfume”35 (春の夜の闇は Around the tenth day of the tenth month of this あやなし梅の花色こそ見えね香やはかくるゝ).36 year, the disciples will gather in his old residence Variations like this, quite distant from the established and wait for the spirit. How could it not return when form, were attempted. we’re waiting? Spirit, come back! Te poems I have discussed so far are all what we might call “pure” kana-shi. But there are actually more When blossoms scatter on the brushwood gate, star- than a few haibun that contain shi-like elements even tled birds will cry out in lament. When the autumn if they do not take the form of shi. Examples include moon descends over the mugwort hut, people will Ranran’s 嵐蘭 (1647–1693) “Ka o yaku no ji” 蚊を焼 panic and stop visiting. くの辞 (Song of Burning a Mosquito)37 and Sodō’s 素 堂 (1642–1716) “Minomushi no setsu” 蓑虫の説 (On So why would he write about “a hedge of deutzias”40 a Bagworm),38 which with no fxed rhyme scheme or in a comfortable world full of wild violets? Even if syllable count can be described as free-verse poetry the cuckoo has lost its way, how could the spring written in classical language. A particularly good exam- geese not return in the end? ple is Shikō’s “Shōkon no fu” 招魂の賦 (Rhapsody on the Return of a Spirit, in volume 3 of Honchō monzen). And so, spirit, regardless of where you’ve gone, there Since it is a long piece I will analyze only the opening must be a way to return home. Come back, come section: back!

さいほう わが たましい ゆき かへら 西方に吾翁の魂あり。行ていづこにか帰ざらむ。 Shikō wrote this on the sixth anniversary of his teacher すみやか かへりきた たましゐ速に帰来れ。 Bashō’s death. “Old man” here refers to Bashō, and the poem speaks of an attempt to bring back his spirit. かん な づきとお か こ なん きゅうそう もんじん What makes it unique is the refrain, immediately ev- ことし神無月十日あまり。湖南の旧草に、門人あ かえ きたら ident upon an initial reading: “Spirit, come back!” It そむでたましゐをまつ。またばなどか帰り来ざら repeats three times in the passage I have quoted, and きた む。たましゐ、それかへり来れ。 the word kaeru (“return” or “come back”) appears eight times. さいもん はる はな とりおどろき わかれ ほうそう 柴門に春の花ちれば、鳥 驚 て別をうらむ。蓬窓に As mentioned, this is not a pure kana-shi, though あき つきおつ ひとあれ すま the refrain “Spirit, come back!” endows it with a poetic 秋の月落れば、人荒て住ずなりぬ。 rhythm and the piece certainly gives the overall impres- sion of a Chinese poem. Furthermore, its structure is

34 Kagami Shikō, akan bunsō, p. 528. 35 Rodd and Henkenius, Kokinshū, p. 60. 39 Ibid., pp. 411–12. ine breaks hae been added for readability. 36 Kokin wakashū, p. 75. 40 The “u” in u no hana deutia) simultaneously denotes the word 37 orikawa Kyoriku, onhō monzen, pp. 389–90. u 憂 sorrow). In waka poetics, deutzias are often associated with 38 Ibid., pp. 423–24. the cuckoo.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 31 similar to Buson’s “Mourning the Old Sage Hokuju,” kumon 間合早学問 (Makeshif Easy Learning, 1766), discussed above. Tere are several theories about how contributed the preface. Te text states: Buson’s poem came into being,41 but if we pay close at- tention to its poetic form we see that instead of being a Poetry and composition are originally vocal literary pure kana-shi it was in fact largely infuenced by poetic arts, so sound and rhythm occupy an important haibun such as those written by Shikō. Furthermore, position. As such, Chinese poetry and composi- the basic content of “Rhapsody on the Return of a tion created by contemporary Japanese has little Spirit”—the feeling of anguish that comes with mourn- meaning. Te reason is that prosody is infuenced ing the deceased—is also shared by “Morning the Old by a country’s language and natural features. As Sage Hokuju.” non-native speakers of Chinese, Japanese poets cannot produce anything of quality, even if they imitate Chinese works. Doing so is no diferent from Another Kana-shi reciting a spell. Japan and China are utterly alike in terms of rationality, but when it comes to language 42 Te kana-shi theorized by Shikō and his contemporar- and natural features there is a decisive diference. ies during the Kyōhō era continued to be composed by their disciples, but unlike waka and haiku it never For example, the famous poem by Wang Wei discussed achieved popularity among a more general audience. above along with Kyoriku’s translation would have been Buson’s “Morning the Old Sage Hokuju” is deemed a read with Chinese-style pronunciations as follows: miracle because in actuality most of his kana-shi (or 渭 城 朝 雨 浥 軽 塵 works similar to kana-shi) do not remain. It is astound- oi jin chau iu ii kin jin ing that it is one of the few pieces that have survived. 客 舍 青 々 柳 色 新 In this way, by the second half of the eighteenth cen- ke sei tsuin tsuin riu sue suin tury kana-shi had mostly fallen out of fashion, and I 勧 君 更 尽 一 盃 酒 would next like to introduce a text from this time pe- gen kyun tsuin i poi chiu riod that has rarely been discussed. Entitled Shibun sei- 西 出 陽 関 無 故 人 shiki 詩文製式 (Model Poetry and Prose, preface dated sui chiu yan kuwan ū kū jin43 1770), it was written by a man named Hori Seijun 堀正 純 (courtesy name Shūan 修安, Tōsen 東川, What makes the original a poem is its prosody and dates unknown). Not much is known about Hori, but melody; simply reading it with Chinese pronunciations considering the contents of the text he seems to have made it as unintelligible as the wording of a sutra. On been a scholar of the Chinese classics with a particular the other hand, adding reading glosses (kunten 訓点) interest in poetry. It also appears that Hori inherited would have distorted the meter, causing it to lose its the text afer it was lef unfnished by his grandfather poetic quality. Hakusui 栢翠 (familiar name Seiku 正矩, art name Hori’s suggestion was to translate the poem in the Ketsuho 絜甫, dates unknown). Ōe Genbō 大江玄 following way: 圃 (1729–1794), known for works like Maniai hayaga-

さめ 4· よどのあしたにむら雨ふりて のき ば 4· みちもきよらに軒端のやなぎ 41 ccording to bara aiō, uson was not influenced by kanashi but instead by the popular poetic works created by the do いともうつくしみどりのころも school 江戸座 of haikai poets. See bara, “Shunp batei kyoku no 4· genry.” Shimiu akayuki critiued this iew, pointing out that つねはめさずとかはらけまいれ すま せき ぢ すぎ kanashi were popular among the doza poets and situating 須磨の関路を過こしかたは uson’s poem within the deelopment of kanashi. See Shimiu, ひと 4· 44 “Haishi to sono kanshō.” ther scholars hae argued similarly けゝらしる人あらざらめ see atsumoto, “Haishi ō)” and “Haishi e),” and Horikiri, “uson no haishi”). Hino atsuo further notes that climbing a hill to mourn the dead was a conentional theme in hinese poetry, and so uson’s poem can also be understood as an adaptation 42 Hori Seijun, Shibun seishiki, ol. 1, fols. 1a–4b. into apanese of this sort of elegy. See Hino, “Shintaishi no ichi 43 Ibid., ol. 1, fols. 2b–3a. genry.” 44 Ibid., fol. 2b.

32 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 Figure 2. Hori Seiun. Shibun seishiki. 1770, do period. Kyoto. contemporaries had become such an obscure current ermission of the National Diet ibrary. that by the 明和 era (1764–1772) it had mostly lost the attention of those beyond haikai circles. In line six of his translation Hori uses the word ke- Passing showers fall this morning at Yodo, kera (“thoughts”), which is found in the Man’yōshū 万 cleansing the road. A willow tree by the eaves, 葉集 (Collection of Ten Tousand Leaves, compiled ca. exceptionally beautiful clothed in green. 759) and seems to have been eastern dialect for kokoro. You don’t usually drink but go ahead and have a Also, in the original manuscript the rhyming characters cupful. are circled; in my transcription, rhyme is indicated by a If you’ve passed the barrier at Suma, small dot placed above the character (the same method no one is likely to know your thoughts. is used below). In lines one and two furite rhymes with yanagi, while in lines four and six maire rhymes with Hori translates the original poem using lines made up arazarame. of two seven-syllable phrases, while also remaining Hori referred to this kind of kana-shi as washi (Japa- conscious of rhyme. In this way he is able to transfer nese Chinese-style poetry), so I will use the same term the meaning and meter of the original poem into Japa- from here on. It seems that Hori’s aim in composing nese (fgure 2). washi was somewhat diferent from that of the haikai Tis frst half of Hori’s argument seems mostly poets in composing kana-shi. Tis takes us into the sec- aligned with the problems that Kyoriku and Shikō ond half of his argument: tackled in the early eighteenth century. Hori does not, however, comment on these and instead claims that It might be said that the experimental washi I com- the argument is solely his own. On the other hand, it is pose are without skill. But they are a necessary step possible that the kana-shi composed by Shikō and his in the eventual appearance of a writer of Japanese

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 33 who can create literature equal to the hymns and Had she been able to bear it admirably, it would eulogies from the Shijing 詩経 [Book of Songs] and have been foolish to leave. the canons and consultations from the Shujing 書 Tis too is merely a moment’s feeting afection. 経 [Book of Documents]. Ten enlightenment will Te shallows of the Takatsuki River: spread, even to women and fools, and we will say, if they’re clear, I’ll wash my well-worn robe. “China is not a civilized country. Zuo zhuan 佐伝 Te shallows of the Takatsuki River: [Commentary of Zuo], Guoyu 国語 [Discourses if they’re muddied, I’ll wash my feet. of the States], Chu ci 楚辞 [Songs of Chu], and the Zhuangzi—these are not exceptional works of liter- Te poem consists of eight lines. Each of the frst four ature. Shun 舜, who is that? How is he any diferent lines contains two seven-syllable phrases, while each of from me?” Our country will expand the light of the last four contains one seven-syllable phrase and one knowledge ever more, “and won’t it be the kind of fve-syllable phrase. Te rhyming schema is somewhat pleasure that comes once every thousand years?”45 complex, with ro repeating in the second and fourth lines, tzu repeating in the ffh and seventh, and shi re- In sum, in terms of the general framework of poetry peating in the sixth and eighth. Te poem seems to tell and prose—for example, structure and rhyme for po- of a man who is considering whether or not he should etry, the major and lesser hymns for prose—the “form” call on a woman who has not visited in a long time. Te was borrowed from China while the “content” was sup- meaning is slightly unclear, but in any case it indeed has plied by Japan. Continuing like this Japan would close the feel of a kuniburi uta and is frmly a part of the lim- in on the poetic level attained by China and one day itless world of folk song. Te second half is clearly an surpass it. Hence compared to the kana-shi of Shikō adaptation of “Yufu ci” 漁父辞 (Te Fisherman’s Song), and his contemporaries, the unique feature of Hori’s attributed to Qu Yuan 屈原 (ca. 340–278 BCE).47 poetics was its lack of a belletristic, playful orientation Next I will turn to one of the poems that Hori calls a in favor of one more didactic and practical. sunai masauta 小雅 (Ch. xiaoya, “lesser hymns”). What were washi composed according to these con- cepts actually like? Let us frst examine a work classifed はな つき by Hori as a kuniburi uta 国風 (Ch. guofeng). Te term 花の月 was originally the name of a section in the Shijing and it あき もなか はな つき 4· refers to folk songs and popular songs. 秋の最中や花の月。てりそふみきのすがむしろ。 こ よいおも こい なみ 4· 48 たかつきがわ 今宵思ひはたがふかい。恋の波うつきぬのをと。 高槻川

おも いさやむかしのをとづれたへて。思ひかへなんね “Moon Flowers” 4· たくはあろと。 まめにたへなばまかるもよしな。これもいましの 4· A mid-autumn moon shines on the blossoms, ひとはなごゝろ。 illuminating the sedge mats placed around the trees. たかつきがわ 4· 4· 高槻川のせゞのみづ。すまばなれぎぬあらはまし。 Which feelings run deeper tonight? たかつきがわ 4· 4· 高槻川のせゞのみづ。にごらばあとをあらはまし。46 Te sound of fulling clothes brings swells of love.

Hori annotates this poem as “corresponding to a Chi- “Takatsuki River” nese fve-character quatrain”;49 each of the four lines consists of one seven-syllable phrase and one fve-sylla- And so the visits of old have ceased. ble phrase. Te rhyme occurs at the end of the second Refecting on it, she must’ve been envious. and fourth lines with ro and to. Tis poem is impossi- ble to distinguish from a folk love ballad and would be

45 Hori Seijun, Shibun seishiki, ol. 2, fol. 15b. 46 Ibid., fol. 16b. In Hori’s original poem there are no “forced” line 47 Kobun shinō Kōshū, p. 12. breaks, but they are added both here and in the next poem for 48 Hori Seijun, Shibun seishiki, ol. 2, fols. 16b–17a. ease of reading. 49 Ibid.

34 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 at home in Kanginshū 閑吟集 (Collection of Intoned Lately a type of kyōshi [humorous poetry] called Songs, 1518) or Matsu no ha 松の葉 (Pine Needles, kana-shi is being composed. It seems to consist of 1703). four lines of seven kana characters, a vowel-based In the end Hori’s experiments with washi, despite rhyme scheme, and the four-part structure of a having the lofy goal of surpassing the literary achieve- Chinese poem (introduction, development, turn, ments of China, hardly appear to have achieved their conclusion). Te best works of Chinese poetry ambitions. If his intention was to incite national pride, delight in subtext and disdain practical utility, and it advocating the direct study of Japanese poetry and goes without saying that the poems of Li Bai and Du prose in opposition to China, as contemporary native Fu 杜甫 [712 – 770] exemplify this. One could say studies scholars did, would have been more efective. that haikai poems endowed with this same spirit are Even in terms of content, Hori’s poems are inferior also exemplary works, but I would like to know what to the haikai poets’ imaginative and wide-ranging ka- is so interesting about kana-shi. It should not even na-shi discussed above. Hori’s washi lacks appeal in be called kyōshi.51 multiple senses of the word, and his declarations ended in a misfre. Nonetheless, it does show that the idea From Saren’s perspective, kana-shi lacked the deeper of Chinese poetry providing the “form” and Japanese meaning that characterized Chinese poetry and kyōshi. expression providing the “content” was employed in On the other hand, Meiji-period shintaishi is contexts other than haikai, and thus deserves more at- thought to have been modeled on Western poetry, but tention than it has received. since actual Western poetry does not seem to have been widely recognized at the time, shintaishi could not have been regarded as simply an “imitation.” Furthermore, Conclusion in both form and content shintaishi displayed an ex- tremely high degree of freedom and informality that Kana-shi was a new kind of poetry, distinct from kan- overturned the conventional poetics that had persisted shi, waka, and haikai. As stated above, in this sense it throughout the Edo period, meaning writers active at shared a deep conceptual similarity with Meiji-period the time must have sensed the possibility of creating an shintaishi. So why is it that kana-shi declined and shin- entirely new kind of poetry.52 Tis development hence taishi fourished? Tis is a fascinating problem that is has implications for understanding the rapid shif in beyond the scope of this essay. What I can say is that aesthetic sensibility from high to low53 that took place in the end kana-shi was essentially derivative of kan- during the transition from Edo to Meiji, but that is a shi, waka, and haikai. Of course, kana-shi has its own matter for another essay. particular points of interest and seems to have attained literary signifcance, and my decision to write this essay was motivated by a desire to engage with it more ac- tively. But in the Edo period it was for the most part treated simply as an eccentric and pedantic experiment. In his text Fumyōja 不猫虵 (An Enemy Neither Cat Nor Snake, 1725), Shikō’s intellectual rival Etsujin 越人 (ca. 1656–1730) of wrote that “Chinese poetry is being composed in kana but we already have waka. Tese poets must simply like making imitations that mislead people.”50 And the mid-Edo haikai poet Saren 笠屋左簾 (1714–1779) wrote the following in Ko- jiki bukuro 乞食袋 (Beggar’s Bag, date unknown):

51 Kasaya Saren, “Koiki bukuro,” ol. 2, fol. 8a. 52 Hino, “Shintaishi no ichi genry”; Ibi, Kinsei bungaku no kyōkai, pp. 439–64; oyama, “Kinsei inbun to shite no shintaishi.” 50 tsuin, umyōja, pp. 319–20. 53 Nakano, ūhahi seiki no o bungei, pp. 2–65.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 35 Reference List Kawahira Toshifumi. “Hiragana no kanshi: Kana-shi to sono shisō” ひらがなの漢詩：仮名詩とその思想. Aoyama Hidemasa 青山英正. “Kinsei inbun to shite no Paper presented at the symposium “Jinbungaku kara shintaishi: ‘Shintaishi shō’ to ‘ shika’ o megutte” mita Higashi Ajia” 人文学から見た東アジア, National 近世韻文としての新体詩: 『新体詩抄』と『新体詩 University, , 2017.5.6. 歌』をめぐって. Nihon bungaku 日本文学 700 (2011), Kiyoto Noriko 清登典子. “‘Hokuju rōsen o itamu’ shiron: pp. 40–51. Kigisu no yakuwari o chūshin ni”「北寿老仙をいた Ebara Taizō 潁原退蔵. “Shunpū batei kyoku no genryū” 春 む」私論: 雉子の役割を中心に. Hōsō Daigaku kenkyū 風馬堤曲の源流. In vol. 13 of Ebara Taizō chosakushū nenpō 放送大学研究年報7 (1989), pp. 41–48. 潁原退蔵著作集, ed. Shimizu Takayuki 清水孝之, pp. Kobun shinpō: Kōshū 古文真宝: 後集. Shinshaku kanbun 36–53. Chūō Kōronsha, 1979. taikei 新釈漢文大系. Vol. 16. Meiji Shoin, 1963. Etsujin 越人. Fumyōja 不猫虵. In vol. 4 of Nihon haisho Kobun shinpō: Zenshū, ge 古文真宝: 前集,下. Shinshaku taikei 日本俳書大系, pp. 315–55. Nihon Haisho Taikei kanbun taikei. Vol. 10. Meiji Shoin, 1979. Kankōkai, 1926. Kokin wakashū 古今和歌集. SNKZ 7. Harris, Peter, trans. Tree Hundred Tang Poems. New York: Konta Yōzō 今田洋三. Edo no hon’ya san: Kinsei bunkashi Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. no sokumen 江戸の本屋さん：近世文化史の側面. Hino Tatsuo 日野龍夫. “Shintaishi no ichi genryū” 新体詩 Heibonsha, 2009. の一源流. In vol. 1 of Hino Tatsuo chosakushū 日野龍夫 Luo Yuming. A Concise History of Chinese Literature. Vol. 1. 著作集, ed. Hino Tatsuo Chosakushū Kankōkai日野龍 Trans. Ye Yang. Brill, 2011. 夫著作集刊行会, pp. 511–37. Perikansha, 2005. Masuho Zankō 増穂残口. Suguji no tokoyogusa 直路乃常世 Hori Nobuo 堀信夫. “Kana-shi no konkyo” 仮名詩の根拠. 草. In vol. 22 of Shintō taikei: Ronsetsu hen 神道大系: 論 Kokugo to kokubungaku 国語と国文学 535 (1968), pp. 説編, pp. 219–57. Shintō Taikei Hensankai, 1980. 52–65. Matsumoto Giichi 松本義一. “Haishi (Ge)” 俳詩（下）. Hori Seijun 堀正純. Shibun seishiki 詩文製式. 2 vols. Kyoto: Ōita Daigaku Gakugei Gakubu kenkyū kiyō 大分大学学 Hishiya Magobē et al., 1770. 芸学部研究紀要 6 (1957), pp. 23–38. Horikiri Minoru 堀切実. “Buson no haishi: ‘Hokuju rōsen o Matsumoto Giichi. “Haishi (Jō)” 俳詩（上）. Ōita Daigaku itamu’ no jojōsei” 蕪村の俳詩: 「北寿老仙をいたむ」 Gakugei Gakubu kenkyū kiyō 5 (1956), pp. 23–40. の抒情性. Kokubungaku kaishaku to kanshō 国文学解釈 Morikawa Kyoriku 森川許六. Honchō monzen 本朝文選. In と鑑賞 837 (2001), pp. 40–48. vol. 10 of Koten haibungaku taikei 古典俳文学大系, pp. Ibi Takashi 揖斐高. Kinsei bungaku no kyōkai. Iwanami 379–501. Shūeisha, 1970. Shoten, 2009. Morikawa Kyoriku, ed. Wakun santaishi 和訓三体詩. 7 vols. Itō Eiji 伊藤栄治. Kōshi ben’inshō 紅紫弁引抄. 2 vols. Kyoto: Noda Tahē and Noda Yahē, 1715. Yūtoku Inari Jinja Nakagawa Bunko 祐徳稲荷神社中川 Murakami Tetsumi 村上哲見. “Kyoriku ‘Wakun santaishi’ o 文庫, Kashima. megutte” 許六『和訓三体詩』をめぐって. In Haikai Kagami Shikō 各務支考, ed. Honchō bunkan 本朝文鑑. In to kanbungaku 俳諧と漢文学, vol. 16 of Wakan hikaku vol. 23 of Kindai Nihon bungaku taikei 近代日本文学大 bungaku sōsho 和漢比較文学叢書, pp. 167–84. Kyūko 系, pp. 209–428. Kokumin Tosho Kabushikigaisha, 1926. Shoin, 1994. Kagami Shikō, ed. Wakan bunsō 和漢文操. In vol. 10 of Nakano Mitsutoshi 中野三敏. Jū-hachi seiki no Edo bungei: Koten haibungaku taikei 古典俳文学大系, pp. 502–621. Ga to zoku no seijuku 十八世紀の江戸文芸: 雅と俗の Shūeisha, 1970. 成熟. Iwanami Shoten, 2015. Kasaya Saren 笠屋左簾. “Kojiki bukuro” 乞食袋. 3 vols. Nishikawa Joken 西川如見. “Chōnin bukuro sokobarai” Kokubungaku Kenkyū Shiryōkan, Tokyo. 町人嚢底祓. In Chōnin bukuro, Hyakushō bukuro, Kawahira Toshifumi 川平敏文. “Hiragana no kanshi: Nagasaki yobanashigusa 町人嚢·百姓嚢·長崎夜話 Kana-shi shi hotei” ひらがなの漢詩：仮名詩史補綴. 草, pp. 103–52. Iwanami Shoten, 1980. In Higashi Ajia tanshikei bungaku: Haiku, jichō, kanshi 東 Ogyū Sorai 荻生徂徠. Yakubun sentei 訳文筌蹄. Saitama: アジア短詩形文学：俳句·時調·漢詩, ed. Shizunaga Suharaya Shoten, 1908. Takeshi 静永健 and Kawahira Toshifumi, pp. 167–80. Rodd, Laurel Rasplica, and Mary Catherine Henkenius, Bensei Shuppan, 2012. trans. Kokinshū: A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern. Boston: Cheng & Tsui Company, 1996.

36 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 Sei Shōnagon 清少納言. Makura no sōshi 枕草子. SNKZ 18. Shimizu Takayuki 清水孝之. “Haishi to sono kanshō: ‘Hokuju rōsen o itamu’ no genryū” 俳詩とその鑑賞: 「北寿老仙をいたむ」の源流. Kokubungaku kaishaku to kanshō 25:5 (1960), pp. 89–96. Shirane, Haruo, ed. Early Modern Japanese Literature: An Anthology, 1600–1900. Columbia University Press, 2002. Tomobe Yasutaka 伴部安崇. “Wakan mondō” 和漢問答. Kyūshū Daigaku Sekisui Bunko, Fukuoka. Yamaga Sokō 山鹿素行. Chūchō jijitsu 中朝事実. In vol. 13 of Yamaga Sokō zenshū 山鹿素行全集, pp. 7–375. Iwanami Shoten, 1940. Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村. Isonohana いそのはな. NKBT 58.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 37

Yamato-e: Illuminating a Concept through Historiographical Analysis

YAN YANG

Introduction tory—one that included elements of nationalistic ideology—already existed in the nineteenth century, RESENTED as a long-standing artistic genre that thanks to the eforts of pioneers like Ernest Fenollosa embraces a variety of themes, styles, and formats, (1853–1908) and Okakura Tenshin 岡倉天心 (1862– yamato-e stands as a central yet confounding 1913).2 Yet neither the category nor concept of yamato-e Pconcept in the feld of Japanese art history. Generally was central to the feld until several studies published understood as a type of Japanese painting, scholars in the 1930s and 1940s cast a spotlight on it. Individual widely acknowledge that a certain amount of confu- essays on yamato-e may seem convincing, but taken as sion surrounds the precise parameters of yamato-e, yet a whole, scholarship on the subject is both inconsis- many nevertheless employ the term uncritically in their tent and contradictory. One of the most confounding works. Tracing the twentieth-century historiography aspects is that multiple written forms of the term ya- of yamato-e, this article contends that current under- mato-e appear in these studies but are not well-char- standings of the term—diverse though they may be— acterized. Another is the lack of consensus regarding are based on contrasting studies that were born in an the early history of yamato-e during the era of imperialism and haphazardly synthesized into a (794–1185), leading scholars to date the origin of the single narrative. Tis is not an attempt to redefne yam- phenomenon to diferent centuries. Scholars have also ato-e itself, but rather to clarify modern factors for the nebulous understanding of yamato-e and its conficting applications and connotations. In recent decades, historiography has emerged as an is also due to Yamamoto Satomi for her invaluable feedback. important tool for examining the late-nineteenth-cen- All quotations and poems are translated by the author unless otherwise indicated. tury roots of Japanese art history and the post-Meiji 1 Satō Dōshin has been at the forefront of this research. See Satō, concerns about national identity that have directly Modern Japanese Art and the Meiji State; Satō, ‘Nihon bijutsu’ no impacted the feld.1 A discourse on Japanese art his- anjō; Kitaawa, Me no shinden; and ōkyō Kokuritsu unkaai Kenkyo, Ima, Nihon no bijutsushigaku o furikaeru. 2 Okakura promoted nationalism through art historical discourse by claiming that each culture held its own values and should The author would like to thank the two anonymous readers foster its own character to encourage creativity among its for their insightful and detailed comments. Much appreciation members. anaka, “Imaging History.”

39 Table 1. Major yamato-e studies. Year Japanese Title Transliteration of Title Author 1933 やまと絵序説 3 Yamato-e josetsu Tanaka Ichimatsu 平安時代の「唐絵」と「やまと 1941 絵」: 上 “Heian jidai no ‘kara-e’ to ‘yamato-e’: Jō” Akiyama Terukazu 平安時代の「唐絵」と「やまと 1942 絵」: 下 “Heian jidai no ‘kara-e’ to ‘yamato-e’: Ge” Akiyama Terukazu 1944 大和絵史研究 Yamato-e shi kenkyū Shimomise Shizuichi 1944 唐絵と大和絵 Kara-e to yamato-e Shimomise Shizuichi 1946 上代倭絵全史 4 Jōdai yamato-e zenshi Ienaga Saburō 1976 大和絵の研究 5 Yamato-e no kenkyū Minamoto Toyomune 1994 やまと絵の形成とその意味 “Yamato-e no keisei to sono imi” Chino Kaori 平安時代の「倭絵」: その成立 “Heian jidai no ‘yamato-e’: Sono seiritsu 2009 Kobayashi Manabu と展開 to tenkai” disagreed on what constitutes yamato-e, and whether it Yamato-e Semantics appears in large formats such as folding screens (byōbu 屏風) or in small formats such as album leaves and pic- Before delving into scholarship on the putative genre of ture scrolls (emaki 絵巻). Tis article will reveal that yamato-e, let us frst consider the term in question. Al- the conficting narratives and characterizations result though this term has only one transliteration in English from the reality that early twentieth-century studies of scholarship, three main written forms (i.e., three dif- yamato-e historicized it from two diferent perspectives ferent sets of kanji or hiragana and kanji) of yamato-e using incompatible methods: as paintings that featured appear in Japanese scholarship (倭絵, 大和絵, and や Japanese subject matter based on textual sources only, まと絵). Table 1 shows the most frequently occurring or as art that constituted a distinctive pictorial style examples. using extant artwork as examples. 3 4 5 Even a cursory glance at this list discloses the lack of In this article, I frst address the semantics of ya- scholarly consensus regarding terminology. Te obvi- mato-e by examining how various scholars defned this ous question that arises is whether word choice signifes term in their studies, and I show that the lack of uni- nuances in meaning or diferent historical backgrounds form employment of the term has contributed to our for the artistic phenomenon. Although none of the present confusion regarding yamato-e as a putative scholars explicitly defned yamato-e or explained their genre. I then trace and critique the modern history of preferences, and to further complicate matters, Tanaka, yamato-e studies as well as the methodologies deployed Minamoto, and Ienaga introduced multiple versions in them. Finally, I address the broader issue of the sig- of the written form yamato-e, we can still map a gen- nifcance of yamato-e in the history of Japanese art and eral pattern by analyzing the historical and conceptual what is at stake in recognizing its current defnition as characteristics that each scholar associated with the a modern invention. term. Since my premise is that the modern defnition of yamato-e is inadequate, we must start anew by strip- ping the word of all accreted meanings. We may do well to forget everything we think we know about yamato-e 3 Note that in his study Tanaka also used 大和絵 to refer to yamato-e. and treat it as an empty vessel to be labeled then flled 4 Note that in his study Ienaga also used 大和絵 to refer to with connotations and denotations based on how each yamato-e. scholar characterized the art historical phenomenon in 5 Note that in his study Minamoto also used 倭絵 to refer to yamato-e. their study.

40 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 Tree of the seven scholars listed in table 1 used ya- matter without explaining his semantic choice. mato-e written with the Japanese characters 倭絵 within In 1994 Chino Kaori 千野香織 (1952–2001) sur- their discussions (two in their ), and each applied veyed the history of yamato-e using as her heading the the term diferently. For Kobayashi Manabu, 小林学 kana-majiri form of yamato-e やまと絵. According yamato-e denoted a pictorial style in use from the tenth to Chino, yamato-e during the Heian period were art- to the twelfh century that included both large-format works that depicted Japanese subject matter, but afer media such as folding screens and small-format media the period (1185–1333)—when Song- (960– including picture scrolls.6 Minamoto Toyomune 源豊 1279) and Yuan-dynasty (1271–1368) paintings from 宗 (1895–2001) used this written form of yamato-e to China were imported to Japan—yamato-e became as- defne Heian-period works with a clear Japanese sub- sociated with the pictorial styles of Japanese paintings ject matter.7 For Ienaga Saburō 家永三郎 (1913–2002), that had been created since the Heian period, and later the same term represented only folding screens painted the concept of artistic lineages such as the Tosa school with Japanese subject matter, a genre of art that he were also incorporated into its meanings.14 Chino noted claimed frst appeared in the ninth century and lasted that the use of the kana-majiri form has become com- until the beginning of the medieval period (chūsei 中 mon practice among researchers when discussing the 世). Ienaga also introduced a second kanji rendering general history of yamato-e. of yamato-e 大和絵 when referring to paintings in the Tere are two conclusions one can make regarding medieval period.8 Tis second form of yamato-e de- the semantics of yamato-e in secondary scholarship. noted an artistic style distinguished by a more realistic First, the employment of the written form of yamato-e mode of depiction in works of art painted on picture in these studies does not refect the historical usage of scrolls and portraits.9 the term yamato-e in the primary sources. For exam- Tree other scholars also used this second rendering ple, Akiyama used やまと絵 consistently throughout of the term yet they defned it diferently. For Shimomise his study but his primary texts clearly employed other Shizuichi 下店静市 (1900–1974), yamato-e is defned written forms of yamato-e including 倭絵, 倭画, 和絵, by Heian-period screens and picture scrolls in a Japa- and やまと絵. Minamoto explained that the associa- nese pictorial style.10 Minamoto argued for a pictorial tion of yamato-e (he used 大和絵) with pictorial style style of yamato-e in the Heian period on small-format does not go further back than the Ashikaga period 足 media using this same term.11 Tanaka Ichimatsu 田中 利時代 (1336–1583) even though the term cited in his 一松 (1895–1983) also associated a particular decorative primary source was 倭画 for yamato-e. To further con- style (i.e., a pictorial style sōshokuteki naishi moyōteki fuse the matter, Minamoto argued that a pictorial style 装飾的乃至模様的) in the Heian period with these had existed since the Heian period shortly afer declar- same kanji (大和絵) for yamato-e.12 ing that the pictorial style of yamato-e could not be Curiously, Tanaka also used a combination of hira- traced before the Ashikaga period, all the while using gana and kanji (kana-majiri 仮名交じり) for yamato-e the same written form 大和絵.15 Second, even though やまと絵, to defne paintings from the Heian period the choice of the term yamato-e in the individual stud- that contained Japanese subject matter.13 Likewise, Aki- ies may not faithfully refect the historical employment yama Terukazu 秋山光和 (1918–2009) used this written of this term in primary sources, the chosen written form when he declared that yamato-e artwork extended form of yamato-e within the confnes of those studies only to Heian-period screens featuring Japanese subject remained consistent, and this is especially visible when scholars, such as Ienaga and Minamoto, introduce mul- tiple renderings of the term to distinguish between cer- 6 Kobayashi anabu’s 2011 dissertation reexamined the tain historical characteristics, signifying that there is a characteristics of yamato-e during the Heian period. Kobayashi, diferent connotation to each of the written forms of “Heian idai yamatoe’ no saikōsei.” yamato-e. It is only when read against the other stud- 7 inamoto, amaoe no kenkyū p. 5. 8 Ienaga, ōai yamaoe zenshi, p. 471. ies that the inconsistencies associated with each writ- 9 Ibid., p. 487. 10 Shimomise, Kara-e to yamato-e, p. 6. 11 inamoto, amaoe no kenkyū, p. 6. 12 anaka, Yamato-e josetsu, p. 59. 14 hino, “Yamatoe no keisei to sono imi,” pp. 488–89. 13 Ibid., p. 5. 15 inamoto, amaoe no kenkyū, p. 6.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 41 Table 2. Semantics of yamato-e in Japanese scholarship. Author and Work(s) 倭絵 大和絵 やまと絵 Tanaka (1933, Yamato-e josetsu) Pictorial style, Heian Subject matter, Heian period period Akiyama (1941, “Heian jidai Subject matter, large- no ‘kara-e’ to ‘yamato-e: Jō’”); format medium, Heian (1942, “Heian jidai no ‘kara-e’ to period ‘yamato-e: Ge’”); (1964, Heian jidai sezokuga no kenkyū) Shimomise (1944, Kara-e to Pictorial style, both yamato-e) large- and small- format medium, Heian period until medieval period Ienaga (1946, Jōdai yamato-e Subject matter, large- Pictorial style, small- zenshi) format medium, Heian format medium, period until medieval medieval period period Minamoto (1976, Yamato-e no Subject matter, Heian Pictorial style, small- kenkyū) period format medium since Heian period Chino (1994, “Yamato-e no keisei Subject matter in to sono imi”) Heian period, pictorial style and painting lineages in medieval period Kobayashi (2009, “Heian jidai Pictorial style, large- no ‘yamato-e’: Sono seiritsu to format and small- tenkai”) format media, Heian period (tenth–twelfth century) ten form become visible and the precise meaning of facilitation in streamlining various avenues of scholar- yamato-e becomes blurred. In other words, although ship into a single historical narrative.16 Given the per- scholars understood why a certain written form of ya- sistent confusion regarding the nature of yamato-e, a mato-e was chosen, it remained a personal preference vital frst step is to acknowledge the existence of these not shared across the feld. Today, the common practice diferent written forms of the term and the limits each is to use the kana-majiri form of yamato-e やまと絵, yamato-e scholar attached to them. Tis is a critical but in this article, I will argue that the wide deployment point not only in Japanese scholarship but also when of やまと絵 to represent the entire history of the art writing about yamato-e in English because the diverg- historical phenomenon buries the consistencies as well ing meanings and historical parameters associated with as the inconsistencies, and contributes to our confusion about the concept by obfuscating important distinc- tions concerning time period, medium, subject matter, 16 The term 倭 is understood as a peoratie historical hinese and pictorial style that were carefully conveyed by the reference to apan, while 大和 embodies nationalistic characters for yamato (倭 and 大和) in early yamato-e sentiments. Howeer, the author has yet to find any scholarly articles that address the connotations of the term yamato in any studies. Another consequence of using やまと絵 is the of its iterations.

42 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 these diferent terms disappear into the same phonetic thirtieth day of the tenth month of Chōho 長保 1 (999) rendering of yamato-e, conveniently concealing the nu- reads: ances outlined above. Tese nuances are summarized in table 2. I [Yukinari] traveled to Nishi no kyō, to brush poetry on the poetry sheets [shikishigata] of a yamato-e folding screen, four shaku in height, ▪ Yamato-e as Heian-period Artwork with that featured paintings by the late [Asukabe no] Japanese Subject Matter Tsunenori.20

Te multiple usage of diferent written forms of the Akiyama provided corroborating evidence from two term yamato-e across diferent studies echoes an even other contemporary diaries—Fujiwara no Michinaga’s larger problem: that our current narrative of this phe- 藤原道長 (966–1028) Midō kanpaku-ki 御堂関白記 nomenon results from various approaches that are ul- (Diary of the Midō Regent, eleventh century) and Fu- timately methodologically incompatible. One school of jiwara no Sanesuke’s 藤原実資 (957–1046) Shōyūki 小 yamato-e scholarship presented yamato-e as Heian-pe- 右記 (Record of the Ononomiya Minister of the Right, riod artwork that contains Japanese subject matter, in- eleventh century)—and argued that the screen was cluding paintings of seasonal themes (tsukinami-e 月 part of the furnishings provided for the presentation 次絵), paintings of annual Japanese customs (nenchū of Michinaga’s oldest daughter, Fujiwara no Shōshi 藤 gyōji-e 年中行事絵), and works that celebrate famous 原彰子 (988–1074), to the imperial court.21 Akiyama Japanese places (meisho-e 名所絵). Such scholarship identifed two poems from Eiga monogatari 栄花物語 relied exclusively on textual sources such as courtier di- (A Tale of Flowering Fortunes, eleventh century), com- aries, poetry anthologies, and protocol manuals for its posed by high-ranking courtiers for a screen that would defnitional standards. be sent to the palace with Shōshi. He then cross-refer- Te earliest study using this method was Tanaka’s enced them with poems composed for the same occa- 1933 Yamato-e josetsu やまと絵序説 (A Yamato-e In- sion that appear in the oeuvre of Fujiwara no Kintō 藤 troduction). He wrote, “According to the contemporary 原公任 (966–1041).22 Based on descriptions in Kintō’s textual examples of ‘yamato-e’ from the Heian period, poetry anthology, Kintō-kyō shū 公任卿集 (Collected it stood in opposition to ‘kara-e’ から絵 (Chinese pic- Poems of Lord Kintō, eleventh century), Akiyama tures) and represented paintings featuring Japanese was able to determine the contents in the six panels of subjects and customs.”17 Tanaka mentioned a screen Shōshi’s screen. He noted that the frst panel features from 寛仁 2 (1018)—which he called a “ya- a pine tree and plum blossoms standing adjacent to mato-e screen”—but did not elaborate on its subject a house and a person playing a fute in front of some matter.18 In 1942, Akiyama Terukazu provided a more bamboo blinds. Te second panel contains a scene of systematic analysis of primary sources from the Heian fowers and trees next to a house and a lady with an period, including diaries, protocol manuals, and fc- ink stone. Te third panel depicts a wisteria vine inter- tional tales in his two-part article, “Heian jidai no ‘ka- twined with the branches of a pine beside a house. Te ra-e’ to ‘yamato-e’” 平安時代の「唐絵」と「やまと fourth panel shows a fock of cranes near a residence. 絵」 (Kara-e and Yamato-e of the Heian Period). Ac- Te ffh pictorially captures the comings and goings of cording to Akiyama, the term yamato-e frst appeared in the diary Gonki 権記 (Yukinari’s Diary) of Fujiwara no Yukinari 藤原行成 (972–1027).19 An entry dated the in which a yamato-e screen was among the obects presented to the Song imperial court by the apanese monk hōnen 奝然 938–1016) ia his disciple Kain 嘉因 in ien 永延 2 988), during 17 anaka, Yamato-e josetsu, p. 5. the reign of mperor Ichiō 一条 r. 986–1011). Yet kiyama 18 Ibid., p. 6. anaka did not elaborate on the subect matter of considered this source to be unreliable. See kiyama, “Heian yamato-e in his work because his primary obectie was to trace idai no karae’ to yamatoe’ ō,” pp. 377–78. the pictorial style of yamato-e during the Heian period. I will 20 Shaku 尺 is a measure of length, roughly 30 centimeters. 自内參 introduce his arguments in the section “Yamato-e as Pictorial 西京、書倭繪四尺屏風色帋形、故常則絵, as quoted in kiyama, Style from the Heian period.” “Heian idai no karae’ to yamatoe’ ō,” p. 378. 19 kiyama mentioned an earlier textual instance of yamato-e found 21 Ibid. in Songshi 宋史 History of the Song Dynasty, fourteenth century), 22 Ibid., p. 379.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 43 people through the gate of a seaside residence. Finally, surveyed textual references to landscape paintings, por- the sixth panel illustrates a mountain setting with pass- traiture, and illustrated tales that contained ostensibly ersby gazing at birds in the yard of a house as smoke Japanese themes as examples of yamato-e. rises from its chimney.23 In 1964, Akiyama Terukazu revised his 1940s arti- The second-oldest reference Akiyama noted was cles for his book Heian jidai sezokuga no kenkyū 平安 the same screen from 1018 that Tanaka had offered 時代世俗画の研究 (Research on Heian-period Secu- as evidence. According to Akiyama, it was painted lar Paintings). Tis efectively marks the historiograph- by Oribe Sashinnosuke 織部佐親助 (n.d.) and was ical end of scholarship that frames yamato-e in terms of intended for a New Year’s banquet. “A four-shaku tall, subject matter. Scholars thereafer typically direct read- twelve-panel yamato-e screen was brought out. The ers to Akiyama or Ienaga for references on yamato-e artist was Oribe Sashinnosuke. Chinese poetry and history and its applications. Akiyama’s contribution waka poetry appeared on the poetry sheets.”24 Akiyama was particularly infuential. Chino Kaori’s 1994 intro- scoured Eiga monogatari to ascertain the screen’s duction of yamato-e to a new generation, “Yamato-e no pictorial content. Among the eighty poems recited on keisei to sono imi” やまと絵の形成とその意味 (Te this occasion, Akiyama identified nine that contained Formation and Meaning of Yamato-e), published over seasonal motifs and annual customs, and hypothesized ffy years afer Akiyama’s articles, defned Heian-pe- that the panels of the 1018 screen corresponded with riod yamato-e in close alignment with Akiyama’s con- scenes from the twelve months of the year.25 clusions as paintings with Japanese subjects found on Although Akiyama was able to provide concrete screen panels and sliding doors (although not on scrolls pictorial evidence for only Shōshi’s screen, and offer or album leaves).29 an educated guess regarding the contents in the Oribe screen, he identifed a total of ffeen references to ya- mato-e in Heian-period sources, dating from 999 to the ▪ Yamato-e in Poetry Anthologies middle of the twelfh century.26 From these sources, Akiyama noticed that all references to yamato-e de- Although these four scholars (Tanaka, Akiyama, Ie- noted large-format works such as folding screens, lead- naga, and Chino) all traced the frst textual appearance ing him to conclude that yamato-e was not used by of yamato-e (as a screen with Japanese subject matter) Heian-period writers when referring to paintings on to the late tenth or early eleventh century, they insisted other media such as picture scrolls or album leaves, nor that yamato-e screens had existed since the latter half to any distinguishable pictorial style.27 of the ninth century. By locating references to screen In 1946, four years afer Akiyama’s article, Ienaga paintings with Japanese subject matter in imperial po- Saburō contributed his thoughts on yamato-e in Jōdai etry anthologies, each scholar thus presented diferent yamato-e zenshi 上代倭絵全史 (Te Complete History examples of the earliest yamato-e. of Yamato-e in the Classical Period). Ienaga ofered Tanaka chose a Japanese poem (waka 和歌) com- examples of Japanese nouns with the prefx “yamato” posed by Ariwara no Narihira 在原業平 (828–880) 倭 (Japan) or “kara” 唐 (China) as arguments that in the Kokin wakashū 古今和歌集 - Heian-period audiences made distinctions between also what is native and what is not, thereby allowing him called Kokinshū; ca. 905).30 Although he did not identify to argue that yamato-e 倭絵 was understood as “paint- its number in the anthology, it is commonly known as ings of Japan.28 Following this semantic rubric, Ienaga Kokinshū 294 and, according to its headnote, the screen “showed autumn leaves foating down the Tatsuta Riv-

23 Ibid. 24 四尺倭繪屏畫工織部佐親助、色紙形、有詩並和歌, as quoted in 29 hino, “Yamatoe no keisei to sono imi,” pp. 488–89. kiyama, “Heian idai no karae’ to yamatoe’ ō,” pp. 379–80. 30 anaka, Yamato-e josetsu, p. 6. he original, which is not 25 Ibid., p. 380. reproduced by anaka, is ちはやぶる神世も聞かずたつた河から 26 lthough kiyama’s articles cited here list only thirteen sources, 紅に水くゝるとは. Koima and rai, Kokin wakashū, p. 99. odd he includes fifteen references in his book. kiyama, Heian jidai and Henkenius translate the poem as “unheard of een in the sezokuga no kenkyū, pp. 39–40. stories of the age of the awesome gods the waters of atsuta 27 kiyama, “Heian idai no karae’ to yamatoe’ e,” pp. 21–22. stream dyed a hinese red.” odd and Henkenius, Kokinshū, p. 28 Ienaga, ōai yamaoe zenshi, pp. 67–68. 131.

44 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 er.”31 To Tanaka, the headnote explained that the poem もみぢ葉の流れてとまるみなとには紅深き浪 was composed when the Nijō empress Takaiko 二条后 や立つらん37 高子 (842–910) was known as Harunomiya no Kisaki 春宮妃.32 Tis led him to date this poem prior to the On the topic of autumn leaves foating down Jōgan 貞観 era (859–878).33 the Tatsuta River as painted on a screen seen at Akiyama considered two diferent poems from the the residence of the Nijō Consort when she was Kokinshū as the earliest evidence of yamato-e. Te frst known as Mother of the Crown Prince.38 poem he cited is commonly known as Kokinshū 930, by Sanjō no Machi 三条町 (d. 866): Down at the harbor / where the fow of autumn leaves / reaches its end, / could there be a deep 田村御時に、女房の侍にて、御屏風の絵御覧 crimson tide / that crests upon the waters?39 じけるに、滝落ちたりける所面白し、これを 題にて歌よめと、侍ふ人に仰せられければ、 Te headnote of Kokinshū 293 states that it was com- 詠める posed when Empress Takaiko (the poem’s “Nijō Con- sort”) was known as “the mother of the crown prince.” 思せく心の内の滝なれや落つとは見れどをと Te crown prince ascended the throne as Emperor のきこえぬ34 Yōzei 陽成天皇 (r. 876–884) in 876, thus Akiyama dated the poem to between the reign years Jōgan 11 and During the Tamura period, ladies-in-waiting were 18 (869–876).40 serving the emperor as he looked upon a folding Ienaga looked to two poems in the Shūi wakashū screen and said to those in attendance, “Te cas- 拾遺和歌集 (Collection of Gleanings, ofen abbrevi- cading waterfall is quite enchanting. Use this topic ated as Shūishū; ca. 1005). In “Miscellaneous Autumn” to compose poems about it.” (Zasshū 雑秋), the seventeenth volume of the Shūishū, a poem composed by Taira no Sadafumi 平定文 (d. Could this be / the waterfall of the feelings / 923) responds to a screen from the 仁和 reign stopped up in my heart? / Tough I can see it fall, / period (885–889): I cannot hear its sound.35 仁和御屏風に、七月七日、女の河浴みたる所 Akiyama dated the Tamura period to the reign of Em- peror Montoku 文徳天皇 (r. 850–858).36 Akiyama— 水のあやをおりたちて着む脱ぎちらしたなば and Chino, later—also selected Kokinshū 293 by the たつめに衣かす夜は41 poet Sosei Hōshi 素性法師 (active early Heian period):

二條の后の、東宮の御息所と申しける時、御 屏風に立田川に紅葉流れたる繪を書けりける

を題にて詠める 37 As quoted in kiyama, “Heian idai no karae’ to yamatoe’ e,” p. 11. he headnote and poem, in a slightly different orthography, appear in Koima and rai, Kokin wakashū, p. 99. he Niō empress mentioned here is the same empress mentioned by Tanaka when he introduced the poem about the 31 龍田川に紅葉流れたるかたをかけりける, as quoted in anaka, Tatsuta River composed by Ariwara no Narihira. Yamato-e josetsu, p. 6. his orthography differs slightly from 38 odd and Henkenius, Kokinshū, p. 131. Koima and rai, Kokin wakashū, p. 99. Although Tanaka treated 39 Sorensen, Optical Allusions, p. 72. this headnote as one belonging to Kokinshū 294, it is actually 40 kiyama, “Heian idai no karae’ to yamatoe’ e,” p. 11. anaka shared with Kokinshū 293. Ichimatsu’s dating of Kokinshū 294, which also concerns akaiko, 32 anaka, Yamato-e josetsu, p. 6. to before the ōgan era differs from kiyama’s conclusion. It is 33 Ibid. unclear how Tanaka arrived at his conclusion. 34 Koima and rai, Kokin wakashū, p. 280. kiyama included both 41 he poem is numbered 1091 in Shūi wakashū. Komachiya, Shūi the headnote and poem in kiyama, “Heian idai no karae’ to wakashū, p. 313. he headnote in Ienaga’s ersion mistakes the yamatoe’ e,” p. 11; howeer, there are misuotes in both, so twentieth day of the seventh month for the seventh day of the the correct version from SNKT is offered here. seenth month. Ienaga did not proide the poem itself, as he 35 Sorensen, Optical Allusions, p. 67. was more interested in the information given in the headnote. 36 kiyama, “Heian idai no karae’ to yamatoe’ e,” p. 11. Ienaga, ōai yamaoe zenshi, p. 71.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 45 Table 3. First appearance of yamato-e in poetry anthologies Author and Work Poetry Anthology Poem Number Date of Poem Tanaka (1933, Yamato-e josetsu) Kokinshū 294 Before 859 Akiyama (1941, “Heian jidai no ‘kara-e’ Kokinshū 930 850–858 to ‘yamato-e: Jō’”); (1942, “Heian jidai no Kokinshū 293 869–876 ‘kara-e’ to ‘yamato-e: Ge’”); (1964, Heian jidai sezokuga no kenkyū) Ienaga (1946, Jōdai yamato-e zenshi) Shūishū 1091 885–889 Shūishū 1257 885–889 Chino (1994, “Yamato-e no keisei to sono Kokinshū 293 869–876 imi”) Kokinshū 294 869–876

A screen [produced] during the reign of the Ninna I thought I was the only one soaked in salty drops, emperor shows a scene of women bathing in a but distant cranes are also crying in sorrow.45 river on the seventh day of the seventh month. Chino Kaori chose two Kokinshū poems already intro- I will wear a robe woven in the patterns of the duced above by Tanaka and Akiyama as examples of waters in which I wade, and then will lend it to the the earliest yamato-e. She dated the two poems about Weaver Maiden on her special night.42 the autumn leaves on the Tatsuta River (Kokinshū 293 and 294) to between 869 and 876.46 Table 3 above sum- Te second poem, numbered 1247 in Shūishū, appears marizes the earliest examples of yamato-e according to in the nineteenth volume on “Miscellaneous Love” (Zat- the scholars. suren 雑恋). It is composed by Ōnakatomi no Yorimoto 大中臣頼基 (886–958), and is based on another screen from the Ninna era. ▪ A Critique of the Methodology

仁和の御屏風にあま汐たるる所に鶴なく43 Although Tanaka, Akiyama, Ienaga, and Chino all treated yamato-e as Heian-period screens with Japa- しほたるゝ身は我とのみ思へどもよそなる鶴 nese subject matter, this idea has not been defnitively も音をぞ鳴くなる44 proven by their studies. Tanaka defned yamato-e as screen paintings depicting Japanese customs and sub- On a screen from the Ninna reign period, there ject matter, but he failed to explain the process of arriv- are crying cranes and a diving woman soaked with ing at that conclusion (nor did he discuss what might be water. construed as “Japanese” in the 1018 Oribe screen). Aki- yama was able to clarify the contents of Shōshi’s screen (999), but he did not declare it as irrefutably Japanese. When we review the content of the screen as outlined by Akiyama, there are references to pines, plum blos- 42 My translation of the poem is adapted from a translation by soms, wisteria, and cranes, but there are no descriptions dward Kamens personal communication by email, 12 uly of overtly Japanese landmarks or customs. Although 2015). 43 s uoted in Ienaga, ōai yamaoe zenshi, p. 71; it appears in a slightly different orthography in Komachiya, Shūi wakashū, p. 362. 44 nce again, Ienaga did not proide the actual poem in his 45 oem translation adapted from that by dward Kamens personal article, as his focus was on the headnote. he poem uoted here communication by email, 12 uly 2015). appears in Komachiya, Shūi wakashū, p. 362. 46 hino, “Yamatoe no keisei to sono imi,” pp. 491–92.

46 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 pines and cranes tend to be associated with Japan, are yamato-e during the Heian period must overcome two they always exclusively Japanese subjects? There were challenges. First, they must establish that a pictorial references to geographical locations within Japan in the style known as yamato-e actually existed at this time. nine poems from 1018, but Akiyama did not prove that Second, they must find illustrative evidence from a those poems were the basis for the pictorial subjects in period that, as the scholars themselves have admitted, the Oribe screen. Akiyama’s assumption that yamato-e lacks surviving examples of yamato-e. Consider screens must contain Japanese subject matter was more Tanaka who, as we have seen, framed yamato-e as evident when he argued that even though the Oribe artworks featuring Japanese subject matter, and did so screen contained Chinese poetry (kanshi 漢詩), which by using extant works of art as examples of yamato-e is conventionally understood to suggest the presence of pictorial style. But he first addressed the emergence Chinese subject matter, by 1018 Chinese poetry was no of yamato-e in the Heian period by citing a passage longer considered foreign. Tus, Japanese topics could from the Masakane-kyō ki 雅兼卿記 (The Diary of also be expressed using Chinese poetry, increasing the Lord Masakane, twelfth century), as quoted in an likelihood that Japanese subject matter appeared in this annotation of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale yamato-e screen.47 Ienaga made the most explicit link of Genji, early eleventh century) called Kachō yosei 花 between yamato-e and Japanese themes by defning the 鳥余情 (Lingering Sentiments for Flowers and Birds, term as “paintings of Japan.” At the same time, Ienaga’s 1472): “Kanaoka folded mountains into fifteen layers, understanding of what constituted “paintings of Japan” Hirotaka [painted] five layers.”49 According to Tanaka, reveals a logical conundrum. He framed the waterfall this passage alluded to the evolution of landscape featured in Kokinshū 930 as “without a doubt, a Japanese painting, specifically how the depiction of mountains landscape” and treated it as an example of yamato-e be- transformed into a native style from the time of Kose cause, according to him, waterfalls frequently appear as no Kanaoka 巨勢金岡 (active ninth century) to Kose a subject of yamato-e landscape paintings.48 Yet he did no Hirotaka 巨勢弘高 (active eleventh century).50 not introduce any external evidence that supported a To demonstrate this change in pictorial style during Heian-period connection between yamato-e and land- the Heian period, Tanaka turned to several stories scape paintings, thus revealing a methodological obsta- about Kose-family artists preserved in the mid-thir- cle that none of the scholars of the early subject matter teenth-century Kokon chomonjū 古今著聞集 - were able to fully overcome. But by the time Chino was writing at the end of the twentieth century the notion ). One story noted that “before Kin- that yamato-e was a Heian-period artistic development tada [公忠], painted pictures showed subjects as if featuring Japanese themes was so widely accepted that they were living things, but afer Kinshige [公茂], she did not need to address it. they became what they are now.”51 Tis passage does not explicitly describe a change in pictorial style, but Tanaka reasoned that a shif in pictorial style, “from Yamato-e as a Pictorial Style from the Heian the realistic to the decorative, from the majestic to the Period elegant, from depiction to expression,” must have oc- curred.52 Te reason was rather simple: the Kose patri- Moving from subject matter to pictorial style, the arch Kanaoka, the father of both Kintada and Kinshige scholars working in this camp deployed completely (also known as Kinmochi 公望), painted in a realis- different methods and used alternative resources to argue that yamato-e was a featured pictorial style during the Heian period. It bears noting that 49 金岡疊ㇾ山十五重、廣高五重也, as uoted in anaka, Yamato-e scholars attempting to trace the pictorial style of josetsu, p. 29. his passage, appearing in a slightly different orthography, can be found in Ichiō, asunagabon kahō yosei, pp. 28–29. 50 anaka, Yamato-e josetsu, p. 29. 47 kiyama, “Heian idai no karae’ to yamatoe’ ō,” p. 380. 51 公忠よりさきは畫きたる繪生きたる物の如し、公茂以下今の體 48 Ienaga, ōai yamaoe zenshi, pp. 70–71. Decades later, hino にはなりたるとなん, as uoted in anaka, Yamato-e josetsu, p. Kaori was less convinced of the yamato-e nature of this waterfall 45. oth Kintada and Kinshige were actie during the midtenth and chose other poems as her eidence. hino, “Yamatoe no century. keisei to sono imi,” pp. 491–92. 52 Ibid.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 47 tic manner, as evidenced by another Kokon chomonjū paucity of extant examples from the period presented story about a painted horse in a Kanaoka mural that him with a roadblock.59 To move beyond this, Tanaka escaped the painting each night to destroy nearby rice argued that while screens were a part of the public felds.53 Tanaka then shared a remark from Kinshige to lives of Heian period aristocrats, picture scrolls and his grandson Kose no Hirotaka about a painting by his other small format artworks were from their personal brother Kintada in which he said the feld and pine in lives and represented Japanese creativity and artist- the screen were not comparable to what Hirotaka could ry.60 Terefore, he turned to picture scrolls, including make.54 From this, Tanaka concluded that the pictorial the Genji monogatari emaki 源氏物語絵巻 (Te Tale transformation in painting style must have occurred of Genji Picture Scroll, twelfh century, Tokugawa Art during the time of Kinshige, around the 天暦 Museum and Gotoh Art Museum) to highlight features reign period (947–957).55 of the pictorial style of yamato-e.61 Tanaka focused on Tanaka turned to a picture competition in Genji the thin lines used for eyes and hooks for noses known monogatari, where Akikonomu’s 秋好 team presented as hikime kagihana 引目鈎鼻, and the roofess view- paintings of scenes from Taketori monogatari 竹取物 ing of interiors (fukinuki yatai 吹抜屋台) in the picture 語 (The Bamboo Cutter’s Tale, late ninth to early tenth scrolls and identifed these elements as stylistic char- century) featuring illustrations by Kose no Ōmi 巨 acteristics of yamato-e.62 Te lack of individualization 勢相覧 (ca. late ninth century) and calligraphy by Ki in faces rendered by the hikime kagihana technique no Tsurayuki 紀貫之 (868–945). The rival team chose served as a prime example of Fujiwara aesthetic tastes; paintings from Utsuho monogatari 宇津保物語 (The for Tanaka, it lent a sense of elegance and peace free Tale of the Hollow Tree, late tenth century) brushed by from foreign infuences and was the purest form of ya- Asukabe no Tsunenori 飛鳥部常則 (active mid-tenth mato-e.63 to early eleventh century) with calligraphy by Ono no In 1944, Shimomise published two books on the Michikaze 小野道風 (894–967). Paintings from Utsuho history and characteristics of yamato-e called Kara-e monogatari were praised as “modern” (imamekashi 今 to yamato-e 唐絵と大和絵 (Kara-e and Yamato-e) and めかし), which for Tanaka indicated a more recent Yamato-e shi kenkyū 大和絵史研究 (Study of Yama- date of creation for Utsuho monogatari paintings, and to-e History). Although Shimomise believed that ya- also that the court painter Asukabe no Tsunenori had mato-e was rooted in Chinese paintings, he also used employed a new pictorial style.56 In another story about the account noted above from Kachō yosei of Kose no the artist, Tsunenori supposedly critiqued a painting Kanaoka painting ffeen layers of mountains and Hiro- by Kinshige on a partitioning screen (tsuitate shōji 衝 taka painting only fve layers to illustrate a major difer- 立障子) owned by Ononomiya Sanesuke 小野宮実 ence between yamato-e and Chinese paintings, namely, 資 (also known as Fujiwara no Sanesuke, the author of the simplifcation of the pictorial composition.64 Shi- Shōyūki), claiming that the pine tree resembled a furry momise dated the shif in yamato-e pictorial style to potato but could not be criticized otherwise.57 Tanaka afer the era of Kintada through another passage from argued that such a statement was more than a mere Kokon chomonjū: “Tis Hirotaka was the great-grand- critique of artistic skill, and in fact reflected a changing son of Kanaoka, the grandson of Kinshige, and the son pictorial style from the dominant mode of Tang (618– of Fukae. Before Kintada, [who was] Kinshige’s older 907) China to a “Japanese” manner (nihon-teki 日本 brother, paintings resembled actual things. Afer Kin- 的).58 shige, they became what they are now.”65 Shimomise As mentioned earlier, Tanaka recognized yamato-e interpreted this passage to mean that before Kintada’s of the Heian period as works on folding screens, but the

59 Ibid., p. 44. 53 Ibid. 60 Ibid., p. 47. 54 この野筋この松汝及ぶべからず, as uoted in anaka, Yamato-e 61 Ibid., pp. 47–50. josetsu, p. 46. 62 Ibid., pp. 50–53. 55 Ibid. 63 Ibid., p. 53. 56 Ibid., pp. 45–46. 64 Shimomise, Kara-e to yamato-e, pp. 30–31. 57 かしら毛芋に似たり、他所難なし, as uoted in anaka, Yamato-e 65 此弘高は、金岡が曾孫、公茂が孫、深江が子なり。公忠公茂兄より josetsu, p. 46. さきは、かきたる絵、生たる物のごとし。公茂以下、今の体には 58 Ibid. 成たるとなん, as uoted in Shimomise, Kara-e to yamato-e, p. 30.

48 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 time, artistic practice dictated that people, animals, ing pictorial work regarded as yamato-e dating from the tall mountains, and deep valleys were rendered real- Heian period presents a more critical problem. Shimo- istically.66 Shimomise then proceeded to explore the mise contended that yamato-e developed from Chinese diferences between Chinese and Japanese paintings, paintings, and thus it was possible to trace its develop- contrasting features including the classically Chinese ment by remaining sensitive to Chinese elements in ex- knobby trees with the simple pine trees of Japanese tant works of art. Yet he never satisfactorily explained paintings, the complex mountain formations found which stylistic features representing yamato-e in extant in Chinese paintings to the simpler hills in Japanese paintings should be recognized as characteristic of works, and the mushroom-like clouds that proliferated yamato-e in the Heian period as well. In other words, in Chinese paintings with the misty patches known as without evidence that proves surviving pictorial exam- yarikasumi やり霞 that covered Japanese paintings, ples were also considered yamato-e in the Heian period, ultimately concluding that the primary characteris- we are lef with only early twentieth-century insistence tic of Chinese works was complexity while the fore- of how tenth-century examples of yamato-e should most characteristic of yamato-e was simplicity.67 He have appeared. praised the innovative fukinuki yatai technique and Tanaka and Shimomise seem to have held set as- the heightened psychological drama infused into Genji sumptions regarding the appearance of yamato-e prior monogatari emaki by the hikime kagihana technique.68 to seeking corroborating evidence, and those precon- Shimomise considered both screens and picture scrolls ceived notions would have infuenced their selections. as valid media for yamato-e (as did Tanaka, due to a It is revealing that they both pointed to fukinuki yatai lack of pictorial examples), but he also turned to liter- and hikime kagihana as examples of yamato-e without ary sources for corroborating evidence on Heian-pe- explaining how these stylistic characteristics would riod yamato-e. Tese included the Kokinshū for lists of have been considered aspects of a distinct form or screens with Japanese subject matter, the Tsurayuki-shū genre of painting, or yamato-e, by a Heian-period au- 貫之集 (Collected Works of [Ki no] Tsurayuki, mid- dience, or how they became associated with yamato-e. tenth century) for lists of screens of the four seasons, and the Shūishū for screens of famous places.69 ▪ Yamato-e as Onna-e and Tsukuri-e

▪ A Critique of the Methodology In the latter half of the twentieth century, Minamoto Toyomune and Kobayashi Manabu turned to explore Tanaka and Shimomise argued for a change in pictorial the relationship between picture scrolls and the concept style, leading to the formation of yamato-e, during the of onna-e 女絵, or “women pictures,” in their pursuit of Heian period, but here too we can detect methodolog- the elusive Heian-period yamato-e pictorial style. ical loopholes. First, although the excerpts that they At the outset of his Yamato-e no kenkyū 大和絵の presented from the Kokon chomonjū and other textual 研究 (A Study of Yamato-e), Minamoto acknowledged sources seem to suggest artists working in diferent pic- that the earliest reference to yamato-e in association torial styles, these stories do not explicitly state that ya- with a pictorial style dates to the ffeenth century. mato-e was the result of any pictorial shif. For example, According to Sekiso ōrai 尺素往来 (Compendium of Kinshige’s statement (to Hirotaka in front of Kintada’s Short Writings, ffeenth century) by Ichijō Kaneyoshi screen) that “this feld and pine cannot compare with 一条兼良 (d. 1481):70 yours” meant to Tanaka that Kinshige was alluding to a new and native pictorial style. Te remark could also, Te sliding-door panels are colorful yamato-e and more simply, be an assessment of artistic skill. showing the four seasons; [painters from] the Te lack of direct supporting evidence of any surviv-

66 Ibid., pp. 30–31. 70 Sekiso ōrai is a compilation from the 67 Ibid., pp. 42–118. 1392–1573) that contains lists of annual customs and the names 68 Ibid., p. 106. of plants and animals, as well as terms for paintings. Ichiō 69 Shimomise, amaoe shi kenkyū, pp. 215–95. Kaneyoshi is also the author of the aforementioned Kahō yosei.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 49 painting bureau were called to [my residence to] involved applying layers of richly colored pigments to paint them.71 a painted surface. Minamoto considered tsukuri-e as a fitting mode of representation that reflected the vibrant Minamoto explained the lateness of this frst reference lifestyle of the Heian period.80 to yamato-e (as a pictorial style) in terms of the lack of a Features of onna-e, as defned by Minamoto, include necessity to distinguish between native and foreign pic- hikime kagihana, fukinuki yatai, and a unique sense of torial styles until the great infux of ink paintings from perspective. Rather than viewing the hikime kagihana China afer the before proceeding to technique as restrictive or unrealistic in style, Mina- trace the pictorial style of yamato-e during the Heian moto argued (as Tanaka had) that the simplifcation of period.72 Highlighting the female authorship (Sanjō no style in expressionless faces provided a glimpse of the Machi) of the aforementioned waterfall poem (Kokin- ideal elegance of the Fujiwara period between the tenth shū 930), Minamoto argued that Heian women honed and twelfh century.81 Further, fukinuki yatai was cre- their sense of refnement by viewing art and composing ated as a result of the increasing number of stories that waka.73 In other words, as Chinese infuences receded, took place indoors and required a creative solution to court women expressed themselves by celebrating their allow viewers access into buildings.82 For Minamoto, a world—a world of Japanese aesthetics, desires, and key distinction of onna-e was the injection of the artist identity.74 herself into the narrative environment of the pictorial Tales (monogatari 物語) were popular in the tenth subject. She was no longer a mere bystander.83 Onna-e century, and it was at this time that the genre of art showed both visual scenes and the emotional state of known as illustrated tales (monogatari-e 物語絵), the characters—known as mono no aware 物の哀れ, which Minamoto claimed was closely associated with or the sadness of things—via the intimate, small format women, most likely appeared.75 Fujiwara no Onshi of the medium rendered through tsukuri-e.84 All of this, 藤原温子 (872–907), consort of 宇多 Minamoto argued, reveals that onna-e is the essence of (r. 887–897), commissioned poems based on stories yamato-e.85 from Yamato monogatari 大和物語 (Tales of Yamato, Writing in 2009, Kobayashi Manabu focused on the 951) and perhaps even made small-format paintings history of tsukuri-e as the key to unlocking the stylistic herself.76 In the Yomogiu 蓬生 chapter of Genji mystery of yamato-e via onna-e during the Heian pe- monogatari, a female character named Suetsumuhana riod in his article “Heian jidai no ‘yamato-e’” 平安時代 末摘花 kept various illustrations of old tales in her の「倭絵」 (Yamato-e of the Heian Period). For Ko- cabinet.77 Minamoto reasoned that the experience of bayashi, the earliest references to tsukuri-e appeared in listening to stories while looking at accompanying the Wakana 1 若菜上 and Suma 須磨 chapters of Genji illustrations inspired court ladies to create their own monogatari.86 In Wakana 1, on the occasion of Genji’s pictorial works, and this laid the foundations for fortieth birthday, a folding screen showing spring and onna-e.78 Since noble ladies were unencumbered by autumn motifs was called a tsukuri-e screen. In the the historical painting traditions that limited court Suma chapter, Genji painted pictures to fll idle time painters, they were able to create their own styles during his exile. When his attendants beheld his works, according to their refined sensibilities.79 The resulting they wished that Chieda 千枝 or Tsunenori could com- pictorial style manifested in paintings via a technique plete them as tsukuri-e.87 Chieda is lost to history, but called tsukuri-e つくり絵 (also written as 作絵), which Kobayashi discovered that Asukabe no Tsunenori had been responsible for painting and decorating the fron- tispieces of several for a memorial to the late 71 障子者彩色四季之倭画紹絵所令図之, as uoted in inamoto, amaoe no kenkyū, p. 6. 72 Ibid. 80 Ibid., p. 27. 73 Ibid., p. 12. 81 Ibid., p. 25. 74 Ibid., p. 14. 82 Ibid., pp. 25–26. 75 Ibid., pp. 16–17. 83 Ibid., p. 26. 76 Ibid., p. 16. 84 Ibid., pp. 26–27. 77 Ibid., pp. 16–17. 85 Ibid., p. 29. 78 Ibid., pp. 20–22. 86 Kobayashi, “Heian idai no yamatoe,’” p. 26. 79 Ibid., pp. 23–24. 87 Ibid.

50 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 mother of Emperor Murakami 村上天皇 (r. 946–967), of Genji monogatari.97 In Kagerō nikki, an onna-e work Fujiwara no Onshi 藤原穏子 (885–954), in Tenryaku was transported inside someone’s clothing, indicating 8 (954).88 Because Tsunenori held the ofcial title of that it was physically small enough to be carried in this Minor Ofcer of the Gate Guards of the Right (Uemon manner. Te content of this onna-e was described as a Shōshi 右衛門少志), Kobayashi concluded that he was vignette from a love story.98 Likewise, in the Agemaki a painter from the Imperial Painting Bureau (Edokoro chapter, an onna-e was among the paintings scattered 絵所).89 According to Kokon chomonjū, “Tsunenori was around the living quarters of Lady Ōgimi 大君; this called the [artist with] greater skill, [Kose no] Kinmo- painting also depicted a scene from a love story.99 En- chi was the [artist with] lesser skill.”90 Kobayashi ulti- couraged by these two examples, Kobayashi believed mately concluded that Tsunenori likely worked in the that the term onna-e indicated a work in a picture scroll Imperial Painting Bureau along with Kinshige, and that or album leaf featuring paintings from tales or monoga- they—or painters like them—probably invented the tari.100 Although the above references do not describe tsukuri-e technique in the tenth century.91 the pictorial style of onna-e, Kobayashi cited a passage To reconstruct the appearance of tsukuri-e, Ko- in the nikki 紫式部日記 (Diary of bayashi relied on the description of Genji’s painting Murasaki Shikibu, early eleventh century) that de- process in the Suma chapter. He explained that frst, the scribed a frantic scene of ladies-in-waiting dressing monochromatic ink outlines must be set down. Ten, and painting their faces in order to be presentable be- a professional painter such as Tsunenori would add fore a visit by Emperor Ichijō 一条天皇 (r. 986–1011). layers of color to complete the work.92 In the Wakana Murasaki Shikibu 紫式部 (ca. 973–1014) even mused 1 chapter, Kobayashi believed that the term tsukuri-e that the vignette before her resembled onna-e.101 From referred to the colorful artistic technique used to cre- this passage, Kobayashi hypothesized that onna-e in the ate the spring and autumn folding screen.93 Analyzing early eleventh century referred to beautiful artworks the usage of the term tsukuri 作 in textual sources, Ko- displaying the tsukuri-e technique of layering bright, bayashi noted that the term appeared in Ise monogatari thick colors, and showing Japanese women without in- 伊勢物語 (Te Tales of Ise, early tenth century) in the dividualized features.102 context of women applying makeup, thus reinforcing Afer exploring the pictorial styles of tsukuri-e and the link between the layering of colorful makeup on onna-e during the Heian period, Kobayashi used the women’s faces and the layering of bright pigments on Fujiwara no Yukinari diary entry from 999 to remind paintings.94 He concluded that, in the narrowest sense, the reader that Asukabe no Tsunenori was the painter tsukuri-e denotes a technique of layering colors to cre- responsible for Lady Shōshi’s yamato-e screen.103 Believ- ate a work of art, while its broader defnition refers to ing that Tsunenori was the painter who likely invented a work of art created through this technique.95 Te me- the tsukuri-e technique in the mid-tenth century, Ko- dium for tsukuri-e included screens, handscrolls, and bayashi argued that the tsukuri-e painting style became album leaves.96 known as yamato-e by the end of the tenth century, and Kobayashi found references to onna-e produced was recognized by the aristocratic elites as something during the Heian period through literary sources in- unique to Japan.104 cluding the late tenth-century diary Kagerō nikki 蜻蛉 日記 (Gossamer Diary) and the Agemaki 総角 chapter

88 Ibid., pp. 26–27. 89 Ibid., p. 27. 97 Ibid., pp. 30–31. 90 常則をば大上手、公望をば小上手とぞ世は稱しける, as uoted in 98 Ibid., p. 31. Kobayashi, “Heian idai no yamatoe,’” p. 27. 99 Ibid. 91 Ibid., p. 27. 100 Ibid. 92 Ibid., pp. 27–28. 101 he diary entry is dated to the sixteenth day of the tenth month 93 Ibid., p. 28. of Kankō 寛弘 5 1008). Ibid., p. 32. 94 Ibid., pp. 29–30. 102 Ibid., pp. 32–33. 95 Ibid., p. 28. 103 Ibid., p. 33. 96 Ibid. 104 Ibid., pp. 33–34.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 51 ▪ A Critique of the Methodology he Sinifcance of Yamato-e Today

Minamoto and Kobayashi both dated the development Tis historiographical examination of yamato-e has of the pictorial style of yamato-e to the tenth century, revealed two primary avenues of inquiry: yamato-e as but their theories on who invented this type of painting subject matter and yamato-e as pictorial style. Yet the diverged. Minamoto attributed the technique to court methods by which scholars arrived at these conclusions ladies whereas Kobayashi gave the credit of invention are mutually exclusive. Scholars who emphasized sub- to Asukabe no Tsunenori and the court painters of the ject matter, such as Akiyama, dealt solely with Heian Imperial Painting Bureau. Neither scholar, however, of- period textual references to yamato-e, which made no fered any direct evidence from the Heian period that mention of pictorial styles. Tis led them to conclude defnitively connects the colorful technique of tsuku- that it was possible to speak defnitively only about ya- ri-e or the larger category of onna-e to yamato-e. Ko- mato-e themes depicted on Heian screens and sliding bayashi’s sole link between tsukuri-e and yamato-e rests doors but impossible to determine the pictorial style on the tenuous argument that Fujiwara no Shōshi’s ya- of those works. Pictorial-style scholars such as Shimo- mato-e screen was painted by Asukabe no Tsunenori in mise focused on extant artworks that allegedly illus- the tsukuri-e style, but this is not certain. Even if we trated formal features native to Japan even though these accept Kobayashi’s hypothesis that Tsunenori invented paintings lacked secure provenance and documenta- the tsukuri-e style, it is plausible to expect that a skill- tion as examples of yamato-e before the modern era. ful painter of the Imperial Painting Bureau had more In other words, among many other things, we do not than one artistic style in his arsenal, and he must have know how far back in history artworks framed today as painted in another style before he found tsukuri-e. Yet yamato-e were regarded as such—including during the we do not know whether Tsunenori painted Shōshi’s Heian period. screen before or afer his alleged development of tsuku- Te scholars discussed here laid the foundation for ri-e, and thus it remains impossible to determine the today’s dual understandings of yamato-e. It was within precise pictorial style of Shōshi’s screen. In summary, widely disseminated books targeting a general reader- the relationship between onna-e, tsukuri-e, and yama- ship and published throughout the twentieth century, to-e remains circumstantial, with little direct evidence however, that the confounding defnition of yamato-e that Heian-period writers considered the frst two as was created and refned through a process of stream- examples of the third. lining disparate conclusions regarding yamato-e into a As the foregoing reveals, scholars who sought to single historical narrative. Japanese publications that in- identify yamato-e as works with a pictorial style faced troduce yamato-e as works of art that contain Japanese many logistical challenges. Not only did they have to subject matter—and that are painted using a distinct suggest changes in pictorial style during the Heian pe- Japanese pictorial style—appear as early as 1949.105 In riod, but they also had to indicate yamato-e features in sum, yamato-e scholars of the early twentieth century surviving works while contending with the widely ac- argued for a definition of yamato-e characterized by knowledged fact that few examples of yamato-e survive either a pictorial style or by subject matter. Akiyama from the Heian period. Most scholars turned to the did not agree that a Heian-period yamato-e pictorial Kokon chomonjū, which provides circumstantial an- style is demonstrated in contemporaneous textual ecdotes about the Heian-period painters and serves as sources, while other scholars such as Shimomise and the primary literary source for these scholars. However, Minamoto attempted to retrieve the lost pictorial style this text was compiled in the mid-thirteenth century, of the Heian period yamato-e via extant artworks. Later roughly three hundred years afer the alleged formation textbooks created a single defnition that included both of yamato-e. Perhaps the more critical obstacle for this group of scholars as they attempted to trace the picto- rial style of yamato-e is the lack of supporting evidence 105 uikake, Nihon bijusu zuroku, p. 24. uikake’s book is an that verifes the yamato-e status of any surviving works illustrated compendium of apanese art. In 1954, this composite of art from the time of the genre’s alleged formation in definition of yamato-e as both subect matter and pictorial style appeared in a reference book for teachers and students the Heian period. of apanese art. See ochimaru and Kuno, Nihon bijutsushi yōsesu.

52 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 pictorial style and subject matter without regard to [these ancestors] to have been blind to all other the origins, methods, and reasoning behind disparate things. Finally, using those [foreign] elements, they theories or defnitions by the yamato-e scholars. Tis created a Japanese culture so unique that it can no is not surprising given the compressed and generalized longer be called “foreign.” Needless to say, through nature of textbooks. Let us also recall that the modern a process of repetition, this became an important preference for the kana-majiri form of yamato-e (やま characteristic of Japanese cultural history. Japanese と絵) also helped obscure the convoluted history of a painting may be called the most typical example phenomenon that is represented by a term with various [of this phenomenon]. Just as laid out in this book, written forms and studied using opposing methods. All the Japanese began to learn painting techniques of this is also a bleak reminder of the impossibility of from traditions that came from the continent, but defning the current art historical genre yamato-e be- at some point, our ancestors completely inter- cause it is no longer a faithful refection of any single nalized these foreign skills and fnally created source of scholarship. Tis streamlining of yamato-e the unique painting style called yamato-e, which characterizations and facts also crossed language bar- cannot be found anywhere on the continent. riers: the earliest English-language publication on ya- Furthermore, the yamato-e thus developed is not mato-e, namely the 1942 article “Te Rise of Yamato-e” only a cultural product that should be esteemed by Alexander C. Soper (1904–1993), characterized it throughout the world as a highly valuable art form as something possessing both Japanese subject matter with an abundance of unique sensibilities, but and pictorial styles—a faithful synopsis of a composite its line of development is unbroken, and to this conclusion supported by evidence from both scholarly day in the Shōwa period [1926–1989], [yama- camps.106 to-e] remains the origin of Japanese painting and continues to support the art and life of the modern people. Terefore, we should be doubly grateful. ▪ Yamato-e and Japanese Identity Te author hopes that the reader remembers that the author’s strong historical interest in yamato-e The definition(s) and applications of Heian-period is based on these reasons; because of them, the yamato-e have been so thoroughly complicated by author’s yamato-e research begins from the per- its own historiography that ultimately it may prove spective of a historian who attempts to thoroughly impossible to identify its precise characteristics. It is understand the country’s culture and spirit, [which beyond the scope of this article to trace the evolution makes] my perspective diferent from the existing of the concept of yamato-e throughout the post-Heian books and so-called art history books.107 periods, but what stands out in the twentieth century is the conviction that yamato-e originates in the Heian In the preface to Kara-e to yamato-e, Shimomise noted period and represents the beginning of true Japanese that “yamato-e is a term that conveys a deep, familiar painting, or even Japanese artistic identity. This mode resonance for us because yamato-e are paintings that of interpretation hints at the greater ideological forces possess the clearest artistic representation of our Jap- that shaped conceptualizations of yamato-e and drew anese personality.”108 In the opening paragraph of Ya- many Japanese scholars to study it. Ienaga, for example, mato-e shi kenkyū, Shimomise shared his motivation revered yamato-e as a representation of Japan, a vehicle for studying yamato-e: it is “the most Japanese form for discovering the fundamental spirit of the national [of art]” and “representative of this incomparable ven- culture. In the introduction of Jōdai yamato-e zenshi, erable nation.”109 Shimomise also lamented that the he wrote: “lack of recognition by foreign cultures of our vener- able imperial culture’s uniqueness is due to insufcient Originally, our ancestors fervently sought out understanding and perspective.”110 Minamoto similarly foreign cultures, and at times were so focused on absorbing them that some might have suspected 107 Ienaga, ōai yamaoe zenshi, p. 2. 108 Shimomise, Kara-e to yamato-e, p. 5. 109 Shimomise, amaoe shi kenkyū, p. 1. 106 Soper, “he ise of Yamatoe.” 110 Ibid.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 53 characterized yamato-e as a “painting style that best Yamato-e continues to demonstrate cultural longev- expressed the technical prowess and unique spirit of ity in the postwar period as the foundation of Japanese the Japanese people.”111 Even in Soper’s English article, painting in art-historical narratives. Consider, for ex- he singled out yamato-e for discussion as “the purest ample, the 2012 publication of a special edition of the presentation in art of [Japan’s] national traditions and prominent art history journal Bessatsu taiyō 別冊太 preferences.”112 陽, entitled “Yamato-e: Nihon kaiga no genten” やまと Let us briefy consider the signifcance of the nation- 絵：日本絵画の原点 (Yamato-e: Te Origin of Japa- alistic overtones in these interpretations of yamato-e. nese Paintings). Te primary editor Murashige Yasushi Before 1933, yamato-e was not emphasized in Japanese writes: scholarly circles. Te term (written as 倭絵) appeared as a chapter heading in the 1850 compilation of artworks With the decline and annihilation of China’s Tang known as Koga bikō 古画備考 (Considerations of Old dynasty at the beginning of the tenth century, our Paintings) by Asaoka Okisada 朝岡興禎 (1800–1856), country lost its dominant model [for political and but it was not lauded as a uniquely Japanese form of cultural emulation], and was confronted by the art.113 Te concept of yamato-e was nowhere to be found necessity of creating its own culture through its in the government-sponsored art catalogue compiled own eforts. Tis hastened the process of domesti- for the 1900 World Fair.114 Even Okakura Tenshin, cation, and the establishment and development of who greatly infuenced modern perceptions of Japanese “yamato-e” may be understood in this context. art as culture, did not hold yamato-e in high esteem in his writings. He did not mention yamato-e at all in his Needless to say, even without the annihilation of 1903 book Ideals of the East, and noted only in passing the Tang, it could have been foreseen that Japan’s that “yamato-e landscape paintings” developed during cultural development during this period inevitably the Kamakura period in his book Nihon bijutsushi 日本 would become independent and unique. Leaving 美術史 (Japanese Art History).115 the Nara area, which was infuenced heavily by Given the politically charged environment of the the continent, the capital was moved to Kyoto, 1930s and 1940s, one can easily imagine how yamato-e, a and with the making of the new capital and the term that historically existed in the Heian period, could beginning of the Heian period (at the end of the be refashioned as the heart of a thousand-year-old ar- eighth century), there was great momentum to de- tistic tradition. One must wonder whether yamato-e’s velop a national culture unique to Japan centered enduring prominence was also aided by the personal on this location. It was the self-awakening of our attention from this group of infuential scholars, most inherent sensibilities that allowed us to realize a of whom were towering fgures in the feld of Japanese Japanese-style culture by pursuing the ideals that art history, who taught generations of Japanese art his- beftted our tastes, instead of the unconditional torians and reached an even wider audience through admiration for, and emulation of, continental their numerous publications.116 culture that had persisted up to that time.

Te Japanese script known as kana was invented, 111 inamoto, amaoe no kenkyū, p. 5. Japanese waka poetry was born, and narrative 112 Soper, “he ise of Yamatoe,” p. 351. 113 Asaoka’s Koga bikō was revised and enlarged upon its stories were created based on subjects found in our publication in 1904. See saoka, ōei koga bikō. 114 The only mention of yamato in the catalogue had to do with geographical markers for Nara refecture. Koita, Nashonarizumu to bi. 1953 and 1965, and was editor in chief of the apanese art 115 he term in the 2001 edition of the book was yamato-e sansui 大 ournal Kokka 国華 from 1965 to 1977. kiyama, Shimomise, 和絵山水. See kakura, Nihon bijutsushi, p. 138. He deeloped inamoto, and hino were all professors of art history at his book from lectures he deliered to students between 1890 prominent apanese uniersities. lexander Soper was an and 1893 at the okyo School of ine rts. It first appeared in influential American scholar who specialized in Asian art and enshin zenshū 天心全集 omplete orks of kakura enshin) taught in the nited States. apanese historian Ienaga taught in 1922. It was published as an independent olume in 2001. at the uniersity leel and published widely. His introductory 116 anaka sered as the ninth Director eneral of the okyo book on yamato-e, distributed by Heibonsha, is one of the few National esearch Institute for ultural roperties ōkyō nglishlanguage sources on the topic. See Ienaga, Painting in kokuritsu kenkyo shochō 東京国立文化財研究所所長) between the Yamato Style.

54 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 country. And in the world of art, indigenous paint- kara-e than yamato-e, the concept of kara-e warrants a ings derived from familiar and original Japanese similar historiographical review as yamato-e. Since ka- stories, landscapes, and customs gained favor over ra-e is most ofen introduced as a foil for yamato-e, em- the formerly popular “kara-e” [Chinese pictures], bodying everything yamato-e is not, this raises another which showed Chinese things and customs. important issue that has yet to be sufciently interro- Tese were “yamato-e,” and the pictorial style was gated in Japanese art history: the extent of the binary appropriately sof, delicate, and distinctive. Tese cultural constructs that frame Heian-period society paintings were primarily done on folding screens in terms of “Japanese” and “non-Japanese.” What did and adorned both sides of sliding doors.117 yamato really mean to a Heian-period audience? And what does yamato, and by extension yamato-e, mean to the artists, writers, and scholars who have invoked these terms since? Tese are questions that deserve fur- Conclusion ther exploration, which is only possible when we rec- ognize that our contemporary defnition of yamato-e is Our understanding of yamato-e is clearly more a refec- a modern invention formulated during extraordinary tion of modern concerns than of tenth-century senti- times and propagated under unusual circumstances. ments. Early twentieth-century scholars have focused Understanding yamato-e—its reception, transmission, intently on excavating the meaning of yamato-e in the and evolving meaning for artists and scholars through- Heian period, ignoring the fuctuating meanings of the out history—is a large task, and this short study will, I term throughout its history and seemingly unaware of hope, become a small contribution. how contemporary attitudes afected their interpreta- tion of the more distant past.118 As the historiography of Japanese art history comes to be recognized as a critical Reference List component of research in contemporary art history— both within and outside Japan—this is changing.119 Akiyama Terukazu 秋山光和. “Heian jidai no ‘kara-e’ to Scholars in other felds such as Japanese literature have ‘yamato-e’: Ge” 平安時代の「唐絵」と「やまと絵」: efectively explored the infuence of eighteenth-century 下. Bijutsu kenkyū 美術研究 121 (1942), pp. 8–24. nativist writings on modern perceptions of ancient Akiyama Terukazu. “Heian jidai no ‘kara-e’ to ‘yamato-e’: Japanese writings.120 Te time is ripe for a similar ap- Jō” 平安時代の「唐絵」と「やまと絵」: 上. Bijutsu proach to be taken in art history concerning yamato-e. kenkyū 120 (1941), pp. 377–89. One potentially fruitful avenue of inquiry is the artistic Akiyama Terukazu. Heian jidai sezokuga no kenkyū 平安時 group Yamato-e Revival (Fukkō Yamato-e 復興大和 代世俗画の研究. Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 1964. 絵) active in the early nineteenth century, whose con- Asaoka Okisada 朝岡興禎. Zōtei koga bikō 増訂古画備考. ception of yamato-e and attitude toward it has yet to Ed. Ōta Kin 太田謹. Kōbunkan, 1904. be thoroughly explored. I have avoided the concept of Chino Kaori 千野香織. “Yamato-e no keisei to sono imi” や kara-e, which is ofen paired with yamato-e to explain まと絵の形成とその意味. Chino Kaori chosakushū 千 the development of Japanese art in the tenth century. In 野香織著作集, ed. Chino Kaori Chosakushū Henshū addition to the fact that there is even less scholarship on Iinkai 千野香織著作集編集委員会, pp. 487–505. Seiunsha, 2010. Fujikake Shizuya 藤掛静也. Nihon bijutsu zuroku 日本美術 117 urashige, “Yamatoe Nihon kaiga no genten,” p. 6. 図録. Asahi Shinbunsha, 1949. 118 y the end of the twentieth century, hino Kaori was aware of the different forms of the term yamato-e and the difficulties Ichijō Kaneyoshi 一条兼良. Matsunaga-bon Kachō yosei 松 in defining it. She further attributed the modern confusion of 永本花鳥余情. Ed. Ii Haruki 伊井春樹. Vol. 1, Genji yamato-e to the fact that yamato-e meant different things in monogatari kochū shūsei 源氏物語古注集成. Ōfūsha, different time periods. She did not, howeer, offer any citations or pursue this aenue of inuiry. hino, “Yamatoe no keisei to 1978. sono imi,” pp. 488–89. Ienaga Saburō 家永三郎. Jōdai yamato-e zenshi 上代倭絵全 119 rede, “erminology and Ideology.” 史. Kyoto: Takagiri Shoin, 1946. 120 wo recent publications that dele into this topic are aarre, Uncovering Heian Japan, and Yoda, Gender and National Ienaga Saburō. Painting in the Yamato Style. Trans. John M. Literature. Shields. New York: Weatherhill/Heibonsha, 1973.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 55 Kitazawa Noriaki 北澤憲昭. Me no shinden: “Bijutsu” juyōshi Soper, Alexander C. “The Rise of Yamato-e.” The Art nōto 眼の神殿：「美術」受容史ノート. Bijutsu Bulletin 24:4 (1942), pp. 351–79. Shuppansha, 1989. Sorensen, Joseph. Optical Allusions: Screens, Paintings, and Kobayashi Manabu 小林学. “Heian jidai no ‘yamato-e’: Sono Poetry in Classical Japan (ca. 800–1200). Leiden: Brill, seiritsu to tenkai” 平安時代の「倭絵」: その成立と展 2012. 開. Jinbun ronkyū 人文論究 58:3 (2009), pp. 21–40. Tachibana Narisue 橘成季. Kokon chomonjū 古今著聞集. Kobayashi Manabu. “Heian jidai ‘yamato-e’ no saikōsei” 平 NKBT 84. 安時代「倭絵」の再構成. PhD dissertation, Kwansei Tanaka Ichimatsu 田中一松. Yamato-e josetsu やまと絵序 Gakuin Daigaku 関西学院大学, 2011. 説. Iwanami Kōza Nihon Bungaku 岩波講座日本文學. Kojima Noriyuki 小島憲之 and Arai Eizō 新井栄蔵, eds. Vol. 12. Iwanami Shoten, 1933. Kokin wakashū 古今和歌集. SNKT 5. Iwanami Shoten, Tanaka, Stefan. “Imaging History: Inscribing Belief in the 1989. Nation.” JAS 53:1 (1994), pp. 24–44. Kojita Yasunao 小路田康尚, ed. Nashonarizumu to bi: Tōkyō Kokuritsu Bunkazai Kenkyūjo 東京国立文化財研究 Kōhon Nihon teikoku bijutsu ryakkushi ナショナリズム 所, ed. Ima, Nihon no bijutsushigaku o furikaeru 今、日 と美：稿本日本帝国美術略史. Yumani Shobō, 2003. 本の美術史学をふりかえる. Heibonsha, 1999. Komachiya Teruhiko 小町谷照彦, ed. Shūi wakashū 拾遺和 Trede, Melanie. “Terminology and Ideology: Coming 歌集. SNKT 7. to Terms with ‘Classicism’ in Japanese Art Historical LaMarre, Tomas. Uncovering Heian Japan: An Archaeology Writing.” In Critical Perspectives of Classicism in Japanese of Sensation and Inscription. Duke University Press, 2000. Painting, 1600–1700, ed. Elizabeth Lillehoj, pp. 21–52. Minamoto Toyomune 源豊宗. Yamato-e no kenkyū 大和絵 University of Hawai‘i Press, 2004. の研究. Kadokawa Shoten, 1976. Yoda, Tomiko. Gender and National Literature: Heian Mochimaru Kazuo 持丸一夫 and Kuno Takeshi 久野健. Texts in the Constructions of Japanese Modernity. Duke Nihon bijutsushi yōsetsu 日本美術史要説. Yoshikawa University Press, 2004. Kōbunkan, 1954. Murashige Yasushi 村重寧, ed. “Yamato-e: Nihon kaiga no genten” やまと絵: 日本絵画の原点. Bessatsu taiyō, Nihon no kokoro 別冊太陽, 日本のこころ 201. Heibonsha, 2012. Okakura Kakuzō (Tenshin). Ideals of the East With Special Reference to the Art of Japan. New York: Dutton, 1903. Okakura Tenshin 岡倉天心. Nihon bijutsushi 日本美術史. Heibonsha, 2001. Rodd, Laurel Rasplica, and Mary Catherine Henkenius, trans. Kokinshū: A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern. Boston: Cheng & Tsui Company, 1996. Satō, Dōshin. Modern Japanese Art and the Meiji State: The Politics of Beauty. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2011. Satō Dōshin 佐藤道信. “Nihon bijutsu” no tanjō: Kindai Nihon no “kotoba” to senryaku 「日本美術」の誕生： 近代日本の「ことば」と戦略. Kōdansha, 1996. Shimomise Shizuichi 下店静市. Kara-e to yamato-e 唐絵と 大和絵. In Shimomise Shizuichi chosakushū 下店静市 著作集, ed. Shimomise Shizuichi Chosakushū Henshū Iinkai 下店静市著作集編集委員会, vol. 7, pp. 3–339. Kōdansha Shuppan Kenkyūjo, 1986. Shimomise Shizuichi. Yamato-e shi kenkyū 大和絵史研究. Fuzanbō, 1944.

56 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 Dharma Devices, Non- Hermeneutical Libraries, and Robot-Monks: Prayer Machines in Japanese Buddhism

FABIO RAMBELLI

T is a well-documented fact—albeit perhaps not their technologies for that purpose.2 From a broader emphasized enough in scholarship—that Japa- perspective of more general technological advances, it nese Buddhism, historically, ofen has favored and is interesting to note that a , Negoroji Icontributed to technological developments.1 Since its 根来寺, was the frst organization in Japan to produce transmission to Japan in the sixth century, Buddhism muskets and mortars on a large scale in the 1570s based has conveyed and employed advanced technologies in on technology acquired from Portuguese merchants.3 felds including temple architecture, agriculture, civil Tus, until the late seventeenth century, when exten- engineering (such as roads, bridges, and irrigation sive epistemological and social transformations grad- systems), medicine, astronomy, and printing. Further- ually eroded the Buddhist monopoly on technological more, many artisan guilds (employers and developers advancement in favor of other (ofen competing) social of technology)—from sake brewers to sword smiths, groups, Buddhism was the main repository, benefciary, from tatami (straw mat) makers to potters, from mak- and promoter of technology. ers of musical instruments to boat builders—were more It should come as no surprise, then, that Buddhism or less directly afliated with Buddhist temples. In ad- also employed technology for religious and ritual pur- dition, numerous professions specialized exclusively poses. Xylography is perhaps the most obvious ex- in the production of Buddhist objects and developed ample. Since the seventeenth century, the enormous development of the printing industry was fostered in part by temple presses and publishing houses related

I would like to express my gratitude to An Pham-guoc, José Cabezón, Sabine Frühstück, Hannah Gould, Leor Halevi, George 2 See ambelli, “Sacred bects and Design in uddhism.” Hirshkind, Itō Satoshi, ohn odern, ennifer obertson, 3 See onlan, “Instruments of hange,” p. 124. hile it is unclear eter omaskiewic, Stefania raagnin, and esna allace whether the priests involved in that endeavor envisioned for their comments; suggestions from an anonymous reader modern weapons as new forms of uddhist tools, they may hae forhae significantly improed this article. thought that the capacity for a strong military defense would 1 lack of more comprehensie, intercultural studies of uddhist protect their temple from its enemies; in any case, their enemies attitudes toward technology, especially in Southeast Asia, makes proved stronger and better equipped, and the temple was it impossible to decide whether this is a constant feature of destroyed by the army of warlord oyotomi Hideyoshi 豊臣秀吉 uddhism in general or a apanese cultural specicity. 1537–1598) in 1585.

57 to Buddhist organizations. Buddhists printed all kinds we shall see below, this is a signifcant diference with of materials, from prayers, scriptures, doctrinal texts, modern automated machines. and commentaries to temple gazetteers, legends, his- Concerning Buddhist “prayer,” the English equiv- tories, and hagiographies. Tis vast range of printed alent for contemporary Japanese terms such as kigan material was envisioned as a support for prayer activi- 祈願, kitō 祈祷, and inori 祈り, here it may be under- ties. An important precedent, based on earlier Chinese stood as any interaction, mostly and primarily verbal and Korean models, existed for the printing of the early (or translatable in discursive terms), with one or more modern period (early seventeenth to mid-nineteenth divine beings (buddhas, , and other beings century): around 770 the Japanese government ordered of the Buddhist pantheon), carried out for multiple the printing of one million copies of a prayer (the so- purposes. Ofen a prayer is made to ask something of called Hyakumantō darani 百万塔陀羅尼) to be placed the divinity on behalf of oneself or others (this also in- inside miniature models of a and distributed cludes so-called magic formulae), to express gratitude to temples all over Japan.4 Although the printing of the to the divinity, or to perform and display sentiments Hyakumantō darani occurred within social and histori- and acts of devotion. In certain Buddhist traditions, cal circumstances that were very diferent from those of prayers also can be used as instruments or supports the Edo period (1600–1868), this does suggest a strong for visualization or, more generally, for actualizing the interest, within Buddhist institutions, for technology presence of the divinity. Tis is the case for in and its possible religious uses. Tantric Buddhism and repeated formulae such as the Temple bells, musical instruments (such as the nenbutsu 念仏 (the praise given to the Buddha Amida shakuhachi 尺八 fute, gongs, and drums), and ritual 阿弥陀, a formula that actually started as a visualiza- implements (including the vajra club and juzu 数珠 ro- tion practice) in the Pure Land sects and the daimoku sary) were also envisioned as tools to convey prayers in 題目 (chanting of the title of the ) in sects non-linguistic forms. In fact, any number of mechan- related to the teachings of the thirteenth-century monk ical devices can be turned into prayer machines, even 日蓮 (1222–1282). Contemplative prayers in- toilets.5 In this context, “machine” refers to any device volving visualizations of sacred realms also belong to created in order to carry out specifc tasks, one typically this category. In all cases, prayer is believed to gener- made of multiple parts and using some kind of power ate some form of merit (kudoku 功徳), that is, religious (physical, bodily, or mechanical), created in order to virtue that not only can improve the karma of the prac- carry out specifc tasks. In a premodern historical con- titioner but also can be transferred to others. Te term text, machines ofen were operated by human power (in “prayer” also may defne a ritual that includes prayer as some cases, also by natural agencies as with windmills defned above. Prayers do not need to be voiced: even and watermills, or animal force as with ploughs), and when the prayer is silent or meditative (such as when no functioned in close symbiosis with the human body; as specifc words or, in extreme cases, even well-formed thoughts are present), silence can be confgured as a se- miotic system diferent from, and superior to, speech in 4 See Kornicki, “he yakumanō arani and the rigin of rinting matters of communication with the divinities. A prayer in ighthentury apan.” can be performed by an individual or a group, either by 5 his is not an exaggeration. resentday toilets at some apanese following established procedures (rituals, liturgies, or temples function as machines to cleanse the impurities caused by human excrement by mobiliing the power of susama ceremonies) or by “improvising” ritual acts. Moreover, yōō 烏枢瑟摩明王 Sk. cchusm idyra). he user of the a prayer can be performed directly by the practitioner toilet is inited to chant or isualie the initial letter of susama’s or by mediators such as monks, priests, and ritual spe- mantric seed hū p. un 吽), pronounced “nn” in apanese. Now, the sound of defecation is normally rendered in the cialists in charge of defning the appropriate words and apanese language as “nn,” which therefore sounds the same procedures for the prayer, and ofen leading the pro- as the un. In this way, the sound of the polluting act is ceedings. In some cases, a prayer (both text and ritual also the ery cause of its purification; these two acts polluting and purification) are thus deeply related by irtue of semiotic procedure) is claimed to have originally been revealed mechanisms centered on the mantra un, its sound, and its directly by a divinity. Finally, a prayer can be extem- meanings see ambelli, uhis heory o Semiois, pp. poraneous (only done when needed) or performed at 136–37). ll of this is made possible by the toilet, which changes its status from a mere practical tool into a eritable prayer regular, specifc times defned by liturgical calendars machine. (nenjū gyōji 年中行事).

58 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 Tis essay will present and discuss the little-known manifestations of the sacred); and the diffusion and subject of the presence, in the Japanese Buddhist tradi- success of Buddhism in general has required many tion, of machines (special tools and other mechanical types of material things, including books, images, devices) used for the production and proliferation of implements, tools, documents and certificates, maps prayers and prayer-related activities, their status within and instructions, furniture, food, flowers, incense, the Buddhist cultural system, and the conceptual chal- clothes, vehicles, and countless other items7 Still, it is lenge that they pose to issues of individual agency, reli- somewhat surprising to find machines, and especially gious practice, and, ultimately, soteriology. prayer machines, among the stuff that made Buddhism what it is, not only today but also in premodern Asia. Te realization that machines, including prayer ma- Buddhist Prayer Machines chines, have been an important part of the Buddhist cultural system challenges received perceptions (wide- Even a cursory search of online sites selling Buddhist spread mainly in the West and dating back to the early objects and implements yields an impressive list of ar- modern period) about Western technological superior- tifacts, including Tibetan prayer wheels powered by ity to other countries, on the one hand, and the sep- solar energy, sofware with mantra-chanting loops to be aration of science and technology from the sphere of installed on computers, loop machines chanting con- the religious, on the other.8 With Buddhism, we have a tinuously the invocation to the Buddha Omituo 阿弥 major religion actually promoting technological devel- 陀仏 (Sk. Amitābha) in Taiwan, even a wallet with an opments also for religious, salvifc purposes. automated scripture-chanting chip that activates when A full treatment of the entire spectrum of Buddhist opened. Ritual services involving technology include prayer machines throughout history and across cul- internet rituals in China and elsewhere, and Buddhist tures goes far beyond the scope of this essay. Here, the TV rituals in Taiwan.6 All of these machines and ma- focus will be limited to a few representative instances of chine-based services ostensibly are sold as ways to pro- prayer machines from the Japanese Buddhist tradition, mote and facilitate Buddhist practice; many are created, both premodern and modern. Tey are, in order of in- used, and promoted by Buddhist organizations. creasing mechanical complexity, the shakuhachi, prayer Some of these devices may appear exotic if not wheels and rotating sutra repositories, early modern even far-fetched, more like souvenir-shop curios than mechanical devices (karakuri からくり or 機巧), and prayer devices, or even as technological degenerations recent digital technologies such as robot priests. We away from the true, spiritual purpose of Buddhism. shall see how each of these devices contributed to pro- Indeed, many observers and practitioners, especially in moting novel and specifc ways to “pray” and spread the West, cling to an image of Buddhism as a purely Buddhism. Next, the semiotic status of those prayer spiritual religion, unburdened by objects and hardly machines as special devices for disseminating signifi- needing any ritual. Yet Buddhism throughout history ers associated with Buddhism and its teachings will be has been characterized by the important role played by evaluated. Finally, the relationship of these prayer ma- materiality, understood as both a system of objects and chines to Buddhist doctrines on materiality, practice, as philosophical speculations on them. To begin with, and salvation will be assessed. the Buddhist ideal of renunciation was predicated upon material objects and worldly attitudes to be abandoned; Buddhist rituals require a wide variety (and, not ▪ Shakuhachi Flute infrequently, vast amounts) of items (such as sacred images, scriptures, ritual implements, and offerings); Te shakuhachi is a vertical fute, made of one single large monastic organizations need numerous kinds piece of bamboo with fve holes (four in front and of materials, commodities, and services, some of which have been sacralized (transformed into direct 7 hereas all religions reuire material obects, it may be argued that the sheer amount of material obects and the astness of their presence in uddhist practice set uddhism apart from 6 or internet rituals, see raagnin, “yberctiities and iilied’ most religious traditions. orship.” 8 n this subect, see das, ahines as he easure o en.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 59 one in back), measuring approximately one foot, eight be sacralized and eventually turned into a sort of man- inches (about 54.5 cm). It was brought to Japan around dala, a microcosm that embodies all of the fundamental the seventh or eighth century as one of the instruments forces and components of the entire Buddhist universe. used for court music (gagaku 雅楽), but at the time it Troughout the early modern period, the Fukeshū pro- was not widely played and eventually fell into oblivion. duced doctrinal documents in which the mandalic na- Te shakuhachi as we know it today began to be used ture of their instrument, their music, and their playing in the early Edo period (early seventeenth century) by style was defned and explained. What follows is a brief monks belonging to a newly formed and elusive Zen summary of their instrumental and musical doctrines. sect, the Fukeshū 普化宗, to which the Japanese gov- Mandalization began with the very name and shape ernment granted exclusive use of the instrument. of the instrument itself (in analogy with the Esoteric Musical instruments, especially relatively simple Buddhist interpretations of mantras and other texts, wind instruments such as the fute, normally are not which focused on the terms and the shapes of the considered machines. Buddhist monks treated the objects to which they referred). Tus, shaku 尺 (one shakuhachi, however, as a peculiar device, made with foot) was taken to represent the nature of awakening, specifc technologies, that employed musical tech- whereas hachi 八 (eight [inches]) stood for the eight niques in order to spread the Dharma in its unique types of mind (hasshiki 八識) in Buddhist epistemol- ways. According to governmental regulations, the ogy. Te empty bamboo tube out of which the instru- shakuhachi could not be played in public performances ment was made was seen as the supreme Dao of vacuity of a non-religious nature, but was only to be used by (kyomu shidō 虚無至道), while the three nodes on the Fuke monks (known as komusō 虚無僧) in meditation bamboo represented either the three components of the and other rituals as their unique Dharma device (or Confucian world (heaven, earth, and mankind; ten chi Dharma instrument, hōki 法器). Because the komusō jin 天地人) or the three realms of the Buddhist cosmos did not have a public to please, they were relatively free (the realms of desire, forms, and formlessness, unifed to develop new playing techniques and musical forms, by the single, universal, and pure mind, or yuishin 唯 which constituted the bases of today’s shakuhachi mu- 心). Te two openings on the top and bottom of the sic.9 In addition, the Fuke sect came to develop what instrument were seen as the sun and the moon, heaven can be considered the frst meditative instrumental and earth, and the two fundamental of Es- music of the entire Buddhist tradition, much before oteric Buddhism. Te fve fngering holes represented contemporary New Age music. For the komusō, playing the fve elements (gogyō 五行) of Chinese cosmology the shakuhachi amounted to practicing Zen; their quest (wood, metal, fre, water, and earth), or, in certain in- for the absolute and ultimate sound (tetteion 徹底音) terpretations, a number of diferent sets of correlative aimed at attaining enlightenment ( 悟り). series of cosmic elements: the fve cakra centers of the As mentioned above, for the komusō the shakuha- body and the universe (gorin 五輪), the fve musical chi was not just a musical instrument, but a veritable modes (gochō 五調), the fve Chinese elements of re- Dharma device (hōki). Tis term, literally meaning ality (gogyō), the fve fundamental sounds of the pen- “Dharma vessel,” has a broad semantic range. Nor- tatonic scale (goon 五音), or the fve buddhas at the mally it refers to a worthy recipient of the teachings, as center of the (Sk. Śākyamuni, Jp. Shaka 釈迦; in the case of the best disciples of a Buddhist master. Sk. Ratnasambhava, Jp. Hōshō 宝生; Sk. Mahāvairo- Yet “vessel” also may refer to “material objects,” as in cana, Jp. Dainichi 大日; Sk. Amitābha, Jp. Amida; and the expression “realm of material objects” (kikai 器界 Sk. Akṣobhya, Jp. Ashuku 阿閦), all of which are envi- or kisekai 器世界), with a special connotation indicat- sioned together as the origin and the condensation of ing tools and ritual implements. Because of its nature the totality of phenomena (shinra banshō 森羅万象 or as a ritual implement made specifcally to express the banbutsu 万物).10 Dharma and attain awakening, the shakuhachi came to

10 In this regard, the shakuhahi was similar to other professional tools that were sacralied in different forms and to different 9 See urtwiller, “Shakuhachi spects of History, ractice extents by their users such as the scale for merchants or the axe and eaching”; urtwiller, ie Shakuhahi er KinkoSe; for carpenters); see ambelli, “onji Suijaku at ork”; ambelli, Johnson, Shakuhahi oos an oues. uhis aeriaiy, pp. 172–210.

60 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 Concerning musical practice, the Fuke sect taught ture). Known in Japanese as rinzō 輪蔵 (abbreviation that the breath running through the empty bamboo of tenrinzō 転輪蔵, literally, “revolving [sutra] repos- tube transcends all dichotomies, and that each melody itory”), these devices consist of a sort of multisided is a manifestation of the absolute silence of enlighten- (normally, octagonal) bookcase, with shelves on all ment. Te komusō playing the instrument did so not sides, placed on a rotating axis; the bookcase contains for individual pleasure, but as a way to enable listen- sutra scrolls of the entire Buddhist canon. Te inven- ers to understand that the forms are not diferent from tion of this device is attributed to Fu Xi 伏羲 (497–569), mind (shiki soku shin 色即心), and as a way to attain an eccentric Chinese religious fgure also known as Fu Zen samādhi (zenjō zanmai 禅定三昧), understood Dashi 伏大士 ( Fu; Jp. Fu Daishi), who was as a spiritual state of fusion between the self and the worshiped as a manifestation of , the buddha universe (banbutsu yo ga yūmei 万物與我幽冥). In this of the future.12 Rotating sutra repositories were brought way, shakuhachi music served as a means to attain lib- to Japan by Zen monks in the late fourteenth century; eration from delusion, or (jakujō mui chi 寂静 one of the oldest existing rinzō, built in 1408 (Ōei 応永 無畏地).11 15), is located inside the Sutra Hall (Kyōdō 経堂) at An- In the case of the shakuhachi, thus, a musical in- kokuji 安国寺 in Takayama (Gifu Prefecture in central strument is used as a Buddhist device to propagate Japan), and is designated by the Japanese government the Dharma in a diferent form from verbal or visual as a National Treasure.13 dissemination, through manipulation of sound and si- A noh play attributed to Kanze Nagatoshi 観世長 lence, in ways that the human body alone cannot do. 俊 (ca. 1488–ca. 1541), entitled Rinzō, describes a trav- Te status of the shakuhachi and its music does not eling monk’s visit to the rotating sutra repository at depend only on the semiotic substance (sound and Tenmangū 天満宮 Shrine-temple in Kitano, Kyoto. music) that they employ. Rather, shakuhachi music en- At the sacred site, the god of fre (Sk. Agni, Jp. Kajin ables performers and listeners alike to represent and 火神) and the spirit of Fu Dashi appear to the monk, envision alternative ways to understand, practice, and and tell him that by turning this device he can, in fact, experience Zen. Specifcally, strategies of doctrinal en- pay homage to the entire Buddhist canon.14 Tis drama coding (mandalization) turned the instrument into a points to the novelty and exoticism of the device to the mandala or microcosmic device, and composition and Japanese audience in the early sixteenth century. In the performance techniques were correlated with particular early seventeenth century, these devices spread beyond doctrinal elements (such as nondualism and enlighten- Zen institutions to temples of other sects as well. At ment). In other words, the shakuhachi became a prayer that time, many large temples in big cities and regional machine because, once the semiotic system associated centers, which owned the entire Buddhist canon, also with performance techniques and aesthetic principles built rotating sutra repositories. Rinzō provided a way was mastered, playing music on it enabled the player for these temples to display their prestige (owning the to “pray” and practice Buddhism in ways that would entire Buddhist canon was a rare and great privilege, not have been possible with other tools/machines—or, strengthened by the novelty of the rotating reposi- indeed, without them. tory), while at the same time enabling them to share the canon with the illiterate and semi-literate masses, to many of whom the sutras were accessible only through this device. ▪ Prayer Wheels and Rotating Sutra Repositories In some cases, the rotating sutra repository was used

One of the most peculiar and conceptually interesting forms of Buddhist scripture worship is certainly the use 12 In fact, the first reference in hina concerning reoling of rotating sutra repositories (fgure 1, an example from bookcases used for sacred texts dates from the ninth century, but such devices became very popular and widespread only during Kegonji 華厳寺, -chō 揖斐川町, Gifu Prefec- the twelfth century. n the history of the in hina, see oodrich, “he eoling ookcase in hina.” 13 he ersion of the uddhist canon stored inside this bookcase was printed at a temple in Hanghou during the Yuan dynasty 11 ased on documents uoted in akahashi, ukeshū shōshi, pp. 1271–1368). 59, 60, 61, 62, 64; see also 187–88. 14 inzō, in Sanari, ed., ōkyoku aikan, ol. 5, pp. 3373–84.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 61 appear to be variants of devices, commonly known as “prayer wheels,” that are particularly popular in Tibet. Gregory Schopen has suggested that both may be de- rived from some kind of device used in India toward the eleventh century, but the evidence is inconclusive.15 Whereas Japanese rinzō are large devices containing the entire Buddhist canon, however, Tibetan prayer wheels are rotating cylinders of various kinds and sizes, upon which only one mantra normally is inscribed (most ofen, the mantra Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ). Westerners came in direct contact with rotating prayer devices in various parts of Central and East Asia from around the nineteenth century. Several decades ago, however, historian of technology Lynn White Jr. suggested that European religious prohibitions against taking Christian slaves issued in the ffeenth century led slave traders to enslave people from Central Asia, some of whom might have brought along with them aspects of prayer-wheel technology. Indeed, the bell- and-chain governor (from hand-held wheels), the vertical-axis windmill (from wheels turned by wind), and the hot-air turbine (from wheels turned over fre- places) were found in Renaissance Italy.16 If this thesis is correct, it would confrm both Buddhism’s interest in technology and, at the same time, the fact that tech- nology in the West was not directly related to religious ire 1. otating sutra repository rinzō). 1902. ood and metal. Sie unknown. Kegoni, Ibigawachō, ifu refecture. ublic domain; practices but was used mostly for practical, secular en- httpsa.wikipedia.orgwiki88945media deavors. ileifukegoni5738.. Not much doctrinal or exegetical material regarding the prayer wheel seems to exist in China or Japan. In to worship its putative inventor, Fu Dashi, whose statue , however, where these devices are is sometimes enshrined in front of the device, alone widely used, we can fnd a detailed theoretical treat- or with other saintly fgures. For example, the rotating ment.17 Te Tibetan tradition states that the great In- sutra repository at Zenkōji 善光寺 in Nagano (central dian scholar and Buddhist patriarch Nāgārjuna (ca. Japan) enshrines the two Japanese patriarchs of the 150 CE) found the prayer wheel in the land of the nagas Tendai 天台 sect, Saichō 最澄 (Dengyō Daishi 伝教 (mythological serpents) and transmitted it to a ḍākinī 大師; 767–822) and Ennin 円仁 (Jikaku Daishi 慈覚大 (a demi-god, very important in Tantric Buddhism), 師; ca. 793–864), together with Fu Dashi. Te technical who in turn handed it down to , the principle of the rotating sutra repository was also ap- founder of Tibetan Buddhism.18 Yet not much is known plied to other devices. For instance, the Rokkakudō 六 about actual historical processes of transmission of this 角堂 (Hexagonal Hall) at Mizusawadera 水沢寺 (Shi- device to Tibet. Some authors argue that a prayer wheel bukawa, Gunma Prefecture), built in 1787, enshrines a very unusual rotating device with six statues of the bodhisattva Jizō 地蔵菩薩, one for each of the six des- tinations of transmigration (the realms of hell, hungry 15 Schopen, igmens an ragmens o ahayana uhism in nia, pp. 345–49; see also oodrich, “he eoling ookcase ghosts, animals, demigods, humans, and deities), as a in hina,” pp. 130–65. way to represent both the process of reincarnation and 16 hite, eiea eigion an ehnoogy, pp. 49–50. the all-pervading salvifc power of the bodhisattva. 17 or a selection of ibetan commentaries on the prayer wheel, see Ladner, he hee o rea Comassion, pp. 33–84. Japanese and East Asian rotating sutra repositories 18 Ibid., pp. 36, 47–48, 55.

62 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 embodies all the actions of the buddhas and ter-wheels, the constant turning would add to the bodhisattvas of the ten directions. To beneft merit of those connected with their erection.22 sentient beings, the buddhas and bodhisattvas manifest in the prayer wheel to purify all of our Simpson also indicated that merit-making does not re- negative karmas and obscurations and to cause sult from a mere mechanical act of putting the wheel and actualize awakening. All beings—not only in motion, but involves the chanting of the mantra Oṃ humans but also animals and insects—in the area maṇi padme hūṃ, ofen inscribed in Tibetan prayer where the prayer wheel is built are saved from wheels: “Before turning the wheels, the performer in the lower realms.19 should repeat the Mantra, else he will derive no merit from it; while he is turning, he may repeat the words as Tis salvifc power seems to derive from the fact that ofen as possible, and at the end a repetition is neces- prayer wheels contain the powerful mantra Oṃ maṇi sary, or the whole of the performance will be useless.”23 padme hūṃ, which embodies the buddhas and their In any case, Simpson described here the two ends of virtues. Tus, touching or turning a prayer wheel puts the spectrum of the functions of prayer machines, from the practitioner directly in contact with that powerful a situation in which merit is accrued without further mantra and, by extension, with all of the buddhas and need of human intervention to cases in which humans the benefts they generate. Te salvifc efects of the must at least operate the machine and/or chant a man- wheel are magnifed when it comes into contact with tra while doing so. the natural elements (earth, water, fre, and wind), be- Regarding China, an account of the practice of a re- cause then the wheel’s benefts are transmitted to the volving Dharma repository at Wutaishan 五台山 given elements, which carry and spread them throughout the by a Western traveler toward the end of the nineteenth universe.20 century suggests that “those who turn this ponderous Tibetan Buddhism also has developed visualization cylinder believe that they acquire as much merit by techniques centered on the prayer wheel. Te frst visu- the act as if they read all the books [contained in the alization describes a centrifugal process in which light device], repeated the prayers, and knocked their heads emitting from the mantra in the prayer wheel is visu- on the ground before all the gods whose images are alized; this light permeates the world and purifes it by enshrined in the wheel.”24 Miss Gordon Cumming, a sweeping away all negative karma. Te second visual- Western traveler to China and Japan during the same ization is about a centripetal process in which the light period, reports the presence of revolving Dharma re- emitting from the wheel’s mantra absorbs and elimi- positories, which she calls “Scripture-Wheels,” at many nates all negative elements.21 temples, but they were kept inside closed buildings and William Simpson, one of the frst Westerners to rarely used.25 study the prayer wheel (focusing mostly on its Tibetan In Japan, it is said that by making this apparatus ro- versions), pointed to its main function as a merit-mak- tate, an amount of merit equivalent to that produced by ing device. As he wrote, actually reading the scriptures would be acquired. Tis was clearly a ritual act, as indicated by the fact that, in according to the Buddhist doctrine of Karma, or premodern times, people turned the prayer wheel while good works, the more a wheel is turned, the more chanting the nenbutsu. Karma, or merit, is acquired by the person who We can clearly see a continuity in both action and causes it to turn; and from this it may be assumed signifcance between Tibetan prayer wheels and Si- that in the case of the cylinders propelled by wa- no-Japanese rotating sutra repositories: the action sets in motion a rotating device, the function of which is understood as the generation of merit; merit is in turn explained as being produced by the power of the sa- 19 uoted in ibid., p. 37. 20 See also ibid., pp. 48–50. Some of the semiotic strategies in which mantras are deemed effectie in antric uddhism, with 22 Simpson, he uhis rayinghee, p. 16. special focus on the apanese Shingon tradition, are discussed in 23 Ibid., p. 28. ambelli, uhis heory o Semiois, especially chapter 4. 24 Ibid., p. 21. 21 Ladner, he hee o rea Comassion, p. 39. 25 uoted in ibid., p. 115.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 63 cred words (either mantras or entire scriptures) carried ual device that bases its efcacy on Buddhist scriptures by those devices. In the specifc case of sutra reposi- while at the same time making their “reading” com- tories, we do have indirect contact with the sutras pletely unnecessary. (touching the shelves where they are placed), but none Despite these operational and functional similari- of the actions we usually attribute to “reading” (even if ties, prayer wheels and rotating sutra repositories also we understand this action in a very broad sense); the show important diferences in technological structure scriptures themselves are not even touched. And yet, and economic scale. Te former is a relatively small ob- this practice is supposed to produce merit. How can we ject, easy to build and carry; the latter is a large device, explain its underlying logic? which cannot be moved, the construction of which re- Te efcacy of the prayer wheel seems to be based quires specifc skills and huge investments. In this re- on the complex semiotic drif of an infuential Bud- spect, we can see why rotating sutra repositories were dhist image, the “turning of the wheel of the Dharma,” considered tokens of prestige for the temples owning which originally referred to the Buddha preaching the them.27 Dharma. Rhys Davids, almost a century ago, explained that this expression should be understood as referring to “the setting in motion onwards of the royal chari- ▪ Early Modern Automata and Mechanical ot-wheel of the supreme dominion of the Dhamma,” Devices which means “the inauguration, or foundation, of the Kingdom of Righteousness.”26 In prayer wheels, we Japan has a long history of fascination with automata observe a metaphor (the expression “turning of the and clockwork mechanisms. Legends dating back sev- Dharma wheel” as referring to the Buddha’s preaching eral centuries tell of magicians or master carpenters and, by extension, to spreading Buddhism) being taken creating mechanized humanoids to help them in con- literally and made into a blueprint for mechanical de- struction work—veritable “robots” (laborer-automa- vices. In these rotating objects (wheels), ofen incorpo- tons) ante litteram. In most versions of these legends, rating the shape of the Indian cakra wheel (to reinforce the automata eventually were discarded afer the job their meaning), placed at temples or other religious sites was completed, but they continued to live; they married to be used by pilgrims and devotees, parts—if not the human females and raised progeny, whose descendents totality of the Dharma (individual mantras or the entire became some of the leading families of carpenters in canon)—literally are “turned” to indicate the spread of premodern Japan.28 Buddhism and its efcacy. As such devotional opera- Te technology of automata fourished during the tions involve manipulation of Buddhist sacred objects, Edo period, when a number of artisans and profession- they are considered to be highly meritorious and, by als began to specialize in producing automated devices, extension, to contribute to the difusion of Buddhism. known as karakuri in Japanese. Typically, karakuri Later, an additional layer of signifcation was added were moving dolls carrying cups of tea or sake, but we to these devices, as the rotating apparatus came to con- also fnd walking or horse-riding dolls, dolls playing a tain written mantras and even entire Buddhist scrip- drum, and pairs of animated puppets performing plays. tures. Te new implication is that the actual turning Artisans also built clocks and clockwork models of the of the entire apparatus carrying the scriptures, or of earth, and even of the Buddhist world centered on Mt. its components inscribed with sacred writings, would Sumeru.29 spread those sacred words into the air. In this case, the A stunning example of an automated puppet, dating Buddha’s speech has been transformed into writing, but the Dharma wheel presupposes the idea that writ- ing can be spread through the air similarly to speech. 27 or a fascinating study on rotating sutra repositories in apan, “Dharma” is understood here as “scriptures,” “wheel” addressed from a different perspectie than that discussed here, see ubanks, “ircumambulatory eading.” is the revolving bookcase, and “turning” is the actual 28 See ambelli, uhis aeriaiy, pp. 177–78. performance of the ritual. In other words, rinzō is a rit- 29 or a study of premodern apanese automata, see atsukawa, Karakuri. n clockwork representations of ount Sumeru, see ambelli, “Sada Kaiseki n lternatie Discourse,” pp. 104–42; ambelli, “isions of the Inisible Images and epresentations,” 26 uoted in ibid., p. 52. pp. 132–43.

64 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 from the late eighteenth century and still functioning today, is a representation of the monk Hotei 布袋 on a stage (called Hoteidai 布袋台).30 With two acolytes (dōji 童子) fying above him, Hotei performs various movements for about ffy minutes until the fan he holds in his lef hand opens up to reveal the religious message wakō dōjin 和光同塵 (“dimming one’s radiance and becoming one with the dust of the secular world”), a passage originally found in the ancient Chinese classic 老子 that was used widely in premodern Japan to refer to the way in which divinities appeared and inter- vened in this world. Tis mechanical device was used at temple festivals.31 A karakuri catalogue of 1757 (Hōreki 宝暦 7), en- titled Ōkarakuri etsukishi 大からくり絵尽, authored by Nishimura Shigenaga 西村重長 (1697–1756), in- cludes an image of the tainai totsuki no zu 体内十月 図 (“image of the ten months inside the womb”), also known as tainai totsuki henge 体内十月変化 (“trans- formations in the ten months inside the womb”). It rep- resents the development of the baby inside the womb during the ten months of gestation, overlooked by ten Buddhist divinities (from Fudō 不動 to Amida), one for each month (fgure 2). Te conceptual framework for this device is based on medieval embryology and the cult of the ten buddhas (in itself, a variation of the ire 2. ainai osuki karakuri (mechanical device representing the cult of the thirteen buddhas), as described in texts such fetus’s transformations inside the womb). rom Nishimura, karakuri esukushi, ol. 2, p. 5. ourtesy of the National Diet ibrary, okyo. as Sanken itchisho 三賢一致書 (1649) by Dairyū 大龍 (n.d.). According to Furukawa Miki, Buddhist priests used Tis statement was followed by explanations of the two this device as a ritual implement to explain gestation— mandalas of Esoteric Buddhism, the existence of a lotus and, additionally, the cycle of life and reincarnation. in the body corresponding to the heart, and a narrative Furukawa reports a typical sermon as follows: about a spear (man) placed in the sea (woman) until it reaches the lotus (vagina) at the bottom; when that happens, afer ten months a baby is born.32 Te woman’s jade gate is the origin of the three One of the last of these devices is reported in worlds. All ornaments of the buddha-body are Asakusa in 1862.33 Tis type of Buddhist-inspired kara- tools (dōgu 道具) abiding inside women’s wombs. kuri, very popular in the Edo period, suggests the need If pulled apart they become Buddhist ritual imple- for further study on early modern prayer machines and ments, if kept together they stay inside the womb Buddhist attitudes toward technology. as women’s tools. Te shape of the fetus in the frst month, and in general the shape of the human being when it is born, they all arise from this staf (shakujō 錫杖).

30 Hotei h. udai) is commonly known in the est as “laughing 32 Furukawa, usesu shomin geinō, pp. 185–86. uddha” or “fat uddha”; he is a figure of early modern hinese 33 oward the end of the do period, this type of deice inspired folk religion who also became popular in apan. other karakuri related to sex and pornography; see Kinoshita, 31 See atsukawa, Karakuri, pp. 59–61. ijusu o iu misemono, p. 102.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 65 ▪ Robot Monks and Virtual (Online) Services fore death). It will stay with the family of the bereaved for forty-nine days, the traditional period of mourning; Tese premodern precedents can perhaps contribute on the last day, it will say some fnal words and shut to explaining the Japanese interest in technological of. According to Fujii, this limited scope of activity will gadgets and, recently, in robots, as well as the fact that facilitate the labor of mourning; of course, nothing will Japan is the country where the most advanced research prevent future customers from keeping robotic ver- in robotics is carried out.34 In recent years, robots have sions of deceased people for a longer time.37 also surfaced in religious settings. A robot monk wel- A more complex device, called Robo-Priest, has comes visitors to Hōtokuji 報徳寺 in the city of Kak- been employed at a Yokohama funerary chapel since ogawa, Hyōgo Prefecture, in central-western Japan. It 1993. It has been programmed to deliver prayers in normally sits still and silent in meditation ( 座禅) ceremonies according to the liturgy of seven Buddhist position, with a rosary (juzu) in its lef hand, but when a sects, Shinto, and two Christian denominations. A sensor detects a visitor in the temple hall, the robot au- computer records the date of death of each individual tomatically begins chanting a Buddhist scripture while memorialized at the chapel. On that day every year, the striking the mokugyo 木魚 (literally, “wooden fsh”), a Robo-Priest comes down from its location in the chap- percussion instrument used in Buddhist ceremonies. el’s ceiling to a place in front of the altar and chants the Tis robot monk, built out of recycled material, is a appropriate prayers—according to the religion of the low-tech device, closer to a doll than to a full-fedged deceased person—for thirty minutes. Tis robot, de- robot. Te resident priest of the temple found that the veloped by a commercial, for-proft funeral enterprise, parishioners actually like the robot monk, who has be- ofers customers (the deceased and their families) rit- come a sort of “temple mascot.”35 ual services that are cheaper and more accurate than A very recent and more developed version of a robot those normally ofered by Buddhist monks and other monk is an adaptation of Pepper ペッパー, SofBank religious specialists.38 Te fact that this robot is custom- Group Corp.’s humanoid robot. Since the summer of ized to pray according to diferent religious traditions is 2017, a specially programmed variety of Pepper is able also noteworthy, as it indicates an emphasis not on the to recite sutras from four major Japanese Buddhist actual person ofering the prayers, but on the prayers denominations; it is mostly intended to perform ac- per se. companying a human priest. Tis robot monk is now An even more high-tech type of memorial service available to chant Buddhist scriptures at funerals for a recently has been developed by Shunkeiji 春慶寺 in signifcantly cheaper fee than that charged by human Oshiage, one of Tokyo’s northeastern suburbs. Parish- monks, refecting changing perceptions in Japan about ioners can log on to a specifc website, called Netto the role of traditional Buddhist funerals and a growing Nōkotsudō ネット納骨堂 (literally, “internet crypt”), secular-minded attitude.36 Other robots engaging in fu- where they can view images of the funerary tablets (ihai neral-related activities are also under development. For 位牌) of their departed relatives and order sutra-chant- instance, neurologist and entrepreneur Fujii Naotaka ing for them, in which case they will see a recorded 藤井直敬 uses a version of Pepper as the prototype for image of a Buddhist priest chanting scriptures for the the so-called “Digital Shaman” (dejitaru shāman デジ dead.39 Te temple’s website ofers a free demonstration タルシャーマン). Tis shaman-like Pepper will have a of how the system works.40 An additional service is the mask reproducing the facial image of the dead person, so-called “computer memorial service” (pasokon kuyō and will speak with his or her voice (pre-recorded be- パソコン供養), in which parishioners can view, for a fee (currently, approximately US $1300), the funerary

34 n the situation of robotics in apan, see obertson, obo Saiens aus. 37 Nagakura, “Shikunichi made wa robotto de issho ni.” 35 See “oboonk Sutrahanting Doll ecomes emple ascot,” 38 See en Hillis, “he robot priest,” httpbenhills.comarticles 1999.5.28, httpwebapan.orgtrends00honbunt990527. apanunlimitedtherobotpriest; originally published in the html. Syney orning era, 1993.5.4. 36 See “uneral rites of the future” and “epper to don monk’s robe 39 See im Hornyak, “apanese turning to robotic crypts, irtual in new funeral role,” he aan imes, 2017.8.17, httpswww. grae isits,” 2013.4.10, httpwww.cnet.comnewsapanese apantimes.co.pmultimedia20170817newsfuneralrites turningtoroboticcryptsirtualgraeisits. future. 40 See httpwww.syunkeii.phtmltaiken.html.

66 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 tablets of their deceased family members, request and people from other countries, many Japanese show a view a virtual sutra-chanting, and also watch a slide distinctive interest in, and willingness to interact with, show of selected pictures of the deceased. Te temple’s robots. Robert Geraci, among others, explains this is a internet contractor also provides computer installation consequence of Japan’s religious heritage: “Valorization and support.41 Tis type of funeral service, known as of being human in Shinto and Buddhism explains the “computer tomb” (dennō haka 電脳墓), is receiving in- Japanese preference for humanoid robots.”44 Tis sup- creased interest in Japan.42 posed “valorization of being human,” however, stands In addition, companies are developing digital forms in contrast to the lack of diferentiation between hu- of ancestor worship (dejitaru kuyō デジタル供養) for mans and inanimate entities that we encounter in many the home. A recent example is the digital-worship set aspects of the Japanese religious tradition, as discussed “Fenestra” created by Uriu Daisuke 苽生大輔 at Tōyō by many authors including Geraci. Geraci and others, University. Te set consists of a round digital display moreover, seem to overemphasize, on the one hand, the resembling a mirror, a digital photo frame, and a candle positive view of technology and robots held by the Jap- holder. When a worshipper stands in front of the mir- anese, and on the other hand, the negative, dystopian ror for a few seconds, an image of the deceased person views that supposedly dominate Western visions of ro- will appear; similarly, when the candle holder is placed bots. Just as motifs such as Frankenstein and authors in front of the digital photo frame and the candle is lit, such as Philip Dick are not representative of the entire pre-recorded images of the deceased will appear.43 range of positions expressed in and America Arguably, the development of these kinds of auto- about robots and artifcial life, anime characters such as mated services points not so much to a degeneration Astroboy, created by Tezuka Osamu 手塚修, and popu- of Buddhism, but rather to the attempts of Buddhist lar robots such as ASIMO (produced by Honda) do not institutions to address new challenges in contemporary exhaust Japanese attitudes on the subject. Te West has Japanese society—in particular, the growing number a long tradition of visions of a technological, robotic of senior citizens (the segment of the population most utopia, and Japan has produced some of the most vio- involved in Buddhist practices) and their reduced mo- lent and disturbing dystopian visions of a technologi- bility, and the increasing fragmentation of Japanese cally dominated future.45 families, with younger people living far from their par- Tese treatments of attitudes toward Japanese robot- ents and grandparents and their family tombs. Most ics also ignore the distinction between natural entities Japanese today (and especially Buddhist priests) see and man-made artifacts, a distinction that is also pres- Buddhism from a sociologically pragmatic stance that ent in premodern Japanese philosophical speculation. encourages the tradition to adapt to changing social Such treatments also are characterized by a remarkable conditions in order to better serve its adherents (but confusion between Shinto and Buddhism, and by the also in order to survive). Automated technologies and vagueness of philosophical arguments regarding issues the internet make it possible to have religious services of materiality and sentience, as we shall see below.46 available at all times, and from a distance. Te Japanese robotics feld is well known for its development of humanoid robots that are engineered Theoretical Perspectives on Buddhist Prayer to operate in close contact with human beings in the Machines household (as pets, toys, and—in recent prototypes— even as sex objects), in the hospital (as nurses), and in Elsewhere I have proposed a general classifcation of ob- the workplace (as receptionists). In this regard, unlike

44 eraci, “Spiritual obots,” p. 10. In this passage, eraci 41 See httpwww.syunkeii.phtmlkuyou.html. repeatedly refers to eader and anabe, r., raiay eigious, 42 See obertson, “obot eincarnation,” p. 23, and especially pp. 34–35, 46. obertson, obo Saiens aonius; also, Duteigata, “New 45 n this subect, see omarasca, “obottoni, esoscheletri, echnologies and New uneral ractices in ontemporary armature poteniate,” pp. 220–62. apan,” pp. 227–44. or other recent deelopments, see the 46 or an analysis of the cultural and ideological scenarios behind “web busuan” at httpwww.onrain.p. contemporary Japanese robotics, see the recent work by 43 Nagakura, “Shikunichi made wa robotto de issho ni,” p. 25. See ennifer obertson on the subect, in particular her “endering also www.fenestra.p. obots,” pp. 405–26.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 67 jects on the basis of their nature and function, by elabo- In order to better understand how machines inter- rating on the work done by cultural historian Krzysztof vene in Buddhist prayer activities, a detour through Pomian and philosopher Maurizio Ferraris.47 Te clas- Umberto Eco’s discussion of the various types of ob- sifcations under this system are natural objects (raw jects that extend the natural capacities of the human objects found by humans in their environment), ideal body is in order here. Eco divides such objects into objects (such as numbers and scientifc facts, which do three distinct groups, which he calls prostheses, instru- not occupy a place in space and do not depend on sub- ments, and machines.49 Broadly speaking, a prosthesis jects for their existence), social objects (such as texts, is “an extension of our body’s capacity”; instruments rituals, and countries), human-made objects (tools, and machines are both prostheses. Prostheses are made food, and waste), and virtual objects (digital entities). by imitating the body and its natural functions, and Human-made objects include tools, those objects used can be used more or less intuitively; instruments and to make and modify other objects; machines also be- machines are not modeled afer the body. Moreover, long to this category. Tese categories are not necessar- instruments require human force to function, whereas ily distinct and impermeable. A piece of bamboo is a machines operate automatically with only minimal natural object, but it can be worked into a shakuhachi, human intervention and supervision. thus becoming a human-made object; a shakuhachi is Eco further distinguishes between four types of also a tool that transforms aspects of the materiality of prostheses, which he calls substitutive, extensive, per- the Dharma by playing music (a social object). In an- fective, and magnifying. A “substitutive prosthesis other set of transformations, a rotating sutra repository does what the body used to do but by accident is no can become waste (another type of human-made ob- longer able to”; this type includes artifcial limbs, walk- ject) as a consequence of iconoclastic actions, and be ing sticks, and eyeglasses. Extensive prostheses “extend recycled as mere pieces of wood (natural objects) ready the body’s natural actions”; they include cups, spoons, to be assembled in other confgurations (tools). chopsticks, and mirrors. Next, perfective prostheses en- In the context of this article, this typology allows us able the body to accomplish, with a higher degree of to see that Buddhist prayer machines are conceptually perfection, actions that it was already able to carry out amphibious objects, situated as they are at the intersec- naturally; these prostheses include chairs, tables, beds, tion of human-made objects (artifacts) and social ob- houses, and stairs. Finally, magnifying prostheses en- jects (texts): they are tools, made by other tools, used able the body to perform actions that it would not be to modify reality by enhancing the human capacity to able to accomplish by means of its own natural capac- pray, but they also produce intersubjective sense efects ities; examples are lenses, telescopes, bicycles, TV sets, (more or less directly related to their use, functions, and and musical instruments. signifcation) in a broad sense, in uses such as spread- Instruments (which Eco envisions as operated man- ing the Dharma and creating ways to understand the ually) perform actions that the human body is not able teachings and attain salvation. Furthermore, prayer to do; they include knives, scissors, hammers, and even machines are the product of diferent types of labor: cinema. An important feature of instruments as Eco material (the physical labor involved in the transfor- conceives of them is that they produce new objects and, mation of the raw materials and their assembling), se- in so doing, contribute to creating a new reality. Un- miotic (conceptualization, design, and artistic aspects), like prostheses and instruments, machines do things ritual (the type of labor that goes into the ritual uses of independently of the bodily organs that they replace or these machines), and performance (involving the user, perfect. Moreover, a machine operates by itself, without other participants, and possible observers).48 signifcant human intervention; ofen, human beings operating machines do not even know how their mech- anisms (and their inner operations) function. It is possible to envision a continuum, rather than 47 omian, “Histoire culturelle, histoire des smiophores,” pp. 82–83; erraris, oumenai. See ambelli, “ateriality, abor, and Signification of Sacred bects in apanese uddhism,” pp. 5–8. 48 or a preliminary definition of these types of labor, see ambelli, 49 co, “sseraioni sul design del futuro prossimo,” pp. 1–4; the “ateriality, abor, and Signification of Sacred bects,” pp. following discussion is based mostly on pp. 2–3. n the semiotic 8–14. alue of prostheses, see also co, Kan e ’orniorino, pp. 317–18.

68 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 clear-cut distinctions, between prostheses, instruments, Buddhist understanding of what it means to spread the and machines—a continuum characterized by a grad- Dharma and of the standard ways to accomplish this ual abstraction and separation from direct bodily con- through scriptures (and images based on them) is in nections. In Eco’s interpretation, prostheses are based order. Spreading the Dharma implies not only a quest directly on the shape of the body part that they are en- to win adherents, but also the achievement of various hancing. Instruments are less direct, but their use can goals, such as the proliferation of material tokens of still be inferred fairly well by their shape and design. In Buddhism (temples, texts, images, and various types of the case of machines, however, the direct relationship sacred artifacts), the prosperity of religious institutions, between their function and the human body has disap- and social respect for Buddhist practitioners. Normally, peared almost completely, being replaced instead by an the difusion of specifc scriptures in ancient and medi- “interface” such as a button, a keyboard, or a lever. Eco eval Buddhism took the shape of scripture worship. Te argues that the expanding presence and role of “ma- Lotus Sutra, one the most infuential scriptures in Jap- chines” (as he defnes them vis-à-vis prostheses and anese Buddhism, presents four diferent and orthodox instruments) in human life might end up dehumaniz- modes of sutra worship: possession (juji 受持), reading ing our interactions with tools in general. Of course, we (dokuju 読誦), copying (shakyō 写経), and explaining may note that dehumanization is being balanced by a (gesetsu 解説).50 Tese practices originally comprised counter-tendency to humanize complex machines, in- means of spreading the teachings, but with the devel- cluding robots, but the potential problem still remains. opment of the Mahayana tradition, they became full- In the case of Buddhist machines, however, it may fedged religious and devotional activities that were be argued that practically all ritual implements—not believed to produce merit. only the most complicated apparatuses, but also the Possession (juji) is ofen translated as “embracing,” simplest tools—are similar to “machine interfaces” in as indicating a belief in the teachings of the sutra. From Eco’s sense. Teir use may be simple and fairly intuitive, the context in which it appears, however, this term— but very few users would understand how these devices literally meaning “receiving and holding”—should be actually operate and why they are supposed to work. translated more accurately as “keeping,” “owning,” or Understanding requires competence in advanced Bud- “holding,” perhaps with the nuance of “holding dear” dhist doctrine, especially on the status of inanimate ob- but also “remembering.” Tis is the primary mode of jects and the possibility for inanimate entities to spread scripture worship. To worship a scripture, indeed, the the Dharma and play a salvifc role (which can be either worshipper frst must “own” it in some form: as an ob- passive or active, according to the interpretation and the ject, as a memorized series of sounds or graphs, or as a tradition). A shakuhachi can be played rudimentarily in set of teachings. a relatively intuitive way, and listeners may associate its Reading (dokuju, Sk. svādhyāya, adhyayana) refers sound with Zen Buddhism, but only very few of them to two diferent forms of “reading” a scripture: a direct will be able to actually spell out why sound—and, in reading from the text, either voiced or silent (doku 読); some cases, even noise, including natural noise such as and chanting (ju 誦)—that is, a memorized form of breath and the efects it produces by vibration through reading. Tis distinction in the actualization of the se- the bamboo tube of the instrument—can have a sote- miotic expression of a scripture—i.e., between reading riological efect. Te same applies to rotating sutra re- or listening aimed at understanding, and chanting as a positories. Paradoxically, however, complex machines voicing of the written signifer of the text—is particu- such as robots and internet ritual services have been larly important here, because the former is not privi- designed to be the easiest to understand and operate. leged over the latter.51 Sutra copying (shakyō) is one of the most distinc-

octrinal Isses Related to the Effcac of Buddhist Prayer Machines 50 iaoa ianhua jing wen gou 妙法蓮花経文句 p. yōhō rengekyō mongu), attributed to hiyi 智顗 538–597), contains In order to assess the theoretical role of machines in a description of modes of worshiping the ous Sura; see especially pp. 107c–12c. Buddhism as devices primarily used to spread the 51 or a history of sutra chanting with a discussion of its arious Dharma and generate merit, a discussion of both the functions, see Shimiu, okyō no sekai.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 69 tive Buddhist devotional practices. In Japan, we fnd es- people. Tools and technological devices also could be sentially two forms: handwritten copying and printing. mustered in order to contribute to a more massive and Handwritten copying (shakyō proper) consists literally pervasive difusion of the Dharma by various means. of copying the text onto various materials (usually Now, these modes of Dharma difusion were focused paper) with a brush. Printing (surikyō 摺り経) histor- on spreading not so much the signifed of the teachings, ically was carried out by the incision of the characters but their signifers. Tis raises an important doctrinal on wooden boards, which were then painted with ink issue: the intentionality of, and direct participation in, and fnally brayed.52 ritual activity aimed at spreading the Dharma. Prayer Explaining (gesetsu) is the general term for any kind wheels and rotating sutra repositories, for instance, of commentarial activity on a scripture. Tis ranges were built to spread the teachings (their written signi- from the practices of itinerant preachers to scholastic fers) to the four elements, and these devices, in turn, teaching, and from exegetical activity to state-spon- became channels for the difusion of Buddhism (again, sored lectures on specifc scriptures attended by the of its signifers) by giving a concrete, literal form to emperor and the highest secular authorities; such lec- the image of the Buddha’s “turning of the wheel of the tures were included among the ofcial activities con- Dharma.” At the least, the shakuhachi creates a Buddhist ducted for the religious protection of the political atmosphere, but transmission of the Dharma through it system (chingo kokka 鎮護国家). is only possible through a non-textual, non-linguistic To summarize, sutra worship as a means of spread- exegesis of musical signifers: the musical expression ing Buddhism consists of various ways to disseminate of shakuhachi Zen music cannot be directly and fully the material and semiotic aspects of a scripture. Posses- translated into verbal doctrines, and ends up creating a sion is the most general form of sutra worship, as it pre- music-based Zen experience. Robot and online priests supposes the availability of actual copies of the sutra. substitute with a virtual reality the traditional need of Reading refers to the proliferation of the phonic signi- a direct, physical co-presence of ritual specialist and fer, whereas copying is the proliferation of the written participant. Tey are not real monks, only images (on signifer. (Here, it is methodologically important to dis- websites) or simulacra (robots). Tis suggests not only tinguish between a sutra as an object and its two signi- that full ordination of the performer is not important fers.) Explaining disseminates the signifed of the sutra (Japanese Buddhism has a long history of downplaying (its doctrinal content). From this classifcation, we see the role and importance of monastic precepts), but that that understanding the doctrines of a scripture—that the emphasis is placed on ritual itself and not on direct is, the hermeneutic activity—was just one, and perhaps performance or attendance; again, the emphasis is on not even the most important, form of sutra worship ritual as signifer, not as a set of signifeds. Moreover, we and source of religious merit. can also detect a trend (already pointed out by Umberto It is important to note that scripture worship was Eco in his discussion of prosthetic devices) towards the related to the development of methods and devices difusion of easy-to-employ digital interfaces as Bud- used to ensure the broadest possible difusion of the dhist prayer machines that require only limited use of scriptures/teachings (the Dharma), thus resulting in a the human body in religious activities: no need exists to maximization of accrued merit. Study and exegesis (the play the shakuhachi, it is enough to play some digital re- fourth mode of scripture worship), because of their very cordings of it; there is no need to go to a temple to me- nature, could only be pursed on an individual basis (or, morialize one’s deceased family members, as this can be at most, in small groups). Te other forms of worship, done from home via personal computer. Direct bodily in contrast, lent themselves to large-scale endeavors, involvement has always been one of the key features of such as printing (copying) and continuous chanting at Buddhist practice, and we may wonder how that will busy crossroads (recitation) so as to be heard by many change with the further difusion of digital technolo- gies and simple interfaces. In general, scholars tend to present ritual uses of 52 he oldest sutra copy extant in apan is a copy of the inggang sutras aimed at spreading the Dharma and its benefts hang ouuoni jing 金剛場陀羅尼経 p. Kongōjō arani kyō), as merit-making activities. Especially in contemporary dating to the fourteenth year of the reign of mperor enmu 686). he practice of surikyō already existed in the Nara period Japan, however, merit does not seem to be a major con- 710–794). cern among participants in Buddhist rituals involving

70 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 scripture manipulation. Te use of sutras ofen is con- disposal of pet robots (such as Sony’s AIBO).56 In ad- sidered simply as an activity defned as arigatai ありが dition, a Buddhist temple, Kōfukuji 光福寺 in the city たい, a term meaning something valuable, blessed, ed- of Isumi (Chiba Prefecture) east of Tokyo, has begun ifying, or uplifing—something to be appreciated and to ofcially perform Buddhist funerals for robots— thankful for. Te idea of merit being transferred both to again, with a special focus on AIBO pets. For the tem- the memorialized person and the sponsors of the ritual ple priest, in this ceremony “the robots could pass from is largely absent in Japan today. Still, scriptures are pres- their body.”57 ent as material objects (as amulets or paraphernalia in One of the most infuential proponents of the an- the family’s Buddhist altar), and they are “actualized” in imated nature of robots is engineer and AI scientist rituals through chanting (sound is another “material” Mori Masahiro, who famously wrote, “robots have the form of scriptures). Hence, sutras today (and perhaps, buddha-nature within them—that is, the potential for to a certain extent, also in the past) are not used pri- attaining .”58 Mori argues for the ontologi- marily to produce merit; they tend to function as just cal identity of human beings and machines. His starting another liturgical implement, part of the ritual setting. point is a pantheistic view of the universe, in which a As such, they contribute to creating what we could call fundamental and eternal life-force permeates all beings a Buddhist “atmosphere,” much like design objects and and entities. Tis life-force “forms and moves every- other commodities. thing from the elementary particles through … human Te fact that machines are entrusted with spreading beings, society … to the entire cosmos.”59 Mori refers the Dharma raises another important doctrinal issue, to this basic life-force by the Buddhist term “Empti- an extension of traditional doctrines about “nonsen- ness” (Sk. śūnyatā, Jp. kū 空), inaccurately rendered in tients preaching the Dharma” (mujō seppō 無情説法), the English version of the book as “Void.” It appears and, more fundamentally, questions about the status that Mori considers Emptiness to be equivalent to an- of both sentience and the nonsentient. Authors have other Buddhist concept, that of the buddha-nature. He pointed out that, in the Japanese religious tradition writes, “Te buddha-nature, then, is the principle or (usually identifed with Shintoism), no ontological dis- law that moves everything. It exists throughout the uni- tinction is made between animate and inanimate be- verse and flls it completely.”60 Elsewhere, Mori seems ings, humans and machines. Tus, it has been argued to equate the buddha-nature with the Buddha himself, that “Shinto acknowledges no necessary contradiction envisioned as the totality of the universe. between animism and modern scientism.”53 As Asak- It is worth mentioning that, in strictly doctrinal ura Reiji has written, “In Japan … where the native terms, Emptiness is emphatically not a life-force; Mori’s religion sees kami … in all the myriad manifestations interpretation hews closely to modern developments in of nature, it follows naturally that a robot would have Japanese Buddhist thought that, in many respects, are a spirit as well.”54 Perhaps, then, it is not surprising to not in line with traditional, orthodox doctrines. Tis fnd out that, in the early phases of the introduction of modernist pantheism lies at the basis of Mori’s argu- robots to industrial manufacturing processes, compa- ment that robots are also endowed with the buddha-na- nies hired Shinto priests to perform consecration and ture and therefore are not diferent from human beings. naming rituals for the newly installed machines; later, According to Mori, machines are created by men, but as when robots became commonplace in industry, such men are “appearances created by the Void,” by which he ceremonies were discontinued.55 As recently indicated means Emptiness or cosmic life-force, “then whatever by Jennifer Robertson, however, a new web-based ser- men create must also be created by the Void. It must vice was inaugurated in 2014 to provide “robot funer- also partake of the buddha-nature, so do the rocks and als” (robotto sō ロボット葬), mostly aimed at the ritual

56 See httprobotsou.com. 53 carland, ush our o he os, p. 26. 57 obertson, “obot eincarnation,” pp. 13–14. n Kōfukui’s robot 54 sakura, “he ndroids are oming,” p. 18. funerals, see Suuki, “n Inside ook at a apanese obot Dog 55 Schodt, nsie he obo King, pp. 196, 197, and 195–212; uneral.” Henry Scott Stokes, “apan’s loe affair with the robot,” New ork 58 ori, he uha in he obo, p. 13. imes, 1982.1.10; Harry . lifford, “apan’s robot reolution,” 59 Ibid., p. 112. New ork imes, 1982.2.14. 60 Ibid., p. 174.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 71 trees around us.”61 Even more fundamentally, “every- Mahāvairocana. Tus, everything in the universe is part thing in the universe is identical with the mind of the of a cosmic semiotic process of Dharma transmission, Buddha.”62 Tus, continues Mori, called hosshin seppō 法身説法 (the Dharmakāya, i.e., the Buddha in its absolute mode of existence, preaching From the Buddha’s viewpoint, there is no mas- the Dharma). According to this pansemiotic doctrine, ter-slave relationship between human beings tools (including ritual implements) are one of the four and machines. Te two are fused together in an fundamental modes of existence of the cosmic buddha interlocking entity. Man achieves dignity not by as represented by the karma mandala.66 subjugating his mechanical inventions, but by recognizing in machines and robots the same bud- dha-nature that pervades his own inner self.63 Conclusion

Despite their overall modernist framework, in which Tus far, we have seen that Buddhism historically is not a vague pantheistic and spiritualist animism predom- against technological advances and their application to inates, Mori’s theories are not unrelated to classical religious devices. One of the reasons for this attitude Japanese Buddhist doctrinal speculation going back is the efort to promote the Dharma, an efort that re- to the ninth century. Mori indeed refers to some Zen quires methods and tools for reproducing and prolif- teachings as formative of his understanding of the sym- erating tokens of Buddhism. Te privileged types of biotic relationship between humans and machines. Zen Dharma tokens that have been reproduced most exten- Buddhism developed the idea that nonsentients (ob- sively through mechanical devices relate directly to the jects and natural entities such as trees and mountains) teachings themselves (in a literal understanding of the preach the Dharma; words on this subject by the Zen Dharma), as sanctioned and encouraged by infuential patriarch Dōgen 道元 (1200–1252) are well known.64 In Mahayana scriptures, particularly the Lotus Sutra. East Asian Buddhist thought, the inanimates (mostly, It is important to note, though, that this proliferation material entities in the environment) normally have of tokens of the teachings (Dharma) through mechan- been considered to be able to preach the Dharma only ical means takes the shape of reproducing and spread- to an enlightened person. Another position has main- ing signifers of Buddhism: copies of the scriptures or tained that no ontological distinction exists between of mantras produced by mechanical printing presses, animate beings and inanimate entities, and thus the musical sounds associated with Zen Buddhism, ritual latter are also able to preach the Dharma. Te argu- forms and appearances as embodied in robots and in- ment is that ultimately no distinction is found between ternet memorial services, and perhaps, in more theo- subject and object, the enlightened being and his/her retically problematic forms, the exposure of written own environment; thus the Dharma is not present in signifers of the scriptures to the four elements as chan- specifc places (scriptures, temples) or associated with nels for universal difusion through revolving sutra re- specifc people (the Buddha, Zen masters).65 Esoteric positories and prayer wheels in general. In many cases, Buddhism, in both its Shingon and Tendai variants, for- these types of Dharma machines or their uses were mulated an analogous doctrine, according to which the explicitly sanctifed and ritualized in order to sanc- entire universe, in all its individual phenomena and en- tion their use in an orthodox, Buddhist context. Tis tities, is in fact the material body of the cosmic buddha sanctifcation mobilized doctrines of merit-making by contact with Buddhist tokens, and doctrines of the universal pervasiveness of the Dharma and buddha-na- 61 Ibid., p. 179. ture. One of the consequences of this use of technology 62 Ibid. for religious purposes, with its almost exclusive focus 63 Ibid., pp. 179–80. on signifers, has been the narcotization of the signi- 64 See Dōgen, Shōbōgenzō, ol. 2, pp. 61–71; ol. 1, pp. 331–41. 65 n the status of nonsentients in ast sian uddhism, with feds (the actual contents of the teachings themselves), particular attention to Japanese doctrinal developments, see ambelli, uhis aeriaiy, pp. 11–57; for a brief oeriew of apanese iews on nature in relation to discussions about nonsentients and sentience, see ambelli, “uddhist 66 n all of this, see ambelli, uhis heory o Semiois, pp. nironmentalism imits and ossibilities,” pp. 32–40. 66–68.

72 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 which have become more vacuous as their connections Reference List with their signifers became more tenuous.67 Tus, we observe that, in several cases (and perhaps not only in Adas, Michael. Machines as the Measure of Men: Science, Japan), the proliferation and presence of Buddhist to- Technology, and Ideologies of Western Dominance. Cornell kens (signs and symbols) does not necessarily result in University Press, 1989. a deeper understanding of the Buddhist teachings, but Asakura, Reiji. “Te Androids are Coming.” Japan Echo 30:4 rather contributes to create a kind of Buddhist atmo- (2003), pp. 13–18. sphere or ambience that may or may not induce people Conlan, Tomas. “Instruments of Change.” In War and to Buddhistically defned and desirable thought and State Building in Medieval Japan, ed. John Ferejohn and behavior. Frances Rosenbluth, pp. 124–58. Stanford University While the creation of a Buddhist atmosphere may Press, 2010. be considered a skillful means (Sk. upāya, Jp. hōben 方 Dairyū 大龍. Sanken itchisho 三賢一致書 (also known as 便) for the difusion of Buddhism, it also resonates with Sangai isshinki 三界一心記). In vol. 5 of Nihon shisō tōsō another aspect of Buddhism, largely under-recognized, shiryō 日本思想闘争史料, ed. Washio Junkei 鷲尾順敬, which can be defned as its non-hermeneutical dimen- pp. 503–40. Meicho Kankōkai, 1969–1970. sion.68 Tis non-hermeneutical dimension actually Dōgen 道元. Shōbōgenzō 正法眼蔵. In Dōgen. NST 12–13. may be closer to the core of Buddhist teachings than Dutei-Ogata, Fabienne. “New Technologies and New Funeral one might expect: with its focus on the direct presence Practices in Contemporary Japan.” In Asian Religions, of—and immediate interactions with—materiality, it Technology and Science, ed. Istváan Keul, pp. 227–44. tries to overcome the dualities that arise from all her- London: Routledge, 2015. meneutical endeavors, such as sign/referent, signifer/ Eco, Umberto. Kant e l’ornitorinco. Milan: Bompiani, 1997. signifed, text/interpreter, and things/words. Eco, Umberto. “Osservazioni sul design del futuro pros- In light of all of the above it may be argued that simo.” DDD Colore. Rivista trimestrale Disegno e Design mechanical prayer devices, despite their individual Digitale 6, pp. 1–4. diferences (related to the technologies employed, the Eubanks, Charlotte. “Circumambulatory Reading: Revolving historical contexts of use, and others), situate them- Sutra Libraries and Buddhist Scrolls.” Book History 13 selves at the intersection of received dichotomies— (2010), pp. 1–24. such as body and technology, material and spiritual, Ferraris, Maurizio. Documentalità. Rome and Bari: Laterza, mechanicism and intentionality—and, ultimately, the 2009. English translation: Documentality. Fordham sacred, salvation, and personal agency, all of which are University Press, 2012. questioned by the devices. In this sense, the non-her- Furukawa Miki 古河三樹. Zusetsu shomin geinō: Edo no meneutical product of prayer machines—a mechani- misemono 図説庶民芸能: 江戸の見世物. Yūzankaku, cally generated interaction with the sacred, the efects 1982. of which are almost completely independent of direct Geraci, Robert M. “Spiritual Robots: Religion and Our human agency and will—is something that transcends Scientifc View of the Natural World.” Teology and any dualistic distinctions (because it makes them irrel- Science 4:3 (2006), pp. 229–46. evant); as such, it is perhaps the ultimate form of Bud- Gomarasca, Alessandro. “Robottoni, esoscheletri, armature dhist prayer. potenziate: Le metafore del meka-corpo nell’animazione giapponese.” In La bambola e il robottone: Culture pop nel Giappone contemporaneo, ed. Alessandro Gomarasca, pp. 220–62. Torino: Einaudi, 2001. Goodrich, Luther C. “Te Revolving Bookcase in China.” HJAS 7 (1942), pp. 130–65. Gutzwiller, Andreas. Die Shakuhachi der Kinko-Schule. 67 he opposite also could be argued; namely, that because the uddhist teachings are so complex and hard to master, the Vol. 5 of Studien zur Traditionellen Musik Japan. Kassel: circulation of een simple understandings is important for the Bärenreiter, 1983. spread of uddhism. Gutzwiller, Andreas. “Shakuhachi: Aspects of History, 68 n the nonhermeneutical dimension of uddhism, see ambelli, uhis aeriaiy, pp. 89, 126–28, 259–73; ambelli, Practice and Teaching.” PhD dissertation, Wesleyan “ateriality, abor, and Signification,” pp. 18–19. University, 1974.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 73 Johnson, Henry. Shakuhachi: Roots and Routes. Leiden and Rambelli, Fabio. “Visions of the Invisible: Images and Boston: Brill, 2014. Representations in the Buddhist Tradition.” In Images Kanze Nagatoshi 観世長俊, attributed. Rinzō 輪蔵. In vol. 5 and Visions in Christian and Buddhist Culture, ed. Akira of Yōkyoku taikan 謡曲大観, ed. Sanari Kentarō 佐成謙 Akiyama and Kana Tomizawa (Kitazawa), pp. 132–43, 太郎, pp. 3373–84. Meiji Shoin, 1963–1964. 147–48. Special issue of Bulletin of Death and Life Studies Kinoshita Naoyuki 木下直之. Bijutsu to iu misemono: 8. Global COE Program DALS, Graduate School of Aburae jaya no jidai 美術という見世物: 油絵茶屋の時 Humanities and Sociology, Te University of Tokyo, 2012. 代, Kōdansha, 2010. Reader, Ian, and George J. Tanabe, Jr. Practically Religious. Kornicki, Peter. “Te Hyakumantō Darani and the Origin of University of Hawai’i Press, 1999. Printing in Eighth-Century Japan.” International Journal Robertson, Jennifer. “Gendering Robots: Posthuman of Asian Studies 9:1 (2012), pp. 43–70. Traditionalism in Japan.” In Recreating Japanese Men, McFarland, H. Neill. Rush Hour of the Gods: A Study of New ed. Sabine Frühstück and Anne Walthall, pp. 405–26. Religious Movements in Japan. New York: MacMillan, University of California Press, 2011. 1976. Robertson, Jennifer. Robo Sapiens Japonicus: Robots, Gender, Mori, Masahiro. Te Buddha in the Robot: A Robot Engineer’s Family, and the Japanese Nation. University of California Toughts on Science and Religion. Kosei, 1999. Press, 2017. Nagakura Katsue 長倉克枝. “Shijūkunichi made wa robotto Robertson, Jennifer. “Robot Reincarnation: Garbage, de issho ni” 四十九日まではロボットで一緒に. Artifacts, and Mortuary Rituals.” In Consuming AERA, 2017.8.7, pp. 24–25. Post-Bubble Japan, ed. Ewa Machotka and Katarzyna Nishimura Shigenaga 西村重長. Ōkarakuri etsukushi 大か Cwiertka. Amsterdam University Press, forthcoming. らくり絵尽. 2 vols. Kōzandō, 1933. Schodt, Frederik L. Inside the Robot Kingdom: Japan, Pomian, Krzysztof. “Histoire culturelle, histoire des sémio- Mechatronics, and the Coming Robotopia. New York: phores.” In Pour une histoire culturelle, ed. Jean-Pierre Kodansha International, 1988. Rious and Jean-François Sirinelli, pp. 83–100. Paris: Seuil, Schopen, Gregory. Figments and Fragments of Mahayana 1997. Buddhism in India. University of Hawai’i Press, 2005. Rambelli, Fabio. “Buddhist Environmentalism: Limits and Shimizu Masumi 清水眞澄. Dokyō no sekai 読経の世界. Possibilities.” Poetica 80, special issue on “Japan and Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 2001. Ecocriticism,” ed. David Bialock and Ursula Heise (2014), Simpson, William. Te Buddhist Praying-Wheel: A Collection pp. 21–49. of Material Bearing Upon the Symbolism of the Wheel Rambelli, Fabio. Buddhist Materiality: A Cultural History of and Circular Movements in Custom and Religious Ritual. Objects in Japanese Buddhism. Stanford University Press, London and New York: MacMillan, 1896. 2007. Suzuki, Miwa. “An Inside Look at a Japanese Robot Dog Rambelli, Fabio. “Honji Suijaku at Work: Religion, Funeral.” 2015. https:/www.yahoo.com/tech/an-inside- Economics, and Ideology in Pre-Modern Japan.” look-at-a-japanese-robot-dog-funeral-112049680289. In Buddhas and Kami in Japan: Honji Suijaku as html. a Combinatory Paradigm, ed. Mark Teeuwen and Takahashi Kūzan 高橋空山. Fukeshū shōshi: Sono shakuha- Fabio Rambelli, pp. 255–81. London and New York: chi sōhō no gakuri 普化宗小史: その尺八奏法の楽理. RoutledgeCurzon, 2003. Fukeshūshi Kankōkai, 1979. Rambelli, Fabio. “Materiality, Labor, and Signifcation Tatsukawa Shōji 立川昭二. Karakuri からくり. Vol. 3 of of Sacred Objects in Japanese Buddhism.” Journal of Mono to ningen no bunkashi ものと人間の文化史. 6:1 (2017), pp. 1–26. Hōsei Daigaku Shuppankyoku, 1969. Rambelli, Fabio. “Sacred Objects and Design in Buddhism.” Travagnin, Stefania. “Cyber-Activities and ‘Civilized’ In vol. 4 of World Encyclopedia of Design. London: Worship: Assessing Contexts and Modalities of Online Bloomsbury, forthcoming. Ritual Practices.” In Buddhism Afer Mao: Negotiations, Rambelli, Fabio. “Sada Kaiseki: An Alternative Discourse Continuities and Reinventions, ed. Gareth Fisher, Ji Zhe, on Buddhism, Modernity, and Nationalism in the Early and Andre Laliberte. Forthcoming. Meiji Period.” In Politics and Religion in Japan: Red Sun, Vallverdú, Jordi. “Te Eastern Construction of the Artifcial White Lotus, ed. Roy Starrs, pp. 104–42. London: Palgrave Mind.” Enrahonar. Quaderns de Filosofia 47 (2011), pp. MacMillan, 2011. 171–85.

74 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 White, Lynn T. Medieval Religion and Technology: Collected Essays. University of California Press, 1978. 智顗. Miaofa lianhua jing wen gou 妙法連華経文句. T 1718, 34: 1–149.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 75

Futanari, Between and Beyond: From Male Shamans to Hermaphrodites in The Illustrated Scroll of Illnesses

SATOMI YAMAMOTO

Introduction in Te Illustrated Scroll of Illnesses.2 As in the case of Himiko 卑弥呼 of Yamataikoku 邪 AMAI no sōshi 病草紙 (Te Illustrated Scroll of 馬台国 in ancient Japan, shamans who mediated the Illnesses) is thought to have been completed in gods’ oracles were mainly women, although some were the late twelfh century, around the zenith of men. For example, the Midō kanpaku-ki 御堂関白記 YEmperor Goshirakawa’s 後白河上皇 (1127–1192) cul- (Diary of the Midō Regent) by Fujiwara no Michinaga tural infuence. It contains twenty-one depictions in 藤原道長 (966–1029) contains an account in which a its extant form. Not limited to basic ailments such as male shaman was summoned to treat Emperor Sanjō’s toothaches and abdominal pain, the scroll also includes 三条天皇 (976–1017) eye disease on the thirteenth day depictions of a great variety of medical cases such as of the sixth month of Chōwa 長和 4 (1015). Based on hermaphroditism, albinism, and dwarfsm.1 this document, it seems Michinaga and his contempo- Among these cases is an entry titled “Futanari” 二 raries could choose between female and male shamans. 形, which depicts an intersex soothsayer, a fgure seem- At the time there was no sense that a male shaman was ingly based on Heian-period (794–1185) male sha- a strange phenomenon. mans (otoko miko or okannangi 男巫) who sometimes A diferent perspective on male shamans can be dressed in women’s clothing. Tis essay investigates the found in the popular songs, or imayō 今様, of the late culture of male shamans with respect to their depiction Heian period. Tese songs were recorded in the Ryō- jin hishō 梁塵秘抄 (Songs to Make the Dust Dance on the Beams), compiled around the Jishō 治承 era (1177– The author would like to thank Eric Jose Estaban for his trans- 1181) by Retired Emperor Goshirakawa. Some of the lation of the rst draft of this essay. his essay is based on the songs make reference to male shamans, mocking them author’s presentation for the 2017 AAS Annual Conference in Toronto, March 2017, as part of the following panel: “Deforming, ransforming, and erforming welfthentury Space rael through iminal odies.” rganier akeshi atanabe, ssistant 2 In this essay, the word “soothsayer” indicates the futanari's rofessor, esleyan niersity; Discussant stelle eggeri profession. It is based on the following text found in the scroll auer, rofessor, IN. “ man who walked around . . . and told fortunes” 占し歩く男). 1 or all twentyone depictions, see Kasuya and Yamamoto, Yamai n the other hand, the word “male shaman” corresponds to the no sōshi, pp. 2–43. translation of the historical term otoko miko or okannangi.

77 Figure 1. “utanari,” a section of amai no sōshi. 12th c., Heian period. H 26.2 cm, 47.6 cm. Handscroll, ink and colors on paper. ollection Kyoto National Museum, reproduced with permission.

for their ties to the marginal cultures of the eastern but it is said that, in certain aspects, he resembled hinterlands and the emerging warrior class. Further- a woman. Tinking that was strange, some people more, these songs show the same kind of mocking gaze crept in on him while he was asleep at night. Lifing cast upon the intersex soothsayer in the text and image up his clothing, they looked and saw that he had the of “Futanari.” In this essay I will discuss the basis of the organs of both a man and a woman. He was some- multiple meanings of “Futanari” and the term futanari one of “two forms.” by focusing on Buddhist teachings and the Heian-pe- riod culture of male shamans.3 Te illustration depicts a man sneaking into the sooth- sayer’s bedchamber (fgure 1). Lifing the soothsayer’s gown, the man discovers that the soothsayer has both Description and Illustration in “Futanari” male and female sex organs. At frst glance, the intersex fgure, wearing a black Te “Futanari” section, currently held at the Kyoto Na- eboshi 烏帽子 hat and a fully grown beard, appears to tional Museum, features an intersex soothsayer. He is be depicted as a male fgure. Upon closer inspection, described as follows: however, the more feminine characteristics of the per- son—his red-painted lips and cheeks, as well as the red なかごろ みやこ つづみ うら あり fan hanging on the wall—tell a diferent story. More- 中頃、京都に鼓を首に懸けて、占し歩く男あり。 over, the prayer beads hanging from his neck as well 形男なれども、女の姿に似たることもありけり。 as the fute and drum by his pillow all suggest that he おぼつか 人これを覚束ながりて、夜寝入りたるにひそかに works as a shaman. Te intruder invites another man きぬ 衣をかき上げて見ければ、男女の根、共にありけ to come closer. Although the second man is clearly ふたなり 4 attempting to escape the scene, with the lower half of り。これ二形の者なり。 his body turned away from the room, his face peeping from behind the curtains betrays his curiosity. Te two Not too long ago, there was a man who walked intruders laugh and sneer as they look upon the sleep- around the capital. He had a drum hanging from ing person’s genitalia. his neck and told fortunes. He looked like a man,

3 lso see Yamamoto, “Yamai no sōshi’ ni okeru setsuwa no ryōbun.” 4 Kasuya and Yamamoto, amai no sōshi, p. 240.

78 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 Medical Science and Sutra Teachings the Body” chapter (Shinnenjobon 身念処品), a passage Regarding Hermaphroditism regarding “Te Womb-Turning Wind” 転胎蔵風 dic- tates how the diferent sexes are divided: According to present-day medical science, “intersex” is understood to be a condition in which a deviation For acts of evil committed in a previous life, one from the typical development of the sexual organs has who was intended to be a man instead becomes a occurred. Tere are several causes—for example, vari- woman. Another becomes a eunuch, while another ations in chromosomes and gonads, or a hormonal im- dies in the womb. Given that this is caused by sins, balance. those without sin from a previous life do not sufer 7 A case such as that illustrated in this work of both punishment. the male and the female external genitalia developing into adulthood cannot, however, be verifed medically. Tis passage, which uses words such as “a man instead In other words, the illustration does not depict a med- becomes a woman,” is reminiscent of the description ical condition that is known to exist naturally. Rather, in “Futanari” (“Although his appearance was that of a it depicts a fctitious patient associated with the word man, he would occasionally dress as a woman”) as well futanari. What are the word’s origins and how was it as the visual depiction of the person having both male used in the Heian period? and female sex organs. Tis condition is not identifed in the Ishinpō 医心 Tis sutra also attributes eunuchry to licentious 方 (Formulas From the Heart of Medicine), a medical acts committed in a previous life. For example, in the 8 treatise in thirty volumes completed by the mid-Heian- “Beasts” chapter (Chikushōbon 畜生品), those who en- period physician Tanba no Yasunori 丹波康則 (912– gage in bestiality or force others to commit crimes frst 995), who referenced handwritten Chinese medical descend into hell, then become beasts, and when they documents dating to no later than the eighth century. fnally achieve rebirth in the human realm they do so in 9 On the other hand, the words futanari and the synony- the form of a eunuch. mous nikon 二根 appear frequently in Buddhist sutras. In the “Ten Good or Bad Deeds” chapter (Jūzengōdō- Bussetsu daijō zōzō kudokukyō 仏説大乗造像功徳 bon 十善業道品), the word nikon, synonymous with 経 (Sutra of Mahayana Buddhism on the Merit of the the word futanari, appears in a passage that explains, Construction of the Buddha’s Image), which describes “Tose who enjoy acts of licentiousness will enter the the construction of a statue of Śākyamuni (the histori- realm of hell, hungry ghosts, or beasts. Even if they are cal buddha) by King Udayana, is but one example of the reborn as humans, their wives will not be obedient, or 10 word’s frequent appearance in . Te sutra they will be hermaphrodites scorned by the world.” opens with the virtuous construction of a Buddhist Te intersex fgure in Te Illustrated Scroll of Illnesses statue and explains that people are always born as men, faces ridicule from society as represented by the two in- and not as women, eunuchs, hermaphrodites, or others truders in the illustration and the unspecifed number of low rank.5 Te sutra divides the human race into four of people mentioned in the text. Tis disdain and deri- varieties: men, women, eunuchs, and hermaphrodites, sion refects teachings about karmic retribution found and states that not being born a man is a form of karmic in the Buddhist sutras. Since Shōbō nenjokyō is one of retribution because, according to Buddhist thought, the sources of the Scroll of Hell and the Scroll of Hungry only men have the potential to be a Buddha. Ghosts, this sutra would have been familiar to the cre- Similar teachings are included in the Shōbō nenjokyō ators of the picture scrolls in the Heian period. For both 正法念処経 (Sutra of Meditation on the True Law), the creators and readers of this scroll, a hermaphrodite which is also one of the sources for Jigoku zōshi 地獄草 紙 (Te Scroll of Hell) and Gaki zōshi 餓鬼草紙 (Te Scroll of Hungry Ghosts).6 Within the “Meditation on Kobayashi, “Hekia emaki ni tsuite” and “utsumyō to Shamon igoku”; Shinbo, “Harakebon igoku ōshi no gadai to shutten”; meawa, “Ya o hagu ishamonten ō to hekiae’ no shudai.” 7 Shōbō nenjokyō, p. 392b. 5 ussesu aijō zōzō kuokukyō, p. 793c. 8 lthough the chapter is called “easts,” it also includes the realm 6 hese scrolls are thought to hae been produced as a series of Ashura 阿修羅. of rokuōe 六道絵 along with he usrae Sro o nesses. 9 Shōbō nenjokyō, p. 104a–b. See eno, “makimono ni tsuite”; anaka, igoku zōshi; 10 Ibid., p. 3c.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 79 would have been recognized as an object of derision were ofered for Emperor Sanjō, who had been sufer- and an obviously sinful individual. It is at this juncture ing from an eye disease for some time. News of the male that Te Illustrated Scroll of Illnesses and teachings from shaman coming to cure Emperor Sanjō’s eye disease sutras coincide. was relayed to Michinaga through Fujiwara no Suke- However, the depiction in Te Illustrated Scroll of hira 藤原資平 (986–1068), who acted as an interme- Illnesses has many issues that cannot be explained by diary between Emperor Sanjō and Michinaga during Buddhist sutras. Te “Futanari” scene also contains their frequent political disagreements. many items that came from outside the sutras. Te text Michinaga ordered that rites be performed—rites in describes the fgure as a wandering “soothsayer,” and which someone would “make oferings and perform a even the illustration depicts prayer beads around the ritual near Kitano.” Ten he went to the palace imme- man’s neck as well as the characteristic possessions of a diately to confrm the details of the shaman. Finally he shaman, a fute and drum, strewn on the foor. was informed it was a male shaman. Why are these attributes associated with a futanari? “Near Kitano” refers to a location in the vicinity of Te answer can be found only in the contemporaneous Kitano Tenmangū Shrine 北野天満宮. It remains un- existence during the Heian period of these androgy- clear whether the male shamans who performed rituals nous soothsayers—male shamans in women’s clothing. at the time did so in women’s clothing. Te fact that Te work’s depiction of the futanari thus refects the Michinaga uses the term “male shaman,” however, sug- superimposition of the sutra’s conception of intersex- gests that the word “shaman” was inherently associated uality onto a male shaman.11 In this way, the text and with women. Multiple studies have found that it was image of “Futanari” can be connected to the actual state largely women who acted as oracles, mediums, and of male shamans in the Heian period. soothsayers.13 We can look to Yanagita Kunio’s early work of 1913 to 1914, “Fujo kō” 巫女考 (On Shrine Maidens), which The Male Shaman in the d anau consists of groundbreaking research on the traditions of female shamans and soothsayers all around Japan.14 Te Heian period saw the existence of male shamans He would later continue this work in “Tamayorihime in women’s clothing who acted as mediums. As already kō” 玉依姫考 (On Tamayorihime, 1917), in which he mentioned, Fujiwara no Michinaga’s Midō kanpaku-ki focused on the role women played with regard to the contains an account in which a male shaman is sum- gods of heaven and earth.15 Yanagita developed his ideas moned on the thirteenth day of the sixth month of further in “Tamayorihiko no mondai” 玉依彦の問題 Chōwa 4 (1015) to treat Emperor Sanjō’s eye disease: (Te Problem of Tamayorihiko, 1937), which explored the tradition of a pair of brother and sister gods (onari- Tirteenth day of the year of kanoto-u [辛卯, 1015]. gami おなり神) in Okinawa.16 A few years later he pub- Lord Sukehira said, “Tere is someone who claims lished one of his landmark works, Imo no chikara 妹の he can cure His Majesty’s eyes. What do you think 力 (Sisters’ Power, 1940), which examined female sha- about having him do it?” Ten Lord Sukehira mans from the viewpoint of native Japanese folklore.17 explained the method of the cure: “We will have the In this study Yanagita argues that women, who in an- person make oferings and perform the ritual near cient Japan were ofen the sisters of political statesmen, Kitano.” I agreed with his suggestion. Soon afer, I were in charge of religious rituals. He suggests that in went to the palace to confrm the details of this. It most cases it was women who, as shamans, were tasked was a male shaman, and he was rewarded with a few gifs.12

Tis is a record from the period when various prayers 13 Nakayama, Nihon ujo shi; Hori, Nihon no shmanizumu; Yamakami, iko no rekishi Nihon shūkyō no boai; lacker, he Caaa ow Suy o Shamanisi raies in aan. 14 he work was serialied in twele issues of Kyōo kenkyū 郷土研 究 from arch 1913 to ebruary 1914. 11 be, “Sei no rinkai o ikiru”; be, “Sei no ekkyō,” pp. 206–12. 15 Yanagita, “amayorihime kō.” 12 Yamanaka, iō kanakuki zenhūshaku: Chōwa nen, pp. 16 Yanagita, “amayorihiko no mondai.” 112–13. 17 Yanagita, mo no hikara.

80 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 with divining messages from gods and ancestors. Yan- nuance of being far from the capital): “In the east, there agita defnes their role as women who provided counsel are no women, for the gods possess male shamans.”21 for the government with the impressive term “the sis- Another song specifcally references male shamans: ters’ power.” It was this “sisters’ power” granted only to “Oh, how I remember the great mansion of fne horses, women that male shamans attempted to wield. the mansion of warriors. Little apprentices dance on As additional evidence to prove that the shaman was the shoulders of magicians, and the diviners were male a women’s role, there is an entry on fugeki 巫覡, or sha- shamans of Hakata.”22 In this song, “male shamans of man, in the Wamyō ruijushō 和名類聚抄, the Japanese Hakata” could be seen among the gathering of per- dictionary of Chinese characters written by Minamoto formers at the warriors’ mansion with fne horses. Al- no Shitagō 源順 (911–983) in 934. Taken from the Setsu- ready marginal due to hailing from Kyushu, far from mon kaiji 説文解字 (Ch. Shuowen jiezi) of the Eastern the capital, these male shamans were doubly margin- Han dynasty (25–220) and the Moji jūryaku文字集略 alized within the warrior culture, which itself was mar- (Ch. jilüe) of the Liang dynasty (502–587), the ginal in relation to the court nobles in the capital. entry states that, “According to the Setsumon kaiji, the Let us look at another song: “At the gate to Sumi- fu 巫, also kamunaki, in fugeki refers to female medi- yoshi, the dancing shaman is possessed by the gods ums.”18 Te Moji jūryaku states that the geki 覡, also [tsukigami] and wears borrowed kariginu robes ripped onokokamunaki, refers to male mediums.19 Focusing from behind.”23 Here two words function with double on the Japanese of kamunaki (or miko, meanings: tsukigami, meaning both “possessed by the “medium” or “shrine maiden”) and onokokamunaki (or gods” (憑神) and “attached hair” (付髪); and kariginu, kannagi, “medium” or “diviner”), we can assume that referring to “hunting robes” (狩衣) worn by men and most shamans were female “shrine maidens” and that “clothing borrowed” (借衣) from a female shaman. Tis “male shamans” existed as a separate category. song has various interpretations, but two possible im- Going back to the context of the aforementioned ages within it are pertinent here: that of a low-ranking Midō kanpaku-ki, could it be possible that Michinaga shrine maiden dancing near the gate to Sumiyoshi, and felt a tinge of surprise or alarm knowing that the person that of a dancing male shaman who wears a wig and is conducting the rituals was a male shaman? Certainly, dressed in the “borrowed clothes” of a woman. Situated it is not possible to interpret this as Michinaga’s dis- at the farthest point from the main shrine, the image in criminatory feelings toward male shamans. While they this song of a shaman who dances at the boundaries of did have a role and place diferent from those of female the sacred and the profane can surely mean that he or shrine maidens, it can be assumed based on the account she is relegated to the fringes of society. in Midō kanpaku-ki that at times such rituals were con- Te appearance of male shamans dressed in wom- ducted by male shamans. en’s clothing is also described in the Nenchūgyōji emaki 年中行事絵巻 (Te Illustrated Scroll of Annual Events and Ceremonies), which was completed during Em- The Dissimilation of Male Shamans peror Goshirakawa’s lifetime. Te sixteen-scroll Sumi- yoshi version is considered to be the most faithful copy Te views held toward male shamans during the Insei of the twelfh-century original, which was destroyed in period (1086–1156) must be clarifed. Te Ryōjin hishō, a fre at the beginning of the Edo period (1615–1868). Its compiled by Retired Emperor Goshirakawa, is an in- third scroll depicts commoners engaging in cockfght- structive source for this purpose.20 While many of the ing on the grounds of the local shrine. Situated behind popular songs, or imayō, were composed by female sha- them is a humble building where a soothsayer, dressed mans, a number were composed by male shamans. In in exquisite robes, may be seen performing divinations the best-known song, male shamans are marginalized while playing a drum (fgure 2). We can assume that as a strange feature of the culture of the eastern prov- this is a male shaman from the moustache on the fg- inces (Tōgoku 東国 or Kantō 関東, terms that include a

18 inamoto no Shitagō, amyō ruijushō, p. 568. 21 yōjin hishō, p. 147 song 556). 19 Nakayama, Nihon ujo shi, p. 6. 22 Ibid., p. 100 song 352). 20 Kim, Songs o ake he us ane. 23 Ibid., p. 145 song 545).

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 81 Figure 2. Nenhūgyōji emaki, Sumiyoshi ersion, scroll III, section 1. 17th c., do period. Handscroll, ink and colors on paper. H 45.3 cm, 693.9 cm. rom Komatsu, Nenhūgyōji emaki, p. 16. riate collection.

ure’s face.24 dering shamans,” or aruki miko 歩き巫女, low-ranked Te male shaman depicted in this illustration is individuals who moved from place to place acting as situated not in the middle of the shrine grounds, but spirit mediums and performing divinations. rather in the margins away from the main buildings, Let us return to the Ryōjin hishō songs concerning performing rituals. Tis setting calls to mind the previ- “wandering shamans.” One song goes: ous image of the male shaman in the Midō kanpaku-ki, who was performing rituals at a place vaguely described My child is surely no longer a child; they say she as “near Kitano.” Te scene also resonates with the gen- wanders as a shaman. Surely the fshermen gather der-ambiguous shaman at the gate of Sumiyoshi Shrine ’round her when she walks along the bay of Tago. 住吉神社 in the aforementioned imayō. Tese male How they mock her, questioning whether she is shamans were not afliated with a particular shrine like right or wrong. How painful her life must be!25 priests or shrine maidens, but rather were called “wan-

24 Mitsuhashi, oshō o Nihonjin, pp. 45–52; Komatsu, Nenhūgyōji emaki. 25 yōjin hishō, p. 103 song 364).

82 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 Figure 3. Nenhūgyōji emaki, Sumiyoshi ersion, scroll III, section 1. 17th c., do period. Handscroll, ink and colors on paper. H 45.3 cm, 693.9 cm. rom Komatsu, Nenhūgyōji emaki, p. 17. riate collection.

Te song describes a roaming shaman who performs ered possible only in Buddhist texts, becomes associ- divinations for fshermen in the hinterlands, who rid- ated with in-the-fesh male shamans. Te male shaman icule her whether her prophecies are right or wrong. who performed rituals to cure Emperor Sanjō’s eye dis- Returning to the scene in the Nenchūgyōji emaki, at ease, the male shaman from the eastern hinterlands, the the corner of the crowd of people engaged in the cock- male shaman who danced beneath the gate to Sumiy- fght, next to a small shrine, sits an old woman with her oshi, the male shaman who donned a wig and woman’s obi laid out under her (fgure 3). With a drum used for clothing, the wandering shaman from the bay of Tago, divination placed in front of her, she has the typical and the wandering shaman amid the crowd of people— appearance of a wandering shaman. It is thought that all of these fgures are situated within text and image these shamans made a living by travelling to popular in a way that blurs the lines between truth and fction. gathering spots and performing divinations, and would When considered in light of the Buddhist sutra at times even give forms of public entertainment. teachings on karmic retribution, the “Futanari” scene We will now situate the futanari described at the be- takes on an even greater complexity, revealing the true ginning of this essay within the spectrum of the male nature of the futanari to be fundamentally liminal. shamans and wandering shamans who both existed Returning to the text and image of the “Futanari” sec- during the time of the Retired Emperor Goshirakawa. tion, the text states that the fgure whom people found We can now connect the marginalization of male sha- suspicious “carried a drum around his neck as a sooth- mans or wandering shamans as peripheral fgures, as sayer” and “had the appearance of a man, but would seen in the imayō and the Nenchūgyōji emaki, with the occasionally dress as a woman.” Te otherness of her- doubt and suspicion of society incurred by futanari maphroditism is hence revealed. Moreover, the intersex whom, as described in the text of the “Futanari” sec- fgure is ridiculed and rejected by society, as indicated tion, “people found suspicious.” by the two intruders who laugh and point at him. By Tese historical and literary contexts unlock a putting the intersex body of the male shaman on dis- greater understanding of the narrative in the “Futanari” play and showing the spectator’s reactions, the viewers scene. Tis is a rich, multifaceted narrative in which the of the scroll are themselves made to grasp the place of concept of hermaphroditism, which was once consid- futanari within the social hierarchy.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 83 However, the otherness signifed by hermaphrodit- fore the whole world, the woman is transformed into a ism does not merely exclude or marginalize. It also pos- man and achieves buddhahood. sesses an appeal that draws out the interest of people. Te woman with a body tainted by sin became a While the male shaman who appears in the imayō takes man, then a bodhisattva, and fnally a buddha. Te tale on a diferent appearance, he is still someone who holds of the ’s daughter, which vividly depicts an unusual sway over those around him, mesmerizing the metamorphosis of the physical body, mirrors the them with his incantations and performances. Tis is tale of the intersex fgure. According to the Buddhist the unique charm of the male shaman who dressed in teachings, being born anything other than a man is a women’s clothing. mark of sin from a previous life.27 On the other hand, Moreover, we cannot overlook the greater complex- someone can be transformed into a man due to good ity of the physical body of the intersex fgure in this deeds. Both of these conceptualizations transgress the depiction. Having both male and female sex organs, boundaries of gender and as such, the assignment of the futanari is ultimately neither a man in women’s binary gender identity. Te intersex fgure depicted in clothes nor a woman in men’s clothes. Te male guise “Futanari” goes back and forth between two genders; it (represented by the hunting robe, the black eboshi hat, both accepts the scorn of the world and transcends it. and the moustache) and the female guise (represented Te fgure invalidates the question of whether the indi- by the deep red lips, cheeks, and crimson fan) exist si- vidual depicted is a man or woman and clears the way multaneously as one body, thereby transcending the for a new tale to be told. male-female dichotomy. Realizing this, viewers of the scroll discover that the object of ridicule and pointed fngers is actually a part of themselves. In viewing the Reference List “Futanari” scene the viewer’s sexuality itself becomes destabilized, prompting the question, “What is a male, Abe, Ryūichi. “Revisiting the Dragon Princess: Her Role in what is a female, and what are you?” Medieval Engi Stories and Teir Implications in Reading the Lotus Sutra.” JJRS 42:1 (2015), pp. 27–70. Abe Yasurō 阿部泰郎. “Sei no ekkyō: Chūsei no shūkyō, Conclusion geinō, monogatari ni okeru ekkyō suru sei” 性の越境: 中 世の宗教／芸能／物語における越境する性. In Onna Te tale of an intersex fgure transcending gender re- no ryōiki, otoko no ryōiki: Ikutsumono Nihon VI 女の領 lates to yet another tale of bodily change that permeates 域·男の領域: いくつもの日本Ⅵ, ed. Akasaka Norio the literature and art of the Insei period, namely the 赤坂憲雄 et al., pp. 197–223. Iwanami Shoten, 2003. metamorphosing male, or the tale of the Dragon King’s Abe Yasurō. “Sei no rinkai o ikiru: ‘Chūsei Nihon no shūkyō daughter found in the “Devadatta” chapter of the Lotus to geinō no kyōkai ryōiki kara’” 性の臨界を生きる: Sutra. According to the text, “Te bodies of women 【 中世日本の宗教と芸能の境界領域から】. Kan: are defled and therefore cannot receive the teachings Rekishi, kankyō, 環: 歴史·環境·文明 12 of the Buddha. Tey cannot achieve enlightenment.”26 (2003), pp. 252–57. Women are thus scorned and cannot achieve buddha- Blacker, Carmen. Te Catalpa Bow: A Study of Shamanistic hood due to the of their bodies: their Practices in Japan. London: Allen & Unwin, 1975. inability to become the Bonten King, the Taishaku Bussetsu daijō zōzō kudokukyō 仏説大乗造像功徳経 (Ch. King, the Devil King, the Wheel-Turning King, and f- Foshuo dacheng zaoxiang gongde jing). T 694, 16:793c. nally a buddha. However, Shakara, the daughter of the Hori Ichirō 堀一郎. Nihon no shāmanizumu 日本のシャー Dragon King (Sk. Sāgara-nāgarāja), hears a recitation マニズム. Kōdansha, 1971. of the Lotus Sutra at the age of eight and prays with earnest conviction that she achieve buddhahood. She ofers a precious jewel in her possession to the Buddha. Te Buddha accepts this ofering, and in an instant, be- 27 lthough this concept was widespread in Heian and Kamakura period society, it is also true that women did not themseles consider their bodies innately sinful. here has been a great deal of recent scholarship on this point; in particular, see be, 26 yōhō rengekyō, p. 35c. “eisiting the Dragon rincess.”

84 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 Kasuya Makoto 加須屋誠 and Yamamoto Satomi 山本聡 Yamamoto Satomi 山本聡美. “‘Yamai no sōshi’ ni okeru 美, eds. Yamai no sōshi 病草紙. Chūō Kōron Bijutsu setsuwa no ryōbun: Otokomiko to shite no Futanari” Shuppan, 2017. 「病草紙」における説話の領分: 男巫としての二 Kim, Yung-Hee. Songs to Make the Dust Dance: Te Ryōjin 形. In Nihon bungaku no tenbō o hiraku 2: Kaiga, imēji Hishō of Twelfh-Century Japan. University of California no kairo 日本文学の展望を拓く２：絵画·イメー Press, 1994. ジの回路, ed. Komine Kazuaki 小峯和明 and Deguchi Kobayashi Taichirō 小林太市郎. “Butsumyō to Shamon Hisanori 出口久徳, pp. 81–95. Kasama Shoin, 2017. jigoku zōshi” 仏名と沙門地獄草紙. In vol. 5 of Yamanaka Yutaka 山中裕, ed. Midō kanpaku-ki Kobayashi Taichirō chosakushū 小林太市郎著作集, pp. zenchūshaku: Chōwa 4 nen 御堂関白記全註釈: 長和四 275–350. Tankōsha, 1974. 年, pp. 112–13. Shibunkaku Shuppan, 2003. Kobayashi Taichirō. “Hekija emaki ni tsuite” 辟邪絵巻に Yanagita Kunio 柳田國男. “Fujo kō” 巫女考. Kyōdo kenkyū 就て. In vol. 5 of Kobayashi Taichirō chosakushū, pp. 郷土研究 1 (1913–1914), pp. 1–12. 197–274. Tankōsha, 1974. Yanagita Kunio. Imo no Chikara 妹の力. Sōgensha, 1940. Komatsu Shigemi 小松茂美, ed. Nenchūgyōji emaki 年中行 Yanagita Kunio. “Tamayorihiko no mondai” 玉依彦の 事絵巻. Chūōkōronsha, 1977. 問題. In Nantō ronsō 南島論叢, ed. Iha-sensei Kinen Minamoto no Shitagō 源順. Wamyō ruijushō: Shohon shūsei Ronbunshū Henshū Iin 伊波先生記念論文集編纂委員, Wamyō ruijushō honbunhen 和名類聚抄: 諸本集成倭名 pp. 1–22. Okinawa Nippōsha, Naha, 1937. 類聚抄本文編. Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Yanagita Kunio. “Tamayorihime kō” 玉依姫考. Kyōdo Kokubungaku Kenkyūjo 京都大学文学部国語学国文学 kenkyū 4:12 (1917), pp. 1–29. 研究所, ed. Kyoto: Rinsen Shoten, 1968. Yanagita Kunio. Teihon Yanagita Kunio shū 定本柳田國男 Mitsuhashi Junko 三橋順子. Joshō to Nihonjin 女装と日本 集. Vol. 9. Chikuma Shobō, 1969. 人. Kōdansha, 2008. Yanagita Kunio. Yanagita Kunio zenshū 柳田國男全集. Vol. Myōhō rengekyō 妙法蓮華経 (Ch. Miaofa lianhua jing). T 11. Chikuma Shobō, 1998. 262 9:35c. Nakayama Tarō 中山太郎. Nihon fujo shi 日本巫女史. Ōokayama shoten, 1930. Ryōjin hishō, Kanginshū, Kyōgen kayō 梁塵秘抄·閑吟 集·狂言歌謡. Ed. Kobayashi Yoshinori 小林芳規 et al. SNKBT 30. Shinbo Tōru 真保亨. “Harake-bon Jigoku zōshi no gadai to shutten” 原家本地獄草紙の画題と出典. Tsukuba Daigaku geijutsu nenpō 筑波大学芸術年報 (1985), pp. 22–25. Shōbō nenjokyō 正法念処経 (Ch. Zhengfa nianchu jing). T 721 17:3c, 104a–b, 392b. Tanaka Ichimatsu 田中一松. Jigoku zōshi 地獄草紙. Nihon emakimono shūsei 日本絵巻物集成. Vol. 9. Yūzankaku, 1930. Ueno Naoteru 上野直昭. “Emakimono ni tsuite: Gaki zōshi kōsatsu” 繪卷物に就いて: 餓鬼草紙考察. Shisō 思想 28 (1924), pp. 13–50. Umezawa Megumi 梅沢恵. “Ya o hagu Bishamonten zō to ‘hekija-e’ no shudai” 矢を矧ぐ毘沙門天像と「辟邪 絵」の主題. In Chūsei kaiga no matorikkusu II 中世絵 画のマトリックス, ed. Sanō Midori 佐野みどり, pp. 383–403. Seikansha, 2014. Yamakami Izumo 山上伊豆母. Miko no rekishi: Nihon shūkyō no botai. 巫女の歴史: 日本宗教の母胎. Yūzankaku, 1975.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 85

Illuminating the Sacred Presence of Hasedera’s Eleven-Headed Avalokiteśvara

CHARI PRADEL

Introduction temple are diverse—some are historical and others leg- endary.2 By the late eighth century, however, Hasedera HE Buddhist mountain-temple Hasedera 長谷 was mentioned in the ofcial historical records, and 寺, located on Mt. Hase in the city of Sakurai in the ninth century, it was ranked as a jōgakuji 定額 (), has been a popular pilgrimage 寺 (state-sponsored temple) controlled by Tōdaiji 東 Tsite since the Heian period (794–1185). Te main rea- 大寺.3 Tis situation changed in the late tenth century, son for the popularity of the site is its miraculous icon, as related in Tōdaiji yōroku 東大寺要録 (Essential Re- a monumental wooden image of Jūichimen Kannon cords of Tōdaiji, twelfh century), which states that in 十一面観音 (Sk. Ekādaśamukha, the Eleven-Headed Shōryaku 正暦 1 (990), Hasedera became a matsuji 末 Avalokiteśvara), known as the Hase Kannon 長谷観 音.1 Te exact date and circumstances of the estab- lishment of the temple are controversial and form the subject of scholarly debate, as the sources related to the 2 The Hasedera Bronze Plaque (late seventh century) and its controversial inscription have been used as evidence for the establishment of the temple. Kataoka Naoki has concluded that the inscription engraved on the artifact does not relate to the establishment of the temple, but to the creation of the bronze The author would like to thank Karen Gerhart, Yui Suzuki, and plaque itself. Moreover, the content of the plaque’s inscription the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and did not influence any of the later sources related to Hasedera. suggestions. Fieldwork for this study was facilitated by the Kataoka, “Hasedera dōban,” pp. 65–66. Short-term Travel to Japan Grant, Northeast Asia Council, and the 3 Hasedera is mentioned in (Chronicles of Japan Japan-US Friendship Commission in fall 2016. Continued, 797) in an entry for Jingo 神護景雲 2 (768), 1 The stories about the miracles performed by the Hase Kannon when Shōtoku ennō 称徳天皇 (r. 764–770) visited Hasedera were compiled in Hasedera 長谷寺験記 or Hasedera and donated rice lands. Shoku Nihon kōki 続日本後紀 (Later reigenki 長谷寺霊験記 (Records of the Miracles at Hasedera), Chronicles of Japan Continued), written in the early Heian which includes fifty-two stories. Some address the origin of period, records that in ōwa 承和 14 (847), the mountain temples the temple, the construction of its halls and statues, and the (yamadera 山寺) Hasedera and Tsubosakadera 壷阪寺 became ceremonies performed, while others recount the benefits jōgakuji because they were acknowledged as miraculous places. obtained by devotees. See Dykstra, “Tales of the Compassionate 日本三代実録 (Veritable Record of Three Kannon,” pp. 117–19; and Yokota, Hasedera genki. The proposed Reigns of Japan, 901) reports that in Ninna 仁和 1 885), their dates for its compilation range from the first half of the thirteenth status as jōgakuji was reaffirmed. Tsuji, aseerashi no kenkyū, to the fifteenth century. See Dykstra, pp. 121–22. pp. 68–71.

87 寺 (branch temple) of Kōfukuji 興福寺 in Kyoto.4 Sugawara no Michizane 菅原道真 (845–903) in the late In addition to these historical records, stories about ninth century.8Tis attribution has been questioned, the creation of the Kannon image and its miracles, as and although most scholars agree that Michizane is well as the patronage of the temple’s establishment, are not the author, no consensus has been reached about found in compilations of Buddhist stories. Te earli- the general date of Engibun’s composition; the pro- est extant narrative about the Hase Kannon is found posed dates range from the late twelfh to the late thir- in Sanbō ekotoba 三宝絵詞 (Text of the Illustrated teenth centuries.9 Te textual material associated with Tree Jewels), written by Minamoto Tamenori 源為 Hasedera has been studied thoroughly by scholars of 憲 (d. 1001). Te short story tells us about a vow made Japanese literature and religion.10 Yet studies about the by the monk Tokudō 徳道 (b. 656) to sculpt an image scrolls are scant. Selected scenes from the scrolls have of Kannon, focusing on the unusual characteristics of been included in exhibitions and collection catalogues the wood used to create the image and the stone for its with summaries of the story and brief descriptions of pedestal.5 Tis became one of the key narratives about the paintings, and a few studies have addressed certain Hasedera, and expanded versions proliferated during themes of the narrative and illustrations.11 Te only the medieval period (roughly the eleventh to sixteenth comprehensive study of the scrolls, however, which centuries).6 Along with the textual material, sets of illustrated handscrolls known as Hasedera engi emaki (Illustrated 8 Scholars, such as be Yasurō and uimaki Kauhiro, contend Scrolls of the Accounts of Hasedera) were created be- that Engibun must be read together with Hasedera missōki tween the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries. Te tex- 長谷寺密奏記 (Record of Hasedera’s Secret Report to the Emperor, hereafter issōki), also attributed to Michizane (i.e., tual component of these scrolls is a modifed version of ninth century). ccording to these scholars, these two texts Hasedera engibun 長谷寺縁起文 (Accounts of Hased- complement each other, giving a clear picture of the beliefs era, hereafer Engibun), one of the expanded versions prevalent at Mt. Hase. Engibun and issōki refer to the monk 7 okudō’s uest to make an image of ichimen Kannon. In of the Hasedera narratives from the medieval period. issōki, the narrative centers on the role of kami and (what we Engibun’s introduction states that it was written by now refer to as) shinbusu shūgō 神仏習合 beliefs (discussed below). For instance, issōki states that echikarao yōin 手力 雄大明神, the local kami at Hase, encountered okudō and told him that Hase was a sacred site associated with Amaterasu no Ōmikami 天照大神, the imperial kami. or this reason, okudō 4 Tsuji, aseerashi no kenkyū, p. 76. visited Ise, where the shrine of Amaterasu is located. During his 5 Minamoto, Sanbō ekooba, pp. 91–96. For an English translation, isit, he discoered that materasu no Ōmikami was ichimen see Kamens, The Three Jewels, pp. 320–25. note in this text Kannon and Dainichi 大日如来 (the cosmic buddha), and suggests that this story was recorded in Kannon engi narabi ni okudō had a ision of the Hase Kannon’s form. issōki also zakki 観音縁起並雑記 (Accounts of Kannon and Miscelaneous explains that the sculptors who cared the icon transformed into ecords), dated to enpyō 天平 5 733). okudō’s birth year is the honji 本地 (buddha originals) of the first and third kami of cited in the medieval Hasedera engibun 長谷寺縁起文 (Accounts Kasuga Daimyōin 春日大明神 (the composite divinity of Kasuga of Hasedera) but may be spurious. Shrine). Importantly, issōki includes a list of all of the kami at 6 Later versions are included in usō ryakki 扶桑略記 (Brief History Hase. See Abe, “Hasedera engi to reigenki,” p. 326; and Fujimaki, of Japan, late Heian period), ōaiji yōroku, Konjaku monogatari “Hasedera no engi: Saiseisan,” pp. 113–14. Yet issōki is not shū 今昔物語集 (Anthology of Tales from the Past, late Heian mentioned in Engibun or Hasedera engi emaki. For a study of period), Shihiaiji nenyō 七大寺年表 (Chronology of the issōki, see uimaki, “Hasedera missōki.” Seen reat emples, 1165), Kenkyū gojunrei ki 建久御巡礼記 9 or a summary of the dating of the text by different scholars, see ecord of the ilgrimage in the Kenky ra, 1191), Kojidan 古事 eima, “hsei shinwa no sōō,” pp. 546–47. 談 ccount of ncient atters, 1212–1215), Shoji konryū shiai 10 iterature scholars studying texts related to Hasedera include 諸寺建立次第 (Circumstances of the Establishment of Various Fujimaki Kazuhiro, Yokota Takashi, and Uchida Mioko. Temples, ca. 1216), Shoji engishū 諸寺縁起集 (Anthology of 11 A list of publications that include information about Hasedera ccounts of the rigins of arious emples, ca. 1235), Iroha engi emaki can be found on efarensu Kyodō Dtabsu, jiruishō 伊呂波字類抄 (Iroha Dictionary, thirteenth century), “Hasedera engi emaki no entai ga keisai sarete iru shiryō no Hasedera engibun, and the Hasedera engi emaki 長谷寺縁起絵 chōsa.” Studies about the scrolls include radel, “a eyenda 巻 text. or a study of these sources, see sui, Hasederashi no Ilustrada de Hasedera”; Sakakibara, “Rokkan bon”; and kenkyū, pp. 171–91. or an excellent comparatie analysis of the Yamamoto, “Hasedera engi emaki no denshō.” olor themes addressed in these sources, see Uchida, “Jisha engi,” pp. photographs of the Idemitsu Museum scrolls are published in 206–12. Idemitsu Bijutsukan, Yamatoe, plates 7-1 to 7-29, and black and 7 See Hasedera engibun, in unsho ruijū, ol. 24, pp. 454–62. white photographs of five sets of scrolls appear in the Hasedera For a transcription of the Hasedera engi emaki text, see iya, catalogue of treasures, angōi unkaai Kenkyo, Buzan “Hasedera engi kotobagaki, kōkan,” pp. 142–48; and “Hasedera aseera shūi, pp. 190–237. In addition, the scrolls from SAM are engi emaki kotobagaki,” pp. 223–31. available on ARTstor.

88 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 includes a transcription of the text sections, was pub- version found in Sanbō ekotoba, but in Hasedera engi lished in the 1970s by the art historian Miya Tsugio.12 emaki, the transformation of the wood into a buddha Tis essay explores the way in which the creator(s) image is explained through the Buddhist doctrine that of the Hasedera engi emaki—its text and illustrations— non-sentient beings—more specifcally, plants—can revamped the original story of the Hase Kannon by attain enlightenment, known as sōmoku jōbutsu 草木成 emphasizing the extraordinary qualities of the mate- 仏 (literally, “grasses and trees become buddhas”). Te rials used to make the icon and its stone pedestal. An log is introduced as having buddha-nature and sub- analysis of the text of Hasedera engi emaki reveals that sequently is transformed into a Kannon icon through the story contained in Sanbō ekotoba regarding the or- Buddhist prayer and the intervention of Buddhist de- igins of the Hase Kannon, which appears to be related ities. Te third section examines the story of the large to indigenous beliefs, was expanded by adding Bud- stone that serves as the platform for the Kannon image. dhist elements that explain the transformation of an In this case also, the story is more complex than that allegedly cursed log into the appropriate material for a found in the earlier version, highlighting the role of buddha image through Buddhist prayer, ritual, and the the deities that inhabit Mt. Hase, the sacredness of the intervention of . In the same way, the mountain, and its connections to the Buddhist world. story of the stone pedestal was enhanced to lend it a Te illustrations in Hasedera engi emaki rendered the Buddhist signifcance by connecting the pedestal to real invisible world of the deities visible to the viewers of the and imaginary Buddhist sacred sites. scrolls, making the story more credible and also more As is the case with many cultic centers in medieval entertaining. Japan, the beliefs and practices at Mt. Hase centered on shinbutsu shūgō 神仏習合, “the amalgamation of kami and buddhas.” Tis combinatory religious system Hasedera engi emaki and Engibun was largely Buddhist in nature, but contained Chinese yin-yang practices as well as Japanese cults of kami or Before discussing the extant illustrated scrolls, the local deities.13 Although some sections of Hasedera engi signifcance of the term engi in both Engibun and Ha- emaki refect shinbutsu shūgō beliefs, the revamped sto- sedera engi emaki should be examined briefy. By the ries associated with the wood and stone used to make eighth century, the term engi began to be used to refer the statue of the Hase Kannon emphasize the role of to accounts of the establishment of temples as well as Buddhist prayer and ritual in the transformation of the accounts of the ordination of monks and nuns. Later, log into an image of Kannon and its connections to the it came to refer to textual and visual materials that nar- Buddhist world to confrm its sacred nature. rated the histories of religious institutions.15 Although Tis essay is divided into three main sections. Te the titles Hasedera engibun and Hasedera engi emaki in- frst focuses on Hasedera engi emaki and introduces clude the term engi, the narratives are not limited to the the stories and the characters, explaining the division origins of the temple but include other related stories, of the stories into sections and the subject of each il- such as those that refer to the sacred qualities of Mt. lustration.14 Te second discusses the story about the Hase and the possibilities for devotees to communicate numinous log used to make the icon. In the medieval with the various deities who reside there. version of Hasedera engi emaki, the wood used to make Te main source used for this study is the six- the icon came from an ill-fated log, as in the earlier teenth-century Hasedera engi emaki in the collection of the Seattle Art Museum (SAM), a work of the late Muromachi period (1392–1573).16 Currently, eleven sets of Hasedera engi emaki are extant in temples, museums, 12 iya, “Hasedera engi ō” and “Hasedera engi ge.” 13 For a historical overview of the development of shinbutsu shūgō and honji suijaku 本地垂迹 (literally, “original ground and manifest traces,” the theory of kami as local manifestations of Buddhist deities), see Teeuwen and Rambelli, Buddhas and Kami in Japan, especially pp. 1–53. 15 For a comprehensive discussion of engi, see Kawasaki and Blair, 14 This section is an updated and more complete version of the “Engi: Forging Accounts of Sacred Origins.” author’s article “La Leyenda Ilustrada de Hasedera,” which also 16 he first scroll measures 1530.1 x 30.8 cm; the second scroll, discusses certain aspects of the narratie related to Shugendō 修 1595.1 x 30.8 cm; and the third, 1310.1 x 30.8 cm. ll the 験道 (a highly syncretic religious tradition) and kami. illustrations in this article are from SAM.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 89 ire 1. Hasedera engi emaki, scroll I, section 1. 16th c., uromachi period. Handscroll, ink and colors on paper. H 30.8 cm. argaret . uller urchase und. ift to a ity aster- works from the ugene uller emorial ollection in the Seattle rt useum. cc. 57.15.1. Photograph by Susan A. Cole. Permission of Seattle Art Museum. Description and credit information applies to gs. 2–6.

and private collections in Japan and the United States.17 set at Nara National Museum attributed to Tosa Mit- Because all of the sets include similar texts and scenes, sumochi 土佐光茂 (1494–ca. 1559), are painted using Miya Tsugio has suggested that they all were created the expensive tsukuri-e 作り絵 or “built-up” technique, using the same model.18 As mentioned above, the text using multiple layers of mineral pigments and gold.20 of Hasedera engi emaki is slightly diferent from En- Most Hasedera engi emaki consist of three scrolls, ex- gibun.19 In addition, minor diferences in the text are cept for the set attributed to Mitsumochi. In all cases, found among the extant scrolls (especially omissions however, the narrative is divided into thirty-three sec- or mistakes in the transcriptions), but these do not sig- tions, each with a corresponding illustration, and a nifcantly change the meaning of the story. In the case postscript. Te choice of this number is intentional and of the illustrations, although the scenes seem to follow relates to the thirty-three manifestations of Kannon.21 the same model, slight variations are apparent in the Te scrolls are unrolled from right to lef, allowing compositions and the style of representation. Also, the the viewer to read each portion of the text and then see amount of pigments used difers between the sets. For the corresponding illustration. Due to the location of instance, in the SAM set, the pigments are dissolved in the story told in Hasedera engi emaki, most of the il- large amounts of water, producing an efect like water- lustrations include a landscape setting. In each of these color painting. Other examples, such as the six-scroll settings, the characters involved in the specifc section of the story are portrayed. In some cases, the same character, object, or building is represented two or more times in the same composition (fgures 1 and 2). 17 A list of the owners of the eleven Hasedera engi emaki sets is aailable in angōi unkaai Kenkyo, uzan aseera shūi, Tis type of visual narrative strategy is known in pp. 17–18. Japanese as iji dōzu 異時同図, meaning “diferent 18 Miya, “Hasedera engi ge,” pp. 69–70. 19 Engibun is written in kanbun (literary Chinese for Japanese usage), and the text of Hasedera engi emaki is written in vernacular Japanese using kanji and kana. Some sentences of 20 his set of six scrolls was painted in 1523. or reproductions of Engibun are not included in Hasedera engi emaki; similarly, a some scenes, see Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, Shaji engi-e. few sentences in Hasedera engi emaki are not in Engibun. This See also McCormick, Tosa Mitsunobu, pp. 52–53. or a detailed circumstance demonstrates that the creators of Hasedera engi study about authorship, see Sakakibara, “Rokkan bon.” emaki made specific choices when designing the narrative 21 For the thirty-three manifestations of Kannon, see Frédéric, scrolls. Buddhism, pp. 156–62.

90 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 time, same picture,” referring to the representation of illustrations allotted per story is not uniform: some sto- two or more successive events in the same depiction.22 ries are illustrated by a single painting, whereas others Most scenes include a representation of mist, which include as many as nine scenes. In addition, the length functions as a transitional element between locations of the illustrations is not standardized. Certain scenes, or events. Another key element in the composition is especially those representing the sacred landscape of trees and fowers, representative of the four seasons, the mountain (illustration 28) and the temple halls which serve to suggest the passing of time between the and Mt. Hase landmarks (illustration 32), are complex, scenes.23 expanded compositions. Furthermore, scenes such as Uchida Mioko has researched the narratives about illustration 1 (fgure 1) include all of the events nar- Hasedera written before Engibun, concluding that they rated, whereas others, such as illustration 12 (fgure are not exclusively about the origins of the temple and 6), show only selected events. Importantly, the textual its image (as the term engi might suggest), and demar- component of the scrolls also varies. Te texts in cer- cating ten distinctive stories.24 Following her model, tain scrolls are long and include Buddhist concepts table 1, at the end of this essay, includes a summary of and terms, whereas others are short and factual. An the ten stories, as divided into the thirty-three sections interesting feature of Hasedera engi emaki is that some of Hasedera engi emaki. To avoid confusion between paintings include notes inscribed on the surface. Tese the diferent items, each of the ten stories is given an or- notes identify the characters and important features of dinal number and title. Te three scrolls are numbered the setting, and, in a few instances, explain the choices using Roman numerals, and the stories are divided into made by the artists in creating the paintings.25 sections listed by cardinal numbers, followed by a brief Uchida has pointed out that none of the narratives description of the corresponding illustration. In short, written before Engibun contains all ten stories; most of this table is a vertical version of the progression of the the earlier Hasedera narratives include the stories of Hasedera engi emaki. the making of the Hase Kannon (fourth, ffh, and sixth Te number of sections contained in each scroll stories). She also has noted that two stories in Engibun, difers. Scroll I includes thirteen sections, Scroll II has the eighth (Gyōki’s 行基 (668–749) pilgrimage to Mt. fourteen sections, and Scroll III consists of six sections Hase) and the tenth (Shōmu Tennō’s 聖武天皇 (r. 724– and a postscript. Likewise, the number of sections and 749) visit to Hasedera), are only found in Engibun.26 As mentioned above, these two stories are illustrated in ex- tremely long compositions in the later medieval scrolls.

22 In English, the term “continuous narrative” is used to refer to this type of visual narrative. For a detailed study of forms of visual narrative in India, see Dehejia, “On Modes of Visual Narration.” For iji ōzu, see Chino and Nishi, Fikushion, pp. 30–38. 25 he set in the Idemitsu useum contains many explanatory 23 amamushi, “Kaiga,” pp. 85–89. notes. See “Hasedera engi emaki kotobagaki,” pp. 223–31. 24 Uchida, “Jisha engi,” pp. 206–13. 26 For a useful table, see Uchida, “Jisha engi,” p. 207.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 91 ire . Hasedera engi emaki, scroll I, section 2. okd, the rsed Lo, and the Hase Kannon

In the eighth story, the viewer journeys with Gyōki and Te monk Tokudō is the central character in Hasedera a divine boy through the landscape of Mt. Hase and engi emaki. His life, and his eforts to make an image of encounters the sacred spots on the mountain and the Kannon and build a temple at Mt. Hase, are the focus deities that inhabit it. Similarly, the tenth story takes of fve of the ten stories. Te fourth and ffh stories re- the viewer on a tour through the temple grounds and late how the ill-fated log was used to make the Kan- sacred landmarks, following Shōmu’s journey.27 non image, and describe the patronage of Fujiwara no In sum, in addition to describing the origins of the Fusasaki 藤原房前 (681–737). Tese two stories refect Kannon image, the establishment of Hasedera, and beliefs associated with trees as the primary material for the temple’s patronage, the contents of Hasedera engi Buddhist icons, the idea that non-sentient beings can emaki suggest that the creator(s) aimed to demonstrate reach buddhahood, the role of Buddhist prayer and the numinous nature of Mt. Hase by revealing its sacred ritual in the production of icons, and the necessity of spots, divine inhabitants, and protectors, which include economic support for making Buddhist icons. As some kami as well as Chinese yin-yang and Buddhist deities. of these themes do not appear in the original story, a Importantly, these stories also suggest that, at Mt. Hase, broader analysis is necessary. it is possible to communicate with some of these dei- Te religious signifcance of trees in the Hase Kan- ties through dreams. Te illustrations allow the reader/ non story has been addressed by many scholars.29 Some viewer to see this invisible world. Moreover, the text have propounded the idea that the concept of the ill- also states that a visit to Hasedera grants Kannon’s pro- fated log is associated with kami cults, because, within tection and the promise of salvation in the Pure Land this belief system, trees (and also stones) are thought of the buddha Amida. Furthermore, two of the sets also to serve as 依代 for a kami. Yorishiro, usually state that the illustrated scrolls were made for laypeople translated as “receptacle,” is the place, object, or person and monks who could not visit the temple, giving us an inhabited by a kami when it descends for a religious idea of the purpose of the scrolls.28

29 For a summary of these positions, see Yamamoto, “Hasedera engi emaki no misogi,” pp. 92–93. Rambelli has argued that, 27 These scenes will be discussed in a forthcoming publication. in kami belief, trees served as abodes of the kami and rarely 28 iya, “Hasedera engi ge,” p. 66; for the text of the S ersion, were deemed to be kami themselves. See Rambelli, Buddhist see iya, “Hasedera engi kotobagaki, kōkan,” p. 147. Materiality, pp. 141–42.

92 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 ceremony.30 Other scholars argue that the story of the 高島 District in Ōmi 近江 Province.33 A villager tried log relates to Buddhist ideas, especially those associ- to cut of a piece of the log, and his house burned down. ated with the enlightenment of non-sentient beings, Destruction spread through the village and many peo- including plants.31 Te argument presented here is that ple died. When these incidents were investigated, the the elements added to the log story aimed to emphasize villagers concluded that the log was cursed. For this the efective role of Buddhist prayer and ritual in the reason, no one came close to the log. From Mioga- transformation of a numinous log into a Buddhist icon, saki, the log was moved to the village of Taima 当麻 in and to parallel the making of the icon with the log’s the Lower Katsuragi 葛城下 District by a man called progression towards enlightenment. In the story as nar- Izumo Ōmitsu 出雲大満. When Ōmitsu frst heard rated in Sanbō ekotoba and in sections of the Hasedera about the log, he vowed to “make that tree into a Jūi- engi emaki text, omitted or added elements helped to chimen Kannon.”34 But he did not have the means to emphasize the creators’ message, with the illustrations move it from Miogasaki. When he fnally found men also playing a role. to help him, to their surprise, the log was light and In Sanbō ekotoba, the Hase Kannon story appears in could be moved easily. Unfortunately, Ōmitsu was not the chapter titled “Te Bodhisattva Ordination at Hat- able to fulfll his vow, timed passed, and he died. Afer suse” (third volume, chapter 20). Tis chapter includes eighty years, the tree was still in Taima. When a plague the Hase Kannon story followed by an explanation of struck the village, the cursed tree was blamed. Ōmitsu’s the bodhisattva ordination ritual. Te short story about son was ordered by the village authorities to move the the Hase Kannon addresses three themes related to the log. In the Year of the Dragon (668), he and a group making of the icon: two about the material (wood and of villagers moved the log and cast it into the Hatsuse stone), and one about its patronage. In this section, we 長谷 River in the Upper Shiki 磯城 District. Te log focus on the wood.32 remained in Hase for about thirty years until the monk According to the text, during a great food in the Year Tokudō heard about it. He thought of making an image of the Rooster (601), “a large tree was set adrif until it of Jūichimen Kannon, because the log seemed to have a came to rest at Miogasaki 三緒が崎 in the Takashima numinous quality; thus he moved the log to the north- ern peak, where the temple stands now. Unfortunately, Tokudō could not fnd the fnancial support to make the image. For seven or eight years, he prayed to the log:

30 See Havens and Inoue, An Encyclopedia of Shinto, vol. 2, p. 32. 31 This idea is discussed by Nedachi Kensuke, as cited by Yamamoto, “Hasedera engi emaki no misogi,” p. 93. 32 For the sections related to the wood, see Kamens, The Three 33 Kamens, ibid., p. 320; and Minamoto, ibid., p. 91. Jewels, pp. 320–21; and Minamoto, Sanbō ekooba pp. 91–93. 34 Kames, ibid.; and Minamoto, ibid.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 93 ire . Hasedera engi emaki, scroll I, section 9.

ire . Hasedera engi emaki, scroll I, section 10. are related to patronage and the discovery of the stone used for the pedestal. “May the wondrous power of prayer spontaneously cre- In brief, the Sanbō ekotoba story begins by stating ate a buddha [image]” (raihai iriki, jinen zōbutsu 礼拝 that the monumental tree was uprooted from an un- 威力、自然造仏).35 Te events that follow in the text known location during a storm, landing in Miogasaki.

35 Kamens, ibid., p. 320; and Minamoto, ibid., p. 93. The term jinen experience of the human material world was deeloped into or shizen is usually translated as “nature.” The meaning of the rituals to acquire “spontaneous wisdom” (jinenchi 自然智). For a term, however, is “individual essence.” In medieval Japan, the detailed discussion of the term jinen in the uddhist context, see idea that enlightenment could be attained through non-ordinary Rambelli, Buddhist Materiality, pp.133–35.

94 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 ire . Hasedera engi emaki, scroll I, section 11. unusual feature, the valley where the log rested was known as White Lotus Flower (byakurenge 白蓮華, Sk. puņḍarīka) Valley.37 As is well known, in Buddhism From there, it was hauled to Taima, and lastly to the the lotus (Jp. renge 蓮華, Sk. padma) is a symbol of pu- Hase River. Certain unfortunate events at the places rity and spontaneous generation. It is also a symbol of 38 where the log landed also are related, as well as the dif- mercy and compassion, and an attribute of Kannon. culties experienced by Ōmitsu and Tokudō in fulflling In Esoteric Buddhism, the heart of a being is compared their vow of making an image of Jūichimen Kannon. to an unopened lotus—when the virtues of the Buddha 39 Tis story might refect the Japanese belief that a dead develop therein, the lotus blossoms. Te illustration tree was considered a negative sign leading to disasters, of this scene (fgure 3) provided the means of convinc- such as diseases and death, among others. Tus, from ingly recreating the alleged supernatural qualities of the introductory segment that tells about the tree being the monumental log. Te addition of the celestial being set adrif afer a storm, to the ensuing tragic events oc- scattering lotus petals further emphasizes the numi- curring at the places where the log was taken, we may nous incident. Importantly, the notion that lotus fow- surmise that this story, as recorded by Tamenori, re- ers bloom from this log might indicate that the tree had fected popular beliefs about trees in the tenth century. the buddha-nature within itself. In addition, the tale shows that, although trees were The writers also included various deities to readily available, making them into buddha images was accompany the log, who are depicted in the scrolls not necessarily a simple task. multiple times. These deities are introduced in section In Hasedera engi emaki, the story of the numinous 7, when the monk Dōmyō 道明 (n.d) recounts his log is told in sections 7 through 14.36 Tis story includes dream and conversation with “a group of different the narrative about the disasters at the sites where the beings” (sūhai ikei no tagui 数輩異形のたぐい). Thus, log was moved, with some slight variations (sections Hasedera engi emaki states that the log was accompanied 11 and 12). Te beginning of the story omits the rea- by an old man (okina 翁) dressed in white, who claimed 40 son why the tree died (i.e., its uprooting by the storm). to be the kami Mio Daimyōjin 三尾大明神. He said Instead, the writer adds an explanation about the log’s that his role was to protect the log and therefore, he unusual qualities. In section 9, the log is described as measuring about thirty meters and having the won- drous power to grow fragrant white lotus fowers when 37 Ibid., 225. 38 For various meanings of the lotus, see Saunders, ur, pp. lotus petals are scattered by celestial beings. Due to this 159–64. 39 aima yin, as cited by rdric, Buddhism, p. 62. 40 The inclusion of okina in narratives was a new feature of medieval literature; see Drott, Buddhism and the Transformation of Old 36 “Hasedera engi emaki kotobagaki,” pp. 224–26. Age.

SPRING 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 95 ire . Hasedera engi emaki, scroll I, section 12.

had been travelling with his retinue throughout the fgures are part of Mio Daimyōjin’s retinue, and the country to fulfill this mission. In addition to the old popular Fūjin 風神 (Wind God) and 雷神 man was a dōji 童子 (literally, youth or child; hereafter, (Tunder God), one holding a bag and the other with divine boy) holding a baldachin, who said that he was a ring of small drums around his head, are surrounded a protector of Mt. Hase, and that he had invited the by heavy clouds to convey the storm. Te addition of log to the mountain because this was a suitable place Mio Daimyōjin, the divine boy, and their entourage for it.41 The illustration of section 7, however, does not validates the extraordinary nature of the monumental include any of the deities mentioned; it only shows log as they accompany it to its destination, Mt. Hase. Dōmyō and Tokudō talking. These “different beings” Tey are portrayed repeatedly in the illustrations (eight are represented for the first time in illustration 10 times in total), during the log’s journey from the White (figure 4), which corresponds to the section narrating Lotus Flower Valley to Mt. Hase, and through the carv- how the log was washed away from the White Lotus ing of the wood.42 Flower Valley by a storm. Because Mio Daimyōjin is a kami, his inclusion in Accordingly, the painting includes a stormy scene, the story has been considered evidence that the log with the log being moved by a food and accompanied story was related to kami beliefs, yet Yamamoto Yōko by Mio Daimyōjin and the divine boy, as stated in the has rightly pointed out that Mio Daimyōjin identifes text; the scroll portrays an old man dressed in white himself as the “protector of the log.43 According to Ed- and a boy holding a baldachin. Te fve demon-like ward Drott’s study on okina, this character as a kami associated with cultic centers ofen was added to nar- ratives, especially in the Kamakura period (1185–1333).44 41 The term ōji has multiple meanings. In the uddhist context, Moreover, Buddhist clerics seem to have been involved ōji refers to a child who has entered a temple to become a monk, to some forms of bodhisattvas who appear as young princes, and also to the attendants of bodhisattvas and Wisdom Kings yōō 明王, Sk. idyra). Kōjien, s.. “dōi.” he ōji in Hasedera engi are guardian spirits who appear in the form 42 The different beings are portrayed in sections 10 (figure 4), 11 of boys, which Blacker has named “divine boys.” For ōji as figure 5), 12 figure 6), 13, 15 figure 8), 16 figure 9), 18 figure guardian spirits, see Blacker, “The Divine Boy.” For ōji as young 10), and 19 (figure 11). princes, see Guth, “The Divine Boy in Japanese Art.” Following 43 Yamamoto, “Hasedera engi emaki no misogi,” p. 94. Blacker’s nomenclature, “divine boy” is used in this essay. 44 Drott, Buddhism and the Transformation of Old Age, pp. 96–109.

96 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 ire . Hasedera engi emaki, scroll II, section 14. 16th c., Muromachi period. Handscroll, ink and colors on paper. H 30.8 cm. In medieval literature, divine boys appear as protec- Margaret E. Fuller Purchase Fund. Gift to a City: Masterworks from the tors, usually associated with monks and ascetics who Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection in the Seattle Art Museum. Acc. 57.15.2. hotograph by Susan . ole. ermission of Seattle rt have acquired spiritual powers through ascetic prac- Museum. Description and credit information applies to figs. 8–13. tices. Tey are servants, guardians, saviors, and agents of the monks’ powers.46 In the case of Hasedera engi, in the development of the okina’s kami identity, because the divine boy holding a baldachin claims to be one of the titles myōjin 明神, daimyōjin, or 権現 usu- the protectors of Mt. Hase who accompanies the log be- ally were given to local gods who sought Buddhist sal- cause “it has been invited to move” to the mountain. Di- vation.45

46 For specific stories about each of these roles, see Blacker, “The 45 Ibid., p. 179. Divine Boy.”

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 97 ire . Hasedera engi emaki, scroll II, section 15. tegically aims to emphasize the monumental size of the log.49 In Hasedera engi emaki, the journey of the log to vine boys with slightly diferent roles appear three more Hase is slightly longer than that described in Sanbō eko- times in the Hasedera engi emaki story; two of them are toba. Rather than the Miogasaki–Taima–Hase route, associated with the discovery of the stone pedestal.47 the log begins its trip in White Lotus Flower Valley in As mentioned above, the presence of Mio Daimyō- 518, arriving in the village of Ōtsu 大津 in the Shiga 志 jin, the divine boy, and their entourage is highlighted 賀 District, where it remains for about seventy years. in the illustrations. For instance, illustration 11 (fgure In 585, it is moved to the village of Yagi in Yamato 大 5) depicts the disasters and deaths caused by the log in 和 Province; in 598, to Taima in the Lower Katsuragi Ōtsu. District; and in 668, the log ends up in Hase River.50 Te Te illustration follows the text, which states that the last section of the fourth story, section 14, tells us about villagers tried to cut the log, precipitating disasters such Tokudō not being able to fulfll his vow (fgure 7): as fres and disease; the performance of a divination also appears in the scene. In the house, a woman (dressed in Afer about ffeen years, Tokudō continued his red) and a man are seated facing each other, with some religious practices, but he could not fulfll his sticks in front of them.48 Section 12 recounts the story vow. When he asked for divine help, he dreamt of two people: Oi no Kadoko 小井門子, a woman from that there were three lights on the eastern peak. A the village of Yagi 八木; and Hōsei 法勢, a novice from strange person told him that the three lights rep- the village of Taima. Both wanted to make a buddha resented the benefts of the three times (sanze no icon, but died without fulflling their vow. riyaku 三世の利益), and that he should carry the In this case, the illustration (fgure 6) shows a group of men pulling the log, accompanied by its protectors, as it is moved out of Taima, and a house with a deceased pearson and people in mourning. Te long scene stra-

49 In the Idemitsu version, the first note states, “The move of the log from Ōmi to Yamato was complicated, hence omitted”; and 47 Yokota discusses in detail the role of each of the divine boys in the second states, “he Death of i no Kadoko. Hōsei’s death is Engibun. See Yokota, “Hasedera no zen’aku shoshin.” omitted.” Ibid., pp. 225–26. 48 In the Idemitsu version, the note states, “Divination is performed 50 The choice of these villages is not random; they are related to for the village’s misfortunes.” See “Hasedera engi emaki the ancient fluvial transportation of lumber. Uchida, “Jisha engi,” kotobagaki,” p. 225. pp. 215–16.

98 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 numinous log to this peak and make the Buddhist image of Jūichimen Kannon that would bring benefts, image there.51 such as peaceful imperial rule, a prosperous Fujiwara family, and peace in the Dharma realm (hokkai 法界, Tis move to the eastern peak is a modifcation Sk. dharmadhātu). Importantly, he specifcally says, found in Hasedera engi emaki. Sanbō ekotoba explains “I pray so that ‘the great compassion of the universal that Tokudō could not fulfll his vow because he did not vow of the bodhisattva’ ( no guzei 大慈の弘誓) lis- have the means to carve the image, and that funding was tens to my vow, and this numinous tree spontaneously provided by the female ruler Iitaka 飯高 (better known shapes (naritamae 成給へ) into a buddha image.”53 Te under her Chinese-style name, Genshō Tennō 元正天 last sentence in section 15 states that, in 724, Fujiwara 皇, r. 715–724), who decided to support Tokudō’s proj- Fusasaki went to Yamato as an imperial messenger and ect afer Fujiwara no Fusasaki himself made a contribu- to hunt. Te painting (fgure 8), however, shows only tion. Te image was fnished and dedicated in 神 two scenes: the log accompanied by its protectors being 亀 4 (727).52 pulled up a hill by a group of men, and Fujiwara no In contrast to the short reference to patronage given Fusasaki and his hunting party. in Sanbō ekotoba, in Hasedera engi emaki, fve sections Particularly important in this section is the sentence are dedicated to this subject and the process involved about praying so the numinous tree spontaneously in the making of a Buddhist image. Tese additions to shapes into a buddha image. Tis obviously derives from the story are signifcant because they also include mo- a sentence in Sanbō ekotoba: “May the wondrous power tifs depicted in the illustrations about the beliefs and of prayer spontaneously create a buddha [image].” If in- practices related to the transformation of wood into a terpreted literally, both sentences suggest that Tokudō buddha image. Tus, section 15 begins when the log is was expecting the log to transform magically into a pulled to the eastern peak in 720. Te narrative tells us buddha image through the power of his prayer in Sanbō that Tokudō built a hut, made oferings of fowers, and ekotoba, and, more specifcally, through the power of prayed to the Tree Treasures. He prayed to make an Kannon in Hasedera engi emaki. Yet, the transforma- tion of the log into a buddha image might not be lim- ited to the physical transformation of the wood, but 51 “Hasedera engi emaki kotobagaki,” p. 226. Unless otherwise might be related to the controversial Buddhist doctrine noted, translations from the Hasedera engi emaki are by the that non-sentient beings can attain enlightenment, a author. Sanze no riyaku, the benefits of the three times, refer to the benefits of the three time periods of past, present, and future. 52 Kamens, The Three Jewels, p. 321; Minamoto, Sanbō ekooba, pp. 93–94. 53 “Hasedera engi emaki kotobagaki,” p. 226.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 99 ire . Hasedera engi emaki, scroll II, section 16. Section 16 refers to the encounter between Fusasaki and Tokudō and section 17 to Fusasaki’s successful re- quest to the imperial court to support Tokudō’s proj- 56 possibility discussed in Mahayana Buddhism. It was ect. Interestingly, the illustration of section 16 (fgure argued that non-sentient beings have the potential to 9) includes the hut built by Tokudō on the eastern peak, become buddhas, that they have the buddha-nature in where he is fervently praying, as mentioned in section 15. principle, but do not have the buddha-nature in prac- On the right side, Fusasaki and his attendants listen tice, and for this reason, cannot reach enlightenment respectfully to Tokudō’s prayer, and on the lef side, Fu- on their own.54 sasaki and Tokudō are having a conversation that will Te new themes added to Hasedera engi emaki seem culminate with Fusasaki’s support and Tokudō’s fulfll- to follow the ideas propounded by the Shingon 真言 ment of his vow. school that plants and other material objects can be- Te text of section 18 tells us that, “On the eighth day come buddhas. More specifcally, Shingon doctrines of the fourth month of 729 (Jinki 6), an auspicious date stipulate that the soteriological journey to buddhahood and time were selected to perform the empowerment includes four stages: 1) arousing the desire for enlight- prayer (kaji 加持) for the misogi 御衣木. Te person 57 enment; 2) performance of ascetic and religious prac- in charge was the monk Dōji 道慈 (d. 744).” At this tices; 3) awakening; and fnally, 4) nirvana. Tese stages point, the material is no longer called a tree or log, but correlate to the four phases of a sentient being’s life, the misogi, a noun used to refer to the wood used for mak- 58 cycles of the seasons, and the cardinal directions gov- ing icons. Te painting shows the prepared block of erning vegetal life, as shown below.55 wood inscribed with a sketch of Jūichimen Kannon, and the monk Dōji performing the empowerment

Life phase Season Direction Soteriology Birth Spring East Desire for enlightenment Growth Summer South Practice Degeneration Fall West Enlightenment Death Winter North Nirvana

56 Section 16 contains important political and religious statements. See uimaki, “Hasedera engibun’ materasu no ōmikami, 54 his is a complex theme. See a leur, “Satta”; ambelli, Vegetal Kasuga daimyōin.” Buddhas; and Rambelli, Buddhist Materiality. 57 “Hasedera engi emaki kotobagaki,” p. 226. 55 For a detailed discussion, see Rambelli, Buddhist Materiality, pp. 58 Misogi refers to the trees that are used as material to make icons 19–27. of buddhas or kami. Kōjien, s.v. “misogi.”

100 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 ire . Hasedera engi emaki, scroll II, section 18. shows Tsumaro looking toward the working area where the Buddhist deities and the crafsmen work side by side, and the last scene shows a puzzled Tsumaro and prayer, an important step before the sculptors begin to Tokudō looking toward the same area. In this case, Jizō work. Some monks and courtiers sit nearby, as well as and Fukūkenjaku Kannon represent Tsumaro’s vision, the protectors of the log (fgure 10).59 and the crafsmen working show Tokudō’s view. Te Section 19 tells us that the making of the image began addition of these two deities certainly enhances the right away, and that the sculpture, measuring two jō 丈, story by suggesting divine intervention. Although the six shaku 尺 (about 8 meters), was fnished in three days text states that the image of Kannon was fnished, the by the sculptors Kei Bunkai 稽文会 and Kei Shukun 稽 illustration does not show it completed (fgure 11). 主勳.60 Tis section includes an interesting twist: a man In sum, the new themes added to the story of the named Tsumaro 津麿呂 went to the mountain search- numinous log in Hasedera engi aimed to correlate the ing for lumber, and when he looked toward the place making of the Hase Kannon to the log’s progression to- where the crafsmen were working, he saw that Bunkai ward enlightenment. By claiming that white lotus fow- was a six-armed Jizō 地蔵 (Sk. Kṣitigarbha) and Shukun ers bloomed from the log, the writer transformed it into was a six-armed Fukūkenjaku Kannon 不空羂索観音 a supernatural log, suggesting that, although the log was (Sk. Amoghapāśa Avalokiteśvara).61 Tsumaro informed technically dead, it had the buddha-nature, and there- Tokudō, but when they returned, the crafsmen had a fore, that its salvation was possible. Te addition of the human appearance. Te frst scene of the illustration move to the eastern peak might be associated with the desire for enlightenment. As non-sentient beings do not have the buddha-nature in practice, Tokudō’s per- 59 In the SAM version, a wooden frame marks the sacred space formance of prayers and oferings fulflled the required (figure 10), but this is not the case in all versions. practice, which was reinforced by Dōji’s performance 60 The names of these artists seem to appear only in the Hasedera narratives and do not refer to historical figures. They are also of the empowerment prayer. Te illustration shows the mentioned in usō ryakki, Shihiaiji nenyō, Shoji konryū shiai, misogi inscribed with a sketch of Jūichimen Kannon, and Hasedera genki. Miya, “Hasedera engi ge,” p. 68. which could be also be interpreted as part of the pro- 61 issōki explains that the sculptors who cared the icon transformed into the honji of the first and third kami of Kasuga gression toward becoming a buddha. If the writer was Daimyōin, akemikauchi 武雷槌 and Amenokoyane 天児屋 infuenced by the aforementioned Shingon ideas, then 根, respectiely. See Yokota et al., “hsei Hasedera kwdō it might not be a coincidence that the stone pedestal, shōiten,” pp. 162–63. ecause Engibun and issōki were written during the time that Hasedera was a branch temple of Kōfukui, upon which the Hase Kannon stands, was found on the these documents reeal the Kōfukui–Kasuga agenda. See sui, northern peak of the mountain. aseerashi no kenkyū, pp. 207–32.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 101 ire . Hasedera engi emaki, scroll II, section 19. It continues in section 21, which tells about the un- earthing of the stone by deities, and ends in section 22 ▪ Stone Platform with the placement of the icon on top of the stone. In all instances, are used to refer to the stone plat- Stones are a signifcant element in the Hasedera nar- form. Te story begins, ratives, and many are mentioned in the text and por- trayed in Hasedera engi emaki.62 An unusual fat stone Tokudō was worried because he had to build serves as the pedestal for the Hase Kannon image.63 In a Buddhist hall on the steep mountain. While Sanbō ekotoba, a short paragraph tells us that, afer the performing his Buddhist practices, he had a dream image of Kannon was fnished and dedicated in Jinki 4 in which Konjin 金神 appeared.65 [Konjin] pointed (727), in a dream Tokudō saw a deity, pointing to the to the northern peak and told Tokudō that an ad- northern peak. Tis unidentifed deity informed him amantine treasured large stone (kongō hō banjaku about a large rock buried at the base of the peak and in- 金剛宝盤石) with gold on its surface lay on the structed him to unearth it and place the image of Kan- peak. He explained that the stone connected Hase non on it. Tokudō woke up, went to the peak, and dug to the edge of a golden wheel (konrinsai 金輪際), up a large fat stone, which measured eight feet wide and that it had three branches.66 Tis stone is the and eight feet long.64 place where the bodhisattva of great compassion In Hasedera engi emaki, the discovery of the stone [Kannon] preaches the Dharma; it is his adaman- is more complex, and is recounted vividly in three tine treasured lion throne (kongō hō shishiza 金剛 sections. Furthermore, section 27, which describes 宝獅子座).67 I, the hachibushū 八部衆, and myr- the monk Gyōki’s pilgrimage through the mountain iads of other deities live on the mountain.68 Since landscape, includes a detailed discussion of the stone’s ancient times, we have protected this mountain.69 signifcance. Te story of the stone platform begins in section 20, which refers to the message from the deity.

65 Konjin is a deity associated with yin-yang beliefs. Kōjien, s.v. “Konjin.” 62 For a comprehensive study of the stones at Mt. Hase, see Yokota, 66 Yokota explains that, in the uddhist worldiew, the edge of a “Hase Kannon daiaseki denshō no tenkai,” “Hase Kannon daia golden wheel supports the earth. Yokota, Hasedera genki, p. 5. sakikusa setsu no keisei,” and “Hasedera shhen no ishi to The term banjaku refers to a large rock. Kōjien, s.v. “banjaku.” kamigami.” Sections 27 and 31 of Hasedera engi emaki include 67 Shishiza (Sk. sihsana, lion’s throne) is the seat that a buddha or many stones associated with kami names. See also Fujimaki, enlightened master uses when delivering a discourse. Buswell, “Nantōkei Hasedera engi,” pp. 77–79. The Princeton Dictionary, s.v. “sihsana.” 63 The flat square pedestal is an unusual feature for a Buddhist icon. 68 Engibun lists the names of the Eight Classes of Beings and For a short study about the uncommon iconographical features the names of the Eight Dragon Kings, but they are not listed of the Hase Kannon, see Hatta, “Hasedera ichimen Kannon ō in Hasedera engi emaki. Engibun, p. 458. or the names of no ōyō,” pp. 16–19. the Eight Dragon Kings, see Inagaki, A Dictionary, s.v. “Hachi 64 Kamens, The Three Jewels, p. 321; Minamoto, Sanbō ekooba, dairyō.” pp. 93–94. 69 “Hasedera engi emaki kotobagaki,” p. 227.

102 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 ire . Hasedera engi emaki, scroll II, section 21. sliding door, looking at the stormy scene while the di- vine beings dig up the stone. Te illustration for section 20 shows Tokudō, dozing Te painting does not follow the text faithfully, as of within a house, and Konjin, pointing to the hills not all of the Eight Classes of Beings and Eight Divine depicted in the background. Konjin looks like a divine Boys are portrayed. Te storm is depicted in a dynamic boy, with his hair parted in the middle and tied in pig- composition, with black clouds framing the Wind God, tails; he is dressed in a white jacket and pants with red who creates strong winds from his bag, and the Tun- sections, and holds a single-pronged vajra. der God, who bangs on his drums to generate thunder. As mentioned above, in Sanbō ekotoba, Tokudō Two divine boys—one holding a single-pronged vajra, excavates the stone by himself. Te unearthing of the and the other, a trident—dig up the large square stone stone is dramatic in Hasedera engi emaki. Section 21 de- with the assistance of another divine being who uses scribes the conditions and the beings involved in this his sword.71 Te large square stone is represented with process: swirling lines on the surface and appears to be sur- rounded by water. On the lef side of the composition, When Tokudō woke up in the middle of the night, a Dragon King and a demon-like fgure carry logs and a strong wind blew on the peak, and a Dragon stones. King (Ryūō 竜王) created a thunderstorm with Te narrative about the stone pedestal ends in sec- heavy rains and landslides, which produced loud tion 22: sounds as the rocks broke. Tokudō gathered the courage to peek through the window and, when When dawn broke and Tokudō looked toward the lightning hit the ground, he could see the Tenryū northern peak, he saw a fat stone, the adamantine Eight Classes of Beings (Tenryū hachibushū 天 treasured seat (kongō hō za 金剛宝座). It mea- 竜八部衆, i.e., protectors of Buddhism) and the sured about eight shaku on each side; the surface Eight Divine Boys (Hachi daidōji 八大童子) fran- was fat as the palm of a hand and looked like the tically digging in the ground.70 texture of twill fabric. It had the holes for the feet of the bodhisattva [image], and they were exactly In fgure 12, Tokudō is represented peeking through the the size of the statue’s [feet].72

70 Ibid. The Eight Classes of Beings include gods or heavenly beings, dragons yakas, , , garuas, kinaras, 71 The divine boy holding the single-pronged vajra might be and . See Sawa, usuzō zuen, pp. 122–26. The Eight nokuta Dōi 阿耨逹童子, and the one holding the trident might Diine oys are the attendants of udō yōō 不動明王 (Sk. be ki Dōi 慧喜童子. Sawa, usuzō zuen, p. 107. calantha). 72 “Hasedera engi emaki kotobagaki,” p. 227.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 103 ire . Hasedera engi emaki, scroll II, section 22. stone is included in section 27, when Gyōki performs a spiritual pilgrimage on the mountain guided by a Te illustration of this scene (fgure 13) is partic- divine boy, who is a messenger of Kongō Dōji 金剛童 ularly important because, for the frst time, we get a 子 (Sk. Vajrakumāra).76 During this journey, the divine glimpse of the monumental sculpture of Kannon hold- boy gives a detailed explanation of the stone platform. ing his attribute, a shakujō 錫杖 (monk’s staf), and He tells Tokudō that this “adamantine treasured seat” standing on the square stone pedestal. Tokudō and a has three branches, and that we can see the top of group of men and women stand in awe, dwarfed by the the seat on this mountain, but the bottom connects monumental image.73 Because Hasedera burned down with the edge of the golden wheel. One branch is many times in the medieval period, this painting of the connected to the west, to central India, to the stone Hase Kannon would have had special signifcance as an of enlightenment; the second branch is linked to the object of worship when the icon was not available.74 As pure mountain Potalaka (the Pure Land of Kannon, Jp. Kevin Carr has proposed, narrative paintings were not Fudarakusen 補陀落山) and the seat of Kannon; and just experienced as illustrations of entertaining stories, the third branch is on this mountain. Unfortunately, but also as iconic images that represented the deity and these important features are not visually represented in created a sense of its sacred presence. Because stories the illustrated scrolls. like Hasedera engi emaki combine iconic and narrative Te idea of three branches connecting the stone modes, Carr has suggested the term “iconarrative,” an platform to the stone of enlightenment and to Potal- object that is a story in form, but functions as an icon aka is not original to Engibun and Hasedera engi emaki. or object of worship.75 Yokota has found that the earliest extant source con- Further explanation of the significance of the taining a similar statement is Kenkyū gojunrei ki 建久

73 The two figures dressed in white might be the sculptors, as the 76 Kongō Dōi is a isdom King thought to be the metamorphosed one next to okudō holds a carpenter’s suare. body of the buddha Amida 阿弥陀 Sk. mitbha). In apan, he 74 ecords indicate that the temple burned down in 944, 991, 1025, is the god of war, invoked against calamities affecting the state. 1052, 1094, 1219, 1280, 1495, and 1536. See Frédéric, Buddhism, pp. 216–17. See also Sawa, usuzō 75 Carr, “The Material Facts,” pp. 31, 40–41. zuten, p. 121.

104 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 御巡礼記 (Record of the Pilgrimage in the Kenkyū engi emaki versions of these stories carried a specifc Era), dated to Kenkyū 建久 2 (1191). Tis twelfh-cen- message. To construct the Hase Kannon’s sacred aura, tury text, however, states that the stone platform is spe- the creators of Hasedera engi emaki underscored the cifcally linked to Maghada (southern Bihar) in India, wondrous qualities of the material. In the case of the where three generations of buddhas reached enlight- log, they kept some motifs that demonstrated its numi- enment, and that Mt. Potalaka is in the southern sea.77 nous nature, such as the disasters that it caused in the Yokota searched for possible Buddhist sources for these places where it landed. Yet, the motifs that were added, ideas, and found some of them (such as Maghada being such as the deities whose main role is to protect the log, the place where three generations of buddhas reached served to enhance the log’s perceived sacredness. Fur- enlightenment), along with the terms used to refer to thermore, the writer(s) used the idea that non-sentient the stone platform, in Buddhist texts, but none of the beings could reach enlightenment, showing that the texts coherently explains the signifcance of the con- log followed the various steps in this process before its nections between the stones and the sites mentioned. transformation into a Kannon image. Te white lotus He also has proposed that the idea of the three branches blooming from the log served to demonstrate that the might be related to knowledge of the transmission of log had the buddha-nature, and that it could move to Buddhism through the three countries (India, China, the next step through Tokudō’s devoted prayers and of- and Japan), specifcally to the stories that involve the ferings, and Dōji’s empowerment prayer. With its move miraculous move of foreign sacred mountains to Japan. to the northern peak, the log fnally reached “enlighten- Tese stories were popular at sites of Shugendō prac- ment” when it was transformed into an image of Jūichi- tice, traditions associated with mountain ascetics; as men Kannon through the intervention of two Buddhist Mt. Hase was one of those sites, it is likely that such deities. At Hasedera, the preservation of the sacred ma- ideas reached the Hasedera monks. terial used to make the Hase Kannon was important; In sum, the short story included in Sanbō ekotoba thus, afer some of the fres that destroyed the temple about Tokudō’s discovery of the large stone that serves through the centuries, new stories about the wood were as the Hase Kannon’s platform was given a specifcally created. Tese stories created afer the fres claimed Buddhist signifcance by the creators of Hasedera engi that some small part of the statue had survived and was emaki. In so doing, Mt. Hase was connected to the land used to make, or inserted into, the new image.78 where Buddhism originated and to the Pure Land of In the same way, the expanded story about the large Kannon, enhancing the sacred nature of the mountain square stone platform not only highlights the size and and the icon. unusual shape of the stone, but explains that Mt. Hase is connected through the stone to a site associated with the historical Buddha and to Mt. Potalaka, the onclsion imaginary site associated with Kannon. In Hasedera engi emaki certain sections of the text contain complex Among the many legendary accounts about Hasedera, religious and political statements, which are not the creators of Hasedera engi emaki chose as their source illustrated. Yet, the sections that are illustrated allow Hasedera engibun, allegedly composed by Sugawara no the scrolls to show the presence of the deities who Michizane in the tenth century. Current scholarship accompanied the log through its journey, Tokudō’s agrees that Engibun is a product of the twelfh or thir- ability to receive messages from the protectors of Mt. teenth century, and that various Hasedera engi emaki Hase, and, importantly, the progressive transformation were produced between the fourteenth and eighteenth of the log into the miraculous Hase Kannon. centuries. Te focus of this study, the set at the SAM, is dated to the sixteenth century. By comparing the sto- ries of the log and the large stone recorded in Sanbō ekotoba to the Hasedera engi emaki text, it becomes clear that the additions to the Engibun and Hasedera

77 Yokota, “Hasedera Kannon daiza sakikusa no keisei,” pp. 16–17. 78 Discussed by Yokota, “Hasedera Kannon no misogi.”

SPRING 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 105 ale 1. Stories as divided among the three scrolls of Hasedera engi emaki, summary of sections, and brief description of illustrations.

SRLL I First Story Sugawara no Michizane and the compilation of Engibun in anp 寛平 8 (896) Section 1 Michizane visited Hasedera to compile Hasedera engi. While studying temple documents, he had a dream in which three aō ongen 蔵王権現, using golden ladders, came down to Hasedera’s Main Hall from Mt. Kinpu 金峯山 and told him about the virtues of the mountain.79 Illustration 1 hree scenes ichiane does off, the three aō ongen come down on golden ladders, and Figure 1 Michizane writes the engi. Second Story Establishment of Hatsusedera 初瀬寺 and Hasedera and explanation of the temples’ names Section 2 A fell from the hand of an image of Bishamonten 毘沙門天. his image was in a hall next to the shrine of Takikura Gongen 瀧倉権現, the local kami.80 The stupa was found by Takeshiuchi no Sukune 武内宿祢; after performing divinations, Sukune concluded that Mt. Hase was a blessed place, and buried the stupa.81 hree hundred years later, this stupa was discoered by the monk Dōmyō, who established Hatsusedera, the first temple on the mountain, with the support of enmu ennō 天武天 皇 (r. 673–686). Illustration 2 The composition includes the shrines of Takikura Gongen and Bishamonten, Takeshiuchi no Sukune Figure 2 picking up the stupa from Hatsuse ier, and Dōmyō holding the same stupa and walking toward a Buddhist hall and a pagoda. A representation of the Hasedera Bronze Plaque is also part of the composition. Third Story he life and reliios trainin of the monk okd Section 3 he second temple is known as Hasedera, and it was established by the monk okudō. He was born in Saimei 斉明 2 656), and his birth name was Kara Yatabe no iyatsuko Komemaru 辛矢田部造米丸. He was an incarnation of Hokki also Hōki) osatsu 法起菩薩, and his mother was impregnated when the yōō enshi 明星天子 entered through her mouth.82 Illustration 3 Komemaru’s mother is being impregnated by the morning star while she sleeps in a house. In the same house, the birth of okudō is portrayed.83 Section 4 After the deaths of his parents, Komemaru decided to follow the Buddhist path for their salvation. He entered Mt. Hase to perform religious practices, receiving the precepts and his in Tenmu 天武 4 (676). Illustration 4 okudō is tonsured in a small structure in a mountain setting. Section 5 okudō mastered the uddhist teachings, but could not master shugen 修験 (the generation of miraculous powers through ascetic practices). Thus, he continued to perform virtuous acts.

Illustration 5 okudō practices the uddhist way in a mountain setting.

79 he references to t. Kinpu and aō ongen are eidence of the prealence of Shugendō practices on t. Hase. t. Kinpu is an import- ant center of Shugendō practices in Nara refecture, and aō ongen is the tradition’s main deity. or the arious roles of aō ongen, see Blair, Real and Imagined. or aspects of Shugendō in Hasedera engi emaki, see radel, “a eyenda Ilustrada de Hasedera,” pp. 61–64. 80 akikura ongen is an ancient kami of Hase. Three shrines dedicated to this kami are located on the grounds of Hasedera today. See Yokota et al., “hsei Hasedera kwdō shōiten,” pp. 148–49. 81 akeshiuchi no Sukune, or akeuchi no Sukune, is a legendary character who appears in Nihon shoki 日本書紀 hronicles of apan, 720) and Kojiki 古事記 ecord of ncient atters, 712) where he plays an important role at the court of such early rulers as Kōgen 孝元 214–158 ) and Keikō 景行 through Nintoku 仁徳 71–399 ). Kōjien, s.v. “Takeuchi no Sukune.” 82 Hokki osatsu is a bodhisatta mentioned in Kegongyō 華厳経 (Sk. aasaka sūra, the Garland Sutra). This deity was the protector of t. Katsuragi, a center of Shugendō practice. iyake, Shugenō jien, p. 346. or an oeriew of Shugendō, the religion of mountain as- cetics, see Kasahara, A History of Japanese Religion, pp. 314–31. yōō enshi Sk. rua) is a edic deity. He accompanies Indra and ghts against darkness before the sun god rises in the morning. Nakamura, ukkyōgo aijien, p. 1307. 83 For a detailed analysis of birth scenes in emaki, see Suzuki, “Twanging Bows and Throwing Rice.”

106 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 Section 6 hile at t. Hase, okudō discoered that it was a sacred mountain and decided to build a temple. When he looked toward the northern peak, he saw a golden light. This light appeared every time he performed his Buddhist practices.

Illustration 6 okudō looks toward the light emanating from the northern peak while performing his religious practices. Fourth Story The numinous log Section 7 okudō wanted to make a buddha image for the temple, and searched for appropriate wood. He asked the monk Dōmyō, who told him about a strange log lying in Hatsuse ier. Dōmyō told him that, in a dream, he had talked to an okina, who identified himself as io Daimyōin, the protector of the log, and to a divine boy, who said that he was a protector of Mt. Hase. Illustration 7 Dōmyō and okudō talk. Section 8 okudō asked a illage elder about the log’s history. he elder responded that the log was cursed. Illustration 8 n old man and okudō talk. Section 9 he elder told okudō that the log measured more than ten jō 丈 (about thirty meters total), and that fragrant lotus flowers bloomed from it when celestials scattered lotus petals on it. For this reason, the locals named the site the White Lotus Flower Valley. Illustration 9 A celestial being scatters lotus petals, while white lotus flowers bloom from the log. Figure 3 Section 10 he elder also told okudō that in Keitai 継体 11 518), a storm washed the log out of the alley. Illustration 10 The large log is being washed away during a storm. It is accompanied by the Wind God, the Thunder Figure 4 od, io Daimyōin represented as an old man), a diine boy holding a baldachin, and fie demon like figures.

Section 11 he log ended up in the illage of Ōtsu in the Shiga District, where it stayed for nearly seenty years; many disasters happened in that village. After performing divinations, the villagers found out that the log was cursed. Illustration 11 io Daimyōin, the diine boy holding a baldachin, and three demons sit near the log. illage is Figure 5 shown where villagers try to cut the log, which causes sickness, fires, and death. Section 12 A woman named Oi no Kadoko from the village of Yagi in Takechi 高市, Yamato Province, thought of making a buddha icon for the sake of her parents and husband. In Yōmei 用明 1 585), she had the log moved to a crossing, and died due to the curse. The log stayed in Yagi and tragic events continued. In Suiko 推古 7 599), a noice named Hōsei decided to make a ichimen Kannon image and moved the log to Taima in Lower Katsuragi, but he died. The log stayed in Taima for about fifty years and tragic events continued to occur there.

Illustration 12 The long log is hauled by a group of men, and a person appears on his deathbed in a house.84 Figure 6 Section 13 In 天智 7 668), the log ended up in the sacred rier at Hase, and remained there uneentfully for about thirtynine years. fter hearing the stories, okudō understood that the log was numinous, and requested permission from the villagers to take it. Illustration 13 he log at Hase; okudō talks to an elder.

84 In the S ersion, the house scene is placed before the log hauled by a group of men. igure 6 has been reconstructed based on other extant ersions of Hasedera engi emaki.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 107 SRLL II Section 14 fter nearly fifteen years had passed, okudō could not fulfill his ow of making the buddha image. In a dream, he saw a strange person, who told him to carry the numinous log to the eastern peak, where three lights represent the benefits of the three times.

Illustration 14 okudō sleeps and a man points toward the eastern peak, where three oil lamps are lit. Figure 7 Fifth Story Interactions eteen okd and iara no sasaki and the makin of the Hase annon Section 15 In Yōrō 養老 4 720), okudō moed the log to the eastern peak, made offerings, and prayed that the log would transform itself into a buddha image for the prosperity of the imperial and Fujiwara 藤原 families. In Yōrō 8 724), uiwara no usasaki went to the Yamato roince as an imperial messenger. He also went hunting, and while doing so in the mountains, he heard someone praying fervently. Illustration 15 The log is hauled to the eastern peak; Fusasaki and his hunting party arrive in Hase.85 Figure 8 Section 16 usasaki asked okudō about the reason for his prayers. okudō explained about his ow to make a ichimen Kannon image, which he wanted to do because the prosperity of uddhism in apan depended on materasu no Ōmikami 天照大神 and Kasuga Daimyōin 春日大明神, as both kami had promised each other to protect the country. Illustration 16 usasaki listens to okudō’s prayer; okudō ferently prays to the log accompanied by its Figure 9 protectors); and usasaki and okudō talk. Section 17 usasaki decided to support okudō. In inki 1 724), he presented a petition and receied a positie response from the emperor. Three months later, the emperor donated three hundred bushels of rice.

Illustration 17 Fusasaki reads the imperial response, and farmers carry the rice bushels. Section 18 In inki 6 729), the monk Dōi performed an empowerment prayer for the misogi. Illustration 18 Dōi performs the prayer ceremony in front of a block of wood with an image of Kannon sketched on Figure 10 it, as the protectors of the log watch. Section 19 The image, which measured two jō six shaku, was finished in three days. A man named Tsumaro saw that the craftsmen, Kei unkai and Kei Shukun, had transformed into a sixarmed iō and a sixarmed ukkenaku Kannon, respectiely. He informed okudō, but the latter could not see the deities. Illustration 19 Tsumaro looks toward the craftsmen’s working area. Two sculptors work side by side with their deity Figure 11 counterparts. The log’s protectors are near the working area. Tsumaro points toward the working area as okudō looks on.86 Sixth Story Discovery of the monumental stone Section 20 Konin appeared to okudō in a dream, and informed him about a large stone that could sere as the bodhisattva’s platform. Illustration 20 okudō sleeps and a diine boy, holding a vajra, points to the northern peak. Section 21 During a loud, stormy night, okudō saw the enry ight lasses of eings and the ight Diine Boys frantically digging up a stone. Illustration 21 okudō peeks through a sliding door as the deities unearth the large stone. he ind od and Figure 12 Thunder God actively create the storm.

85 In the S ersion, the scene of the log being hauled to the peak is located after illustration 19. igure 8 has been reconstructed based on other extant ersions of Hasedera engi emaki. 86 igure 11 has been reconstructed based on the narratie and the Idemitsu ersion. In the S ersion, section 20 and illustration 20 are between the scene representing Tsumaro looking toward the working area and the workshop scene.

108 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 Section 22 he following morning, okudō saw the “adamantine treasured seat”, i.e., the adamantine platform. It measured eight shaku (about 2.6 meters) on each side. It was flat, and the image’s feet fit perfectly on top of it. Illustration 22 he monumental statue of Kannon stands on the pedestal, while okudō worships along with other Figure 13 men and women. Seventh Story The Hase Kannon’s eye-opening ceremony Section 23 he eyeopening ceremony was scheduled. Shōmu ennō ordered a copy of the ai hannya kyō 大 般若経 (Great Wisdom Sutra). Illustration 23 A group of monks copies sutras. Section 24 n enpyō 5 733).5.18, usasaki brought the imperial offerings to Hasedera. n 5.20, he presented the offerings and music. he monk yōki was the leading officiant, the monk ira 儀邏 (n.d) oversaw the prayers, and one hundred monks participated in the ceremony. During the night, the Kannon image emitted light from its forehead and illuminated the whole mountain. Illustration 24 In the scene of the eye-opening ceremony, the officiants are seated facing each other, a group of monks is seated on a square stage, and lay people are behind them. The space is decorated with banners, and a shaft of light coming through the mist indicates the presence of Kannon. Section 25 he same night, eight diine boys appeared to okudō and informed him that they were the protectors of the stone seat. They also pledged to protect those who pray to the Buddha, and to give them good fortune and the promise of salvation.87 Illustration 25 ight diine boys appear to okudō, who worships them. Section 26 n 5.21, the ai hannya kyō was offered. he leading ofciant was yōki, the prayer ofciant was the monk Zen’ei 禅叡 n.d), and sixty other monks participated. he emperor had a dream in which he saw a light entering the palace, and he rejoiced. Illustration 26 A shaft of light enters the palace. Eighth Story he monk ki’s pilrimae to Mt. Hase Section 27 yōki embarked on a onehundredday retreat at t. Hase. n the seentyseenth day, a gold- encolored diine boy appeared from the right side of the Kannon image, and identied himself as one of the protectors of the mountain and a messenger from Kongō Dōi. He explained the sacred spots at the site and the divine beings who inhabit Mt. Hase. Illustration 27 yōki talks to a diine boy. hey are surrounded by worshippers, who appear to be impressed by the large size of the icon.

SRLL III Section 28 yōki wanted to see the mountain, and the diine boy took him. Illustration 28 ong and complex composition showing yōki and the diine boy exploring the sacred spots on the mountain.

87 hese eight diine boys are not the ight Diine oys associated with udō yōō. hey are the protectors of the stone pedestal who promise spiritual benets to the people who isit t. Hase. heir names are listed in the text. See iya, “Hasedera engi kotobagaki, kōkan,” p. 146; and “Hasedera engi emaki kotobagaki,” p. 228. 88 Samhi (Jp. sanmai 三昧) means “concentration,” and refers to the theory and practice that relates to the ability to focus on a specic obect of concentration. uswell, The Princeton Dictionary, s.v. “samhi” 89 he term ryōkai used here refers to the mandalas of the Two Realms.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 109 Section 29 he diine boy explained to yōki that the glorious sites can only be seen in a state of samhi.88 yōki reached samhi, saw the deities of the Two Realms (ryōkai 両界), and worshipped them.89 Both returned to the side of the Kannon image, and the boy disappeared. Illustration 29 yōki sees the buddhas of the wo ealms. Ninth Story onstrction and dedication of Hasedera’s main hall Section 30 yōki returned to his temple and reported to the throne about t. Hase, and reuested the construction of a uddhist hall. In the meantime, okudō organied a fundraising effort that included people from high and low classes.90 he ridgepoleraising ceremony took place on enpyō 7 735).5.16. Illustration 30 yōki reports to the throne, okudō writes the fundraising slips, craftsmen are shown at work, and preparations for the ridgepole ceremony are made.

Section 31 he halls were finished on enpyō 19 747).9.28, and the completion ceremony rakkei kuyō 落慶 供養) was performed. One hundred monks participated in the ceremony. Bodhisena (704–760), an Indian monk, was the leading officiant, and yōki was in charge of the prayers.

Illustration 31 Music and dances are performed during the halls’ dedication ceremonies. Tenth Story Shm’s donation and visit to the temple Section 32 Shōmu isited Hasedera on enpyō shōhō 天平勝宝 4 752).11.16. He offered a copy of the Saishōō kyō 最勝王経 () and one section of the Lotus Sutra that he himself had written.91 Illustration 32 ong composition showing Shōmu’s cart and entourage, important halls of Hasedera, and landmarks at Mt. Hase.

Section 33 n enpyō shōhō 5 753).11.19, Shōmu had a dream, and by imperial command, a curtain was hung on 12.20. Prayers needed to be offered for the generations to come, for the security of the empire, and for the happiness of the people. he monk Kengyō 堅璟 (714–793) received the imperial donation. Illustration 33 A red curtain with motifs of circles on lotus flowers is shown. Each circle contains the seed syllable (Sk. bja) for Kannon. monk, courtiers, and women look at the scene; Kengyō is also portrayed.

Postscript he postscript reiterates that t. Hase is a sacred uddhist site, and that Shōmu is a manifestation of Kannon; okudō, of Hokki osatsu; yōki, of the bodhisatta onu 文殊 Sk. aur); and Bodhisena, of the bodhisattva Fugen 普賢 (Sk. ).92

90 his constitutes the last mention of okudō in the text. 91 he S ersion includes a postscript stating that the painting of the temple grounds illustration 32) is intended for monks and laypeople who have not yet visited Hasedera. 92 uimaki calls the people listed “the four saints of Hasedera.” xcept for okudō, the three others mentioned are also part of a group known as “the four saints of ōdaii.” he fourth figure in the latter group is the monk ōben 良弁 (689–773). Fujimaki, “‘Hasedera engibun’ ni miru ōdaii,’” pp. 151–56.

110 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 Reference List Dykstra, Yoshiko K. “Tales of the Compassionate Kannon: Te Hasedera Kannon Genki.” MN 31:2 (1976), pp. 113–43. ▪ Primary Sources Frédéric, Louis. Buddhism. Paris and New York: Flammarion, 1995. Hasedera engibun 長谷寺縁起文. In vol. 24 of Gunsho Fujimaki Kazuhiro 藤巻和宏. “‘Hasedera engibun’ ruijū 群書類従, ed. Hanawa Hokinoichi 塙保已一, pp. Amaterasu no ōmikami, Kasuga daimyōjin seiyakutan o 454–62. Zoku Gunsho Ruijū Kanseikai, 1983. megutte: Dairokuten Maō no tōjō to ‘Hasedera missōki’ “Hasedera engi emaki kotobagaki” 長谷寺縁起絵巻詞書. In to no shōō” 『長谷寺縁起文』天照大神·春日明神 Yamatoe: Idemitsu Bijutsukan zōhin zuroku やまと絵: 出 誓約譚をめぐって: 第六天魔王の登場と『長谷寺密 光美術館藏品図, Idemitsu Bijutsukan 出光美術館, pp. 奏記』との照応. Kokubungaku kenkyū 国文学研究 127 223–31. Idemitsu Bijutsukan and Heibonsha, 1986. (1999), pp. 68–77. Minamoto Tamenori 源為憲. Sanbō ekotoba 三宝絵 Fujimaki Kazuhiro. “‘Hasedera engibun’ ni miru ‘Tōdaiji’: 詞. Annotated by Eguchi Takao 江口孝夫. Gendai En no Gyōja, Hokki bosatsu dōtaisetsu to Ise sangūsetsu” Shichōsha, 1982. 『長谷寺縁起文』に見る「東大寺」: 役行者·法起 Miya Tsugio. “Hasedera engi kotobagaki, kōkan” 長谷寺縁 菩薩同体説と伊勢参宮説. Setsuwa bungaku kenkyū 説 起 詞書·公刊. Bijutsu kenkyū 美術研究 278 (1971), pp. 話文学研究 34 (1999), pp. 151–62. 142–48. Fujimaki Kazuhiro. “Hasedera missōki no shohon to chūki” 長谷寺密記の諸本と注記. Koten isan 古典遺産 54 (2004), pp. 58–67. ▪ Secondary Sources Fujimaki Kazuhiro. “Hasedera no engi: Saiseisan to hen’yō no yōsō” 長谷寺の縁起: 再生産と変容の様相. Abe Yasurō 阿部泰郎. “Hasedera engi to reigenki” 長谷寺 Kokubungaku: Kaishaku to kanshō 国文学: 解釈と鑑賞 縁起と霊験記. In Bukkyō minzokugaku no shomondai 63:12 (1998), pp. 110–16. 仏教民俗学の諸問題, ed. Bukkyō Minzokugaku Taikei Fujimaki Kazuhiro. “Nantōkei Hasedera engi setsu no tenkai: Henshū Iinkai 仏教民俗学大系編集委員会, pp. 323–37. ‘Kenkyū gojunreiki,’ ‘Shoji konryū shidai,’ Gokokuji hon Meicho Shuppan, 2016. ‘Shoji engishū’ no kentō kara” 南都系長谷寺縁起説の Blacker, Carmen. “Te Divine Boy in Japanese Buddhism.” 展開:『建久御巡礼記』、『諸寺建立次第』、護国 Asian Folklore Studies 22 (1963), pp. 77–88. 寺本『諸寺縁起集』の検討から. Junreiki kenkyū 巡礼 Blair, Heather. Real and Imagined: Te Peak of Gold in Heian 記研究 1 (2004), pp. 73–83. Japan. Harvard University Asia Center, 2015. Gangōji Bunkazai Kenkyūjo 元興寺文化財研究所, ed. Buswell, Robert, et al. Te Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Buzan Hasedera shūi 豊山長谷寺拾遺. Vol. 1, Kaiga Princeton University Press, 2017. 絵画. Sakurai: Sōhonzan Hasedera Bunkazaitō Hozon Carr, Kevin Gray. “Te Material Facts of Ritual: Revisioning Chōsa Iinkai, 1994. Medieval Viewing through Material Analysis, Grapard, Allan G. Te Protocol of the Gods: A Study of the Ethnographic Analogy, and Architectural History.” In A Kasuga Cult in Japanese History. University of California Companion to Asian Art and Architecture, ed. Rebecca Press, 1992. M. Brown and Deborah S. Hutton, pp. 23–48. Chichester, Guth, Christine M. E. “Te Divine Boy in Japanese Art.” MN West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2015. 42:1 (1987), pp. 1–23. Chino Kaori 千野香織 and Nishi Kazuo 西和夫. Fikushon Hatta Tatsuo 八田達男. “Hasedera Jūichimen Kannonzō to shite no kaiga: Bijutsushi no me, kenchikushi no me no zōyō” 長谷寺十一面観音像の像容. In Reigen jiin to フィクションとしての絵画: 美術史の目, 建築史の shinbutsu shūgō: Kodai jiin no chūseiteki tenkai 霊験寺院 目. Perikansha, 1991. と神仏習合: 古代寺院の中世的展開, pp. 15–38. Iwata Dehejia, Vidya. “On Modes of Visual Narration in Early Shoin, 2003. .” Art Bulletin 72:3 (1990), pp. 374–92. Havens, Norman, and Nobutada Inoue, eds. An Encyclopedia Drott, Edward R. Buddhism and the Transformation of Old of Shinto. 3 vols. Institute for Japanese Culture and Age in Medieval Japan. University of Hawai‘i Press, 2016. Classics, Kokugakuin University, 2001–2006.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 111 Idemitsu Bijutsukan 出光美術館. Yamatoe: Idemitsu 載されている資料の調査. crd.ndl.go.jp/reference/ Bijutsukan zōhin zuroku やまと絵: 出光美術館藏品図. detail?page=ref_view&id=1000129344. Idemitsu Bijutsukan and Heibonsha, 1986. Sakakibara Satoru 榊原悟. “Rokkanbon Hasedera engi-e Inagaki, Hisao. A Dictionary of Japanese Buddhist Terms. shōkai” 六巻本長谷寺縁起絵小解. In Kohitsu to emaki Kyoto: Nagata Bunshodo, 1992. 古筆と絵巻. Vol. 4 of Kohitsugaku sōrin 古筆学叢林, ed. Kamens, Edward. Te Tree Jewels: A Study and Translation Kojitsugaku Kenkyūjo 古筆学研究所, pp. 113–96. Yagi of Minamoto Tamenori’s Sanbōe. Center for Japanese Shoten, 1994. Studies, University of Michigan, 1988. Saunders, E. Dale. Mudrā: A Study of Symbolic Gestures in Kasahara, Kazuo, ed. A History of Japanese Religion. Trans. Japanese Buddhist Sculpture. Princeton University Press, Paul McCarthy and Gaynor Sekimori. Kosei Publishing, 1985. 2002. Sawa Ryūken 佐和隆研. Butsuzō zuten 仏像図典. Kataoka Naoki 片岡直樹. “Hasedera dōban hokke sessōzu Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 1962. saikō: Ōyama Seiichishi ni kotaete” 長谷寺銅板法華説 Shinmura Izuru 新村出, ed. Kōjien 広辞苑. 6th edition. 相図再考: 大山誠一氏に答えて. Bukkyō geijutsu 仏教 Iwanami Shoten, 2009. 芸術 225 (1969), pp. 40–70. Suzuki, Yui. “Twanging Bows and Trowing Rice: Warding Kawasaki, Tsuyoshi, and Heather Blair. “Engi: Forging Of Evil in Medieval Japanese Birth Scenes.” Artibus Asiae Accounts of Sacred Origins.” JJRS 42:1 (2015), pp. 1–26. 74:1 (2014), pp. 17–42. La Fleur, William. “Sattva: Enlightenment for Plants and Tamamushi Satoko 玉虫敏子. “Kaiga ni okeru shiki to kinō Trees.” In Dharma Gaia: A Harvest of Essays in Buddhism no imi: Muromachi jidai o chūshin ni” 絵画における and Ecology, ed. Allan Hunt Badiner, pp. 136–44. 四季と機能の意味: 室町時代を中心に. In Suibokuga: Berkeley, CA: Parallax Press, 1990. Shōkei to Sesson 水墨画: 祥啓と雪村, ed. Nakajima Jūnji McCormick, Melissa. Tosa Mitsunobu and the Small Scroll in 中島順司. Nihon no bijutsu 日本の美術 337 (1994), pp. Medieval Japan. University of Washington Press, 2009. 85–96. Miya Tsugio 宮次男. “Hasedera engi ge” 長谷寺縁起 下. Teeuwen, Mark, and Fabio Rambelli. Buddhas and Kami in Bijutsu kenkyū 276 (1971), pp. 63–70. Japan: Honji Suijaku as a Combinatory Paradigm. London Miya Tsugio. “Hasedera engi jō” 長谷寺縁起 上. Bijutsu and New York: Routledge, 2015. kenkyū 275 (1971), pp. 32–36. Tsuji Hidenori 逵日出典. “Hasedera engi ni tsuite: Koengi Miyake Hitoshi 宮家準. Shugendō jiten 修験道辞典. no keitō to shinengi no keisei” 長谷寺縁起に就いて: 古 Tōkyōdō Shuppan, 2006. 縁起の系統と新縁起の形成. Bunkashi kenkyū 文化史 Nakamura Hajime 中村元, ed. Bukkyōgo daijiten 仏教語大 研究 2 (1968), pp. 40–52. 辞典. Tōkyō Shoseki, 1991. Tsuji Hidenori. Hasederashi no kenkyū 長谷寺史の研究. Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan 奈良国立博物館. Shaji Vol. 1 of Kodai sangaku jiin no kenkyū 古代山岳寺院の engi-e 社寺緣起絵. Kadokawa Shoten, 1975. 研究. Gannandō Shoten, 1979. Pradel, Chari. “La Leyenda Ilustrada de Hasedera: Budismo Uchida Mioko 内田澪子. “Jisha engi to setsuwashū: y Sincretismo Religioso en Japón.” In Visualidad en Hasedera engibun kō” 寺社縁起と説話集: 長谷寺縁 Japón: Once Estudios Ibero-americanos, ed. Amaury 起文考. In Chūsei no jisha engi to sankei 中世の寺社 García Rodríguez and Emilio García Montiel, pp. 39–73. 縁起と参詣, ed. Tokuda Kazuo 徳田和夫, pp. 201–31. Mexico City: Colegio de México, 2008. Chikurinsha, 2013. Rambelli, Fabio. Buddhist Materiality: A Cultural History of Uejima Susumu 上島享. “Chūsei shinwa no sōzō: Hasedera Objects in Japanese Buddhism. Stanford University Press, engi to Nanto sekai” 中世神話の創造: 長谷寺縁起と 2007. 南都世界. In Nihon chūsei shakai no keisei to ōken 日本 Rambelli, Fabio. Vegetal Buddhas: Ideological Effects of 中世社会の形成と王権, pp. 528–77. Nagoya Daigaku Japanese Buddhist Doctrines on the Salvation of Inanimate Shuppankai, 2010. Beings. Kyoto: Scuola Italiana di Studi sull’a Asia Yamamoto Yōko 山本陽子. “Hasedera engi emaki no misogi Orientale, 2001. denshō o kangaeru: Ekimoku no tatari shizume to shite Refarensu Kyōdō Dētabēsu レファレンス協同データ no zōzō to reisei no konkyo” 長谷寺縁起絵巻の御衣 ベース. “Hasedera engi emaki no zentai ga keisai sarete 木伝承を考える: 疫木の祟り鎮めとしての造像と霊 iru shiryō no chōsa” 長谷寺縁起絵巻の全体が掲 性の根拠. In Soshikiron: Seisakushita hitobito 組織論:

112 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 制作した人々, ed. Tsuda Tetsuei 津田徹英, pp. 91–107. Chikurinsha, 2016. Yokota Takashi 横田隆志. Hasedera genki: Gendaigo yaku 長 谷寺驗記: 現代語訳. Sakurai shi: Sōhonzan Hasedera, 2010. Yokota Takashi. “Hasedera no zen’aku shoshin: Toku ni dōji o chūshin ni” 長谷寺の善悪諸神: 特に童子を中心に. In Setsuwa no naka no zen’aku shoshin 説話の中の善悪 諸神. Vol. 16 of Setsuwa ronshū 説話論集, ed. Setsuwa to Setsuwa Bungaku no Kai 說話と說話文学の会, pp. 199–233. : Seibundō Shuppan, 2007. Yokota Takashi. “Hasedera shūhen no ishi to kamigami” 長 谷寺周辺の石と神々. Ōsaka Ōtani kokubun 大阪大谷 国文 44 (2014), pp. 64–84. Yokota Takashi. “Hase Kannon daiza sakikusa setsu no keisei” 長谷観音台座三枝説の形成. Kokugo to kokubungaku 国語と国文学 5 (2015), pp. 16–27. Yokota Takashi. “Hase Kannon daizaseki denshō no tenkai” 長谷観音台座石伝承の展開. Ōsaka Ōtani kokubun 43:3 (2013), pp. 36–60. Yokota Takashi. “Hase Kannon no misogi to setsuwa” 長 谷観音の御衣木と説話. Nanto bukkyō 南都仏教 88 (2006), pp. 112–28. Yokota Takashi, Uchida Mioko, and Ikegami Jun’ichi 池上洵 一. “Chūsei Hasedera kīwādo shōjiten” 中世長谷寺 キーワード小辞典. Kokubun ronsō 国文論叢 36 (2006), pp. 140–90.

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 113

Underground Buddhism: The Subterranean Landscape of the Ise Shrines

D. MAX MOERMAN

OR the past one hundred and ffy years, the Ise and fourteenth centuries.”1 Abe Yasurō, for example, Shrines (Ise Jingū 伊勢神宮) have been presented has studied the temple archives of Shinpukuji 眞福寺 as the homeland of an indigenous religion un- to examine “Shinto as written representation” and ana- Ftouched by Buddhist traditions. Although more recent lyze “medieval Shinto as text.”2 And Mark Teeuwen has scholarship has revealed this image to be an ideological charted the “fuid body of cross-referencing texts” that fantasy invented by nineteenth-century Nativists and constitute what he calls the genre of “Ise literature.”3 perpetuated by the Japanese government until the end Tis article seeks to complement and complicate this of the Pacifc War, it nevertheless remains the common new history of Ise by shifing our attention from doc- understanding of Ise, an understanding that continues trinal elaborations of distinct priestly lineages to the to be promoted by the shrines today. Te policy of the material objects and ritual acts created by collaborative Meiji government (1868–1912) known as the “separa- networks of institutional groups that have been as- tion of Shinto and Buddhism” (shinbutsu bunri 神仏分 sumed conventionally to be rivals. Te ritual practices 離), which segregated religious deities, clergy, institu- and material culture produced by and for the priestly tions, and images into the mutually exclusive categories lineages of the Ise Shrines established a sustaining re- of Buddhist or Shinto, was a political act that sought lationship between the gods and the buddhas at the not only to change the status, structure, and adminis- ground level, and lay the necessary substructure for tration of Ise, but also to erase its past. For the previous later Buddhist developments at the Ise Shrines. thousand years, Buddhist practices, practitioners, texts, objects, and aspirations were integral to Ise’s religious Ise as a Buddhist Construction and institutional culture. Te work of such scholars as Abe Yasurō, Itō Satoshi, Kadoya Atsushi, Fabio Ram- Buddhist institutions, practices, discourses, and rep- belli, and Mark Teeuwen has revealed the centrality of Buddhist traditions in formulating the pantheon, doc- trine, and ritual at Ise. In doing so, these scholars have An earlier version of this article appeared in Japanese in Moer- established a new intellectual and literary history of Ise man, “Chichū no Bukkyō,” 2016. 1 Teeuwen and Breen, A Social History of the Ise Shrines, p. 61. that focuses on the hermeneutic strategies and esoteric 2 Abe, “Shintō as Written Representation.” texts that “saw their fnal redactions in the thirteenth 3 Teeuwen and Breen, A Social History of the Ise Shrines, p. 61.

115 resentations were a part of Ise’s religious landscape of birth-and-death,” he said, and came down to since at least the eighth century. According to the prevent it. Ten the deity of the Great Shrine met Shoku Nihongi 続日本紀, the state history composed with the demon king and said, “I promise not in 797, Takidaijingūji 多気大神宮寺, the shrine-temple to utter the names of the Tree Treasures, nor (jingūji 神宮寺) of the imperial princess at Ise (saigū 斎 will I permit them near my person.” Being thus 宮), was established in Watarai-gun 度会郡in 698 to mollifed, he withdrew. . . . Outwardly the deity better serve the shrines.4 In 766, an imperial envoy was is estranged from the Dharma, but inwardly she sent to “the temple of the Great Deity of Ise” with the profoundly supports the Tree Treasures. Tus, gif of a life-size (jōroku 丈六) statue of a buddha to Japanese Buddhism is under the special protection serve as its principal icon.5 In the same year, the court of the deity of the Great Shrine. . . . Since all of this ordered that Ōkasedera 鹿瀬寺 be established as the arose by virtue of the of the Great Sun Buddha state-sponsored temple of the Ise Shrines in perpetuity.6 on the ocean foor, we have come to identify the Yet the earliest records of Ise Shrine ritual, the Protocols deities of the Inner and Outer Shrines with the of the Imperial Great Shrine (Kōtaijingū gishikichō 皇大 Great Sun Buddha of the Two-Part Mandala; and 神宮儀式帳) of 804, declare such basic Buddhist terms that which is called the Heavenly Rock Cave is the as “buddha,” “sutra,” “pagoda,” “monk,” “temple,” and Tusita Heaven of the Buddha Maitreya.8 “lay practitioner” as taboo (imi 忌).7 Te prohibitions at Ise of Buddhist vocabulary, practices, and practitioners Te true at Ise, according to Mu- at particular religious sites and ritual occasions suggest jū’s tale of origins, is thus purposely concealed. It is a at once a tension and an intimacy between shrine and history that reaches back before the Japanese islands temple traditions. Te isolation of kami and buddhas at even existed, yet it remains forever hidden, buried deep Ise indicates that a diference was drawn between the beneath the waves. Mujū’s answer to an apparently traditions, and yet this diference remained in need of inexplicable situation—the prohibition of Buddhist explanation. institutions, individuals, discourses, rituals, and rep- It is this complex relationship that the Buddhist resentations at the Ise Shrines—is to reformulate the monk Mujū Ichien 無住一圓 (1227–1312) attempts to classical myth of Japanese cosmogony to expose the explain in the opening tale of his thirteenth-century apparent ban on Buddhism as a clever ruse concocted Collection of Sand and Pebbles (Shasekishū 沙石集): by the Sun Goddess to thwart the archenemy of the Dharma and establish Ise as the secret headquarters While I was on a pilgrimage to the Great Shrine of a national Buddhist underground. What appears during the Kōchō Era [1261–1264], an ofcial ex- on the surface as taboo is shown to have a deeper un- plained to me why words associated with the Tree derlying meaning, inscribed on the ocean foor by the Treasures of Buddhism were forbidden at the Great Sun Buddha before the Land of the Gods was shrine, and why monks could not closely approach even formed, representing not a prohibition but rather the sacred buildings. In antiquity, when this coun- a promise of protection and preservation. Te implica- try did not yet exist, the deity of the Great Shrine, tion of this primordial arrangement between the Sun guided by a seal of the Great Sun Buddha (Dai Goddess Amaterasu 天照 and the Great Sun Buddha Nichi Nyorai 大日如来) inscribed on the ocean reveals the sacred landscape of the Ise Shines as es- foor, thrust down her august spear. Brine from sentially Buddhist. Beneath the outward appearance the spear coagulated like drops of dew, and was of the two Ise Shrines lies the underlying structure of seen from afar by , the Evil One, in the Sixth the Mandala of the Two Realms (ryōkai mandara 両界 Heaven of Desire. “It appears that these drops are 曼荼羅): the (taizōkai 胎蔵界) and Di- forming into the land where Buddhism will be amond Realm (kongōkai 金剛界), the substrate of all propagated and people will escape from the round forms of esoteric Buddhist thought and practice. Te Heavenly Rock Cave (Ama no Iwato 天岩戸), behind

4 Shoku Nihongi, onmu 文武 2 698).12.29 ol. 1, p. 14). 5 Ibid., enpyō ingo 天平神護 2 766).7.23 ol. 4, p. 128). 6 eeuwen and reen, A Social History of the Ise Shrines, p. 34. 8 u Ichien, Shasekishū, pp. 59–61; orrell, Sand and Pebbles, 7 Ibid., pp. 33–34. pp. 72–74.

116 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 which Amaterasu concealed herself in the Age of the across religious traditions, institutions, and lineages Gods, is none other than the heavenly cavern of Tuṣita, collaborated to produce the devotional activities and in which Maitreya (Jp. Miroku 弥勒), the Buddha of material objects necessary to assure the preservation of the Future, awaits the dawning of a new Buddhist age. their faith and the salvation of their loved ones. Mujū’s double reading of Ise’s sacred landscape rep- resents an advanced stage of a Buddhist discourse on the shrines and their deities that had developed over Underground Buddhism a period of some two hundred years. As early as the mid-eleventh century, the monk Seizon 成尊 (1012– Compared to the underwater seal of the Great Sun 1074) of the Shingon 真言 school had equated the Sun Buddha and Amaterasu’s undercover support of the Buddha with the Sun Goddess.9 In the late twelfh cen- Tree Treasures, these activities and objects repre- tury, texts such as the Reading and Explanation of the sented a diferent kind of underground operation and Nakatomi Purification Formula (Nakatomi kunge a diferent sort of textual practice. In the second half of 中臣祓訓觧) and the Ritual Manual for the Worship of the twelfh century, prominent members of the priestly Amaterasu (Tenshō Daijin giki 天照大神儀軌) marked lineages of the Ise Shrines––the Watarai 度会, Arakida “the beginning of a food of writings that ofered a 荒木田, Isobe 磯部, and Ōnakatomi 大中臣––buried broad array of new interpretations of the site of Ise, its consecrated copies of Buddhist sutras, , and shrines and its kami.”10 Yet, as Mujū’s account suggests, mandalas, together with sacred objects and images, in it was not until the medieval period that the Ise Shrines the earth at sites in the immediate vicinity of the Inner were fully explained as a fundamental and foundational and Outer Shrines. Te burial of sutra texts and other Buddhist site in a wide body of literature that circulated objects of Buddhist visual and material culture was an beyond Ise’s clerical elites. Tis Buddhist vision of Ise, open secret, a public act in an age of personal crisis. however, is presented in medieval sources less as an For the twelfh century represented, to many Japanese, historical development than as an original condition, a crucial turning point in the history of Buddhism: the like the seal of the Great Sun Buddha inscribed at the onset of mappō 末法, the fnal degenerate age of the bottom of the ocean, always already there. Let us take a Buddhist Dharma, in which both the availability of step back from this fully formed textual claim to exam- Buddhist texts and the ability of people to realize their ine earlier practices that contributed to the conditions teachings would reach their lowest points. Te ineluc- of its possibility: practices carried out in the late twelfh table decline of the Dharma presented soteriological century by members of Ise’s sacerdotal lineages that problems for both the tradition and the individual. Te identify the individual and institutional agents respon- death of the Dharma challenged, of course, the very ex- sible for the transformation of the religious culture and istence of Buddhism, and required acts of protection religious landscape of the Ise Shrines. An analysis of the and preservation to ensure its survival. But mappō also archeological evidence allows for an understanding of had implications for individual practitioners for whom Ise that has long been buried and even longer obscured, personal salvation became increasingly difcult as the not only by a century of ideological and intellectual source of the teachings receded into an inaccessible assumptions about the diference between temple and past, and the spiritual capabilities of humans dimin- shrine traditions, but also by more recent approaches ished. Although a concern with mappō clearly informs to the study of Japanese religion that prioritize doctri- the practice of sutra burial, the preservationist impulse nal discourse over material culture. Te archeological was not necessarily the sole motivating factor. Inscrip- evidence, however, suggests a more complicated and tions accompanying sutra burials also express the hope vibrant picture, in which a network of actors working that, due to this meritorious act, the donor (or other individuals to whom the merit is being transferred) will be reborn in the Pure Land of the buddha Amitābha 9 n Seion’s text, Shingon uhō san’yōshō 2433), see Iyanaga, (Jp. Amida 阿弥陀) or in Maitreya’s Tuṣita Heaven. “edieal Shintō as a orm of apanese Hinduism,’” pp. 269–74; Sutra burials illustrate the belief that the future of the and ndreea, Assembling Shinto, pp. 25–27. 10 eeuwen and reen, A Social History of the Ise Shrines, p. 61. Dharma and the future of the individual are linked, and n the Nakatomi harae kunge, see eeuwen and an der eere, that this critical juncture in the salvation of both Bud- Nakatomi Harae Kunge; on the enshō aijin giki, see eeuwen dhism and Buddhists could be addressed with the same and reen, A Social History of the Ise Shrines, pp. 61–63.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 117 ire 1. Site of the Kyōgamine sutra burials on t. sama. lineages in Buddhist practices had a long history. As 1156–1186, Heian period. hotograph by Suuki isaku. ourtesy of early as the tenth century, the priests of the Ise Shrines Suuki isaku. built Buddhist temples to gain salvation after death, took the tonsure and became Buddhist monks in the religious practice. Sutra burials ofered the ritual strat- final years of their lives, and received Buddhist funerals egies and material means whereby the end-time could and memorial services. Rengeji 蓮華寺, Rendaiji 蓮 be prepared for, and paradise secured. 台寺, and Shakusonji 釈尊寺 served as the family By the early twelfth century, sutra burials could be temples of the Ōnakatomi, who occupied the central found in every province of the country from Satsuma to Office of the Great [Ise] Shrines (Daijingūji 大神宮司); Dewa.11 They were carried out most commonly at or near Jōmyōji 常明寺 and Jōshōji 常勝寺 were the family temples, shrines, or sacred mountains, and performed temples of the Watarai, the priests of the Outer Shrine; either by Buddhist monks or laity under monastic and Dengūji 田宮寺 and Tengakuji 天覺寺 were the supervision. What makes the Ise burials so notable and family temples of the Arakida, who served as priests of so surprising, given the received understanding of Ise, the Inner Shrine.12 The excavated materials from the is that they were performed by members of the priestly sutra burials at Ise, however, provide physical evidence lineages of the Inner and Outer Shines, individuals of the depth of the Buddhist faith of these lineages and commonly thought to abhor all things Buddhist, and a material record of the construction of Ise as a site of directed toward the Buddhist salvation of the Ise priests Buddhist texts and objects, Buddhist rituals and clergy, themselves. The direct involvement of Ise’s sacerdotal and Buddhist aspirations and ideals. It is a record,

11 or the chronology and locations of these sutra mounds, see 12 n the shrinetemples of Ise, see Hagiwara, “Ise ing to bukkyō,” Seki, Kyōzuka o sono ibusu, pp. 37–53. pp. 231–39.

118 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 moreover, of great historical specificity in which the names, dates, and motivations of the practitioners are inscribed in ink and clay in the hopes of outlasting the Final Age. Te sutras buried at Ise were transcribed accord- ing to strict ritual protocols and then interred under- ground to protect and preserve the Dharma until the arrival of the buddha Maitreya some 5.67 billion years in the future. As Ise’s Heavenly Rock Cave is none other than Maitreya’s Tuṣita Heaven (as Mujū explains), the sacred ground of the shrine’s landscape is an ideal site for securing the sutras in anticipation of the advent of the future buddha. Te scriptures and related deposits were produced in a variety of materials—paper, cop- per, bronze, glazed and unglazed ceramic—and were buried at nine diferent sites between the years 1156 and ire . lay tile inscribed with uddhist texts. 1174, Heian period. 13 1186. Our discussion will be limited, however, to the laed terracotta. 24 cm x 30 cm. xcaated from the Komachi sutra two principal sites that most clearly document the role mound, Ise, ie refecture. ollection okyo National useum, acc. of Ise’s priestly lineages in such practices. One group no. 36661. of sutras, transcribed in ink on paper, placed into cy- lindrical stupa-shaped containers made of copper, Preparing for the Pure Land and then encased in secondary outer ceramic vessels, was buried at what is known as the Mt. Asama Kyōga- In 1959, a major typhoon struck the Ise region and mine 朝熊山経ヶ峰 sutra mounds, 542 meters above uprooted numerous trees on Mt. Asama. The storm sea level, east of the Inner Shrine (fgure 1). Like many damage exposed a large group of sutra burials within a other examples across Japan, the Mt. Asama materials thirty-meter-square area beside the Shingon temple of were interred in small underground chambers lined Kongōshōji 金剛證寺 near the summit of the mountain. and sealed with stones and marked, like a grave, with Excavations, carried out between 1960 and 1963, have earthen mounds and stone . identified forty-three burial sites, in rectangular plots A second group of sutras, signaling perhaps an even measuring between one and two meters by two to two more explicit concern with the preservation of the and a half meters, spaced approximately three meters Dharma, was inscribed on clay tiles that were glazed, apart. The sites, dating from 1156 to 1186, contained fred, and then buried at three sites in the hills just west sutras housed within cylindrical copper vessels, of the Outer Shrine, known as the Komachi 小町, Bo- which were themselves encased within outer ceramic daisan jingūji 菩提山神宮寺, and Eitaizan Kyōgamine vessels. In addition to the sutras and their containers, 永代山経ヶ峰 sutra mounds (fgure 2).14 Tese buri- a wide range of other items also were included in these als speak to more than the historical and soteriologi- burials, such as bronze mirrors engraved with Buddhist cal anxieties of the age. Tey also specify Ise as the site images, ceramic lotus-form pedestals for Buddhist where such anxieties were expressed and where, it was images, knives, scissors, flints, needles, covered dishes hoped, they could be conquered as well. of porcelain and lacquer, plates of various sizes, tea bowls, flower vases, sake decanters and cups, cypress fans, glass beads, and coins.15 As rich and varied as the objects themselves, the individuals responsible for the

13 eramic sutra containers with inscriptions dated Hōgen 保元 1 1156) and uni 文治 2 1186) hae been excaated from t. 15 he contents are itemied in Seki, eian jiai no maikyō o sama sites 5, 8, and 10c. , se amaa no gakyō, p. 10. shakyō, pp. 457–58. he citations of sutra burial inscriptions that 14 or a comprehensie history of these sites and their scholarship, follow all refer to the transcriptions included in the appendix to see ibid., pp. 29–72. Seki’s olume.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 119 ire a. Sutra case left) and outer case right). 1159, Heian period. opper, ceramic. Sutra case Diam. 12.2 cm, H 29.6 cm; outer case H 25.7 cm. igs. 3a and 3b, excaated from t. sama Kyōgamine sutra mound no. 3, Ise, ie refecture. ollection Kongōshōi, ie refecture. rom ōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, se jingū o kamigami no bijusu, pp. 56–57, fig. 26.

Mt. Asama burials reveal a complex network of familial Myōi 妙意, Ryōjitsu 良実, Jōzen 定禅, and Jōi 定意 and institutional lineages that formed the texture of the from Jōkakuji 常覚寺, a temple located in the Yamada religious communities of Ise in the late twelfth century. 山田region of Watarai District—were dedicated by the The excavated materials not only identify Ise as a site fve nuns so that members of the Ōnakatomi and Wata- for the preservation of the Dharma, they also identify rai lineages might, according to their inscription, “avoid the head priests (negi 禰宜) of the Ise Shrines as the rebirth in the Six Realms and all become buddhas and individuals seeking Buddhist salvation. attain the way.”16 Te sponsor is identifed as the nun Among the earliest and most revealing of the Mt. Shinmyō 真妙, from Jōshōji 常勝寺, another temple of Asama burials is a copper sutra case and ceramic the Watarai lineage in the same region, and the names outer case (fgure 3a) dated by inscription to 平 of another ten monks who contributed to the project, 治 1 (1159).8.15 containing thirteen scrolls, including in the hope of “forming karmic connections (kechien the Lotus Sutra (Myōhō renge kyō 妙法蓮華経), which 結縁),” are also listed. Te central purpose of these in the East Asian tradition includes the Sutra of Innu- pious eforts of so many Buddhist nuns and monks was merable Meanings (Muryōgi kyō 無量義経) and the to guarantee the post-mortem salvation of the former Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue (Kanfugen bosatsu gyōbō kyō 観普賢菩薩翹望経) as its opening and closing sections. Te sutras—transcribed 弁覚 16 he inscription, which appears at the end of the third chapter of and dated the previous day by the nuns Benkaku , the Lotus Sutra, is transcribed in ibid., p. 456 no. 121).

120 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 ire . Sutra of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue and inscription. 1159, Heian period. Handscroll, ink on paper. H 23.4 cm. ontained within sutra case g. 3a).

head priest of the Outer Shrine of Ise, Watarai Masa- karmic obstacles and the prolongation of life, was also hiko 度会雅彦 (d. 1159), who had died exactly four buried on the same day, and was similarly transcribed, months earlier. An inscription on the back of the Sutra according to the inscription, “so that the noble spirit of of Meditation on the Bodhisattva Universal Virtue states Masahiko become a buddha and attain the Way.”17 that the sutras were “transcribed to assure the rebirth In addition to the sutras, three high-quality mirrors of Masahiko’s noble spirit in Amida’s Gokuraku Pure made of a nickel-copper alloy included in the burial Land” (fgure 3b). A copy of the Sutra of the Dhāraṇī give visual and material expression to the petitioners’ of the Jubilant Corona (Bucchō sonshō daranikyō 佛頂 尊勝陀羅尼経), an esoteric text for the eradication of 17 Ibid. no. 122).

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 121 ire . irror with images of mida front, on right) and birds and maple back, on left). 1159, Heian period. rone. Diam. 13.4 cm. x caated from t. sama Kyōgamine sutra mound no. 3, Ise, ie refecture. ollection Kongōshōi, ie refecture. rom Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, Shinbusu shūgō, p. 65, fig. 504.

Figure 5. irror with images of descent of mida triad front, on left) and islands with cranes and pines back, on right). 1159, Heian period. rone. 20 cm x 14.7 cm. xcaated from t. sama Kyōgamine sutra mound no. 3, Ise, ie refecture. ollection Kongōshōi, ie refecture. rom ōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, se jingū o kamigami no bijusu, p. 59, fig. 26; and Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, Shinbusu shūgō, p. 65, fig. 503.

122 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 ire . irror with images of mida on two sides back, on left; front, on right). 1159, Heian period. rone. Diam. 12.9 cm. xcaated from t. sama Kyōgamine sutra mound no. 3, Ise, ie refecture. ollection Kongōshōi, ie refecture. rom ōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, Ise jingū o kamigami no bijusu, p. 58, fig. 26; and Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, Shinbusu shūgō, p. 65, fig. 505. aspirations. Two of the mirrors are round, and the third by two bodhisattvas, descending amid clouds and rectangular; all bear images of Amida, the buddha of fower petals, rays of light emanating from his halo, to- the Western Pure Land. Te back of one of the round ward the open doors of a pavilion where a devotee—in mirrors is decorated with embossed images of birds, this case Watarai Masahiko himself—receives the Bud- butterfies, and sprigs of maple, and the front is incised dha’s light and is ofered a lotus throne by Kannon, on with an image of a seated Amida attended by the bodhi- which he will return with them to the Pure Land. sattvas Kannon 観音 and Seishi 勢至 (fgure 4). Te families of the Watarai and Ōnakatomi priests, Te rectangular mirror ofers a double vision of the together with the nuns and monks who sought to efect aferlife. Te back of the mirror depicts a landscape of and form karmic bonds with their Buddhist salvation a Daoist paradise with images of cranes and pines, both through the production and interment of Buddhist auspicious symbols of longevity, and islands of immor- texts, objects, and images, provide physical evidence tality rising from the sea, whereas the face of the mir- for social networks that extended across devotional ror is incised with a welcoming descent (raigō 来迎) of and lineal afliation. Tey also ofer a rare example of Amida and his attendant bodhisattvas among swirling innovations in Buddhist iconography. Te two mirrors clouds and futtering lotus petals (fgure 5). A ray of depicting the welcoming descent, which were buried light from Amida’s forehead falls on a rocky coast and for the head priest of the Outer Shrine, are the earliest the base of a mountain beside the sea. Further in the extant examples of the welcoming descent of an Amida background are pine trees atop mountains. Te coastal triad in any medium.18 setting of Amida’s descent is appropriate to the burial Te choice of the Lotus Sutra, the scripture tran- site, a mountain overlooking the sea, and seems to ofer scribed by the nuns of Jōshōji and Jōkakuji for the Pure a close-up of the more distant landscape depicted on Land rebirth of Watarai Masahiko, was entirely in keep- the mirror’s back. ing with the practices of sutra burials in the late Heian A second round mirror is incised on both sides with period (794–1185). Te Lotus Sutra, a text that explicitly images of Amida (fgure 6). On the back side, the bud- encourages its own preservation, enshrinement, and dha of the Western Pure Land is shown seated alone on veneration, was the scripture interred most commonly. a lotus pedestal with hands held in a of medita- tion. Te front side depicts the very salvation that the burial was meant to assure. Amida is shown, attended 18 kaaki, Pure Land Buddhist Painting, p. 110.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 123 Figure 8a. Seated Yakushi Nyorai. 1145, Heian period. ood with gold leaf. H 103.6 cm. igs. 8a and 8b, yōōi, ie refecture. ōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, se jingū o kamigami no bijusu, p. 54, fig. 25.

Figure 7. Sutra case. 1173, Heian period. eramic. Diam. 15.3 cm, H 32.7 cm. xcaated from t. sama Kyōgamine sutra mound no. 3, Ise, ie refecture. ollection Kongōshōi, ie refecture. rom ōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, se jingū o kamigami no bijusu, p. 55, fig. 27.

Like a number of other early , the Lotus Sutra claims that, because of its status as the tex- tual corpus of the Buddha’s teachings, it supersedes the corporal relic of the Buddha himself as the true body of the Buddhadharma. Indeed, the Lotus Sutra reserves the highest praise for those “who shall receive and keep, read and recite, explain, or copy in writing a single verse of the Scripture of the Blossom of the Fine Dharma, or who will look with veneration on a roll of this scripture as if it were the Buddha himself.”19 In carrying out these scriptural instructions, the sponsors of the Ise burials enjoyed the combined merit of copying and protect- ire . Inscription on interior of seated Yakushi Nyorai, yōōi fig. 8a). ing the sutra together with that of building a stupa in which to enshrine and venerate it. Tese practices were particularly timely, as the buddha of the Lotus Sutra emphasizes that such methods of textual preservation 19 yōhō renge kyō, p. 30b. and devotion are to be undertaken specifcally “afer my

124 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 extinction, in an evil age.”20 Rebirth in Amida’s Pure Land was also a common goal in Heian religious culture, and a goal advocated and idealized within the Lotus Sutra as well. Te repre- sentation of Amida’s welcoming descent incised on the interred mirrors follows a standard iconography found in countless texts and later paintings. Although the landscape elements depicted on the mirrors––moun- tains rising precipitously from the sea, island archipel- agos viewed from afar––are the sort of idealized images commonly represented in scenes of Buddhist and Dao- ist paradises, they also share a decidedly local favor: they are very like the sort of landscape viewed from the summit of Mt. Asama looking out toward Ise Bay. Fur- Figure 9. andorlas. 1174, Heian period. erracotta. H 25.6 cm. ther local references are to be found among the names xcaated from the Komachi sutra mound, Ise ity, ie. ollection of those involved in the burials. Te Kyōgamine burials okyo National useum, acc. no. 36772, 36773. were not exclusively for the beneft of the Watarai and Ōnakatomi lineages. A ceramic sutra vessel dated Jōan 承安 3 (1173).8.11 excavated from Mt. Asama site 1 con- Komachi, Bodaisan, and Eitaizan sites near the Inner tained another copy of the Lotus Sutra transcribed and Shrine. More than 420 inscribed ceramic tiles, each ofered for “peace and tranquility in the present and fu- measuring approximately twenty-fve by thirty centi- ture life” for “the Shrine Priest Arakida Tokimori 時盛, meters, were buried at the three sites between the ffh Senior Fourth Rank Lower Grade Priest of the Great and seventh month of 1174. An undertaking of such an Shrine of Ise” (fgure 7).21 Although ofen portrayed enormous scale required the participation of many in- as hereditary rivals in histories of Ise, the side-by-side dividuals, members of the Ōnakatomi, Isobe, Watarai, burial of sutras transcribed for the Pure Land rebirth of and Arakida lineages, as well as the funds, materials, leading priests of both the Watarai and Arakida lineages and technologies necessary to produce, inscribe, and illustrates an intimacy in matters of Buddhist practice. transport the sutra tiles. Te sutras inscribed include Another illustration of this is to be found within a the Lotus Sutra in 169 tiles; the Mahāvairocana Sutra seated image dated to 1145 of Yakushi Nyorai 薬師如 (Dainichikyō 大日経) in 122 tiles; the Diamond Peak 来, the Buddha of Healing, donated to Jōsenji 定泉寺, Sutra (Kongōchokyō 金剛頂経) in 40 tiles; the one of the eight temples of the sacerdotal lineages of for Wondrous Achievement (Soshitchikyō 蘇悉地経) in the Ise Shrine, and now housed at the nearby temple 83 tiles; the Sutra that Transcends Principle (Rishukyō of Myōjōji 明星寺 (fgure 8a). Te image was ofered 理趣経) in 7 tiles; the Amida Sutra (Amidakyō 阿弥陀 jointly by an Arakida shrine priest ( 神主) and 経) in 4 tiles; and the Heart Sutra (Hannyashingyō 般若 a member of the Watarai lineage, who may have been 心経) in a single tile. In addition to these sutras were his wife. Teir names appear side-by-side, inscribed on also texts, a Lotus Mandala in Siddhaṃ charac- the interior of the image (fgure 8b).22 ters (a type of script introduced to Japan in the ninth century, in connection with esoteric Buddhism), a Diamond Realm and Womb Realm Mandala, a lotus A Canon in Clay pedestal, four mandorlas, and a seated Buddha image, all made of the same light gray clay (fgure 9 shows two An example of even greater cooperation between mandorlas). Te selection of scriptures transcribed, like priestly lineages is illustrated by tile sutras buried at the the presence of the Sutra of the Dhāraṇī of the Jubilant Corona at Mt. Asama, refects the Shingon afliation of many of the lineage temples of the Ise priests. A concern with the preservation of the Dharma 20 Ibid., p. 31a. 21 Seki, eian jiai no maikyō o shakyō, p. 457 no. 128). throughout the dark days of the Final Age is evident 22 ōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, se jingū o kamigami no bijusu, in the material employed: fred clay of the sort used for p. 179.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 125 roof tiles, a material intended to withstand the test of between and across sacerdotal lineages but also between time. In their votive prayers, the participants refer ex- the material resources and technologies of multiple plicitly to the Final Dharma. Inscriptions on three sep- shrine and temple institutions. Although the sutras were arate tiles and on one of the mandorlas announce the buried at Ise, they were not local products. According age as “the time of Śākyamuni’s Final Dharma” 釈迦 to inscriptions on the tiles, they were produced in 末法之時.23 As with the Mt. Asama burials, the identi- Irago, Atsumi District, Mikawa Province. Irago, located ties of those involved reveal the interwoven lives, afer- at the tip of the Atsumi peninsula directly across Ise lives, and aspirations of Ise’s religious community. Te Bay, was a region covered with estates that supplied names of two monks who played a leading role in the tribute and resources to the Ise Shrines. The growth of production and burial of the sutra tiles appear through- commended estates in the late twelfth century marked out the inscriptions as Shamon Nikan 沙門西観 and a decisive transformation of Ise’s institutional base and Kongōbushi Junsai 金剛仏子遵西. Tey are identifed economic status.28 Estates across the Atsumi peninsula, as monks from Mankakuji 万覚寺 in Irago 伊良, At- a site for ceramic production since the Kofun period sumi District 渥美郡, Mikawa Province. Nikan and (300–538), were commended to the shrines throughout Junsai are listed in the colophons of the tile Lotus Sutra, the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.29 An inscription Dainichikyō, Kongōchōkyō, Soshitsujikyō, and the Dia- on one of the Komachi sutra tiles identifies “Watarai mond Realm mandala. Nikan was also responsible for a kannushi Tsuneyuki [as] the lord of the estate (mikuriya seated buddha image that was dedicated in a memorial ryōshu 御厨領主)” where the tile was produced. Thus, service for the monk’s departed parents. Like the Mt. the role of Irago’s estates in the massive production of Asama burials, the tile sutras were dedicated to assur- ceramic sutras, images, and objects for the Pure Land ing the Pure Land rebirth of a head priest of the Ise rebirth of the Ise priests also reveals the extent of Ise’s Outer Shrine, in this case Watarai Tsuneyuki 度会常 institutional and territorial authority. Other excavated 行, who served as negi from 1144 until his death in 1160 materials identify the Atsumi peninsula as the place of at the age of seventy-four.24 Yet, as at Mt. Asama, the origin for the ceramic materials buried at Ise. An outer enormous ritual production ofered the opportunity ceramic sutra case buried elsewhere at Ise is signed by a for members of Ise’s other sacerdotal lineages to con- monk who identifies himself as “a resident of the shrine tribute to the Buddhist salvation of additional family land of Kachi,” an estate held by the Inner Shrine on members as well. One of the ceramic mandorlas was the peninsula. Kachi 鍛治 (also written 加治), the site ofered for a nun of the Ōnakatomi lineage.25 Another of numerous kilns, also produced lotus-form pedestals was ofered by a male and female member of the Wata- of the kind excavated from Komachi.30 One of the rai lineage, together with Nikan and Junsai and six ceramic mandorlas from Komachi is inscribed by Fujii other monks, for the beneft of a member of the Isobe Narishige 藤井成重 as “an of white clay, for lineage.26 A third mandorla was ofered for a member rebirth in the Pure Land, at the time of Śākyamuni’s of the Arakida lineage.27 Tree senior members of the Final Dharma, produced at Mankakuji in Irago, Atsumi Watarai lineage are listed among the names of those as- Province.”31 sociated with the production of the Lotus Sutra tiles, The ceramic sutra tiles, containers, mandorlas, and but so, too, are members of the Isobe and Mononobe lotus-form pedestals buried at Ise, intended to ensure 物部 clans. Te Dainichikyō, ofered for the beneft of the Buddhist salvation of the priests of the Ise Shrines, “Watarai Tsuneyuki’s noble spirit,” similarly includes thus were produced out of the local clay from estates the names of members of the Ōnakatomi and Arakida controlled by these shrines on the Atsumi peninsula, lineages. manufactured and inscribed by artisans, scribes, and The inscriptions suggest connections not only the monks Junsai and Nikan at Mankakuji, fired in the kilns of Irago, and transported, like any other tribute due, by boat across Ise Bay. This massive production of 23 Seki, eian jiai no maikyō o shakyō, pp. 460 no. 134), 461 no. 134), 463 no. 145), 466 no. 160). kyamuni is the buddha of this world. 24 Ibid., p. 461 no. 135). 28 eeuwen and reen, A Social History of the Ise Shrines, p. 60. 25 Ibid., p. 466 no. 159). 29 kamura, “Ise chihō ni okeru maikyō,” p. 18. 26 Ibid., p. 467 no. 160). 30 Ibid., p. 19. 27 Ibid. no. 162). 31 Seki, eian jiai no maikyō o shakyō, p. 466 no. 160).

126 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 Buddhist texts—a canon cast in clay—was then buried the corpus for an archeology of religious aspiration. underground at the Ise Shrines, to preserve the Dharma Tey allow for an excavation of Ise’s religious history for the next 5.6 billion years, and also, according to the that requires us to look deeper than modern claims of a donative inscription, to secure for the shrine priests uniform and unaltered tradition, and reveal a religious “the proper state of mind at the moment of death, landscape not isolated from Buddhist traditions but rebirth in Amida’s Pure Land, protection of the state in deeply grounded therein. all ten directions, benefit and joy to all sentient beings, presence at the advent of the future buddha, Maitreya, and the proper performance of all Buddhist memorial Reference List services.”32 Te Buddhist texts, objects, and images buried at Ise ▪ Primary Sources in the twelfh century ofer material evidence of an his- torical consciousness. For the members of the shrine’s Mujū Ichien 無住一圓. Shasekishū 沙石集. NKBT 85. sacerdotal lineages––the Watarai, Arakida, Isobe, and Myōhō renge kyō 妙法蓮華経 (Ch. Miaofa lianfa jing). T 262 Ōnakatomi––the sutra burials marked a crucial juncture 9:1a–62c. in Buddhist history. Tey signaled, in the words of the Shoku Nihongi 続日本紀. 4 vols. SNKT 12–16. inscriptions themselves, “the time of Śākyamuni’s Final Dharma,” a long age of religious decline, a downward descent in the perpetual cycle of Buddhist chronology ▪ Secondary Sources until “the advent of the future buddha, Miroku.” But the burials also mark a more personal kind of crisis in Abe Yasurō. “Shintō as Written Representation: Te Phases the life cycles of the families themselves: the transition and Shifs of Medieval Shintō Texts.” Cahiers from life to death and from death to rebirth. Te burial d’Extreme-Asie 16 (2006–2007), pp. 91–117. of sutras was a common and communal response by Andreeva, . Assembling Shinto: Buddhist Approaches the members of Ise’s priestly elites who collaborated to Kami Worship in Medieval Japan. Harvard University across diferences of lineage and institution to address Asia Center, 2017. this confuence of the personal and the historical, a cri- Hagiwara Tatsuo 萩原龍夫. “Ise jingū to bukkyō” 伊勢神 sis of mortality in their familial lives and in the life of 宮と仏教. In vol. 1 of Ise shinkō 伊勢信仰, ed. Hagiwara Buddhism, and an attempt to address the inevitability Tatsuo, pp. 231–39. Yūzankaku, 1985. of . Iyanaga Nobumi. “Medieval Shintō as a Form of ‘Japanese For us today, the sutra burials at Ise call attention to Hinduism’: An Attempt at Understanding Early Medieval a history of interrelations obscured by claims of sepa- Shintō.” Cahiers d’Extreme-Asie 16 (2006–2007), pp. ration. Such claims, legislated by the Meiji state, sought 261–303. to restore Japan to a religious past it never had. Tis Kodama Michiaki 小玉道明. Ise Yamada no gakyō 伊勢山 invented tradition required the erasure of Ise’s religious 田の瓦経. Matsusaka: Hikari Shuppan, 2008. history and the construction of a past untouched by Moerman, D. Max. “Chichū no Bukkyō: Ise jingū no chika Buddhism. Ise’s sutra burials, however, reveal that be- kara no chōbō” 地中の仏教―伊勢神宮の地下からの neath such recent ideological constructions lie earlier 眺望, pp. 108–122. In Hen’yō suru seichi: Ise 変容する聖 strata of religious complexity in which the priests of Ise 地: 伊勢, ed. John Breen. Kyoto: Shibunkaku Shuppan, turned to Buddhist texts, Buddhist images, Buddhist 2016. rituals, and Buddhist ritualists to address a time of cri- Morrell, Robert E. Sand and Pebbles (Shasekishū): Te sis in their personal lives and in the history of their reli- Tales of Mujū Ichien, A Voice of Pluralism in Kamakura gion. In this sense, the sutra burials at Ise ofer another Buddhism. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 1985. kind of buried treasure, one that reveals the material Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan 奈良国立博物館. Shinbutsu and ritual culture of a place that we long thought we shūgō: Kami to hotoke ga orinasu shinkō to bi 神仏習 knew. Sutra burials, like so many time capsules, provide 合: かみとほとけが織りなす信仰と美. Nara: Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, 2007.

32 Ibid., p. 464 (no. 147).

SPRING 2018 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY 127 Okamura Hideo 奥村秀雄. “Ise chihō ni okeru maikyō” 伊 勢地方における埋経. Museum ミユジアム 167 (1965), pp. 14–22. Okazaki, Jōji. Pure Land Buddhist Painting. Trans. Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis. New York: Kodansha International, 1977. Seki Hideo 関秀夫. Heian jidai no maikyō to shakyō 平安時 代の埋経と写経. Tōkyōdō, 1999. Seki Hideo. Kyōzuka to sono ibutsu 経塚とその遺物. Nihon no bijutsu 日本の美術 9:292 (1990). Teeuwen, Mark, and John Breen. A Social History of the Ise Shrines: Divine Capital. London: Bloomsbury, 2017. Teeuwen, Mark, and Hendrik van dere Veere. Nakatomi Harae Kunge: Purification and Enlightenment in Late- Heian Japan. Munich: Iudicium Verlag, 1998. Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan 東京国立博物館, ed. Ise jingū to kamigami no bijutsu 伊勢神宮と神々の美術. Kasumi Kaikai, 2009.

128 JOURNAL OF ASIAN HUMANITIES AT KYUSHU UNIVERSITY VOLUME 3 Review

Tansen Sen. India, China, and the World: A Connected History. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.

BOOK REVIEW BY JAMES ROBSON

NDIA, China, and the World: A Connected History is that explicitly rejects a simple tripartite scheme that de- a big book with equally large ambitions. Tis thick picted those connections in terms of three stages: “Bud- volume of 541 pages (and a rather large typeface) dhist, colonial/decline, and revival” (p. 20). Some of the Iis beftting of the size of the two geographic regions— material discussed in this book will be familiar from the India and China—that are its primary subject. As if author’s earlier work1—such as the many references to these two sizeable countries, with exceptionally long the role of Mañjuśrī in China at Wutaishan—but most histories, were not enough to cover in a single volume, of the material is based on new research using diferent the author also extends his reach to situate the book types of archives and sources and extending the time within a broader world historical context. Tis expan- frame up to the present. Each chapter is well researched sion of the scope of the book was necessitated by the and packed with detailed information and striking fact that and China had networks of con- observations. Even though not everything will strike nections that linked them to other parts of the world. the reader as new, one signifcant contribution is the India, China, and the World covers everything from the way that it brings a vast array of disparate information movement of people, objects, and ideas across the an- together into a coherent larger narrative. Not all ques- cient Silk Road up to the formation of the contempo- tions are resolved, but the theories that are implicitly rary One Belt, One Road Initiative. Rather than simply and explicitly forwarded here will no doubt engage fu- depicting the fows between South Asia and China as ture scholars in lively conversations as they challenge, traveling along a one-way street, the author does an refne, and explore the implications of the material pre- admirable job of demonstrating how those movements sented in this book. were circulatory, drawing from Prasenjit Duara’s recent India, China, and the World begins with a Fore- work, and expanded to include Japan, Southeast Asia, word by Wang Gungwu, and contains an introduction, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. fve chapters that are arranged chronologically, and As one would expect from a book with such a broad a conclusion. Te book covers a large time span that reach, the material is rich, dense, and complicated. To stretches from the early centuries BCE up to the pres- his credit, the author weaves together a vast amount of material to present a compelling narrative of the long- term connections between India, China, and the world 1 Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade.

129 ent. Sen uses four broad goals to delineate the overar- tem, and the demand for bulk goods. Tis chapter is as ching framework for the detailed discussions of each much about the objects in circulation—including ex- chapter. Te frst goal aims to impress upon the reader otic things like frankincense, girafes, and pepper—as that the study of “pre-twentieth century interactions it is about the networks that facilitated their movement between these two regions should not be construed not just between South Asia and China, but also out within the framework of modern nation-states” (p. 2), into the wider global fow of things. since the two did not exist before the 1940s. Te sec- Chapter 3, “Te Imperial Connections,” argues ond is that “the connections between these two regions, that the expeditions undertaken by the Ming-dynasty from the early phases . . . to the contemporary period, admiral Zheng He in the early ffeenth century had have been intimately linked to people living in several a signifcant impact on the circulation of people and other regions, including locations outside of the Asian goods between India and China. Here we begin to see continent” (pp. 3–4). Te third is that “the presence of more clearly the importance of the maritime fows European colonial powers in Asia did not terminate between those regions and beyond. Troughout this these connections. Rather, the exchanges witnessed sig- discussion, Sen includes interesting discussions of re- nifcant growth and diversifcation with the emergence lated topics concerning migrant communities and new of new sites of interactions; more intensive circulation places where Indians and Chinese would have congre- of knowledge, goods, and people; and close collabora- gated during this period that also saw the arrival of tions between Indians and Chinese” (p. 4). Te fourth European colonial powers. Yet, the period between the concerns how “the formation of these territorialized sixteenth and nineteenth century was not, the author nation-states in the mid-twentieth century created argues, a period of decline precipitated by the increas- wedges in the relations between the ROI and the PRC ing presence of those imperial powers, but should be that eventually resulted in an armed confict in 1962 seen as a period of expanded commercial activity and and the subsequent contraction of the broader linkages newly forged connections. Sen ends the chapter by that had defned and fostered earlier connections be- saying that “the period between the ffeenth and the tween the two regions” (p. 4). late nineteenth centuries needs to be examined for the Chapter 1, “Te Circulations of Knowledge,” ad- vibrancy and the multilayered connections it created. dresses the circulation of knowledge about geography, In fact, the discussion above suggests that this period manufacturing technologies, astronomy, medicine, and may have been a critical nexus between the pre-Ming linguistics between South Asia and China from the phases of interactions and the contemporary bilateral early years BCE to the sixteenth century CE. How did relations between the Republic of India (ROI) and the ideas and concepts travel? How were they translated? People’s Republic of China (PRC)” (p. 290). Tis mid- How were they transformed? Tese are some of the point in the book is also a transition point in the his- ways that the author approaches the complex nature of torical narrative since the discussion shifs to consider the circulation of knowledge and technology between important developments that led up to the formation South Asia, China, and beyond. Sen details how Bud- of the modern nation-states of India and China. Tis dhism was a key factor in fostering connections across chapter struck me as presenting a novel thesis, but one Asia. Te concept of circulatory connections is in many that might have been developed further. I suspect that ways an appealing model, but certain applications of some readers would have appreciated a more sustained that theory—such as with medical knowledge and pa- discussion and analysis of this period so that the author per-making technology—are only supported by rather could further develop his ideas and also engage with speculative evidence. other recent research on imperialism and the concomi- Chapter 2, “Te Routes, Networks, and Objects of tant rise of nation-states like India and China. Circulation,” turns to the circulation of goods and ob- Chapter 4, “Pan-Asianism and Renewed Connec- jects and the networks they traveled in the period prior tions,” discusses how, in the afermath of European co- to the arrival of Europeans. In this chapter, the author lonialism, India and China began to establish stronger does well to discuss maritime routes in addition to the connections as a new sense of pan-Asianism developed more commonly studied overland routes. Sen argues and they had to face the reality of Japanese imperialism. that the three main motivators for exchange between Sen tracks these developments through to their decline the regions were Buddhism, the Chinese tributary sys- during the 1930s and the period of decolonialization in

130 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 the mid-1940s. Much of the focus in this chapter is on there should be, I think, a warm spirit of cooperation the role intellectuals played, including the important between India and China. Te coming of Rabindranath Asian Relations Conference convened in 1947. Tagore will, I hope, mark the beginning of an important Chapter 5, “Te Geopolitical Disconnect,” concerns period of history” (p. 2). It has been almost a century the latter half of the twentieth century, a period the au- since Liang spoke those words. Te “warm spirit of co- thor describes as one of failed opportunities (such as operation” did come, but it remained short-lived and the principles outlined during the Bandung Confer- quickly gave way to a much cooler spirit of distrust and ence in 1955), increasing mutual suspicion, and fnally confict. the armed confict of 1962. Even though this phase is Over the years, scholars interested in Sino-Indian marked by signifcant bilateral relationships (such as relations and world history will no doubt subject many the Republic of India being the frst non-Commu- of the details presented in this study to rigorous analy- nist state to recognize the new People’s Republic of sis. It is not possible for me to do that in this review so China in 1950), the author argues that the connections I will merely raise a few larger conceptual issues. Te were largely rhetorical—captured in the phrase “Hin- author rightly begins by problematizing the key terms di-Chini bhai-bhai” or “Indians and Chinese are broth- “India” and “China” in the title of the book (p. 14f). In ers” (p. 409)—and did not lead to any breakthroughs the premodern period these terms did not refer to any- in cultural understanding or concrete action. Tensions thing like the modern nation-states we now associate between the two countries remained due to ongoing with them. It was only in the 1940s that they came to territorial disputes and the status of Tibet. Sen guides correspond to the current political boundaries of the the reader through a voluminous collection of interest- Republic of India (ROI) and the People’s Republic of ing books, pamphlets, and newspaper articles that ex- China (PRC). Tis is an important point to emphasize. press well the aspirations and vicissitudes of this period Tat being said, the author’s discussion is rather con- of interaction. Sen’s focus primarily remains on voices fusing to follow. For reasons unclear to me, in dealing depicting the fate of Chinese in India—such as through with the premodern period the author avoids the use the intimate portrait of the artist Chang Xiufeng and of “India,” which is replaced by South Asia. Yet, China his imprisonment and deportation—and only briefy is retained as unproblematic. It seems from the intro- mentions the detention of Makhan Lal Das and Indi- duction that the author circumvents the problem of ans detained in China during this period. Perhaps this using “China” by providing dynastic specifcity. Tese issue of balance is due to available sources. Sen carries principles are not strictly adhered to throughout the forward the discussion of tensions, from the role played book. “China” is consistently used without dynastic by the philosopher Bertrand Russell as a kind of broker referents, but the author goes back and forth between between the Indians and Chinese through to the recent referring to “India” (or Indic) or “South Asia” (espe- One Belt, One Road Initiative of the Chinese President cially in chapter 2). Te author admits that his use of Xi Jinping. Due to ongoing tensions and territorial is- shifing terminologies will be “befuddling at times” (p. sues, India remains the only major Asian country to 18). I wonder if a diferent method might have been ad- refrain from signing that initiative. opted. Would it have been possible to just stipulate at Te conclusion provides a map of the large territory the outset that the terms “India” and “China” are being covered in the book, from periods of harmonious con- used as a convenience and should not be understood nections and fruitful exchanges to mutual suspicion as coincident with the modern referents? Ten, in each and even outright confict. Sen sums up the historical chapter dealing with each period of history the author connections between India and China well as a “mish- could defne or refne the area that is encompassed by mash of complexities stemming from multiregional those two terms. One of the reasons for preferring such interconnectedness and indispensable interdependen- an approach is the simple fact that even a designation cies as well as detrimental perceptions and geopolitical like “South Asia” is itself a modern category that has its antagonism” (p. 479). In India, China, and the World, own complex set of issues. Te author might have been Sen makes much of ’s welcome address able to avoid some of the befuddlement associated with to Rabindranath Tagore on his trip to China, in which the complex terminology by referring readers to Martin he concluded his talk by saying, “the responsibility that we bear to the whole of mankind is great indeed, and

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 131 W. Lewis and Kären Wigen’s work2 or other works in and where they missed the mark or have been super- humanistic geography that have considered the issues ceded. Te author might have also proftably engaged related to these labels. with the more recent work of Victor Lieberman in his Given the wealth of material that is covered in this Strange Parallels series.7 It should also be noted that book it may seem picky or overly pedantic to suggest there is a near complete lack of reference to the volu- that the author could have engaged in further scholarly minous body of Japanese-language scholarship. I raise conversations, but the lack of engagement with some these suggestions here since the works I mention might key topics and books will strike some readers as a lost have inspired the author to provide more analytic rigor opportunity. Although this is a big book that covers a lot to this heavily descriptive work. Finally, there remain of ground over a long stretch of time, my sense is that it small issues with regard to (for in- could have also more expansively engaged with some of stance, Sida should be Xida [p. 85], Saifoding should be the ideas of scholars who have been working on similar Saifuding [p. 166], to note just a couple). issues related to regional and global/world history. Te None of these oversights detract from the overall author uses the word “world” in the title—ostensibly quality of India, China, and the World: A Connected signaling its place in world history—but does not dis- History nor do they detract from the pleasure that the cuss the upsurge in works on global or world history (a reader will enjoy as they learn fascinating new details feld that has been introduced and assessed by, among with every turn of the page. Tis book will make for en- others, Lynn Hunt and Pamela Crossley).3 One of the gaging reading for specialists and general readers who reasons it would have been compelling for the author are interested in the longue durée history of exchanges to engage with global or world history is that due to between India and China. Rather than being the end his broad linguistic capabilities he does not fall neatly of the story, however, this work strikes me as more of a into the empirical researcher or the philosophical in- new beginning that will initiate a new phase of research terpreter camps. Since the author is interested in the on the vast, complicated, and continually evolving his- places where South Asians/Indians and Chinese came tory of the relationship between India and China in the into contact with each other, one might have also ex- context of world history. pected some refection on Mary Louise Pratt’s notion of “contact zones.”4 Troughout the book the author has a tendency to cite recent work on a topic, but does Reference List not refer to some of the classic older works on which the newer works depend (see, for example, the discus- Crossley, Pamela Kyle. What is Global History? Cambridge: sion of the cult of the book on p. 156 which refers to Polity Press, 2008. Jinah Kim, but does not mention the seminal work of Halbfass, Wilhelm. India and Europe: An Essay in Under- Gregory Schopen).5 I would have also liked to read the standing. State University of New York Press, 1988. author’s refections on older works by scholars like Hu Hu, Shih. “Rabindranath Tagore in China.” Free China Re- Shih, Jan Yün-hua (“Buddhist Relations between India view 11:8 (1961), pp. 19–21. and Sung China”) and Wilhelm Halbfass since their Hu, Shih. “Te Indianization of China: A Case Study of works have informed general knowledge on a range of Cultural Borrowing.” In Independence, Convergence and topics related to the interactions between India, China, Borrowing in Institutions, Tought and Art, ed. Harvard and other parts of the world.6 It would be good to know Tercentenary Conference of Arts and Sciences, pp. where, in the author’s opinion, they made contributions 219–47. Harvard University Press, 1937. Hunt, Lynn. Writing History in the Global Era. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014. 2 ewis and igen, Myth of Continents. Jan, Yün-hua. “Buddhist Relations between India and Sung 3 See Hunt, Writing History in the Global Era; and rossley, What is China.” History of Religions 6:1 (1966), pp. 24–42. Global History? 4 See ratt, Imperial Eyes. 5 See Kim, Receptacle of the Sacred; and Schopen, “he hrase sa hiraea aiyabhūo bhae’ in the ajraheik.” 6 See Hu, “he Indianiation of hina”; Hu, “abindranath agore in hina”; an, “uddhist elations between India and Sung 7 ieberman, Strange Parallels: Southeast Asia; ieberman, Strange hina”; and Halbfass, India and Europe. Parallels: Volume 2.

132 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 Jan, Yün-hua. “Buddhist Relations between India and Sung China, part II.” History of Religions 6:2 (1966), pp. 135–98. Kim, Jinah. Receptacle of the Sacred Illustrated Manuscripts and the Buddhist Book Cult in South Asia. University of California Press, 2013. Lewis, Martin W., and Kären Wigen. Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography. University of California Press, 1997. Lieberman, Victor B. Strange Parallels: Volume 1, Integration on the Mainland: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830. Cambridge University Press, 2003. Lieberman, Victor B. Strange Parallels: Volume 2, Main- land Mirrors: Europe, Japan, China, South Asia, and the Islands: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800–1830. Cambridge University Press, 2009. Pratt, Mary Louise. Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Trans- culturation. London: Routledge, 1992. Schopen, Gregory. “Te Phrase ‘sa pthivīpradeśaś caity- abhūto bhavet’ in the Vajracchedikā: Notes on the Cult of the Book in Mahāyāna.” Indo-Iranian Journal 17:3/4 (1975), pp. 147–81. Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400. University of Hawai‘i Press, 2003.

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 133

Kyushu and Asia

Report on the 2017 Inscription of “Sacred Island of kinoshima and Associated Sites in the Mnakata Reion as a ES orld Heritae Site

LINDSEY E. DEWITT

N 9 July 2017, the United Nations Educational, ogy of the early Yamato rulers’ imperial-style sphere Scientifc and Cultural Organization (UNE- (ffh–eighth century) can be confrmed. Te 712 Ko- SCO) inscribed “Sacred Island of Okinoshima jiki 古事記 (Records of Ancient Matters) and 720 and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region” on its Nihon shoki 日本書紀 (Chronicles of Japan) describe World Heritage List.1 Te decision marks the culmina- Okinoshima as the sacred abode of one of the three tion of a nearly decade-long efort, and puts a spotlight Munakata goddesses, who are today worshipped at the on the rich religious and cultural landscapes of Kyushu, three locations of Munakata Grand Shrine (Munakata Japan, and the broader maritime sphere of Japan, the Taisha 宗像大社).3 Korean peninsula, and the continent. Te tiny size and Tree intensive rounds of archaeological excava- remote location of Okinoshima 沖ノ島 belies its great tions on Okinoshima (1954–1955, 1957–1958, 1969–1971) cultural and historical signifcance. Rituals on the is- land can be traced over the course of fve hundred years in four distinct forms. At the same time, the reasons for 3 unakata Shrine assumed its current name, unakata aisha, in the wake of its 1901 designation by the eii goernment as a the sacredness of the remote island—a place difcult maor imperial shrine kanpei taisha 官幣大社). kitsumiya 胸形 to navigate to and anchor on in fne weather, let alone 之奥津宮 rendered as 遠瀛 in the Nihon shoki) on kinoshima , and of limits to nearly all visitors today—and enshrines akiribime no mikoto 多紀理毗売命 alternatiely, 奥津❎比売命 中 2 kitsushimahime no mikoto ). Nakatsumiya the locus of the ritual practices remain unclear. Unlike 津宮 on Ōshima, eleen kilometers off the coast, enshrines many other ancient sacred sites in Japan, however, the akitsuhime no mikoto 湍津姫命. Hetsumiya 辺津宮 in ashima role of Okinoshima and Munakata 宗像 in the mythol- on the Kyushu mainland enshrines Ichikishimahime no mikoto 市 杵島姫命 alternatiely, Sayoribime no mikoto 狭依毗売命). he Kojiki and ersions of the Nihon shoki present slightly different names e.g., agorihime 田心姫, agorihime no mikoto 田心 姫命, and agirihime no mikoto 田霧姫命) for the goddesses, 1 Note that, in apanese, the name of the site differs slightly from and only one ersion of the Nihon shoki specifies kitsumiya the nglish “Island where gods dwell’ unakata kinoshima as agorihime’s dwelling. akeda and Nakamura, ed., Kojiki, p. and the ssociated Heritage roup” “Kami yadoru shima” 35. digital ersion of the Kojiki is aailable from the apanese Munakata Okinoshima to kanren isan-gun 「神宿る島」宗像·沖 Historical ext Initiatie, niersity of alifornia, erkeley, ノ島と関連遺産群). httpshti.berkeley.eduKoiki.html, p. 22, paragraph 2 trans. 2 concrete harbor was built by the goernment in 1951 to Donald hilippi). Nihon shoki, ol. 1, pp. 106–107. or an nglish proide access to the island for military personnel. translation of the Nihon shoki, see ston, Nihongi, pp. 34–35.

135 yielded some eighty thousand artifacts dating from the rough sketches of some of the items that would be re- fourth to the ninth century. Te excavations revealed discovered decades later.5 that four styles of rituals were performed on the island Okinoshima’s modern World Heritage narrative at twenty-three sites over fve centuries: (1) rituals atop begins with Idemitsu Sazō 出光佐三 (1885–1981), a rocks (late fourth–early ffh century); (2) rituals in petroleum tycoon and Munakata native. Idemitsu, rock shadows (late ffh–seventh century); (3) rituals self-described as “richly blessed with divine favour from partly in rock shadows and partly in the open air (late childhood,” attributed his success in business to his seventh–eighth century); and (4) open air rituals (late faith in the three Munakata goddesses.6 When Idemitsu eighth–end of ninth century). Te ritual goods range visited Munakata Shrine in 1937 and witnessed the “un- from a miniature golden loom to gilt-bronze horse deserved decay” of its buildings and precincts, he made trappings, bronze mirrors, iron swords, comma-shaped a “solemn vow” to restore them, and in November 1942 beads, ceramics, and much more; they are collectively organized the Society for the Restoration of the Mu- designated a National Treasure (kokuhō 国宝).4 nakata Shrine (Munakata Jinja Fukkō Kiseikai 宗像神 Okinoshima’s immense and ritually specifc ma- 社復興期成會). In addition to spearheading eforts to terial treasures, combined with its mytho-historical restore the shrine in Tashima 田島, the society spon- record, have catapulted the island to global fame, in- sored extensive historical investigations, which resulted spiring grand narratives about Japan’s origins and pre- in several major publications, and funded the large- modern polity. Te fndings also pose many questions scale archeological investigations on Okinoshima.7 concerning cultural exchange in East Asia before the Te movement to make Okinoshima a World Her- consolidation of “state” in the mid- itage site took shape in earnest through the eforts of eighth century. In quantity and value, the “discovery” local residents of the city of Munakata (which today in- of Okinoshima’s treasured goods in the middle of the cludes Ōshima 大島). Te locally formed Okinoshima twentieth century came as a great surprise to many. Tales Executive Committee (Okinoshima Monogatari Munakata Shrine ofcials certainly had some previous Jikkō Iinkai 沖ノ島物語実行委員会) organized the knowledge of the cache, as they already held in their ar- “Munakata Grand Shrine Great National Treasures chive several objects (e.g., bronze mirrors) said to have Exhibition” ( dai kokuhō ten 宗像大 been deposited on the island between the fourth and 社大国宝展) in 2002. Te same year, a symposium sixth century. Moreover, military personnel had been was held in Munakata; it was there that archaeologist stationed on the island regularly since the seventeenth Yoshimura Sakuji 吉村作治, an authority on Egyptian century, frst at the behest of the Fukuoka domain, and studies, afrmed publicly that “Okinoshima is worthy later, the Meiji government. Tese people, too, must of World Heritage.”8 have known something of the island’s treasures, many When the Agency for Cultural Afairs (Bunkachō 文 of which were visible on the ground, but apart from 化庁) sought proposals from local governments for can- a fantastic tale of fying treasures and godly wrath in- didates to be added to the World Heritage Tentative List cluded in an eighteenth-century shrine history, nothing in 2006, submitted “Okinoshima about them was ofcially reported. Te frst documen- and Associated Sites” (Okinoshima to kanren isan- tary evidence concerning the wealth of ritual goods gun 沖ノ島と関連遺産群) for consideration. Tree on the island is a scholarly report of 1891 that includes years later, in May 2009, “Munakata, Okinoshima and Associated Sites” (Munakata, Okinoshima to kanren isan-gun 宗像·沖ノ島と関連遺産群) was added to 4 he first attempt to designate obects from kinoshima as National reasures in 1959 was unsuccessful; the items instead were assessed as Important ultural roperties jūyō bunkazai 重要文化財). ore items were added and the listing was 5 tō, asaumi “kitsushimakikō.” upgraded to the status of National reasure in 1962. Subseuent 6 kinoshima akuutsu hōsatai and kaaki, Munakata excaations reealed many more items, which were designated Okinoshima, p. 614. as Important ultural roperties in 1978 and 2003. he entire 7 unakata ina ukkō Kiseikai, ed., Munakata jinja shi; unakata lot of eighty thousand obects was collectiely designated ina ukkō Kiseikai, ed., Okinoshima. as a single National reasure in 2006, as “rtifacts from the 8 aeda oshio 前田敏郎, “Seikai isan kinoshima ichibu kitsumiya ritual site of unakata rand Shrine” Fukuoka-ken ogai’” 世界遺産 沖ノ島「一部除外」, ainihi shinbun 毎 Munakata Taisha Okitsumiya saishi iseki shutsudohin 福岡県宗像 日新聞, 2017.5.7, httpsmainichi.particles20170507ddl 大社沖津宮祭祀遺跡出土品). k40040272000cck1.

136 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 Japan’s Tentative List for World Heritage inscription. would still endeavor to register all eight sites. Te A World Heritage promotional committee was formed Bunkachō prepared an easy-to-understand (illustrated) that same year, a collective efort of the cities of Mu- rebuttal to present to World Heritage Committee nakata and Fukutsu, and Fukuoka Prefecture.9 Te members at the annual meeting in order to persuade nomination remained on the Tentative List for seven them to adopt the eight-property serial inscription. years, during which time the promotional committee Te Japanese delegation argued that the ICOMOS pre- sponsored more than twenty conferences, symposia, sentation of Okinoshima as an isolated site with no and exhibitions, and commissioned four volumes of connection to other ritual sites or cultural practices study reports by Japanese and international scholars.10 ignored signifcant archaeological evidence from the On 28 July 2016, the Bunkachō selected “Sacred Is- seventh through ninth century that was excavated not land of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Mu- only on Okinoshima but on Ōshima (Mitakesan 御嶽 nakata Region,” a grouping of eight sites in total, for 山) and Tashima (Shimotakamiya 下高宮), the two ofcial consideration by UNESCO and its external ad- other Munakata Shrine locations. Tey emphasized visory body, the International Council on Monuments that the earliest surviving chronicles about Japan, the and Sites (ICOMOS). Six weeks later, on 8 September, Kojiki and the Nihon shoki (sources contemporaneous New Caledonia archaeologist Christophe Sande was with Okinoshima’s use as an active ritual site), link the dispatched from ICOMOS to survey all eight sites, three specifc sites by name with three deities. From the including the restricted island. Te ICOMOS evalua- perspective of the Japanese delegation and Munakata tion that followed recognized only Okinoshima and its Grand Shrine, all eight proposed sites had formed an three neighboring reefs as having “Outstanding Uni- active and ongoing cultural landscape from at least the versal Value” (UNESCO terminology).11 ICOMOS de- eighth century. termined that the value of Munakata Grand Shrine and At the forty-first session of the World Heritage the mounded tomb group was limited to the domestic Committee, held in Poland in July 2017, ICOMOS level, and recommended that all other constituent as- presented its judgment, and the inscription was put sets be dropped from the inscription (with the name to a vote. First, however, the Japanese delegation was changed simply to “Sacred Island of Okinoshima”). asked to explain the tradition of male-only access. Te Bunkachō responded that ICOMOS simply did Their response was brief: “As a matter of principle, the not understand the connection between the eight prop- access to the island of Okinoshima has been restricted erties, or the history of the Munakata region and Mu- to the priests of the Munakata Grand Shrine and priests nakata Grand Shrine. Fukuoka Prefectural Governor are male by its tradition.” No further discussion on the Ogawa Hiroshi 小川洋 lamented the “very regrettable controversial ban was permitted, save a brief statement and harsh recommendation” (hijō ni zannen de kibishii by World Heritage Centre Director Mechtild Rössler kankoku 非常に残念で厳しい勧告).12 Munakata City reminding Committee members that other sites that Mayor Tanii Hiromi 谷井博美, similarly disappointed restrict access to either women or men have received but inspired by local sentiment, announced that they World Heritage designations in the past.13 Of note, the

9 he promotional committee was known as “unakata, 13 “ender euality is a priority for NS, but I wish to inform kinoshima to kanren isangun” Seikaiisan Suishin Kaigi 「宗 the orld Heritage ommittee that it had taken other decisions 像·沖ノ島と関連遺産群」世界遺産推進会議. on sites where women hae no access like for example t. 10 See “unakata, kinoshima to kanren isangun” Seikaiisan thos in reece. here are many orld Heritage sites where Suishin Kaigi, ed., Munakata, Okinoshima to kanren isan-gun men cannot access certain parts of the site or women cannot hōsa kenkyū hōkoku, 4 ols. access certain parts of the site and we hae written about this 11 he six criteria that delineate “utstanding niersal alue” for extensiely. I will be ery happy to gie you further information cultural sites include a “masterpiece of human creatie genius,” but we are running out of time” 41st Session of the orld an “important interchange of human alues,” a “uniue or at Heritage ommittee, Krakow, oland, 9 uly 2017). o my least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition,” a monument, knowledge, three NSrelated publications exist that a human settlement, or a liing tradition. NS, Operational address gender exclusion NS, “In ocus,” a special edition Guidelines 2016. of World Heritage, the official NS publication from the 12 “Seikaiisan kinoshima igai sekai kachi nai’ ogai 4ken ni orld Heritage entre; NS, Gender Equality, a 2014 ikomosu” 世界遺産 沖ノ島以外「世界価値ない」 除外４件 report on gender euality and culture; and NS, UNESCO’s にイコモス, ainihi shinbun, 2017.5.6. httpsmainichi.p Promise, a digital NS document. irst, ssler’s preface articles20170506ddg001040003000c. to “In ocus orld Heritage and ender uality,” for which

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 137 nomination file written by Japanese authorities and on Okinoshima, although travel routes between main- accepted by the World Heritage Committee does not land areas in Japan, Korea, and China were crucial specifically mention the fact that women are banned to Okinoshima’s signifcance as a ritual site from the from Okinoshima. When Okinoshima was added fourth through ninth centuries, and to the eighty thou- to Japan’s World Heritage Tentative List in 2012, the sand ritual remains excavated there in the twentieth official proposal mentioned taboos that are “still century. Unearthed articles dating from the second half observed today, such as purifying oneself before setting of the ffh to the frst half of the sixth century found at foot on the island, banning women from entering, and Jungmak-dong, a ritual site on the southwestern coast prohibiting anyone from taking a single item from the of the Korean Peninsula, which are almost identical island.”14 The external advisory body evaluation by to the objects found at Okinoshima, point to transre- ICOMOS notes twice that no women are allowed on the gional and transcultural ties from the earliest phase of island.15 Yet the “Statement of Outstanding Universal Okinoshima rituals. Tis fact also has been marginal- Value” accepted by the World Heritage Committee, ized in World Heritage documentation.18 When voting which will hereafter institutionalize perceptions of commenced, the Korean delegation did vote in favor of the island, states only that “[e]xisting restrictions and the inscription, although they sided with the ICOMOS taboos contribute to maintaining the aura of the island evaluation that the island alone was worthy of World as a sacred place.”16 Heritage status. Te remaining twenty members of the Next, the delegation from the Republic of Korea, in World Heritage Committee voted unanimously for in- an oral intervention to the session, reprimanded Japan scription of all eight sites in a somewhat rare reversal of for neglecting Okinoshima’s important connection the ICOMOS recommendation.19 to Korea, and urged caution to the Japanese govern- Okinoshima is known locally as the “island of mys- ment concerning the portrayal of Okinoshima visu- tery” (shinpi no shima 神秘の島), and indeed it is mys- ally and in writing as an exclusively “Japanese” site.17 terious. Who ventured across the rough waters of the Korea is largely omitted from the UNESCO narrative

the delegate from the epublic of Korea reuested an oral she sered as editorial director, introduces the Kii mountains in interention and expressed the following concern “s far as I am apan as haing “separate access for men and women only.” his not mistaken the ritual coers the time span around .D. fourth claim, which presents nearby Inamuragatake as a mountain for century to ninth century, but I recognie the apanese national women, is false. s noted in Deitt, “ ountain Set part” p. flag together with two rising sun flags on the ship adopted by 155), Inamuragatake is a popular day hike enoyed by both men the apanese imperial army during the second world war, so I and women; no worship facilities or ritual sites are present along think I am ery doubtful all of a suddenis the ustification for the trail or at the summit. Second, UNESCO’s Promise: Gender worshipping for security and safety, for naigational purposes, or uaiy a oba rioriy emphasies that NS employs some kind of other politically motiated purposes” epublic of an approach of “gender mainstreaming in all programmes Korea, 41st Session of the orld Heritage ommittee, Krakow, and actiities” p. 3), and defines gender euality as situations oland, 9 uly 2017. in which “women and men eually enoy the right to access, 18 bects found at ungmakdong in excaations sponsored participate and contribute to cultural life” p. 14). inally, in by the honu National useum in 1992 include celadons Gender Equality: Heritage and Creativity, ssler describes from the Northern ei 386–534), in 265–420), and Southern Ōminesan as an example of “gendered heritage” p. 60), and and Northern dynasties 420–589) of hina, as well as horse notes that the orld Heritage entre receied letters of protest trappings together with soft stone imitations of obects sickle, in regard to the maleonly mountain’s potential orld Heritage cuirass, ade, knife) from Korea, nearly identical to those inscription.“utstanding niersal alue” is a uniersal right, excaated on kinoshima. n the ungmakdong ritual site, ssler concludes, but inscribing a site on the orld Heritage see Ko, “Kankoku ni okeru saishi iseki”; oo, “hikumakudō”; ist also “enshrines the gendered traditions, history and rituals.” Nelson, Gyeongju. ssler cites two sources for her information on Ōminesan a 19 rom 2006 to 2009, roughly 14 percent of IS’ 2004 article from The Japan Times newspaper and the website recommendations against inscription were reersed by the for “apanisitor,” an internet tourist guide. orld Heritage ommittee. abet, ICOMOS, p. 72. he exact 14 oernment of apan, Munakata, Okinoshima to kanren isan-gun, number of decision reersals is difficult to estimate, gien pp. 3–4. that IS may recommend one of three options inscribe, 15 International ouncil on onuments and Sites, ICOMOS defer, or refer back to the State arty for further information), Evaluation, pp. 2, 12. and the same three options are presented to the orld 16 orld Heritage ommittee, 41COM 8B.19. Heritage ommittee. Serial nominations like the eightproperty 17 eferencing a photograph of the boat parade of unakata kinoshima inscription, which receied partial recommendation rand Shrine’s iare estial, which reunites the three for inscription by IS, comprise a rare but growing unakata goddesses yearly at the Hetsumiya Shrine in ashima, category of nomination.

138 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3 Genkai Sea with valuable objects to perform rituals Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region there, and why did they do it? How did the cache of for Inclusion on the World Heritage List. Paris: ICOMOS, artifacts that are so treasured today end up forgotten by 2017. http://whc.unesco.org/document/159733. most from the ninth century until modern times? What Ko Kyoungsoo 高慶秀. “Kankoku ni okeru saishi iseki, are the historical roots of the taboo against women? saishi kanren ibutsu: Okinoshima saishi no ichizuke no Answers to these inquiries and others are not forth- tame no hikaku kentō shiryō” 韓国における祭祀遺 coming, at least not yet. Moving forward to the present 跡·祭祀関連遺物: 沖ノ島祭祀の位置づけのため day, many are wondering what the future will hold for の比較検討資料. In Munakata, Okinoshima to kanren Okinoshima in its new capacity as a World Heritage site. isan-gun chōsa kenkyū hōkoku 宗像·沖ノ島と関連 A delicate balance exists between caretakers dedicated 遺産群調査研究報告, ed. “Munakata, Okinoshima to to preserving the so-called “untouched” (although this kanren isan-gun” Seikaiisan Suishin Kaigi 「宗像·沖 is hardly true, considering the human history of the ノ島と関連遺産群」世界遺産推進会議, vol. 1, pp. island) sanctity of Okinoshima, and critics dissatisfed 419–45. Fukuoka: “Munakata, Okinoshima to kanren that a site of “Outstanding Universal Value” is of-lim- isan-gun” Seikaiisan Suishin Kaigi, 2011. its—and for historically unsubstantiated reasons—to “Munakata, Okinoshima to kanren isan-gun” Seikaiisan half the world’s population. Okinoshima’s gender taboo Suishin Kaigi 「宗像·沖ノ島と関連遺産群」世界 has been sensationalized by the media, but it seems 遺産推進会議, ed. Munakata, Okinoshima to kanren doubtful that critics voicing cries of discrimination will isan-gun chōsa kenkyū hōkoku 宗像·沖ノ島と関連 be answered anytime soon. In the wake of the World 遺産群調査研究報告. 4 vols. Fukuoka: “Munakata, Heritage inscription, Munakata Shrine authorities have Okinoshima to kanren isan-gun” Seikaiisan Suishin taken measures to restrict the island even further. In Kaigi, 2011–2013. addition to canceling the yearly on-site celebration of Munakata Jinja Fukkō Kiseikai 宗像大社復興期成会, ed. Japan’s historical naval might, the shrine has just imple- Munakata jinja shi 宗像神社史. 3 vols. Munakata Jinja mented another new policy stipulating that no men at Fukkō Kiseikai, 1961–1971. all, except for the single male shrine priest, will be per- Munakata Jinja Fukkō Kiseikai, ed. Okinoshima: Munakata mitted on the island (members of the media and most Jinja Okitsumiya saishi iseki 沖ノ島: 宗像神社沖津宮祭 researchers will now be banned as well). Okinoshima 祀遺跡. Munakata Jinja Fukkō Kiseikai, 1958. seems destined to remain enigmatic for now, a World Nelson, Sarah M. Gyeongju: Te Capital of Golden Silla. Heritage site foating alone out at sea. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2016. Nihon shoki 日本書紀. 2 vols. NKBT 67–68. Okinoshima Gakujutsu Chōsatai 沖ノ島学術調查隊 and Reference List Okazaki Takashi 岡埼敬. Munakata Okinoshima 宗像沖 ノ島. Vol. 1. Genkai-chō (Fukuoka-ken Munakata-gun): Aston, W. G. Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Munakata Jinja Fukkō Kiseikai, 1979. times to 697 A.D. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 1972. Tabet, Jade. Review of ICOMOS’ Working Methods DeWitt, Lindsey E. “A Mountain Set Apart: Female and Procedures for the Evaluation of Cultural Exclusion, Buddhism, and Tradition at Modern and Mixed Properties. Paris: ICOMOS, 2010. Ōminesan, Japan.” PhD dissertation, University of https://www.icomos.org/world_heritage/ California, Los Angeles, 2015. WH_Committee_34th_session_Brasilia/ Etō Masazumi 江藤正澄. “Okitsushima-kikō” 瀛津島紀 JT_Final_report_en.pdf. 行. Tōkyō jinrui gakkai zasshi 東京人類学会雑誌 7:69 Takeda Yūkichi 武田祐吉 and Nakamura Hirotoshi 中村啓 (1891), pp. 18–91. 信, ed. Kojiki 古事記. Kadokawa Bunko, 2001. Government of Japan. Munakata, Okinoshima to kanren United Nations Educational, Scientifc and Cultural isan-gun: Sekai bunka isan kennai zantei ichiranpyō e no Organization (UNESCO). Gender Equality: Heritage and tsuika teian-sho 宗像·沖ノ島と関連遺産群 世界文 Creativity. Paris: UNESCO, 2014. http://unesdoc.unesco. 化遺産国内暫定一覧表への追加提案書. Bunkachō, org/images/0022/002294/229418e.pdf. 2012. United Nations Educational, Scientifc and Cultural International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). Organization (UNESCO). “In Focus: World ICOMOS Evaluation of the Nomination of Sacred Island of Heritage and Gender Equality.” Special edition of

SIN 2018 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY 139 World Heritage 78 (2016). http://fr.calameo.com/ read/0033299727c6f658f66ef. United Nations Educational, Scientifc and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. Paris: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2016. http://whc. unesco.org/document/156250. United Nations Educational, Scientifc and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO’s Promise: Gender Equality, a Global Priority. Paris: UNESCO, 2014. http:// unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002269/226923m.pdf. Woo Jae Pyoung 禹在柄. “Chikumakudō saishi iseki to Okinoshima saishi iseki” 竹幕洞祭祀遺跡と沖ノ島祭 祀遺跡. In Munakata, Okinoshima to kanren isan-gun chōsa kenkyū hōkoku, ed. “Munakata, Okinoshima to kanren isan-gun” Seikaiisan Suishin Kaigi, vol. 1, pp. 281–96. Fukuoka: “Munakata, Okinoshima to kanren isan-gun” Seikaiisan Suishin Kaigi, 2011. World Heritage Committee. 41COM 8B.19—Sacred Island of Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata Region (Japan). Paris: UNESCO, 2017. http://whc.unesco.org/en/ decisions/6891.

140 N SIN HNIIS KYSH NISIY VOLUME 3

Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University

DAVID WEISS CHARI PRADEL Slaying the Serpent: Comparative Mythological Illuminating the Sacred Presence of Hasedera’s Perspectives on Susanoo’s Dragon Fight Eleven-Headed Avalokiteśvara

TOSHIFUMI KAWAHIRA D. MAX MOERMAN Chinese Poetry in Hiragana: Kana-shi in Tought and Underground Buddhism: Te Subterranean Practice Landscape of the Ise Shrines

YAN YANG Review Yamato-e: Illuminating a Concept through Historio- graphical Analysis BOOK REVIEW BY JAMES ROBSON Tansen Sen. India, China, and the World: A Connected FABIO RAMBELLI History. New York: Rowman & Littlefeld, 2017. Dharma Devices, Non-Hermeneutical Libraries, and Robot-Monks: Prayer Machines in Japanese Kyushu and Asia Buddhism LINDSEY E. DEWITT SATOMI YAMAMOTO Report on the 2017 Inscription of “Sacred Island of Futanari, Between and Beyond: From Male Shamans Okinoshima and Associated Sites in the Munakata to Hermaphrodites in Te Illustrated Scroll of Illnesses Region” as a UNESCO World Heritage Site

VOLUME 3, SPRING 2018

ISSN 2433-4855 (PRINT) ISSN 2433-4391 (ONLINE)