UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA Los Angeles a Mountain Set Apart
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles A Mountain Set Apart: Female Exclusion, Buddhism, and Tradition at Modern Ōminesan, Japan A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Languages and Cultures by Lindsey Elizabeth DeWitt 2015 © Copyright by Lindsey Elizabeth DeWitt 2015 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION A Mountain Set Apart: Female Exclusion, Buddhism, and Tradition at Modern Ōminesan, Japan by Lindsey Elizabeth DeWitt Doctor of Philosophy in Asian Languages and Cultures University of California, Los Angeles, 2015 Professor William M. Bodiford, Chair Religious tradition has long dictated the exclusion of women from Sanjōgatake, a sacred peak in the Ōminesan 大峰山 range, southern Nara 奈良 Prefecture. Today, Ōminesan is a place where activities ranging from tourism to religious austerities all recognize, implicitly or explicitly, a “1300-year-old tradition” of female exclusion (nyonin kekkai 女人結界, nyonin kinsei 女人禁制) from the mountain. At the heart of this study is a constructed tradition—a narrative body of beliefs and practices that often belie or confuse historical and practical substantiation—and the people whose lives interact with that tradition in modern times. The dissertation features what may be understood as the “afterlives” of ancient histories and legends in the modern life of the mountain’s religious practitioners, residents, and patrons. It examines a diverse range of factors as windows to understanding how the tradition of female exclusion is deployed, challenged, and circumvented. These factors include law and female exclusion (the Meiji ii government’s legal abolishment of female exclusion in 1872), the process of conferring National Park (1936) and UNESCO World Heritage (2004) status on the peak and its effects, local religious and community management of the peak, individual and collective attempts to contest the ban, precepts and present-day religious practice, and economic and cultural benefits to the region. The first half of the study scrutinizes different aspects of female exclusion at Sanjōgatake through investigations into boundary lines, state ideologies and goals, cultural imagination (and thus, “imaginings”), and the institutional and administrative configurations that distinguish it specifically as a sacred site off-limits to women. Shifting focus outside the widely accepted dichotomy of male inclusion and female exclusion, the second half of the study considers challenges to the ban by both men and women and explores alternative religious practices, lifestyles, and economies— new realities engendered by exclusion. Previous studies that mention female exclusion highlight its underlying symbolics and traditional literary accounts within an imaginary and yet self- replicating culture of barring women from certain “traditional” practices and sites. This study grounds such exclusion and its afterlives in a specific place, at specific times, and as affected by specific actors. By evaluating strategies surrounding exclusion and inclusion, highlighting how historical tensions play out, and emphasizing context and agency, I am able to elucidate local epistemologies that produce and maintain a socio-religious environment defined by gender. In doing so, I hope to offer a unique contribution to the study of Japanese religions and a new methodology for understanding the complex relationships between gender and sacred space in Japan. iii The dissertation of Lindsey Elizabeth DeWitt is approved. Gregory Robert Schopen Carol Ann Bakhos William M. Bodiford, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2015 iv Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………...…..… 1 Aims and Major Questions.……………………………………………… 3 Historiographical Notes………....……………………………………..… 5 Female Exclusion as Culture.……………………………………………. 6 Methodological and Conceptual Considerations.………………………... 8 Nyonin kinsei, nyonin kekkai.……………………………………………. 11 Mountains as Sacred Space.……………………………………………... 19 Local Perspectives on Female Exclusion.……………………………….. 21 Chapter Overview.……………………………………………………….. 24 Chapter One: Drawing Lines…………………………………………...………... 27 1970 Boundary Reconfiguration………………………............................ 27 Many Peaks, Many Names………………………………………………. 31 “The Road Going to the Mountain”……………………………………... 37 Conclusions……………………………………………………………… 56 Chapter Two: State Visions, Local Realities………………………………….…. 59 Situating Edict 98………………………………………………………... 62 Explaining Edict 98……………………………………………………… 67 Promulgating the Edict (Hieizan)………………………………………... 74 Receiving the Edict (Kōyasan)…………………………..….…………… 79 Conclusions……………………………………………………………… 87 Chapter Three: Behind the Official Line………………………….……………... 89 Yoshino–Kumano National Park……………………………………….... 91 Preservation and Politics………………………………………… 92 Perspectives on Female Exclusion………………………………. 98 Setting a “Mountain Rule”………………………………………. 103 “Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range” World Heritage Site…...………………... 108 Conclusions……………………………………………………………… 114 Chapter Four: Keys to the Mountain……………………………………….……. 116 The Rise of Climbing Guilds…………………………………………….. 117 Three Mountains, One Voice………………………...…………….…….. 122 “A Necessary Cooling-Off Period”……………………………………… 125 Conclusions……………………………………………………………… 128 Chapter Five: Crossing the Line…………………………………………………. 130 Ms. Alps and the “Thieves’ Visits”……………………………………… 130 American Woman………………………………………………………... 137 Spirit Mediums and Sushi………………………………………...…...… 140 From Tokyo via Manaslu………………………………………………... 141 Crossing Over……………………………………………………………. 146 Conclusions……………………………………………………………… 147 Chapter Six: Beyond Exclusion…………...……………………………………... 148 Opening the Dragon’s Mouth……………………………………………. 148 v The Palace Grounds……………………………………………………… 152 Hell Valley………………………………………………………...…….. 156 The Heaven-sent Child of Dainichi……………………………………… 158 Big Snake’s Lair…………………………………………………………. 161 Yamabushi Women………………………………………………………. 166 Conclusions……………………………………………………………… 167 Conclusion: A Mountain Apart, The Traditions Within…………………...…….. 169 Epilogue: Lines, Realities, and Beyond…………………………….……………. 175 Figures…………………………………………………………………….……... 181 Appendix One: Timeline of Important Events………….……………………….. 209 Appendix Two: Further Historiographical Notes……………………….…..…… 211 Appendix Three: 1997 Proclamation…………………………………….………. 220 Bibliography…………………………………….…………………….…………. 225 vi Abbreviations Chn. Chinese DNK Dai Nihon kokiroku 大日本古記録 Jpn. Japanese NKBT Nihon koten bungaku taikei 日本古典文学体系 NST Nihon shisō taikei 日本思想体系 Skt. Sanskrit SNKBT Shin Nihon koten bungaku taikei 新日本古典文学体系 SZKT Shintei zōho kokushi taikei 新訂増補国史体系 T. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經 Conventions and Usages Transliteration follows the modified Hepburn system for Japanese (e.g., Shozan engi) and Pinyin for Mandarin (e.g., Yìchǔ liùtiě). I provide Chinese characters throughout the body of the text, and to accord with the source material or printed publication present either “old form characters” (kyūjitai 旧字体) or “new form characters” (shinjitai 新字体). I convert all years to their approximate Western equivalents. When a text or the name of buddhas and bodhisattvas names can be given in multiple languages, I provide each with the abbreviations Jpn. (Japanese), Skt. (Sanskrit), and Chn. (Chinese) accompanied by relevant diacritics at first usage. I defer to Japanese pronunciations for Buddhist deities, reflecting the context of the study and the usage Japanese people know the terms by. Buddhist figures and deities are capitalized when they appear as part of a proper noun (e.g., Shōbō Rigen Daishi, Zaō Gongen) and italicized in lower case when they appear alone (e.g., gongen). vii Following convention, Japanese surnames are placed before personal names or titles, and a connective “no” stands between surname and given name for individuals who lived prior to 1185 (e.g., Fujiwara no Moromichi). Whenever possible, I provide birth and death dates for historical figures. For ease of reading, I provide English translations for many place names (e.g. Mountaintop Zaō Hall instead of Sanjō Zaō dō), organization names, laws and regulations, book, journal, and newspaper article titles in the text body. Conventional English translations do not accurately describe Japanese referents in all cases. For mountains, as in the case of Ōminesan, I provide the Japanese suffix (e.g., “san,” “zan,” “yama”), but in the first instance alone drop the suffix and use “Mount” for clarification (i.e., Mount Ōmine). “Peak” (mine 峯, 峰) denotes a single summit, while “mountain” (yama 山) can refer to both a single peak and a collection of peaks. “Temple” used here refers to a place that enshrines buddhas and is managed by Buddhist clerics (Buddhists who have entered religious orders or who reside at Buddhist religious sites). “Shrine,” on the other hand, from the Meiji period 明治時代 (1868–1912) refers to a place that enshrines “Shintō” gods. All translations are my own, unless otherwise noted, and I assume full responsibility for any errors. viii Acknowledgments From the moment of its conception, sparked in a graduate seminar at UCLA, to the closing words, written on the road in central Bhutan, this dissertation represents a long journey, akin to climbing a mountain. The mountain experience, both in my mind and at Ōminesan, has impacted me in ways I could never have expected and cannot hope to articulate. What I can try to convey, however, is my deep gratitude to the people who have contributed along the way. My advisor William Bodiford