DOCSLIB.ORG

The Japanese "Kokutai" (National Community) History and Myth Author(S): Joseph M

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Japanese The Japanese "Kokutai" (National Community) History and Myth Author(s): Joseph M. Kitagawa Source: History of Religions, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Feb., 1974), pp. 209-226 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1061814 Accessed: 22-07-2018 20:54 UTC REFERENCES Linked references are available on JSTOR for this article: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1061814?seq=1&cid=pdf-reference#references_tab_contents You may need to log in to JSTOR to access the linked references. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://about.jstor.org/terms The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to History of Religions This content downloaded from 206.224.223.250 on Sun, 22 Jul 2018 20:54:59 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Joseph M. Kitagawa THE JAPANESE KOKU TAI (NATIONAL COMMUNITY) HISTORY AND MYTH It has often been asserted by students of Japanese religion, cul- ture, and history that the Japanese have a unique sense of signif- icance regarding their National Community which is variously expressed as national character, national essence, national sub- stance, state structure, national polity, or kokutai, which literally means "national body." According to a Shinto scholar, Professor Motohiko Anzu: "If you regard a State as a form or container the contents that fill this form or container is the reality of a state, that is the kokutai." Anzu goes on to say that the reality of the Japanese nation is characterized by an imperial reign. In short, to him, kokutai means an emperor state.' This view has not been confined only to Shintoists. Throughout history, many Buddhists and Confucianists in Japan have asserted the uniqueness of the Japanese National Community.2 In the modern period, many Japanese Christians have echoed a similar view. It may very well be that every national group on every continent has a special sense of its national identity; in that sense there is nothing really unique 1 Proceedings: The Second International Conference for Shinto Studies (Tokyo: Kokugakuin University, 1968), p. 64. 2 See Hajime Nakamura, Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples: India-China- Tibet-Japan, rev. English trans. ed. Philip P. Wiener (Honolulu: East-West Center Press, 1964), pp. 434-49. 209 This content downloaded from 206.224.223.250 on Sun, 22 Jul 2018 20:54:59 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms The Japanese Kokutai about the Japanese. Nevertheless, I share Professor William Theodore de Bary's observation that "if there is anything distinc- tive about the Japanese in this respect, it is not that they have some such identity but that they are so self-conscious about it."3 My own concern is, however, not to discuss the extensiveness of this so-called uniqueness of the Japanese National Community, but rather how should a historian of religions deal with the phe- nomenon of "National Community" in which the sociopolitical dimension of religion and the religious dimension of sociopolitical order are inseparably interfused. I would like to reexamine how and from what perspective a historian of religions should go about the task of reconstructing the historic processes which resulted in the development of the National Community during the prehis- toric period of Japan. More concretely, I would ask whether some sort of a model for the National Community had been given in myths, as many historians of religions are inclined to hold, or if those myths themselves reflect the prehistoric and historic expe- rience of the people in Japan. While I do not claim to solve the complex riddle involved in the relationship between the "para- digm" and "history," I hope to clarify some of the issues involved in the early development of the Japanese National Community. I have chosen the "National Community" as the central issue in the attempt to understand the nature and history of Japanese religion because it incorporates all the major thrusts of individual and corporate orientation of the Japanese people to a sacral order of reality: the characteristic Japanese understanding of sacred space, sacred time and history, and sacred community, embodied in myths, symbols, and rituals. In this connection, it may be worthwhile recalling van der Leeuw's statement on community: '"Community' is not 'covenant.' Since the Age of Enlightenment there has operated the tendency to depict a community as a soci- ety: the church as a religious society based on confession or creed, the state as a secular society resting on a contrat social. But 'com- munity' is something not manufactured, but given; it depends not upon sentiment or feeling, but on the Unconscious. It need be founded on no conviction, since it is self-evident; we do not be- come members of it, but 'belong to it.' "4 I am persuaded that the Japanese National Community must be understood in van der Leeuw's sense of community. (How it developed is a difficult his- 3 Proceedings: The Second International Conference for Shinto Studies, p. 86. 4 G. van der Leeuw, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, trans. J. E. Turner (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1938), p. 243. 210 This content downloaded from 206.224.223.250 on Sun, 22 Jul 2018 20:54:59 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms History of Religions torical question, which I will touch upon presently. It must be readily admitted that the external forms of sociopolitical order, which sustained the National Community, have undergone many changes, as I will also briefly discuss presently.) People in Japan throughout the ages took it for granted that they belonged, not only to the family and other kinship and regional communities, but more basically to one invisible National Community (with a capital C), however nebulous it might have appeared at times. Let me now turn to some of the major scholarly problems which con- front a student of the History of Religions in reference to the meaning and development of the Japanese National Community. PREHISTORIC BACKGROUND The first, and probably the most difficult and most fascinating, problem area of our study is the prehistoric period of Japan. On this subject scholarly opinions vary widely among prehistorians, archaeologists, ethnologists, linguists, and historians of religions. While there is no definitive theory about the chronological devel- opment of Japan's prehistory, it is more or less safe to assume that the earliest prehistoric "culture" may be traced to approximately 3000 B.C. when the mesolithic peoples of the Asian continent were driven to the Japanese archipelago as a result of the eastward migration of neolithic peoples of Europe.5 In dealing with the prehistoric development of mythology, reli- gion, language, and social organization, Professor Masao Oka has proposed a most audacious culture-complex hypothesis. According to him, the prehistoric and early historic Japanese culture, people, and religion were a synthesis of five major components, namely, those of (i) Melanesian origin; (ii) an Austroasian group from some- where in south China; (iii) a northeast Asian group, possibly of Tungusic origin; (iv) a southeast Asian group, probably of Micro- nesian origin; and (v) an Altaic-speaking, pastoral tribe that sub- jugated other tribes in southern Manchuria and Korea around the beginning of the Christian era and arrived at the western part of Japan in the third or fourth century. The last mentioned, the Altaic group, according to Oka, had a superb military organiza- tion and established itself as the ruling class-presumably the an- cestors of the imperial clan-over other groups which settled earlier. It was, however, converted to the agricultural culture of the conquered people.6 While Oka's hypothesis leaves many knotty 5 See my "Prehistoric Background of Japanese Religion," History of Religions 2, no. 2 (Winter 1963): 292-328, for major works on Japan's prehistory. 6 See ibid., pp. 308-10, for a brief summary of Oka's hypothesis. 211 This content downloaded from 206.224.223.250 on Sun, 22 Jul 2018 20:54:59 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms The Japanese Kokutai problems unresolved, it takes into account some of the major fea- tures related to early Japanese religion, such as mythologies, cos- mologies, and sacred geographies; typologies of kami (deities and spirits) and an analysis of the pantheon; a plausible explanation of the transmission of Central Asiatic, Austroasian, and other types of symbols to Japan; the development of the clan (uji) system and occupational groups; the clan-centered religious pattern; the unique features of shrines and shamanic diviners, etc. These fea- tures, it should be noted, provide important ingredients to the subsequent development of the Japanese religion which in the historic period came to be known as Shinto. Understandably, Oka's grandiose hypothesis has been criti- cized and challenged by other scholars who propose various modi- fications and alternative conjectures. From our point of view, however, it is important to note that all these critics and scholars who hold diverse opinions agree on one essential point, that is, by the later phase of the prehistoric period those who inhabited the Japanese islands seem to have attained a degree of self-conscious- ness as one people. It was this consciousness which became the basis for the National Community under the leadership of the im- perial clan in the early historic period.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Speech by Ōno Genmyō, Head Priest of the Horyu-Ji Temple “Shōtoku Taishi and Horyu-Ji” (October 20, 2018, Shinjuku-Ku, Tokyo)
    Speech by Ōno Genmyō, Head Priest of the Horyu-ji Temple “Shōtoku Taishi and Horyu-ji” (October 20, 2018, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo) MC Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming today. The town of Ikaruga, where the Horyu-ji Temple is located, is very conveniently located: just 10 minutes by JR from Nara, 20 minutes from Tennoji in Osaka, and 80 minutes from Kyoto. This historical area is home to sites that include the Horyu-ji , the Horin-ji, the Hkki-ji, the Chugu- ji, and the Fujinoki Kofun tumulus. The Reverend Mr. Ōno will be speaking with us today in detail about the Horyu-ji, which was founded in 607 by Shotoku Taishi, Prince Shotoku, a member of the imperial family. As it is home to the oldest wooden building in the world, it was the first site in Japan to be registered as a World Heritage property. However, its attractions go beyond the buildings. While Kyoto temples are famous for their gardens, Nara’s attractions are, more than anything, its Buddhist sculptures. The Horyu-ji is home to some of Japan’s most noted Buddhist statues, including the Shaka Sanzon [Shaka Triad of Buddha and Two Bosatsu], the Kudara Kannon, Yakushi Nyorai, and Kuse Kannon. Prince Shotoku was featured on the 10,000 yen bill until 1986, so there may even be people overseas who know of him. Shotoku was the creator of Japan’s first laws and bureaucratic system, a proponent of relations with China, and incorporated Buddhism into politics. Reverend Ōno, if you would be so kind.
    [Show full text]
  • The Establishment of State Buddhism in Japan
    九州大学学術情報リポジトリ Kyushu University Institutional Repository The Establishment of State Buddhism in Japan Tamura, Encho https://doi.org/10.15017/2244129 出版情報：史淵. 100, pp.1-29, 1968-03-01. Faculty of Literature, Kyushu University バージョン： 権利関係： - 1 - THE ESTABLISHMENT OF STATE BUDDHISM IN JAPAN Encho Tamura In ancient times, during the Yamato period, it was the custom for each succeeding emperor at the beginning of his reign to seek some site on which to build a new imperial palace and relocate himself. In other words, successive emperors neither inherited their palaces from the previous emperor nor handed them down to the following emperor. Hardly any example is to be found of the same palace being used by more than two emperors successively. The fact that the emperor in ancient times was called by the name of the place where his palace was located* is based on this custom of seeking new sites and founding new palaces. < 1 > This custom was strictly adhered to until the 40th Emperor, Temmu (672-686 A. D.).** The palaces, though at times relocated at Naniwa (the present Osaka Prefecture), or at Cmi (Shiga Prefecture), in most cases were built in different locations within the boundary of the Yamato area (Nara Prefecture). It is true that there is a theory denying the existence of emperors previous to the 14th Emperor, Chuai, but it is clearly stated in both the Kojiki and the Nihonshoki that all of the emperors including Jimmu, the 1st Emperor, strictly adhered to this custom of relocating the palace. This reflects the fact *For example, Emperor Kimmei was called "Shikishima no Kanazashi no Miya ni Arne ga shita Shiroshimesu Sumeramikoto" (The Emperor who rules the whole area under heaven at his Kanazashi Palace in Shikishima).
    [Show full text]
  • Powerful Warriors and Influential Clergy Interaction and Conflict Between the Kamakura Bakufu and Religious Institutions
    UNIVERSITY OF HAWAllllBRARI Powerful Warriors and Influential Clergy Interaction and Conflict between the Kamakura Bakufu and Religious Institutions A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HISTORY MAY 2003 By Roy Ron Dissertation Committee: H. Paul Varley, Chairperson George J. Tanabe, Jr. Edward Davis Sharon A. Minichiello Robert Huey ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Writing a doctoral dissertation is quite an endeavor. What makes this endeavor possible is advice and support we get from teachers, friends, and family. The five members of my doctoral committee deserve many thanks for their patience and support. Special thanks go to Professor George Tanabe for stimulating discussions on Kamakura Buddhism, and at times, on human nature. But as every doctoral candidate knows, it is the doctoral advisor who is most influential. In that respect, I was truly fortunate to have Professor Paul Varley as my advisor. His sharp scholarly criticism was wonderfully balanced by his kindness and continuous support. I can only wish others have such an advisor. Professors Fred Notehelfer and Will Bodiford at UCLA, and Jeffrey Mass at Stanford, greatly influenced my development as a scholar. Professor Mass, who first introduced me to the complex world of medieval documents and Kamakura institutions, continued to encourage me until shortly before his untimely death. I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to them. In Japan, I would like to extend my appreciation and gratitude to Professors Imai Masaharu and Hayashi Yuzuru for their time, patience, and most valuable guidance.
    [Show full text]
  • Shinto, Primal Religion and International Identity
    Marburg Journal of Religion: Volume 1, No. 1 (April 1996) Shinto, primal religion and international identity Michael Pye, Marburg eMail: [email protected] National identity and religious diversity in Japan Questions of social and political identity in Japan have almost always been accompanied by perceptions and decisions about religion. This is true with respect both to internal political issues and to the relations between Japan and the wider world. Most commonly these questions have been linked to the changing roles and fortunes of Shinto, the leading indigenous religion of Japan. Central though Shinto is however, it is important to realize that the overall religious situation is more complex and has been so for many centuries. This paper examines some of these complexities. It argues that recent decades in particular have seen the clear emergence of a more general "primal religion" in Japan, leaving Shinto in the position of being one specific religion among others. On the basis of this analysis some of the options for the Shinto religion in an age of internationalization are considered. The complexity of the relations between religion and identity can be documented ever since the Japanese reception of Chinese culture, which led to the self-definition of Shinto as the indigenous religion of Japan. The relationship is evident in the use of two Chinese characters to form the very word Shinto (shen-dao), which was otherwise known, using Japanese vocabulary, as kannagara no michi (the way in accordance with the kami).1 There are of course some grounds for arguing, apparently straightforwardly, that Shinto is the religion of the Japanese people.
    [Show full text]
  • Shintō and Buddhism: the Japanese Homogeneous Blend
    SHINTŌ AND BUDDHISM: THE JAPANESE HOMOGENEOUS BLEND BIB 590 Guided Research Project Stephen Oliver Canter Dr. Clayton Lindstam Adam Christmas Course Instructors A course paper presented to the Master of Ministry Program In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Ministry Trinity Baptist College February 2011 Copyright © 2011 by Stephen O. Canter All rights reserved Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served −Joshua TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements........................................................................................................... vii Introduction..........................................................................................................................1 Chapter One: The History of Japanese Religion..................................................................3 The History of Shintō...............................................................................................5 The Mythical Background of Shintō The Early History of Shintō The History of Buddhism.......................................................................................21 The Founder −− Siddhartha Gautama Buddhism in China Buddhism in Korea and Japan The History of the Blending ..................................................................................32 The Sects That Were Founded after the Blend ......................................................36 Pre-War History (WWII) .......................................................................................39
    [Show full text]
  • Korean Contributions to Japanese Buddhism
    36 Chapter 2 Chapter 2 Korean Contributions to Japanese Buddhism Historians have long supported some version of the story found in the Nihon shoki (The Chronicles of Japan, also called the Nihongi) of the so-called “official introduction” of Buddhism to Yamato, ancient Japan. According to that imperi- ally compiled record, which is the second oldest book of Japanese history, in 552 CE or 538 by some calculations, King Seong (r. 523554) of the Korean king- dom of Baekje (traditionally dated BCE 18-CE 663) sent emissaries to the ruler of Japan, either Emperor Senka (r. circa 536539) or Emperor Kinmei (r. circa 539 through 571). The emissaries presented the emperor with a Buddhist stat- ue, the specifics of which are also various interpreted, and a number of sūtras. This marks the official introduction often cited by historians as the introduc- tion of Buddhism to Japan. However, before the date of this transmission, Buddhism had already been introduced to Japan though a mass influx of immigrants from Baekje as well as China. The conversion of the powerful Soga clan leader, Soga no Iname (d. 570), who had close contact with the immigrant groups, would greatly con- tribute to the formation of Buddhism in Japan. This is because Soga clan lead- ers Soga no Iname and his son Soga no Umako (d. 626) came to dominate the political stage of Japan throughout the second half of the sixth century and into the beginning of the seventh century through their descendants at the imperial court. At the time, the Soga clan incorporated figures from the Bud- dhist pantheon into their indigenous Japanese family tutelary deity belief sys- tem.
    [Show full text]
  • From Jindo to Shinto a Concept Takes Shape
    Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 2002 29/3-4 From Jindo to Shinto A Concept Takes Shape M ark T eeuw en This article traces the origin and development of the term Shinto. This word was created from an earlier Buddhist term “jindd, ” which was used in, for example, the Nihon shoki as a collective noun referring to “the realm of the (non-Buddhist) deities. ” The form “shintd ” occurred first in the context of esoteric initiations into kami knowledge, probably in the fourteenth century. The article explores how the older term jindd was given a new meaning and a new reading in a discourse that drew both on hon- gaku ideas and Yin-Yang cosmology. It argues that, in contrast to the older jindd, the neologism sninto functioned as a “concept” as defined by Reinhart Koselleck, in the sense that it had a clear historical impact as both a factor and an indicator of historical change. It is only when we are aware of the formative processes that fostered this new concept that we can understand such central Shinto themes as primeval purity and imperial spirituality. Keywords: Shinto ——kami — honji suijaku ——hongaku — \ln-Yang- — emperor — conceptual history In the introduction to this issue, Bernhard Scheid and I argue that for historiographical purposes, “Sninto” should be reserved as “a col­ lective term for various attempts made in different historical periods to unify kami practices and beliefs.” In this sense, shin to is not some- thine that has “existed” in Japanese society in some concrete and definable form during different historical periods; rather, it appears as a conceptualization, an abstraction that has had to be produced actively every time it has been used.
    [Show full text]
  • A History of the Japanese People
    A History of the Japanese People Frank Brinkley A History of the Japanese People Table of Contents A History of the Japanese People......................................................................................................................1 Frank Brinkley.........................................................................................................................................2 FOREWORD...........................................................................................................................................4 AUTHOR'S PREFACE...........................................................................................................................5 CHAPTER I. THE HISTORIOGRAPHER'S ART IN OLD JAPAN.....................................................8 CHAPTER II. JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY.........................................................................................13 CHAPTER III. JAPANESE MYTHOLOGY (Continued)....................................................................20 CHAPTER IV. RATIONALIZATION.................................................................................................29 CHAPTER V. ORIGIN OF THE JAPANESE NATION: HISTORICAL EVIDENCES.....................34 CHAPTER VI. ORIGIN OF THE NATION: GEOGRAPHICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL RELICS.................................................................................................................................................42 CHAPTER VII. LANGUAGE AND PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS...........................................50
    [Show full text]
  • Clan Influence in Asuka Japan: Asukadera and the Soga Clan
    CLAN INFLUENCE IN ASUKA JAPAN: ASUKADERA AND THE SOGA CLAN by Ian Michael Watts Submitted to the Faculty of The Archaeological Studies Program Department of Sociology and Archaeology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science University of Wisconsin - La Crosse 2012 Copyright © 2012 by Ian Watts All rights reserved ii CLAN INFLUENCE IN ASUKA JAPAN: ASUKADERA AND THE SOGA CLAN Ian Watts, B.S. University of Wisconsin - La Crosse, 2012 The Asuka Period of Japan is characterized by the introduction of Buddhism from Korea and a consolidation of power by the central government. The interplay between the Imperial Clan and the Soga Clan was integral in shaping everyday life in Asuka as the introduction of Buddhism brought the creation of permanent architecture in the shape of temples. These temples, primarily constructed by the Imperial Line and the Soga Clan, required the employment of local populations as a labor force for the construction of the various buildings within each temple complex. An examination of the assemblage of round eave-end roof tiles at the first Buddhist temple in Japan, Asukadera, examines the implications of this labor procurement. Furthermore, spatial analysis between Asukadera, Tōyuradera, and Okuyamakumedera provides data for future research. iii Acknowledgements Much of this study could not have been completed without the help of the following individuals and institution. Large portions of Japanese text were translated by native Japanese and Taiwanese speakers in conjunction with my direction. I was extremely fortunate to have been given a portion of the Asukadera Excavation Report directly by the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties.
    [Show full text]
  • The Century of Reform
    CHAPTER 3 THE CENTURY OF REFORM Japan's history has been deeply marked by reforms adopted during two long but widely separated periods of contact with expansive for- eign cultures. The first began around A.D. 587 when Soga no Umako seized control of Japan's central government, made an extensive use of Chinese techniques for expanding state power, and supported the intro- duction and spread of Chinese learning. The second came after the Meiji Restoration of 1868 when new leaders moved the country toward industrialization and Western ways. Japanese life was greatly altered by Chinese culture long before the Soga seizure of power in 587 and long after the closing years of the ninth century when a decision was made to stop sending official missions to China. But during the intervening three centuries Japanese aristocrats were understandably fascinated by the power and achievements of China under the great Sui (589 to 618) and T'ang (618 to 907) dynasties, giving rise to action and thought that gave Japanese life of those days a strongly Chinese tone, especially at the upper reaches of society. The first of the three centuries of remarkable Chinese influence - roughly the seventh century and the subject of this chapter - was a time of reform along Chinese lines. The second - the eighth century, which is covered in Chapter 4 - is known as the Nara period, when Japan was ruled from a capital patterned after the Chinese capital at Ch'ang-an. And the third was a time when almost every aristocrat was immersed in one aspect of Chinese learning or another.
    [Show full text]
  • Empresses and Buddhism in Japan in VI-VIII Cc
    Cultural and Religious Studies, January 2016, Vol. 4, No. 1, 53-59 doi: 10.17265/2328-2177/2016.01.005 D DAVID PUBLISHING Empresses and Buddhism in Japan in VI-VIII cc Elena Lepekhova Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia The basic problem of given paper is a role of women-empresses in the process of spreading Buddhism in Japan during VI-VIII cc. There are many evidences that during the process of spreading Buddhism in the Far East and South-East Asia, the principles of Buddhist doctrine became a part of the state ideology in many cases due to the patronage of the powerful laywomen. In Japan, thanks to the activity of empresses Suiko (597-628), Jitō (645-703) and Kōken (718-770). Buddhism could integrate into the system of traditional religion Shinto, developing further into Shinto-Buddhist syncretism. During the reign of Suiko about a hundred of the Buddhists, temples have been constructed through all the country and a system of religious bureaucracy “Sōgō” was founded. Empress Jitō took part in religious reforms during the second half of VII century and sent Buddhist missionaries to the local aborigines haya to and emishi. Empress Kōken after the death of her father—emperor Shōmu continued his policy to constructing the state ideology on the basis of Buddhism and was the first ruler in the history of early-medieval Japan, who permitted Buddhists to take part in the Shinto ceremonies. Therefore, the study of the role of empresses in spreading of Buddhism in Japan is important for understanding the history of religious and cultural traditions in Japan.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyrighted Material
    1 Early Historical Contexts (Protohistory to 645) Buddhism’s Transmission to Yamato: The Nihon shoki Narrative The Nihon shoki (Chronicles of Japan) is the primary textual source for narrative details about the transmission of Buddhist texts, images, and ritual objects to the Japanese islands, and for Buddhism’s early development. Compiled by imperial com- mand and completed in 720 ce, it narrates the history of Japan from its mythic ori- gins to 697 ce. According to the Nihon shoki, Buddha’s Dharma (i.e., teaching) was introduced to Japan in 552 ce: 552 ce. Winter, 10th Month: King Sŏngmyŏng of the Korean kingdom of Paekche [ J. Kudara] – also known as King Sŏng – dispatched Norisach’igye [ J. Nurishichikei] and other retainers to Japan. They offered as tribute a gold and copper statue of Sá̄kyamuni Buddha, ritual banners and canopies, and several volumes of sūtras and commentaries. In a separate declaration, King Sŏng praised the merit of propagating and worshipping the Dharma, stating, “This Dharma is superior to all the others. It is difficult to under- stand and difficult to attain. Neither the Duke of Chou nor Confucius was able to comprehend it. This Dharma can produce immeasurable, limitless meritorious karmic consequence, leading to the attainment of supreme wisdom. It is like a person who has a wish‐fulfilling gem whose every desire is granted. The jewel of this wonderful Dharma is also like this. Every prayer is answered and not a need goes unfulfilled. Moreover, from distant India (Tenjiku) all the way to the three Korean kingdoms this teaching has been followed and upheld.
    [Show full text]