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Shaking Dance in the Stormy Valley: Tendai Discourse on Kami-Buddha Relations in Fourteenth Century Mount Hiei

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Shaking Dance in the Stormy Valley: Tendai Discourse on Kami-Buddha Relations in Fourteenth Century Mount Hiei SHAKING DANCE IN THE STORMY VALLEY: TENDAI DISCOURSE ON KAMI-BUDDHA RELATIONS IN FOURTEENTH CENTURY MOUNT HIEI BY YEON JOO PARK DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in East Asian Languages and Cultures in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2016 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Brian Ruppert, Chair Associate Professor Alexander L. Mayer Associate Professor Elizabeth A. Oyler Professor Emeritus Ronald P. Toby Abstract This dissertation explores medieval Japanese discourse on the amalgamation of kami and buddhas, particularly as represented in Keiran shūyōshū, a fourteenth century encyclopedic Japanese Tendai text, which presents the highest knowledge of medieval Taimitsu scholasticism on Mt. Hiei. Focusing on the inner logic of the “origin-trace” structure central to the Kami- Buddha combinatory discourse, this study investigates the rationale of nonduality between buddhas and kami or the origin and manifested traces. Examining representations of kami as manifestations of buddhas and the complex web of their relationships in Keiran, this study elucidates that the origin-trace scheme is indispensable from medieval Taimitsu teachings—in particular, the esoteric idea of copenetration and mutual identity, as well as the doctrine of original enlightenment and its associated rituals and practices. Examination of these interrelated issues culminates by centering on Keiran’s discussion of kami’s manifestation in the form of the snake and its association with the sixth consciousness, through which the main discussions of this study—kami as manifestations, kami’s manifestations, and nonduality of the origin and trace, are integrated into the problem of our mind cultivation toward enlightenment. Throughout this study, I pay attention to several allegories associated with the notion of nonduality in Keiran, which include the allegory of the shaking dance mentioned in the title of this dissertation, as well as various analogies connected to the form of the snake. At the end of this study, the main features of thie symbolic complex of nonduality are analyzed as being correlated in their subtle yet ultimate signification of our innate capacity to attain enlightenment, which should be sought after and sustained with our persistently dedicated practices. ii Acknowledgements I am deeply grateful to my dissertation committee. Without their support, patience, and valuable advice, this dissertation could not have been completed. My deepest gratitude goes first to my advisor, Professor Brian O. Ruppert, who has supported my interests in medieval Japanese syncretism, guided me to primary Japanese source materials and how to approach them, and opened the door for me to conduct research in Japan and communicate with leading Japanese scholars in the field. Not only did he patiently read through my drafts of the dissertation from its initial stage, but also has always offered the most essential suggestions that I need to improve my dissertation and to grow to be a scholar. I am indebted to his bodhisattva-like compassion that he has displayed in helping me complete the dissertation during the course of the past several years. Professor Alexander L. Mayer has been everything that a mentor is meant to be. His rigorous theoretical and philosophical commitment has always offered me pools of wisdom and inspiration. His scholarship in Buddhist doctrinal teachings awakened my previously dormant interest in Buddhism and led me to seriously engage in Buddhist philosophy. I am wholeheartedly grateful to him for never losing his faith in my scholarly ability. Professor Elizabeth A. Oyler has taught me classical Japanese and medieval Japanese literature, and has inspired me to be able to appreciate fascinating portrayals of religious beliefs and practices in medieval Japanese tales. I am deeply thankful for her offering various opportunities to present my research and receive valuable feedback, and for her encouragement to be myself on any occasion. Professor Ronald P. Toby has influenced me as the epitome of a great scholar and intellectual. His polymathic erudition has not only amazed me throughout my years as a graduate student, but on numerous occasions also has offered the most penetrating insights and helpful iii suggestions, whenever I seek them from him. I greatly appreciate his methodological training and kind support for the quality of my research. I am also indebted to several teachers in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at UIUC: Professors Misumi Sadler and Makoto Hayashi, and Junko R. Onosaka, who all helped me to develop my modern and classical Japanese language skills, and did not spare their encouragement. I would like to offer my sincere thanks to Professor Kikuchi Hiroki, who offered tremendous help for my archival research at the Historiographical Institute at the University of Tokyo in Japan. I am deeply thankful to Professor Satō Hiroo at Tohoku University in Japan, who gave me invaluable advice about the research of Kami-Buddha amalgamation (shinbutsu shūgō) and encouraged my study of Keiran shūyōshū. My great appreciation also goes to Professor Jacqueline I. Stone at Princeton University. As my dissertation discusses medieval Japanese Tendai teachings and also is deeply concerned with Tendai’s original enlightenment thought, Professor Stone’s support of my project and suggestions have been most encouraging and appreciated. I am also indebted to many inspirational scholars and thinkers in the world throughout history. Even though I do not personally know most of these people, they have exerted enormous influences on me. Among many are Tamura Yoshiro, Kim Hyunghyo, Georges Dumézil, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, Wonhyo Daesa, Noam Chomsky, Brian Greene, and finally my father, Youngsook Park, the most interdisciplinary and creative scholar I have ever seen. All of them have influenced the quality of my thought in this study. I am tremendously grateful to my parents and husband. Had it not been for their love and patience throughout my darkest periods of wandering and frustration in past years, I would have iv given up and never would have finished my dissertation. Also, I offer thanks to my friends, who have cheered me up and helped with the proofreading of this dissertation. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Kōshū (1276-1350), the author of Keiran shūyōshū, and this masterwork itself—and not only for providing the invaluable material for my research. Through years of my struggling efforts to understand this extremely cryptic text I have been offered tremendous insights about life and truth, learned lessons about love and compassion, and have been able to overcome my own pessimistic worldview and arrogance. In that sense, Kōshū’s mission for benefiting other people has been accomplished. Although my journey with Keiran shūyōshū has just begun, this dissertation is my humble homage to Kōshū and his masterpiece. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS AND CONVENTIONS……………………………………………………vii INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………...1 CHAPTER I. MEDIEVAL JAPANESE KAMI-BUDDHA RELATIONS AND TENDAI DEVELOPMENT OF THE KAMI-BUDDHA DISCOURSE…………………………………..11 CHAPTER II. KAMI IN KEIRAN—MEDIEVAL TENDAI INTERPRETATION OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND RELIGION……………………………………………………...54 CHAPTER III. THE SERPENTINE FORM OF KAMI, BUDDHA, AND TRUTH—A TINY SNAKE INSIDE OUR BODY AND MIND….............................................................................99 CHAPTER IV. NONDUALITY OF THE ORIGIN AND TRACE ON OUR MIND—THE NINTH AND SIXTH CONSCIOUSNESSES………………………….……………………...144 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………185 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………193 vi Abbreviations and Conventions The following abbreviations are used in this dissertation: alt. alternative Ch. Chinese J. Japanese Skt. Sanskrit T. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō I have followed the guidelines of The Chicago Manual of Style in the main. Chinese names and terms have been romanized according to the Pinyin system, and revised Hepburn has been used for Japanese. For technical terms used in a Chinese context, I have marked them in Chinese, and terms referring to Japanese pronunciation have been used in a Japanese context. For authors’ dates, texts, and pronunciation of their names, I have primarily relied on the following reference works: Nakamura Hajime, Bukkyōgo daijiten; Oda Tokunō, Bukkyō Daijiten; Kaiwahara Yūsen, Nihon bukkyō jinmei jiten; Kamata Shigeo, Daizōkyō zenkaisetsu daijiten; and Sawa Ryūken, Mikkyō jiten. Specific passages from the Taishō canon are cited by Taishō volume number, page number, column (a or b or c), and, when appropriate, line numbers (e.g., for Keiran shūyōshū, T.76. 2410:760a11). The main text used in this dissertation, Keiran shūyōshū, is written in classical Chinese characters. Consequently, terms and expressions directly from discussions in Keiran shūyōshū are noted with classical characters instead of modern Japanese. However, for discussions of general Buddhist or Japanese terms, are all marked with modern Japanese characters. Whenever specific passages in the Keiran corpus are cited in English translation, I have included the original text immediately after the English translations for readers’ own interpretations. All English translations are my own work; thus, I bear the responsibility for any misinterpretations. vii Introduction For the study of what might be called “religious syncretism,”
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