Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
CURZON
,
1,\ N-,
Translator' s Preface
which was co m piled in the ninth ccntury in Japan . I chose this collec- iiUIlm; j!;' '' and in the j oint wo rk of Endo Yoshimoto ~~;w.;i!iIi an d
ci on of legen ds fo r scveral reasons. First, it offers illustrations of rc- Kasl1ga Kazuo $<1 ~11 !IJ ,7 a fo rwa rd step was m ade by using a ne\VIv
jjgiOllS phenomena whose interpretation is helpful for a better under- discovered Kfukuji manuscript as th e basic tcxt for the first of th e
standi ng of h uman experience. Second, the l\lihol1 ryiki IS the earl iest th ree volu m es.8
colle etion of Buddhist legends in Japan, and its influenee on bter T hc Ni" on ryoiki was introdueed to the W est in 1934 through
literatme is significant. Third , it is a key document for unde rstanding Hetman Bohner's ela borate and scholarlv German transl acion ,9 but
how Bud dhism was accepted b y th c Japanese in the first few centu ries beeause of th e outbreak of the Seeond World War, Bohner's wo rk
afte r ics introduction. In other wards, this document was produced received only lilnited attention . His tra nslation is faithfu l to t he text of
thr o ugh Ihe intnaction of the Buddhist tradition with the J apanese Kari ya's critical editio n. I ha ve chosen the most recently edited text of
iodigenous tr aditi on. And, finallv, these legends have a charm oftheir Endo and Ka sug a, fo r I find it the m ost com prehensive and critica1. l0
o'\vn; ap art fro m th eir doctrinal significance, they are both enj oyable A bibliogra phy of the many excellent works of speeialists in tex tllaI
and informa tive. eritieism and philolog y appears at the end of this work . WidlOu t th ese
The N iho" ryiki is a prod uct ofthe Buddhist tradition as it too k root works I (Duld neve r havc unde rt aken th is translation.
in Japanese soi l. The author Ky kai :lll:JJlG 2 was moved to compile these I am tesponsible for a11 paragraphing and puneruatio n sinee th e
stories both b y a sen se of awe of the Buddhist dhnrmn 3 and by a sense original text lacks an y division beyond that inm stories. Sall skrit, Chi-
ofthe wonder ofthe world.He lived a m onastic li fe at atempIe ealled nese, and Japanese words are retained in cases where tran slation migh t
y akushj-ji ~ i1ifi:;!j\ on e of thc great state templcs in Nara,4 during a lead to misunderstanding. Chinese characters are gcnerally given after
per lod ofpo li tica] change when the eapltal w as in the process of bcing the flIst transcri ption of a particula r noun , a title of a q uoted work,
moved fro m N ara to Nagaoka and then to K YOto. H is work served o r an impo rtant term. English translations of technical terms are ex-
8 ::) J sOllrc e frol11 whi ch his fell ow monks might draw "true stori es" plained in the footnotes or identifIed in Appendix C. D ifEculties in
tD illu strate their popular prcaeh ing. Ir has also beeome the so uree o f determ ining the ac w al pron unciation u sed in th e age of th e l\iillOn
tater legcndar y literature in Japan, Ina ny ofits m otifs reappearing in ryoiki tl have prompted me to follow the readings given by End an d
more elab orate and p olished fonns. It is quoted by historians and Kasuga for person al alld 10eal names, and the BU is /lO kaisets." daij'iten 12
fol klo rists in thcir attempts to reconstruet the histo r y and popular
Buddhism of the Nara period. So far, however, insufficicnt attention 6. N i/1011 ry ii iki (Ni/U))I k Ofell zcnshll F.l * i~I J)4 j.:~J, 1950).
has b ecn given to interpreting the work as an illustration ofhow peo- 7. Ni/IOn rl' iki (NKB T, 70, 1967).
8. TIte Kfu k uj i m an uscript discovcred in 1922 has o nl y tht: first \'olu llle, b UI is the old eH
pIe in earlv J apan o riented the m selves in the world. For this reason I (904) of ~ 1I thc eXfa nt m an uscripts. Sec Cha p . 1( I)h, n. 26.
have attemp ted in the introdl1etion to place these tales in their eultural Va l.
Kariya N os. of T akeda N o s. of End6 & 1'\05. o f
t e xt tal es text tales Kasuga t ex t tales
al1d histo rical contcxt and have em phasized thei r coslnic o ri cntation
ra rher than their specific doctrinal significance. I Kyasan ms. 3, Kfuk uji inS. 35 Kfu kllji 111\ . Jj
The .~ih(ln ryoiki is div ided into threc kan or volumes. Althou gh no tt Shino b azu- Sllin o bazu- Shinpuku- 4'
complete manuscript of the w o rk has been preserved, scvcra l critieal tt l
bunk o m s.
Shinoba2u-
4' bunko ms.
Sh inobazu-
42 J l in S.
Shin puku-
..
."
edi tions of thc text have been published since the nineteenth ccn tury, bunko ms. 39 bun ko ms . 39 JI ms. 39
most of whieh are besed on the flrst critieal text made by Kariya
total
'" to tal ,,' total ,, 6
H isai 1"f~;jttl:l' (1775- 1835) .' In the reeent work by Takeda Yukiehi 9 " Legenden aus der Fr hzeit des J apanischen Bu dd hislIlus," 2 volL .Uil1eil "" .c~!'11 du
Dl!utuheu Cr.<ellscl!lIji jiir Nmll r- IIlId V(likerku/fdr OS/(lsieIl S, X X VII (1934- 35) .
10. As [0 th e fir st volum e, t hc choice falls on the Kfukuji m ~. d ue to the filet it is the oldnt
2. Kr ik; iI t he attentatiw rcading , Jcco rding 10 the k,m ' OIJ or so- called Han pron unci ation. and best preservcd: whilc, as tO the sccond Jl1d third, thc Shinoba ZLl-bu nko m s., a crit i(:dly
3. Skt. mraning elemcllls o f existence, universal la w . the teac hing of Bu ddha. H erea fte r
editoo texi of t he Sh in p uk uj i I11S. , was adopted by sc wral scho lars, and the fe cen: wo rk o f End
dh llrmc. is (fe;lted il S an En glish word. and Kasuga is ;.1 !lew attem pl ta ado pt thc Shinrukuji ITlS. as its basis. End 6 <In d K a5l1 ga, w na
4. Locared iI.t pr eicnt Nish !!)Q ky- rm chi, Nara-sbi ~a.fIH!iJ:(!IT. See C hap. 1(lk bad found the Sh inobazu-bllnko ms. 11l1 S~ tisfac tor y, fo ll o wrd the csta blish('d p r;;cclcc o f textu:J.l
5. Kc.!: OII Niil QII 7yiiiki f1* ;tq~~-ac (1816); Nih oll r}'i5iki k iish *~ J'41.2. ~~ (1821); eritieislll , adopting th e rn an ll script closest to the SOllree .
rc p rin tc<l in Ih c Clltuho ruijii UiH1ll:r.t, XVI , llook ,j47 (1 894); K ariya Ek isai u mllll, 2 vols.
11. T su kishima Hiroshi ~StJm, Heinll j idaigo dtimml :!f~H;\'ftmtlfliil . 40 4- -4 10.
(( 9 25): 5111'1.1.0 .ltll l/ sllo m ijll , X IX ( 1932. 1939).
12. Q no Gcn m y ;1~!ff1l:tb, cd. w.:~M~);:il~!I4, 12 vo k (1933).
.lldll~ldlUl ~ .I. l.I.... l.dl..- .....
for tides of Buddhi st scriptures. Japanese words are transc ribed ac-
cording to the system adopted in Kenky"sha's New Japan ese-English
DicliMl(lf),,13 and Chinese words, according to Math e!v Js Chirzese-
EI/grish Diclionary.14 All historieal dates in this work follow the lunar
Acknowledglnents
calendar. For fuH information conceming the works referred to in the
notes, see the bibliography.
I hope that this work will serve as a due to the better understanding I began my study of the Nihon ryoiki when writing a thesis at the
of thc Jap,mese tradition wh ich has partly survived even to this day University of Tokyo. If my work displa ys .ny meri ts, eredit should
in various spheres of life. be given to the professors in the D epartment of the Study ofReligion
there, as well as in the Department of the History of Religions at the
University of C hicago, whefe I spent two stimulating years, 1960-
1962, under the guidanee ofProfessors Mircea Elia de and Joseph M.
Kitagawa.
I am grateful to the Radcliffe Institute for providin g a fellowship
grant, 1968-1970, and in particular to the late Dean COllstance E.
Smith for her encouragement in preparing this work for publication.
I am greatly indcbted to Professor Masatoshi Nagatomi of Harvard
University and to Dr. GIen W. Baxter, assoeiate director of the
Harvard-Yen chin g Institute , who encouraged mc to ca rr y out this
projeet and offered valuablc suggestions. My sineere thanks go to
Professor Burton Watson ofColumbia University who kindly read
the entire manuscript and made numerOU$ suggestions and correc-
tions ; to Professors Virginia Corwin of Smith College and H . B yron
Earhart of We stenl Michigan Universit y who read portions of my
draft to help me impfo ve it. I owe llluch to Dr. and Mn. Minor
R ogers far their constant help in my strugg1c to write in English.
Also, I should like to express m y gratitude to Miss M. Rita Ho e,
editor at th e Harvard University Press, whose patient w atly
improved my manuseript. Without the help ofmy frien ds I eould not
have completed thi s w ork.
This wo rkis dedicated to m y father, T etsllnosuke Motomoehi, who
passed away in 1962 before I coli ld return [rom Chicago.
I 3. Kwk}'li5ha' 5 Ne1/! Jap ,mese-EII,~l i5h DiaiOJlary, ed. by Scnkichiro Katsulllat~ ( J9:54).
14. MClIlufIJ'S Chirlcse- E'l.~/ish Diclimrary (American Revised ed .. 1943 ), ed. by R . H.
M ~ l h ew s.
ERRATA
p. 'rii
(ineonccl)
P 4 note 7 fim li ne "Founder of the Tendai:R i.' .. "Founde r of the Tendai ~ # "
Part One Introduction to the Nih on ryiki
p. 20 fourth line "lPP3r~nt" R elnove l dot under "c".
p.69 l1thl;ne "Tlib R eform (645) and" "Taib R.eform (645) wh ich" Abb reviation s 2
20th li ne "and women appear in" "and wornen appear"
l2 Chapter I B:l ckg roun d 3
p. 99 last lillc "tllrCS have heen .. . " "turcs havc been ..
(I) K ykai, Ih o Autho r 3
p. 101 not'. : 24 Inse rt "RoklldfJJllIlkyo, v. 4 (Ta ish, lIL p. 17<:)." befofe "See
Chap. (2)a, n. 139."
a . Hi s Life and Hi s M ot ive
b . Date of Compilation an d Autho rship
p. 133 Ilote 6 first line "He went tO China" "He wem ro Ind!:!."
c. Yaku sh i-j i and th e Six Nara Schools
p. 171 8th II ne "odhisattva Nyuzai" 'Dodhimtva Nyzai" d. SeHe Control of th e Samgh a and Po pu la r
p.210 3rd Imc "Shlmotsu ke-dera" 'Shim otsuken odera " Buddhist Mo ve men ts
p. 233 (StOry) 9 tide Inissing O,l King Yama Showillg a ll (2) Influ cnce of Earli e[ Writings 79
Extwon/inary Sig/! Imd Ad.,jsillg a. Doct rine of Karma and Sarn sa ra
ThaI Pt (lp lf J.'mC/ ict Good
b. Th e In Au cn ce of Chin ese Buddhist
p. 235 6th & 7th lincs "tO atone for her suffering " reaeem her from he r suffering." Lice r ature
and s.ave her."
c. Japanese Lcgc ndary Literature
p. 246 2nd line a ptriod missing "sitting in thc sam e place. Then . . ,"
. . ~ ~ . . ., r. . .. . .J. . .. .. .. r. 1 r l . .. . .. r f.\
horses. H oweveT. ,incc Tale 38 ofVolume III was given thc heading that enlightenmcnt eo u ld be attained b y devotion to Buddha a"d
"On the Appe.ranee of Evil .nd Good Omens Which Wer< Later m erey for alL fellow beings. Thus, he bro ught togcthn the tales oi th e
Follow ed bv Th cir Results," and as it is likely th at this section was Niho" ryiki as a stcp toward such enlightenment:
"'fleten not 2. ; aut obiography bur co illustratc th c interrelationship By editing these stories oE m iraculous events I want to pul lpeople
betv..!een E-[ea'.;cn and h uman beings, he m ay have dcl iberately omitted forward by the ears, offer rny h and to lead them to good, .nd
details irrelcva n t to ehe eherne. show t henl how to cleanse their feet cf evil. My sincerc hope is
Since OU f .sources are linted, these [WO drcam s muse serve as the that we may 311 be reborn in thc \vestern land ofbliss, leaving no
prim ary cJues to K yokai's decision to pursue the spirituallife. Thc firs t one on the ea rth, and 1i ve together in the j eweled palace in heavcn ,
dre am secms to have roused him from thc "web of delusion" by abandoni ng our ear thl y residenec [! I I.Preface J.
,~... idcnin g l; vision fro m a self-centercd lo ve co a u njve rsal love for all Although Kybi belon ged to Yakushi-ji, one of the grea tesr centers
sen tiene bcings. As are mir o f w hae Kann o n revea1cd co him, he came o f Bud dh ist stud ies, and was honored w ith clerical ra nk, he w as (on-
to ulldersc;l1,d rhe wor kin g of the principle ofbrma. It is possible th at scious o f a g ap bet ween scholarl y m onks and cammon devote es w ith
he rCluained silene abaut the second drea n1, refrainin g from inter- whom he often identifted himself. He showed great sympa th y fot lay
pre ting it in Buddhist ter m s, beca use it exprcsscd sy mb ols not uniq uely devotees whose silnp]e, direcc faith he adm ired , Jnd hc was dcten n ined
Buddh ist but u n iyersal in character. [n man y reli gio us tradit10ns thc to "guidc a1l sentient beings" to the western land ofbliss1 6 in sp:l te of
redLlCtion of the bo dy ro bones sym bolizes the death and rebirth of his own !imitations.
man, that is, thc total tra.nsformation and m ystical rebirth of a new Ey the time K yokai ca m e to ltve at Yakushi-ji, state cont rol of the
l7
man. By bcin g reduccd to banes, man ean be Iiberated from the hu- Buddhist sa"'gha had gradually been strength ened. Emperor Kon in
m an conclttioll. Jn thc Buddhist tradition, the symbol of death, rcbirth, (r. 77<>-7Sr) exiled Dkyo ilH,iL w ho had been appoin ted Ohar", a
1
and initi ation ar e pronlinent: "Buddha taught the way and the means King i2d: " by Emp ress Shtoku '9 in 766 and who almost nsmpcd
of cl ying to the h um an condition, to bondage and suffering, in o rd er rhe throne after the empress d ied (IIl .38). Empero r Kanl11u, who had
to b e rebonl CO t~IC freedom, the bliss, and the t1l1 conditionality of succeeded Emperor Konin, cransferred the capital frolll Na ra to K yoto
nirt:iit1il ." l3 in order to sevcr traditiona l ties betwcen [he CO llrt and the temples in
[n , 87, thc year o fhis fi m d ream, K ykai was still a layman, but hc Nara. O u ring the t w enty- flve years ofhis reign he issued m o re tha n
must have been iamiliar w irh the Shoky yshii ?Ii;\lH~~ (Essentials of fifty decrees concerning Buddhist rCl11 p]es and monks, a n urnb er Ull-
A LL Stras),'4 which was given to hi m in h is drea m by the m en dicant paralleled in J ap anese h is tory. More than thirty of these decrecs w ere
Kynichi. This mea ns that his spiritual pilgrim age m uS! have begun ap parcntly intended to correet th e evils and inj usticcs fo und in the
ea rjer. 15 V,ie ha ve assumed that he ente red the priesthood in thc f01- samgha. One decrce iss ued in 798 statcs that there were man)' ccmples
low ing yea r, soon after th c second drcam, and it seems tha t entering
16. SkI. 5ukhJI'atl transJa ted as go kliTabl ~~,jdo i1l. !UH'dbkokJ/ :t.''t i'\1 . tt c; t\rnid .l '~
tr.e priesrhood represented a way for hirn to seck a h appie r life by pure land in th c west wh t':re devotee~ are reborn :lfrer denh ri nd live happily fret: (re m an y
gaining knowlcdgc cf thc law of causation. ' dcsircs. FlJ r th~ dC1J ils o fthis land ofblisl, sec the Large r alld Sm'llla S!lkh.il'ali- l) yHh ~, BlldJllisl
M<lh,l)'.III<l l'c.\'tJ (SHE. XLIX) . Also StC A.K. lZeischa uer. "c.;cnsh m s Ojo Yo,hu: C cJkct,~ d
"Asp'e to w isdom, and guide all sentient beings" is an importan t Essays on Uirth illlo Par:ldi se," T ASJ. Secone! Series. !I[ (Decernber 19.10), 68-94. For Amid a.
Ma hay ana Bu ddhist m axnn which Kykai espollsed. Lt was believed see eh<lp. JI (3)b, n. J 32 .
17 TrnllSliterlred as f~HJ U, which is shortcncd in to Ir!: origi nall y tbc co l1l1nuni t~' o f Buddhist
I J. !vtlfr<:a El ilrlr , }:oS<l : JmmcJllill it}' arid FudM'I . 166. In his Dirrll P/ld Rebirtlr (? 10 5), he monks and llU l1\ united by \Vi ,dom and practice for rhe pllr pose of reaching Budd!nhood.
says. "[n another T;).:1tric meditation. the nlJvice imaginc'st-httt-t,..(is bcmg Hrippcd of his [t has born ni,roriol :md nanscendenta J aspects as O Il C of t hc Thrce Trcasu~cs (Skt. r~ir~III~).
fi esll .md finall} lee; b imsclf Ha 'hugc, white, shin ing skeleton.'" H ereaftcr n ir v,il.lcl will bc In the Mahayana traditIOn it ind udes no t only l1lonk~ md oum b ut also lay brothcrs m :i ~iHers.
tt!ilte d ~~ ~n E:1 gluh ~ord. Hl'r~afcer ja/!I,I:ha wilJ be t r eated as an En ghsh werd.
t . T a o -~hjr. inll. O liHf1il1g },<1(Hhi (T aisll, UV , No . 2123). 8t-[94. 18 . Sk t. dlwrtll<lrja, originally an hono rific eid . . for the Buddha: inJap 3n!t ie; u~ed o nl)'
15 Ktlu no Kenj:. " .V hO/I ry5ih k5 ," RUllgl1ku [[ (No. 12, 1934),751 - 766; rcpriuted in thc for Prince Shto ku ( 514-622) aud Dky. See pR,ri Shroku ha leise/Irr .t'B ~~i'-~,j}:;::E*~
Kimm 11' ).%/11 !riJh;lI. H e asst::rts that the Niholl ryiki was compi led by Kykai in 787. and (DBZ, 112).43-48; S I/O ku Nihotlgi, XXVII (Ten py j ingo 2: 10:20). H(' rC,lfter d;Mr-rlll w ill
th l l se~'tlo ns d l ted l:lte~ Ihan this "\\'crc added by others. A lthough thc tcxt as wc ha\'c it !lOW bc ercatro .J.S m Englis<' \...ord. bath <I~ <I tide and <I ter m .
'... G~ m ost likcly co mpilcd d uri ng the Kanin era (810-824), il is agreed chat 787 w;u an cpoch- 19 Ell1 prCSS K ken (r. 749- 757) r~su m ed ehe thrOIlC <15 Emprcss Shtoku (r. 76A- 770) alter
:-ll.\ ;"m~ yelc In .K y-;';~ i '5 li re. :md ir might indicate the beginoing o f the co lllpi1.nion o f the banishing Empcror Jun'ni n . Cf. Nakaga\va Osamu. "Shw ku- Dky scikcn no kClst:i kalei,"
'V,/.GI. r)J ik 1. Ni/um nkis"i, No. 196 (1964). 41 - 55 .
- ~ _. - ,
T his passoge oife rs a basis for the theory that K ykai weote this prefaee founded the Seet of the Three Stages. 35 Hsin-hsing stressed the teach-
and eompiled the Niholl ryiki during the Enryaku era (782-805 ), ing of the three stages of dha rma . nd preaehed a Buddhist eschatol-
probabl y in tr.e sixth year (787); aeeordingly, the stories dated !ater ogieal message to the eommo n people. Thcre is also ample c,'idenee
must be inter polations by others,31 Scholars who assert that Kykai's against the general argument that mappii consciousness becamc prom-
compilation took p!aee during the Knin era (8 w-824) rega rd the inent onl y in late H eian times. CIearly, a Buddhist eschato logy was
"Unknown P assage of the Maed. Manuseript" as an in terpolation known to many monks in both the Na ra and H eian periods, even
made by Kybi hi mseJf or a later forger yn Therefore, the theories though it did not beeome a social fo rce until the late Heian pe riod.
for the date o f compilation and the authorsh ip of th e .. Unknown K y kai, being a m on k , would su rely have kn own of it.
Passage" are lnt ricately entanglcd, and neither has been documented In the "Unknown Passage," the author speeifies fiv e hundr ed years
conv incingly . If we 3ssurne that the passage was w ritt en by Ky6kai of tme dharma and one th ousand years of co unterfei t dhann a. H e
hi m self ia the sixth year of thc Enryaku era, this beeo m es the first miscalculates wh en he says tha t seven teen hund red an d twenty-two
eefer en ce to l3uddh ist escha tologieal ideas inJapal1. yca rs have passed since the date ofBuddha's nirvana which was widely
Tha t the text of the Nillo" ryiki suffers from poor editing is shown thought to be 949 B. C . in the Chinese tradition,36 sin ce the sixth year
b y the confmed plots in some ta les (11. 16, 25, 42) , the eombi natiotl o f o f the Enr ya ku era, 789, falls on the seventeen hund red and thirt y-
two independent tales into o ne (1.4 ; IIl.J), the irrelevancc of the sixth year. On the other hand, as hc sa ys that two hundred .nd thiTty
editor 's note to the story (1.4), and the inappropriateness ofthe quota- years have passed sinee the arrival of B uddhism in J apan, it beco m es
tions from ehe se riptures (11.1 3,22). Ir. il1deed, it was written by Kyo- evident that he adopted 552 A.O. as the date o f the int roduction of
kai hirn~elf it [epresents th e accumulation of m ore th~n thirty years' Buddhism, for whieh the ol1ly souree is th e Nihon shoki." Hist orians
effort , b ut it lacks unity. Som e seholars point out th at the term have speculated why the writer of this seetion of th e Niholl SllOki,
"m app ," m eaning d egenerate d harma,33 is foun d in on1y olle passage probably Dji ili~,3 8 chose 552 instea d of 538, the latter date bei ng
of the Maeda man u5cript and docs not occur in the rest of thc work. gene rally accepted in the oIder traditions. 39 Some cOllclucled tha t 55 2
Therefo re, the)' conclude tha t /IIapp eo nseiousness was alien to K y- was chosen because it was thc fi rst year of thc age o f degencra te
,
kai, an d that the "Unknown Passage" is a later interpolation. It i~ dharma, assuming that Dji adopted 949 B.C. as th e date of Skya-
fu rther argued that mapp o consciousncss became prominent only to- nluni' s nirvana and llsed th e same tim e spans for th e two p eriods, as
wa rd the end oftlle H ci an period, w hilc the NillOlI ryiki was compiled did th e author of the "Unkno wn Passag e."
at the beg inn ing of this perio d. These argum ents do not, howevcr, But, why was the first year 01' degenerate dharma chosen as the
rule out the possibili t)' that K yo kai wr ote the controv ersial preface or beginning ofBuddhist history in Japan? Aeeording to Tamura Eneh ,
that the passage refleets his kn owJedge ofthe eoncept of lll app. Doj i wanted to demons trate the strength of Japanese B uddhism in
T hc argmuellt that mapp co ns ciousness was alien to K yokai is ca llcd overcoming the ag e of degenerate dharma, and to contrast it wlth
into q uestion b y e" lden ee presented in the Myiihiiki :;'~$l.':' This C hinese Buddhism, which was showing signs of sc rious de te rio-
text, w hicJl influenced K yoka i, does not llse the term mapp, in spi te o f ration.40 H owever , such an interpre tation of D6ji 's motivation is
the author 's obvious respeet for H sin-hsing iBn (540-594), who questionable whell we consider his treatise "Gushi" /6ti5 (A FooJ's
Idea), in whieh he deplored the condition of Buddhism in J apan as
J ; St'eCh:t;>. l( I ).. ,n. [ s 35. Cr. Y abuki Keiki, Sm,gaikyo no kellkyii.
3;! . T h e the~r:,r of a latcr farger)' ori p:inat~d \vith [ tabashl~, "Ni!;O/t ryoiki 00 36. C oncerning th c date of Sakya l1lun i's n irvana there are t wo theo rie! in th e C hinese
senju tsLl llCllji t1i tSL:ite, " Kof,wgQ Iv k oklllJUuga ku, V 11 (No. 2, 1930), T32- 142; ,. J{ roiki Enryaku tradition: thc Cho tl i shll JM 14:ff givcs 949 B. C., whilc thc Li-lai Jall-pao ,!Ji ~fl;; --::. fltc givcs
yun~n izcn gt'llSeuetsu n i Isuite," n hngakll, 111 (No. 6, 19 35), 757-764. T he theery that the 609 B.C.
in ..crpolation ;.v l~ m ade b y K y kai himsdf is advoca tcd by Sakaguchi Gensh, Ni/ron BI4kky 37 Niholl slloki B * ';"IfR, X IX (Kinmci I J : 10) givcs 552 as the ye;ar o f the fo rm al ln tro c uc-
Dlmga b ' JoJct,II. 9j- 1C 3 tion of Buddhislll , but contemporary schoIan agTee Oll the C<lrlier date of .)38. Set:: VI. G.
3.\ . ln Eng li. h., ~ I is mually kno wi1 as "the decline," "the end," or "the bttef period of thc Aste n, 'Nihongi. Chrollicles of Jap<ln," TPJS, suppl. I (1896), EI, 65-67.
., )8. Inoue K aoru, N il/Oll koda; 110 seiji 10 shiikyo, 189-258 .
I aw'. .
34 . Tang-lin ''y~, .\ fj' I.'<"pIlO (Ili (RccorJs of Invisible W ar k of Karm ic Rctrib uClnll; 39. See "Gang6ji garan engi narabi ni ruh shizaich," Nartl i/HIli, ed. b y Tab~ lI chl Itiz, I,
T rlis;,ii, LI, Ne,. WR':':I, 787b - ~0~a . Ir begins with th c: story o f H sin-hsing (788a-c), w h ich i5 383,ji>gii Sholoku ilii IWWt/ (DBZ , 112), 47.
fc lbwed b y that cf h i. disci pl c:, Hui-ju !t!ltm (788 c). 40. Tamu ra, ASI.ka Bukkysili ke/lk yti, 166-[ 77.
r.~ . " ... ,J"r ......., r, ~ 1 rl~ ~ ... ~~ T { , \ 1, r. . .. .. _J . . ;_ . r __ 1 ,.... , . . ... ' 1 .\ I
By corcferr in g thc tuerits obtained in w ri ting this work on a11 e. Yakushi-ji an d the Six Nara Schaol,
beings ,~rho are going astra y , I pra y to be born in thc western Kykai compiled the Niholl ryiki in th e precincts of Yakushi-ji ,
land of bLiss wlth them aJJ [!lI. Postscript]. whi ch was originally built in the central part o f the c"pitol known as
He b elievcd that man would b e sa ved if he repented of his past and Fujiwara-ky iIliJ),): S3 Yaku shi-ji was one of tbe four great te mples
a'pired :0 uddhahood, and h e compiJed the Niholl ryoiki to aecu mu- in the eapital , togethe r with Asuka-no-tera fte,~ (Hk-j; fl<J)l! ~),
latc merlt; i.l thc h ope (h at he and h is fellowmen might be saved from tsu kasa-no-te ra :k'ir:k"" (Take chi-no-te ra iBJm:k#i'), .nd Ka-
evil and ffilsforcu ne.50 In another passage h e sa ys : w ara-no-tera )11 1Jl(~ (G ufuku-ji iJLjr.i~). In 680 Empe to t Tenmu made
Kyobl, tJ. owever, has not smdied the yill- yang tao 1\,"i IIJH8: of a VQW to build Yakushi-ji as a 111eritoriou s ae t of petition for the
Huallg T i lfiffi\ nor unde rstood the profound truth ofthe T endai reco ve ry of his conso rt's health ,54 but he dicd be[are making much
Sage ~ t1 W~, and he is stricken \vith disa ste r without knowing prog ress. His conso rt, w ho su cceeded hirn as EmpressJit , continued
how to evade it , worrying and grieving without lookin g for th e the construction, and it was almost com p lctc d by 698 , d urin g the
way to da away w ith disas te r [Il I.3 8] . rcign of Emper or Monmu, h er gra ndson .55 After the transfe r cf the
For Kybl, the sophisticated Buddhist doctrincs of the Tcndai ca pital to Nara, Y akushi-ji wa s re moved to its present s.lte in 718, the
Sage ,5J as w en as th c C hinese cosmological th eo ri es52 lead to th e sec rct o riginal temple becoming known as M o to - y akushi -ji .
of the co;mi c iaw. He was con v in ced that the good wa y oflife co uld Duting thc first sta ge of Buddhism in J apan , most tem pl es were
be t. ug h t to all. [n this resp ee t h e diffe red from th ose m onks who b e- buiIt by influential families; afte r th e a(cepta nce of udd histl1 at
eame prom in ent wward t he end of the H ei.n pe ri od, for they pro- cou rt , e mp erors built templcs which functioI1cd both as pri vate tem-
fessed faith -in the pure land and affirmed that man is w o sinful to ples for th e im perial family and as officlal temples for t he ,ta te cult.
attain ;l,n y me rits o n his O W H . In the capital o f Fujiwara the four g reat tem ple, were d esig n. ted as
We can concLu de, tentati vely, th at the l'Jiho/l ryoiki, including thc state ten1plcs by Em pe ror T cn m u and given financial supp or t .56 T hc
" U n known Pass age," is the wo rk o fK yo kai an d that it was compilcd capital o f Nara was built on a large t scale, w ith stare tcmp les being
over DHny years bu t was lefr inco mpletely edited. K ykai scc m s to added one after another S 7 The erection ofTdai-ji w itb its colDssal
have .ecepted Buddhist eschatologieal ideas . nd the n o ti o n of the Buddba statue m arks the high po int of th e Nara p errod (710-774).
dee.d el" age, b ut these conce pts d id not change his basic world v iew. It was built as th e h eadguarters fo r all provincial templ es, an d , at tll e
The inconsistencies th at resulted do not prevent us from con cludin g dedieation eerem ony of the Great Loeh .na Buddh a," ex-Empero r
t h at Kyoka i is resp onsible for the N iltol1 ryoiki, for h e see m s t o have Sho mu declared himselfto be the "slave of t he T h ree T reasure> ... 59
b een an ordinary mo nk, little interested in doctrinal studies an d the
53 Thc original temp le was lOC2ted at present Kid on o-lIl achi, Ka,hihara-sh l, N ara-kctl
\vriti ng of a sys:ematic work. His aim, r athe r, was to guide pco ple to ;1'H~~I~I}j(m *ID:I!!r. Fuj iwua-ky was the first permancnt capi tal situatcd i:1 thc Y;lm ato
sa Ivaon b y transferring the merit ga ined in the compi lation of a plaill, al rho ugh it w as sh ort-lived (694- 710) .
54 Nih ol1.shoki. XXIX (Tenmu 9: 1 1 : 12): " The em p ress was ull weU. H W lllg In ack a \ 'OW
colleetion of Buddhist legends. H e in ten ded to show how . dharma on he r behalf, the em peror began thc construction of Y akushi-ji :md ma d e one hun::l rcd
W>S ot work in t hc history oftlle wholeJapa nese people, whether or perSOllS enter thc pricsthood. In conseq lIence o f this shc reco\"crC'd.' S t'C Aston ... J"\ ihon gi,"
11 , 348,
n o t th cy k n ew o f thc tcachin gs o f Skyamuni, and co demonstrate 55. Slrokll Nih o~J,g i, 1 (Monmu 2: 10: 4): "The constructio n of Yakushi-ji beil1S Il car ly (0111-
that dha rma is l1eithc r Indian n o r C hinese, but universal. pleted. :m imperial CQllHnmd was giv<.::n to thc monks tO occupY their quartcn," See). R.
Sncllell , "Sho ku Nihongi." TAS). Second Series. Xl (l)c.:em ber [9.1-1 ). 176.
50. Tbc ucd h i ~ 1 ldca of kann a Gmnot bc unclersmod 3pan from Ihe e1icfthat S;ikyam u ni 56. Niholl 511Oki, XXXIX (Tenmu 9: 4). See Asto n , "Nihon gi:' 11. 3)6.
a :t~ill ecl edig ln : nme:1 t ".tIer lang, unflinching c!fons, th roug a serics man y birth s. toward 57. Possi bk date! for the transfer :ll1d crcction of ne\\" templcs are :
th ~ 1l1:Hu ring of g:lo d stock (Skt. kid,r /,tmtil<! .~w.) aad aCC1I1llU .. tion or m erits (Skt. PUI.1- 710 Kfuku-ji 'JHlil~l: (former Yamas h in a-Il o-tera !lrii1\' ~.n and Daia n-ji 1::.'fi.:;j: ({o Hllcr
yaska:dJI,r J;!Jli~O Otsukasa-llo- tcra) transferred.
5 l . R.cfi::n to Chi!:- i ~IYi1i (53 8- 597), foum!t:r ofth~ Tim t'ai School in China, who [Offlill- 7 I 8 Y akushi-ji ilnd Gango-Ji (former Asuka-no- ten) tran sferred .
lucd the Ti!.':!", I'a: doctrines. C f. Leon Hun'itz, Chih-i,' Ivre/augrs (hiuo is er uC'I,ddlliqufS, 749 T d ai-j i Jtc*~ cren ed.
X II (1962). 1-; 72. 759 T shd ai-Ji mtil"tY:#f erencd.
51.. .''\ COS 1 0~ o g~ wl)ich presupposes that J.1I phCtlOlilCna rc:sult from th e int~rplaro (m alc 765 Said ai-ji -~);:q: erectcd .
:'l.nd [ellu !:: prineiple . : it ...n~ Cllstoma rily rcgarded as the (reation of thc mYlhical l-l uang Ti 58. Vai rocana Bud d ha of the Kcgem-g)'v ~iHtt .U'. (Al'a!<1!!l!llku.sri/ra) :lIld BOIllIlij-/q,j ~.t"il"lf,'.
bt~ (tl'aditio n<ll d:lcc} 199~ - 259S B, C,), orten callcd ,he Yellow Empcror, ",ho was believed (BrahmajJlasii lfa), a cos mi c Buddha sy mbolizing tho:' OIlCIlC'$.1 o f the un i venc.
or
[0 b l' tllt; Cau lldcr Ih (.~ C hin ese Em pire li nd to symbolize thc alleiellt golden ru k Cf. Fung 59. Silo,hl j"\liJ1rHlgi, XVll (Tenpy shh t :4: 1): " TIm is th e wo rd Oftll (: .;ovt' rt'ign who
Y11-Jall, A His(>/}' vfCillllUC PIJilosopllY, 11. C h ap . 1. Sn: III. 3H, n, 50. is the slave (Yi! kJw !!X, sa me as !wb) of the Threc Trcasurcs .... , .
-. , ~,
. " ,
One indicatio n of the wide acceptancc ofBuddhism among the com- period to the early Heian period ([1.24, 28; 1l1.3)65 [t seems tha r each
mon peopJe 15 the fact that more than thirty stories out of a hundred seminar had its officials: senior clean (daigakf.ito )(t-:f4.t~), junior dean
and sixteen Ln the ~rihoH ryoiki originated in his reign. Ey that time (shogakuto '1,,',IHij'j), and provost (ina ",IIJ)"). 111 addition to the Sutara
about four n undred temples had been built tnrougnout the country, Schoo1, thc Ritsu, Sanron, Betsu-sanron, and Shoron HfHfifi Schools
almost ten thou~and scriptures had been brought from the continent were represented at Daian_jj.66 At Gang-ji there were three seminars:
and copied, and a b out ftfteen hundred monks and nuns had been Samon, Jojitsu, and Sh6ron, the hi,tory of which can be traced back
offlciall y recognized. 60 to Fujiwara no Kamatari iliUW-(IIIUE (614-669)67 who donated building
At Hory-ji Itfi~ there were four seminars: Samon, Betsu-
68
Buddhistn WH (ransmitted to Japan mainly from Korea, and Ko- funds
re~m monks lnd immigrants pJayed a significant role in its accept- sanron, Hosso, and Ritsu. 69 No record exists concerning Yakushi-ji.
ancc.6L During th e century following its introduction, the need for It is evident from this material that at large temples thefe were
direct cantact with China was feit, and many student monks were several distinct seminars, called ShU,70 devoted to the study of particu-
sen t to China to pursue the study of Buddhism there. One of their lar scriptures. Thc names of at least nille such seminars which onee
missions was to bring back as JTIany scriptures as possible to build existed in scveral temples are known to us,71 and the great state
up Buddhist libraries in Japan. Soon after Buddhist scriptures were temples, where various seminars were represented, thus served as
translated fro m Sanskrit int Chinese, they found their way to Japan, institutes for Buddhist studies. These seminars, each of which centered
stimulating the risc and dcvclopmcnt ofBuddhist study groups, which about the study of a scripture, existed in thc cighth centur)'. They
evcntually bccamc Buddhist schools du ring the Nara period. wcre gradually reorganized and eventually institutionalized aS six
The flrst refcrenc e to Buddhist schools is found in a decree issued officially recognized schools, The Nihon ryoiki employs the phrase,
ill7l8 by the chancellor (daijokan ;:!.:iJ)c'l'r), which mentions that "the "deans ofthe Six Schools" (11.28), and we may conclude that the idea
studies o f the flve schools and the teaehings of the Three Baskets ofthe Six Nara Schools had becorne widcspread by the beginning of
(Skt. IripJjaka) ditfcr in theory and argument. ... ,, 62 Thc Six Nara the Heian period, whieh coin cided with Kyokai's Jifetime. This was
Schoo ls63 came into existence between 747 and 751, and they were 65. Tamura, ASHka Bukkys!ti kellkyii, [13 - 133. As there had been uo su<.:h schoo] i:1 either
well rcpresented at Todai-ji; there each had its own faeilities includ- China or Korea and no documcnt revcals irs Ilature in Japanese history. there is lmple room
fOT arguments and theorie; as to its identity. Tamura asserts that it is a school established by
ing a library. an altar, and an office, and each had its own officiaJs who Dji for the study of the Dai halltlya-ky * Mt;:g:~. while others identify it wi tb one of the Six
administcrcd funds. 64 Thc situation seems to have been different at Nara Schools. Inoue Mitsusada ("Na mo rokush," 11-12) ('quates it withJ6jitsu; lJh ida Mo-
sak\l , with Hoss6 (Shakyo yori lI1itaru Naracho Bykkyo 110 kCl1kyii, 67) -
olde rtemples, but unfortunatel y their history is so paody documented 66. "Daian-ji garan cngi narabini ruki shizaieh6," Nara iblW, cd. by Takeuchi, 1, 299 . Two
that it h as been little studied by scholars. Only recently has the exist- Sanron Schools w c n~ found at H6ryii-ji and Kfuku-ji as weIl as Daian-ji. According to Inoue,
om is the ,choo! of Chi-tSlilg ZiF4: (549- 6 23), lnd thc othcr is that of thc followers of Bh:'iva-
ence of ehe pre-N ara tradition transmitted in those temples been dis-
vivcka (ar Bhavya) i1ft# (490-560/570), whose works were t ransmitted to China by Hsan-
cussed and asscssed. tsang ("Nanto rokushu:' 8- ro). Sh6ron is a shortcned litle of Asal)ga's lvfahiiyiillapmi _ 'M!,gralw,
Thc Nfhon ryoiki contains same passages relevant to this problenl. Shodaijoroll !1f1i::k7lt!mil, a m~jor text for the Yuishiki Sehool tiU the scvcnth cemur'\"; henee th e
T here are three stories about the funds of the S utara-sh IrlEi&l'!'i (l'/(), * name ofa school devoted tO its study (Taish, XXXI, No . 1592, 97-I 12b; No. 159 3, 112b-
132 C; No. 1594, 132c-152a).
67. Also knO'\vll a, Naka tomi no Kamako no nllmj i tp!i!itr-1'-A! who helped Pnn{('" Naka
a school or seminar which existed at Daian-ji fr0111 the late N ara
no Oe <I'*R.0.--=r. overthrow tne Soga famil)' and carr)' out the Taika R eform.
68. "Gangji garan engi," Nara iOWJ, I. 390; "Kadcll," iuid., 11, 880.
00. lshida MO $a ku. NMJ jidai utmka z akk, 2. 69 "Horyu-ji garm engi mrabini ruki shiz<lieh6,' ibid., I, 347. The founding of Eoryu-ji
01. T hc A?IOJ: ry iiir.:i gives rccord~_ of Korcan monks s~h JS KanrJku If,~_1i~J (1.5), Ensci is ascribed to Prinee Sh6toku who lived e10se to its precil1cts atIkaruga (1.5); the original temple
If1J ~HJ..1), GJg :lku ~-:v.: (1.[4), Ta(ra)j ~(m)1i'~ (1.26). :md f--m.onVoflDlllllgrant fmuhes building was destroyed by fire in 670 (Nihon siloki, XXVIJ, Tenchi 9:4:30). See Aston.
such as Saga"h~ ft and K u r.1tsuku ri :ti: 11, (1.5). T h c Shillsell sltjiroku ffr-mil1:i\;:Uf (N cwly Sdcctcd "Nihongi," 11, 293; also, J. H. Kamstra, EIUoWJler or SYllCretism, 312- 31).
RccOids o f Fll1lil)' NnJllC ~ and Titlcs) compiled in 8 [4- 815 gi ves the proportion of immigrant 70. As tO the use of two d1aracters * and ,r, for shii, Ishicla thinks that the former ch:naetcr
stands fr seminar groups; thc latter, fur organizations made up of lhe seminars devotccl to the
fam ilies 35326 t() !,059, er about 30 pcrccnt of thc rcg istered famili es.
61 . Shob, Nill(mgi. VIU (Y6r6 2 : 10: 10). study ofrhe same scriptures at several tcmplcs. Thc two ar{' structurally diffcrnH (Nm'ajid~i,
63 . They lore Kus},J fJt'i'f, Samon ..:..: fri1,J6jitsu BtI'[, Hosso ;t;tl, Ritsu H~, and Kegoll f5!ij. 105) lnoue, ho\vever, says that the fo rmer character i5 not fc und after 747 and tbat the latter
Cr. J. TakakJsu , TI/( Egnilials of Bliddhisl Philosoplly. eharacter rcpl aces it in later document,. Con:;iderin g other {actors as weil, hc COllcludes that
64. See l!h ' d~. j-...;m-:JJidJi, IYJ-149; lnoue Mitsusada, "Nanta roku,hLi 110 se irit~\l," Nihml the latter means an officially recognized school ofBuddhism ("N3ntO rokush," 3, 1 I).
lekis!II', No. (56 ( t~I ), 2.- 14. 71. [naue, "Nanto rokushu," 13.
, r " ........ ,
" , IntroductiOIl r 1 71 eha"te, I (J\ C
c
brougb. t abau t partly by the natura l develop ment ofBuddhist studies, pe. ted to the empress to prevent secula r officials from pllilishing
and p ar dy by the govern m ent's eagerness to standardize and pro m o te monks and num and to leave this responsibility to sam gh a oAicials
such st udies. (1. 5). Eventua ll y h e was appoi nted sj w ith two la ym en far siizIJ .nd
hozu,74 Of the three samgha official s, sjo and szu had prccede nts in
d. State Co" tro l of the Samgha ond Popular BuddhiJt Mov ementJ C hina and K orea, even thou gh a layma n h ad never been app ointed
As soon as B uddhism spread bcyond India, where the sa m gha szu in China. T hc office of hzu, a secretary in charge o f sam gh a
enjoyed atl a uthorit y independent of the state, the problem of the prop erti es, was created in J ap an. A s th e fi rst three appoin tees w ere all
rda tionship between sanlg na and state was raised. In C hina a central related to the So ga family, the leadersh ip seerns at first to have b een
supervlsor y system was insti tuted durin g the fourth century. but not in th eir hands.
nluch lS k no wn ab o ut it. Generally speakin g. state cantrol was In 64 5, when the Soga family perished, th e re form ed gove rnmen t
str onger:in the n areh than in th e south. Under the n o rthern d ynast ies esta b lished fu nd ame ntal policies and appo in ted ten em in ent monks as
samgha o fficials indepe nd entl)' admin istered the affai rs ofits m ernbers, leaders of the samgh a. 75 These appointments we re polit ically l11 oti-
b ut s(cular offiClals w ere ap p omted to oversee samgloa properties . vated to sl1100th ovcr th e transitio n of leadershi p from the Sagas to
V nd er the south e rn dynasties. howcver, na sec u lar officials werc ap- th e court, and, afte r this obj ectiv e was ful fllled, n o fur ther ap point-
poin tcd assamgba officials.72 The Sui d ynasty (S8 1-{)18), whieh united ments of tls kind we re Inade. 7 6 Thc ncw Sg system w as fir m l y
n o rthc m and southern C hin a, fo llo w ed the legal system of the north- established in the reign of Emperor Tcnmu by replacin g h02U wlth
ern dyn asties. and sccu la r o fficials w ere appoin tc d to ove rsee sam gh a riJShi fj!l'ifi, precepto rs, and b y excludin g la y o fficials from tlte Sogo
o fficials. T h e Ta n g dynasty (6 18-97) ado p ted a simi la r system, an d system. 77 The fUllction of hz u was taken Qver b y the bureau for th e
i administra tion of allen rela t ions an d regist[y of monks and nuns,
th e autono my cf the 5amgha ~ras w cakcned.
[n J apa n the rcl atio nshi p b e tw een samgha and state was regulated Gcnbaryo j>;~liI , w hich was p ro b ably establish ed by Em press J ito
by thc institu tion of the Sg- sei fl'ljjl]HilJ, a sup ervisory system fo r about 69078 Theo reticall y, th e sam gha officials were subordinate to
m onks and nullS, and its legal code laid down in t he Slli-ry flllBf;-, the Gen bar yo, but the auto n om y of the samg ha was resp ec ted in the
a colJecrion of or dinances concerning monks an d nuns. The form er Kinai regio n, while in the rest of the count ry a provincial magist rate
w as cstablislled in 624, when Em press Suiko made appoi ntments of (Iilll j;']) and a p r ovincial precep tor (O'lIGili) w ere in charge of samgha
Joj II'tIE (C h. Jeng-dleng), Jz,/ f!l'Ii (Ch. Jmg-tu), and /' zu o r hoto i'Jj
74 lbid., XX II (Suiko 32:4:17): "Monk K anroku was appo inted sjo. and Kuuts\!k u li 0 0
fo r the co n tr al o f m onks and n uns.73 These titl es reflect thc influ ence TQkosaka f*ft- l! fJl. W.lS made SOZ II. On the sam e day A zumi n o muraji p;r~~ wa l mad t
ofthe so uche rn C hinese tradltion. The sago, samgha supervisors, were hzu ." See Ast on, "Nihongi ," Il, 153.
75. Jbid. , XXV (Taika 1 :11:8).
char ged wh the disci plin e and punish m ent o f monks and n uns. A 76. Thc Chin ese pr!."cedcllt [or this system occuIred du ri ng the T'ang dynast) when ten
sto ry in the ,vilton ryiki teIls h o w a Korean m onk, Kanro ku (K w al- virtuous monks were lppointcd to con trol the samgha in 61 9. T his au to nomom s ysrem did
not laSt long, h owever, and ~ec ular officials rook office again. Sec Yamai';aki, Shil"ld ,h ij5~ i ,
leu k) , st ressin g t he impo rtan ce of th e au tonom y of th e sa mgha, ap- 602-607
77. Nihon shoki, X XIX (T cnm u 2:12:27).
72. See Yl.:1112aki H i ro ~ lll, Shir!tl (htuti BIIJ..kyO,1O u nk.:!;, P~rt 11. Itl Liu Sung (420-479) :tnd
78. T am ura, AJUka Bukk)'iidri, 90. The following is adapted [rom h is table on p. 9+ tO show
Ch'j \47\)-jG l ; ti me~, th e chief cxecu ti ve w as called ul1g-chu f~~ ; u n der thc Liang (502-557)
th e chron ologieal devdopmct1t of the Sg system. The n U11lbers in parclllh eses in dicat e th!."
;md e h'en (5,r-,89) . nc w as called ~ell.~-( het1g iS'lE. Assistant exec utivc~ wt:rc tcrmcd seltg-rH
numbcr of appointee;, and ,h e ofl:ices in italics werc f!ll ed by laymen.
ft1'l~ 0:" w ei-I' <, *~')[!. l nou e M itmsad a bclicvcs that the J apanc~ system \ vas m o re infiuenccd by
[ne so u!hcm tradition dun by the northern tradition or the bter Sui ;J.lld T'ang systems. S!."c Yea r R eign A p pointive offices in the Sg system
his Nilm l kodai kak I.?.: /10 I?e' ikyii, 324-327.
: 3. AccordiL1g 10 ,he 1',:i/IMI , llOk i, XXII (Suiko 32 :4 :3): "The re \vas a Buddhist monk w ho 624 Suiko 32 sj (1) szu ( I) hzfI (I)
too l:: an axc and struck h is grandfHher wilh it. H aving hca rd of Ihis, the empress summoncd
m inistelS ;tnd gavc a command , saying : 'The man w ho has reoO\ln ced thc mundaL1e world 645 T aiIta I jusshi (10) hzil (3)
should be cL-voted 10 eh e T h rcc T reasures, ~md cherish devoutly th c B uddh ist prea:pls. H ow
cdn h e rec klessly ca u ~e a t;rillld We h ~"e heard that a monk struck his gra ndfathe r. T hcrcfo re, 673 Ten mu :2 sj (I) dai-sw (!) hzu (I) sabn (4)
k t an t he monb :l nd n um of te m ples be assemblcd ,llld an invcstigation made. Let scvere sh~szu (I)
pu n i ;~"lI 11ell1 b e infcted on any who are eonvicted of offences.''' Sec Aston , "Nihongi," 1(, 683 T enmu Il sj (I) dai-szu (1) rissh i ( I) sabn (4)
152-I S~ sh-s6zu (1)
,1l.d mLninrJtion) Killai) (provincial magistrate. was Olle ofTt cial for each office, whik in larger ones there w e re two dirtcrors md proyosts. a
prov indal preccptor) junior one and a .mior Olle. See Ishida, J"-i' arajidai, IOI - IOl.
30. Se~ C hap. I lt)a, 11. 2j . 85 See Sat T etmei, "Dengy Dai~hi no Daij sdan," in BuH)'!; ky odrm IU' ko; k)'ii, cd. by
91 Cf. h Jab a K enk . KIJdai BukJ;qo shisihhi k~lIky,i, Put [I. Chap. 2. Yoshi mura Shliki, 35 1- 396.
3.2.. [nau e K:!.Oru asscrts t;,at .the Slli~ry was fmt compiled in thc Tllillo-rilsuryo, basing his 86. Horiikc Shunp, "Ubasoku kshinge tO shukkt" nyiishisbo, NiJIt)/J rrkd i, No. 1T4
a~! e rtIOIl on the paiSage in the Shvku Nilumgi, 11 (Taiho I :6: I): "Michi no ki m i Ofutona (1957), lS~32
ii:fJ 9~ W1S m ade co cxpound [he SJllj~ryj} to the con g regatio n o f Illonks at Daian-ji.' Sce 87. Thc first fivc of the ten precepts were bir ld ing Oll all Loy devotc{'~ , lay brolhers and
Jus ,\,;j l'I'JJ ki)(/a;. 238. On Ih e olher hand. Futaba bdicvcs it or igin;ued in Emperor T enmu's sisters; llovice monks and nuns were rcquircd 10 kee p ~11 ten prccepu. Many d ifferCJl ( vcrsiom
r.c ign . Scr his K~lll i Bukkyo. 137. Empcror Tcnmu achieved thc ccnt ralizatiOIl of the state by o f rhe prcccpts are found in Buddhist scriptures. According to rhe Klwddablpii!/;J, 11, they are :
est ab lish in g m:my n c\V syst~ ms to comolidalc it. The SOl/i-ryo i5 regarded by Futaba as olle of no killing, no 5tealin g . no adulter )', n o lyin g, no drill king. no eatlng at wrong hOll n , 110 wo rldly
thc!;<: m.casurC5. amU SC I1l (,n! S, 110 ornamenB, no slecping in a \arge bed, an d 11 0 possessioll of gold and j cweb .
&3. N;mba T osh inari, " SJ/li-ryli no kosei to seiritsu n i tsuite," llkkyo shigakll, XIII (No. 2, M aha yana scriptmes such 1S ehe K egQI1-gy and BOllmJ-k)'ij givc thc Im precepts for a bodhiS<l (-
ISO O'j ), 104- 120. (va. See T 'uch ihashi Shii ko, "Jukai girci 110 hemell," BiI~k)' k y,~ dil" 110 keuk p' , 105 - .:>.82.
17 771 (Hki l) m onk making image Y ryaku, Great Ka mi o f Kaz llraki (or Ka tsu ragi) Hitokototlu,hi 11 0 k ~lTli [Lord 0101"1e W ord 1,
[ I 2. t< 30 b K J i r , .Niiloll kodai 110 sllizoJm 10 twn , 10 1- 13 S. L~i is dcflncd as familie. grouped who di spclled evil <llld in cu rrcd good with ~ ChUlll. rcvealcd hill1 sd ( to l hl; ~1I1pC- t or eIl MI .
~ro u n d ;;. powcrfu.l ramil y wi th a positi on in thc hierarchical structurc of thc court. Kazurdki. See ]). L. Philip pi, K fljih 360-30 1; Aston, "Nihongi, ' 1, 34 1- 342.
I , 3 Sll "J~1./ Njlj()' I~l!. i , VII (Reib 2: 5: I S). 120. fJ.lCI! ~O; Sh "ku Nihmgi, I (Monmu 5 : 5 : 24) 0. \i. ti ; idcntifi ed w irh prol'!!! lzu Omilll a.
i
T"I .. " rl"rt; ,.., ,, r ., f. 1 r f.",...,t" .. T ( , \ A IHtrodua i0l1 r 2. 7 I r H.fwiN , ( / ) rI !
Buddhi st ascetics went co the lTIountains, they prd )'ed for thc pro tec- impressed with the bodhisattva ideal of working [ar the salyation of
tiD r: oE the kami. Even scholar monks sent to China for Buddhist a11 and acquiring m ystical knowledge 1S a means for a ttainin g Buddha-
stndles prayed to native kami fOT their safe journey. The prosperity hood. Saich's insistence on thc l\1ahayana precepts and tcachings for
of Buddhism was sought through thc protection of kami. Many lTIen in thc dccadcnt agc met a ready response in an ordinary monk
Hindu deit1t:5 found t heir wa y into Buddhist scriptures as guardians such as Ky okai, who was ke enly conscious o f his Jnitations.
of the dharma, and, in simjlarfashion,Japanese deities were considered Although the Sago system and Soni-ryo never fully realtzed their
pro:ectors of dharma. Emperor Shmu, a noted patron ofBuddhisln, goals, they did achie\'e a fundamental aim in making Buddlst mOll ks
paid homage t o the Grand Shrine oflse du ring a rebellion in 740,121 and nuns serve the state . Both suffering and happiness \Vcre unJcr-
and, m the followmg year, he sent capies ofthe Saishii-ky and Hoke- stood as a c0111l1lu nal experience to be shared within thc:: family,
kyo. monks, and h orses co t hc deicy Usa Hachiman t=fj:i\~lfi, and village, province, and state . Such a tendency, which e mphasize5 [;fOUP
bullt a pogo<!a attached co the shrine. 122 This is the beginning of the participation and identity is a recurrent t he nle in thc Japancsc tra di-
pr2 ctice of buding ajing-ji )j$'';'f, shrine-tcmp1c, which represents tion. On the level of popular practice, there was littk differentiation
the institutional me rger of a shrinc and atempIe. There developed ae in th e roles of Buddha, bodhisattva, and kami in helping people to
the sa me t ime tbe idea th at kalni were among the sentient beings and lead happier lives . In spite of the fac t that their symbolic fomn dif-
therefore in need of enlightenment. T he story is tald that in ehe Hki fcred , the)' refer red to faith an d happiness her e and !lOW.
era (!7<>-78o) the Great Kami ofTaga ~t'IJG asked a mank to read the
Hoke-l'Y far h"n so that he m ight be liberated from samsara (III.24J.
(2) INFLUEN CE or E ARU E R WHITINGS
From ehe eigbth century ic became a common practiee to read Bud-
dhist scrip tu res befote th e altar at whieh a kami was enshrined. 123 a. Doctrine oJKarma and Samsara
When Saich challenged the traditional BuddhisIll at Nara, he KarnlJ is a notion fundamental to the world view of Hindus and
insisted on establishing the Maha yana samgha, based on the Mahayana Buddhists alike. Karma. whkh etymologically m eans "action,"
precepts expounded in the Hoke-ky and independent of state (on- "deed," is morallaw, which is taken for gr anted by most Hindus as
trol. 124 How-ever, in declari ng that the aim of the samgha was to the basis on which thc CaSInos operates. The doctrin e teaches that
p rocec t tbe state. his t eaehing differed litde from thc traditional posi- every human action takes place in a sequcncc oE the m o r~d law of
tion which upheld the Hoke-kyo, Saish-ky, and Ninn hannya-ky cause and effect and each individual's existence is conditioned b y' the
i=x.iJ;l:.:!'i~,,1<S as a trilogy of scriptures with power ro promote the idea of samsara, translnigration . Man's life is neither limited t<J one
\velfa re of th e state. However, his teaehing 'w as distinct in stressing lifetinle nor to the human species. !vl an's existence 1S believed to trans-
tha t initiation into the jYlah ayana samgha-that is, transmission ofthe migrate through n um eraus 11 ves in different speeies, such as deities,
Mah ayana precepts-should symbolize the imnlediate attainmcnt of l27
anima!s, hungry ghosts, hell beings
,
Buddhahood. Since Saicho was a prominent advoeate of the new This world view underlies Sakyamuni's teaehings. Thc doctnne of
Buddhist teachings and a contemporary ofK yokai, it is highly'possible interdependent causation 128 i5 intcrpretcd by some BuddbislS
,
in dose
that Kykai knew Saicho. 126 Kyokai was apparcntly intcrcstcd in association with thc idea of karma. Tradition says that Sakayanumi
Saich ', fresh approach to Buddhist teachings. He was particularly allowed a nun v,rho acecpted thc Buddhist in terpreration ofkar :l1 1 to
IZ1. ShCl:1I l\'riW/l!' I, XlIl (Tenpyo iZ:9: 1 l, 11:3). Nishida Nagao says that Gygi went to join the samgha, for karma \vas probably regarded as a popular ex-
t hc [se Sbrin: l S an i mperial me5~enBc r at that time. See hisJinja no rckishitcki keukyii. 87-149. 129
pression of thc central doctrine of interdependent causarion. Dud-
I Z2. ShcJw Ni!j('lIg ;', XIV (T cnp y 13 : J : 24).
123. T ~ nu ra. ;ist,:':a Eu H:)'~11 i, I 9J-.Z16. Hcreafter samsafil will be treated as an English ward. 127. Th csix mode:; and placcs O[CXiHCllCl: ofallimatc bcings are rJar<lkc (hdl).)'fCI<l (Ilungn'
124_ f\).,i Endo, "neng~'o Daisni m Hokke sh iso no renbn," Hokke-ky 110 511i50!0 bUllka, ghost) , tiryatl[ (animaI). (lS/lra (funaus spirit). 11!JIIII.Sj'<I (man ), and del'tl (heavcnly being)_ The
cd. by SJbm010 Yukio, S(i9-S~n. ide~ of the fl H ' mdes and plaees o f t" xistence, excluding (/.'IIFa frOEl tbc ;1boye 5i :'-. '''-.15 lllore
125. j",r: lttJG Ilelmy" Ir.1r[lf lli!5l1-k yo f::::f.!&:&ir;ZHf*~"l\ (Taho, VII!. No. 245. 825a- 834a). popula r in China and Japan_ Although ,Imi<l is never meIllioned in the iViholi ITJI-ki, thc tenns
1.26. In 'In ;md 802 Saicho im 'itcd scvcral emincnt monks of the great temples in Nara to "six destinies" (I. 21. 35) Jod "[lW (h'sr:ioie," (BI. 33) Jre faund in th c N ili,'11 1)"lki.
h lecmres on thc Hokr-kyo l nd T en dai doctrines . In 815 he lecturcd on thc Hoke-kyo at Daian-ji 128. Skt. jJarlilyas,mlJl/p dda U;,~i!];) , cll~in of c a .l s~tioll. or depClldent o rigi nation. S(C' ~ d-ward
in N ~ra _ T h occ ~ 5ion Jl1~rked the bCflitlning ofthc deb;ltCS b ctwcen Saicho and T okuichl 18- j. Thomas. 'fhe His/ary d B,lddhisr Thtl.lgJU. 58- 70.
(74-9-1).2 -1-) of ehe Hoss Scho81 in N:tra whieh lasted for several yea rs. 129. Mizuno Kgen. "Go-sem: ni [s\lite ." lEK. II (No. 2. 1954) , 461 -47 3.
----./
1 ney ~tres~ed that karmic retribution is based on the law of nature, Icgends. This may reAect his emphasis on present existence, even
and K yokai adopted their idea and cliehe. It was about this time that
! tbough he did not cxclude sto ries dealing wir h the effeets of pa st deeds
sevcral Bud d h::i~t scriptures expounding this doctrine were translated upon a future life. He was uninterested in subrle arg uments con.cerning
l40
inroChinese. People aecepted a new cosmology in whieh the world the meaning ofkarma and samsara , or the question ofwheth.er the::-e
was enhrged [rom the present to include the past and future, and at 1S somcthlllg about man which is imn10rtal. Rather, he compiled the
:be same time [rom human beings to other modes of existence such as Nihon ryoiki as an aid for monks in their preaching, should th.e )" w ish
deities, animals, and ghosts. In contrast to the Confucianists, the to fo llow the fashion initiatcd b y Hui- yan in C hina, and as a gllide
T .mists di d not attem pt to refute the doctrine ofkarma and samsara. for lay Buddhists. Kyokai's primary cancern seeIn s ro have be e n in the
ja fac t, they used it to supplement their teaehings, though it took salvation ofhis fellow beings and himself, whieh he hoped would be
several centurics for the Chinese indigenous idca of the other world accolllp lishcd as a res ult ofthe m e rit accumulated in the compi li.ng of
to fully cornbin e with th e Buddhist cosmologieal conccption t4L the collectian . He understood ka rmic retribution as a universal p rinci-
H ui- yan's concept ofkarmic retri bution is repeated in the preface pie and stated that irs operation was also discernible in the C hinese
of T ang-lin's .'\,1ing-pao chi, a eollcetion of Buddhist legends COI11- classics and in th e pre-Buddhist age in Japan (I. Prefaec).
plled bctwecn 6 50 and 655. Ky okai's task diffcrcd fro111 that of eh.e C hinese monks who tned
It 15 taugbt that there are three ways [of karmic retributio n]. to demonstrate thc profundity of Buddhist teachings in comparison
First, olle receives in the presen t existcnce wha t ane's good cr with those of Confu eianisrn and T aoism. Many fundam ental ques-
evildeeds havc eaused. This is ealled hsifll-poo. Second, what one's tions concerning Buddhist teachings were asked and answcred in the
deeds ha ve caused 1S not receivcd in this cxistencc, but dctermines dcbates and writings of eminent C hinese monks obliged to dc lincate
the next life according to good and evil deeds. Thi s is ca lied thcir posi tions in the face of anti-Buddhist propaganda and occasional
sheng-pao . Third, if good or evil decds in the past have no t persccutions.Japanese monks, on the other hand, were free fro m both
brought the results and one has gone through man y li ves and the good and bad effec ts imposed by such a com petitive s:ituation.
stil] created karma witbout any consequences, one wil! receive Their task Iay in choosing the m ost effective scriptures. or do ctrin es
thern in a second, flfth, or tentb lifetime. This is called hou-pao. l42 I from the vast accum ulation of materials in the Buddhist tradltion.
T'ang-Jjn \'\"JS a government official who received a Confucian edu- They accepted tbe Buddhist do ctrines expo unded by Chinese monks,
cat lon and espoused the Buddhist faith. He colleeted stories throu gh- and thcir concern was to apply thern meaningfully to themsd ves, the
o ut C hina , p rescnting a Sinicized interpretation of the doctrine of people, and the state.
ka rm ic retribu tio n. As the title and therne of hi s work, he chose mi1!g- In the N i/torl r)'oiki, nirvana is mentioned on]y once in referen ce to
pao, "invisjble function of karmic retribution," which is a general Skyamuni (I1I.] 0) . Kykai's ideal is the bodhisattv. who makes a
eoncept blendin g the three ways into one. In China, Buddhists tried
I vow to stay in this world in order to work for the salvation o f all. By
to dem ons rr. te the profundity of B uddh ist docrrines by stressing the l11eans of " maturing good stock and accumulating merie" the bod-
fact thar the y revealed future responses that were not even considered hisattva practices love fo r others in the v,; arld of sa msara. The common
in Confucian teachings. goal is rebirth in this world, heaven, or the land of bliss. Aceo rdi ng
On thc ather band, Kyokai Llsed the wurd gellpo (hsien- pao) , which to Kyokai, same emperors and princes had been virtuous lll onks in
ln T'ang-lin's preface refers to consequences that are Iuanifested in their previaus lives and had accumulated en ough merit to be born in w
rhis Me, as rhe main them e for th c collection of Japanese Buddhist the imperial famil y. For this reason they deserved to be revered an d
obeyed ([[1.3 9).
[LC. K'akogwzai iI:gr.-k>'o iJI:t~:{f!1J~t (Ta isho, 111, N o . [89, 620C-6 53bl , ZaiJrd.w hoo-kyo I In contrast to the understanding of the law of causation as [he law
~ t~ ~~IBU (Tl1u/6, X VII, N o . 747. 562b- s (i4C), FllI1bWIJ gO/la ryak-k}'o :B )}IJ mW'iH~ (Tai5i1,
XVI !, N o . 713, 44(ib-45 OC ), ;md orhen. of nature, thc Hoke-k)'o gives another interpretation which !TI a y ha ve
1.41. .'\kizllki Kan' ei, "Rikuch Dk y ni oke ru hsetsu 110 hattcn," Hirosaki daigakll influenced Kykai. The Hoke- kro is the scripeure most fre qllently
j i 'lhl< lIshaka i. No. 33 (11)64), 26-60; reprinted in Cllfigokll kaI/he; rOIlStlSlI 5l! iryo, [ (1964), Pan
O lle, 386--40J. quoted in the N iho" ryoiki, and it has been extremely popular th rough-
[42. T 'mg-lin, .\firl~'-p(\() ( }, i (Ttfi; /,o. U, 788a).
out thc histo ry ofJapanese Buddhism. Although the Hoke-kyo makes
cnds about d citics, men, and allimals dcp icted in Buddhist terms. m ents o f foreign lands, should w e not al so beli eve and stand in
T hese Icgends incorporated th e B uddhist teachings o f karma wi thin awc ofthe mi racu lous even ts in OUT own land? lI.P re facc~ .
sevcral types of storics such asjtaka, avadiil1a, and Ilid/la. 153 Their By th e bcginning of th e H eian period thc M yhki was kn own to
inAuencc v.,ras great not on ly on 13ter Buddhist literatllre but on the Japan, whe re its threc volumes hav e been prcserved.157 Exccpt fo r [lve
develo pment of lay Buddh ism in partieular. The translation of the stories in the third vo illme, m o st of the stori es scetn to be based on th e
Buddhist Canon in Ch ina lcd to the compilatio n o fman y anthologies Chinese oral traditi o n. In th e preface to th e work, T' an g-lln says that
oflegends taken from the se riptures. They were ar ranged thematieall y he also fo llowed eadie r wo rks ofB ud dhist literature. 1' . The Hokr- ky
in order to scrvc as handbooks for uddhist studics . is th e most papular sc ripture in the lvly ho ki as \lIell as in th e i\iihol1
Among them, t he Shokyo yoslill (Chu-ching yao-chi) was decisive in ryiki. In b ot h \'vork s thc scories begin w irh th e date an el llame of the
its inftucnce on Ky kai's life and work. 154 Kyni chi, the tnendicant cen tr al figurc an d teach the la w of causa tion through thc interpreta-
who appearcd in K yka i's drC31l1, gave hirn cl copy afit, saying that tion o f m iracu lousevents. Bot h T'ang-lin anel K ykai were Buddhists,
it was an cxeellent se ripture fot instrueting the people (1ll.J 8). The but th e fact that the fo r mer was a layman while t h e latter was a m on k
Shoky yosll, compiled in 659 b y the Chinese monk Tao-shih (d. may explain sevcral differences b c tween the ir res p ective wo rks. K )'0 -
683), co nsists of important passages [rom the scriptures arrangcd the- kai dealt sympatheticall y w ith sclf-otdained m onks who had not
matically. Its purpose was to inst ruct m onks; the auth or gives an studi ed Buddhis t doctrine and who viola ted Buddhis t p recep ts . nd
exegesis o f do c t rinc at the beginning of each secti on, fol1owcd by thc Sll/-rya. At the same t ime, in spite of his iden tification w irh the
illustra tions. The major themes of this wo rk are kar m ic retribution C01111110n p eople, he was aware of his stat us as a 111 0 n k of a great state
and the veneration of thc Three Treasures. As far as th cmes are con- temple wich a clc ri cal rank. T'ang-lin, o n thc oth er hand, \.... 15 critical of
ce rned, th c N il/ oH ryoiki followed the prio rit ies of t he SIlok yo ysl/ii. 155 th e co rrupt clergy. T'ang- lin records the sou ree of cach story at its end ,
Thc latter \\'as compiled to su mn1arize Buddhist te aehings in a system- whileKyokai co ncludes each stor y with a no tc (S(/1/ ,tt~ ) or bis comment
atie way usin g scripwral passages as illustrations, wh ilc the for mer \.vhich ls o ften aceom panied by sc riptural quo tations to draw a mo ral
arrang ed th e ste ries from th cJapanesc tradition, both oral and writtcn, from the story.l59
in historieal sequen ee. The style o f the headings of thc stories is si mi- The " H annya kenki " mentioncd in thc preface quot cd above may
lar. 156 have introd uced th e st yle of a note follow ing a sto ry . It is kn own in
In add ition te the S hoky ysh, two other works seem to have been fu ll as the Korlg ha1'lnya-k)' jikkenki,160 a collectiol1 of m ira eulous
favor ites o f Ky oko i. [n thc prefaee he says: stories about the KOl1go hml1lya- kyo thematicall y a rrangcd. l 61 We d a
In China, the Myhki (Re co rd of Invisible Work of KanTIlc
157 The original text daes not cxist in Chilla, for it \\'a~ proba bly lost SOO:l ~ lter i1> trans-
R e tribution) was com piled, and, during th e great Tang d ynas ty, mission to Jap;Hl. Extant manuscripts in Japan ~rc incornp\etc, bUi nearly ('ig:HY ~lonC"S luve
th e Ha"" ya kenk i (A Colleetion ofMiraculous Staries concerning beeil rceollSlruCied from quotations in other works. See i/lid .. I, 35 0 -3 8 5.
158. Thc)' are th e Kml Zt!,m m~f?l'IIki (KUtl ll -sllilr-YI1! IIIIS-YCII ell/) ~:t W. i( ,~~ ~;1~L. Srll,~rllki
the Kongo hmmya-kyo) was written. Sincc we resp ect th e dOCll- (Hsjjrlll - )'f!! (/11) 1-tlj/(~c, al1d MyJshJki (,\ l illg-Itsi<llI.1? {lu) :p; f.f~.
151) In the Xill,1I[ f)'(iiki there are fiftten stortes accolli pan i~d by a conc1udmg fCl:la rk which
I 5]. Jli/{lk~ is l story ",hi eh tells how SakY<'lll1uni ~ceumlllated mcrits in his former lives; begins wlth " Thc llote ,ars. :' Thcir distribution is ,IS folIow s:
41.1.ld:i/l'l is :J. type ofstory ;tbO Llt :1 hero who is ~ dilCiple 01' fo lio wer of Sakyamuni. ,md whose 1. 5,6, 14, 18 .21, .'. 5. JJ
pa st karma is deseribed by Buddha; ,ud.iu,1 is a tale ofhow a Buddhist preccpt origina tcd. See 11.2.21,4 1
Iwam o to Yut aka, Blfkkyo U(Sllll'a ke nkyii josrwl, 26-43; Edward j . Thotll~ s, Thr Hisrory of 111 .1, 4 .10, I.?, JO
B~ldJhisl TliOlIg lH, /l.pp<:'n clix I, 1.6r-287. In Ch inese histoneal IVritings a p aS~Jge kllOWl1 JI d 15m: (,an) is aFpcmkd to a lllOP:lph:' and
154 See Cnap. 1{ I)a, 11. (4 . uscd tu sut11 ma riz(' Ihr \\'tite r's opinion ofits ccnnal figurc. Hui-chiao J.d optt'd tln r.kvic~ in
155 The headings of the Slwk y., yshii He 3S folJows: (I) Three Treasu rcs: Veneration of his K'h'-s('IIS cllII,Ur. Sinn' the lIote is genera]] }' \"rittcn in fOllr -charac lr.r ph ra~.'< . it Illay In di.:atc
Buddha, Dharllla, and Sarn gha ; (2) Vcncration ofPagodas; (3) M edi tation: (4) Renun ciation : Kyokai's desi re to con fo nn to Chinese style .1I1d his dl'peildcllCl' 011 Pl'CCt'dlllg lil cnr y wClrks.
(5) Adoril tion ; (6) lncclJSe and Lamps; (7) Rcceiving In vi tations; (8) Starting a Fa:it; (9) Ending Somctill1c K yakai ~dds his (omment after the note; Ihis has gi\'C1l rist' 10 thc spl'U.:hll on Ihal
a htSt; (10) Weahh ; (u) Poverty; (IZ) Advoe:t.ring ,he Way: (13) Rep<lying Kindncss: (1 4) the nott' was w . t'11 by K ykai at all but Ihat thc ,wry, along w ith the note. W.l~ burro \'!' ed
Saving Life; (IS) Att<lining M erits: (T6) Scleccing Friends; ([7) Thoughtfulness; (tB) Six by him from <111 earlier \\'ork.
Virtucs (Domtiolls, Keepin g Preclpts. I-'cneverance, Hard Work. M editation, and Wi sd om); [60. hV .1 buchl EmltJro, "Nilit11l ff'iii ki n i rnictull H,lIIl1 J'" k"'l~i tOWJ nanib." K"Jm.'..?,' 1,1
(19) KarmlC Cau501tio n: (20) DC5ircs und IlIusiom; (21) Four Kinds of Birth; (22) Recciving kalmhmgakl/, X II (No. 8, 1935).61---67; K~[aY05c. Klll/).Ikli IIhllJ'').:<Jf<lwhi'i 11" kt" kyii. J, J~~- 389_
Consequen e{:. of R etributio n: (23) Ten Evils: (24) Dece ption ; (2) Falling imo Pride: (z6) 101. It consi~ts ofthree \'olumcs, each dl\'idt' d into (WO ~cction~: VoL !: (I) Sah~ti('n Jn d
Liq uor ::md Meat ; (27) Divination: (28) Hell; (29) Funera\s; (30)Misccllatlcous. Protectioll: (2) ProtectiOTl . Val. fl: (1) Makin g ur fr Sil lS: (1.) On'i!!<: PUWC". \'0 1. Jl I: (I)
{S . Kat;lyose l\bsayoshi, K Olljalw 1II(I!wgalilTishli 110 ktllk yil, I, 404-413. Maits: (2) SYlllJmhy for the Fai thful.
i
I
i
T.., . .. "A .. ,. f ;,,~, r , ,., " rl.." .. f"" 1 1-.\,.
T . , , ' r , . . - . , .. .. . .. T ! _\
I
r
and 70 2, gives a 10c31 version of the m ythological tradition wh ich In the tenth centur y the Niho11 ryoib tradit ion 1S rep rese n ted by two
differs from the co rrcspondi ng section in the l\Tiho1/. shoki. M any Bud- works w hi eh are somewhat diss imilar 1n nature. One 1S the SM'lb
dh ist tcmples ha ve in thcir histo rical reco rds "origin tales," which are ekotoba ~ ~ ,WI ~iiJ (No tes on Pictorial Presen tations ofthe Th ree Trcas-
fOllnd to be ofthe same genre as the N i"o" ryiki. For insta nee, " The ures) w ritten f r a prin ecss by Minamo to 11 0 Ta m eno ri iw:m~ in
Faundin g o f Hase-dera" :E1::i'i''1f~;E;, 172 co mp iled in 74 1, gi ves an 984 t 76 . I[ consists of rh ree volurnes, which correspon d to B udd h a,
origin t ale struc turally sim ilar to som~ stories in the Nihon ryoiki. ! Dharm a and Samgha, and it inco rp orates seventeen stori cs fr om the
T he Niho" ryiki is the ead iest colleetion of such legends seleeted to Ni"oll ryiki. Thc o ther wo rk is the lViila/! j gokllfohtki 1=1 ;;$:11'f.
dorify the Buddhist te ae hing ofka rm ic re tribution. It includes origin l!i~lC (Biog r aphies of th e Jap anese Wh o W e re Born in the L an,l o f
tales, aneedotes of sain ts, and fol ktales, w h ieh are partl y histo rieal and Bliss) com p iled by Yoshishige no Yasurane ~iiHjUijt between 9 85 and
partl y f1etiona!. Out oftw elve origin tales, seven refer to temples (1. 5, 987.177111 a n ote th e au tho r ex plai n s w h y he incl ud ed Prin ec Sh to ku
7, t7; 11 5, 2I, 3r, )9) , th ree to painted or seulptured im ages (1.33; and Gyogi amo ng those who wc re born in the lan d ofbliss. Ori ginally
1Il. 17, 30), on e to a h ili (1. 1), an d one to a fa mi ly (1. 2). There are man y he had not intend ed to do so , but h c alte red his intention in o r der to
an eedo tes abou t histo rieal figures, fo r Ky ka i wa n ted to show dha rm a comply w ith the last w ishes o f P rin ee Kan eaki. He d isting uished
wo rking in h Uln an histo ry. Ptinee Sh to k u an d Gygi fro m the others hc desc ribed b y iden tlfying
As statcd abovc, K ykai uscd as his SQurces not o nly the oral tradi- rhcm as "appea ran ces of [he n:o..lO incarnated bodhisa ttvas," 178 and
tion of his time but also w rittcn traditions bothJ apanese and fo reign. making Prin ee Sho tok u 's biog raphy sevc ral times Ion ger tha n oth cr
Acco rding to Ucmatsu, nca rl y 90 pe rcen t of the sto ri es had been biographies. Sin ce these two men we re not known for their belief aud
handed do wn by m onks or Joeal p eop le befo re th ey reach ed K ykal. reb irth in the pure la nd, the au thor I11USt luve hesitated to in cl u de
H e w as by no m eans a creative w riter. bu t ra ther an ed itor and COI11- them.
m en t~J.tor on t he trad ition he w orked so fa ith fully to d ocu mel1t. 173 r Thc fu n etion of th e Niholl r)'i ki as a casebook for prcache rs was
A lt hou gh iso l. ted legends had existed for several eenturies, Japanese (a rried on in wo rks such as the Uchigiki51w tT1lllJk (Co llect ion of
legendary literat ure was not b o rn un til a sp ecial set of co n d itions ca me Sermo ns)l79 and H yakl/ za hdall kikigaki5h EiBlUtiJHl!Il1HP (S um mar y
in to existence. Ir is clear that the corp us of B uddhist legends th at had No tes ofO n e H und red Leetures o n Oharm a)IBO in the tw clfth eencu-
I
originatcd in India, dc vcloped in Ch ina, an d bcen tran smitted to ry. The faith in the Ho ke-ky was sin gled out as the su bjeet fm th e
Japan grearly srim ul. ted and in flueneed the d evclop m en t of indige- DaillillOl1 Hoke-ky kellki :k Il ;;$:it; Yjii11!.IlilR (Re cords of W on de" Re-
n ous J apanese legen ds. Iated to the H oke-k y in Japan).l81 T h c narra tive aspeets ofthe Niholl
T hus the Ni/IOll ryiki ereated a form ofliteratu re ealled "Iegendary ryiki found thei r fullest expression in the KOl1jaku tIlol1ogatarish ii 4-~:
Jitcrawrc, n an d servcd as the fo untainhead fo r la te r writings. In ~ mJk (Collection of Tales Present and Past) l82 and Uji 51u,i 111 0110-
I
legendary literacu re the autho r nei th er expresses h is id eas nor desc ribes gOlari "i"i-ll1(tifl'II!Jia (Tales from th e Later Gleanings o f UJ i; ,'8l t hc
society as direetl y as he docs in other genres. Thc objeet ofhis intc rest mos t famo us an d ad m ire d wo rb o f the legendary li teratu re.
is man~ an d h e se1 cc ts a motif w hi ch matches his c rea ti ve p urpose from Kykai's custom o f addi n g pe rsonal com ments and mo rals after
anlong extant legen ds in o rder to explore the nature ofhu man ity. T h c I eaeh stor y develop ed into the genre of mo ralizin g legend; whieh
jVihon ryjjjki was followed in the same centu ry by th e Niholl kal/ ryo- 176. Y ~mada
Yoshio. cd . lIml annor., S,mbi> ekOll' /1<1 "(lku chll.
rob, Il*'~l.liilfl< (Jap anese R ecord o fMi ra culous Evellts),'74 w hieh is 177. Yoshishige no Y;lsutanc, Nih on 8ji5 s"krtrakuki (GIII15!iO IIIU'-i, IV, Book 66: S (;H , [1 1) .
in dcbted to th e former in bor h co ntent and for m . 175 T he nex[ two 17l\. lbid. (SGR, 111 . 726a) . to:l!lHt! twJ{!:i~ J,, =-'&jiit!!~~ Z*~.
179. Urhjgikishii (phOlostat cd.). KOlen hozonkal.
cen tu ries m ay be eall ed t he go lden age of legendary lite ratu re, duri n g 180. H)'~low Zil I! ,)da/I kikig'lkisllll, cd. by S~l Aki o.
w hieh th e g rcat p opulari ty o f th e Ni"oll ryiki co n ti n ued. IS!. Dngen, Horuh Hokkf' krllki (ZeR, VillA. ook 194).
182. K""jllkrr mOllo.~ararisllJj (NKBT, .'.}.-l6j , ed . by Yarmda YOShlO, T ad<lO. Hidco. md
To,hio. For a seleetc:d tran slati Oll uf thirty-,evcn ,tones, ~cc E. 0 Jn es, AJ?f_' 11.~~. lt 15 "lsC)
I n. "Ha ~c-d.c ra ~ngi , " SIlO); (lIgj-JM; ~~ .Ui8:.JH (D BL. 118), 31.6-333. nlled Kor!;llku morrog(lrari.
173 U em atsu ShigClu, Kodai 5t"ISUU'tI blll!,~aku. 141. l83. Ljj s/riii mO/logat.lri (NKBT, 27), ed. by \\'atambc Tsun~ya and Nishio K-chl. Fo r J
174 N i!"lIJ/1 ~ {lll r y iiro ku (LGR, XX\iB , Boo k 717). sdectcd trm slnioll of fi fty-ti\'C' t~~cs (out of one hUlldrcd and nincty- four), '\('C Jolm S. For!ln ,
175 Nag.. j Ymh inori. Bukk y(' IHI/!,~akll kwkyii , l, I.P - 154. "Uji shili monogatari ," .'vforllll/lm~ ,,\'rpprmjetl , XX (No. 1-.2. 19(5), 135- 208.
J"/ ,,,.,rl' Jrf;'H" r . ... 1 rl.' ''''''I '''' T (..,\ ... L r. ,._ ~A .,~. : ".~ r . '" 1 rl'~ "' n .. r/ ... \ ...
flouris llcd in the Kamakura pcriod and produced introspective works C HAPTE I<.. 11
such as tb e Hosshi",llI' ~iH.'~ (Collec tion of T ales for Awaken ing
Faith )'84 and Sh asekis/lI' i:Y~lm (Collec tion of Sand and Stone) .'BS
T h ey flt weH inte the genre ef essays. K yka i' s interest in writing a
ruswry was carried on partly in the biographieal w ritings such as the
! W orld View Reflected
Ojoden scries, 186 and partl y in interpretative histories such as th e Fuso
ryaH" (Coneise C hronicle of Japan)'B' and rhe GlIkallsh :\'lftP
(M iscellany of Ign orant Views).'BB (I) C OSM I C ORDE R
It is "'idem rhat later works surpass the Nihon ryiki in literary a. R ites oJCosmic Renewal
re finement. histo ricity, and depth of introspection. However, the In aneient Japan the religi ous life of the people freq u ently fo und
J
me[lt ot' the Nih oll ryoiki lies in its simple affirmation of faith and its expression in a variety of cycliea l rites perform ed at court, a t loeal
diversity of in t c rcsts and views. Though no one would deny the in- I shrines, and in private horn es. The state eule performed at the co urt
fl uence of Chinese tradition , the Ni /lO /1 ryiki is, nonerheless, Ja panese consisted prim aril y o f C0 11111111nal ag ricllltura l ritcs at tim es of p la nt in g
111 th e sense rhat it w as nor onl y accepred by rhe people ar rhe rime of
and harv est, and pra ycrs for the protection of th e erops and tl,e COl11-
irs eompi1a tion bu t also helped to shape the later Japanese tradition.
I ~+ lD_,_,Jti'J.';I.11 /K"'IIO 11,1 CII,;m(i u"sili'i), cd. by Yanase Kazuo.
I munity in spring and summer. On the last day of rhe sixth ami twclfth
months, the rite of purification (Oha,-ae :;k(;p.) rook place, duriT'g which
1 ~5 . Muj ~ \'iH:, SI,.m kishi'i (l\'KBT, 85), cd. by W <'l tanabe T~unap.
186 . S~e Shi gel1l~Hll Abhisa , "OjGden no kcnk y," ,\'aj(o}'(! daigakll IHlJlgalmbJl kelll<}''-;
the law ptescribed that both nati,'e prayers' and fo rmulas ofChinese
origin .~hould bc recited to expiate defllement an d insure happiness .
2
rml.d,,"J, XX IJI (t9r\C). (-! l -l : OPdl"lll') ktuky, cd. by K oten isan no bi. The fllowing scvcn
"".No rks ;l TC cl;.ssified as Ojildm: 1\'i/lQ/I vj gvkuraJmki (sec n. 177): Daiuihou Hokr-kyo k cuki (sec The inttoduction of Buddhism did n ot affect the obser."a nce of
n. 1$ , ) ; Zd~:., '1<l/'e"".1 ~,~d(IJ by O e no Mas:lfusa (G II/Jsho mijii, [V, Book (,6, SG R, [11); SMi;
,~'3d(/! .md Gcs:uli ~i(-'''t'fI by Miyoshi no Ta meyasu (ZG R, V[II, Books 196, (97): Homl!J these rites, At first Buddhist rites w ere perfo nne d on behalf of the siek
"M'I.<!';; (~iaJ~ll by FUJiw:m 00 Munetomo (Ze R, Book 199); and Sarlse liJ'oh by R CIlZCI1 (ZeR, and the dead, whiJe traditlOllril rites continued to be observcd at the
Bo o:-< 10 ~).
New Yea r, ar planting andharv est, and in prayers offered fot thc CO l11-
11-1-; . K cn , FH.<O rydlki (SZ K -/ ', XII).
lSS. Jien. Gllk ..mshi3 (NK lJT, 80), cd. by O bm i Masao and Abmau u Tosbihlde. For a
f mun ity. Such a division offunction gradually disappeared, and monks
pani<lJ tum lation, ~cc J. R.ahder. " MIscellan)' of Personal View5 of an Ignorant fo ol.' A (/a
OI"l't~' Il r.Ji,. XV ( 19 36), In-2 JO ; XVI (1937), 59- 77
f were invited to the court to pray for the natlon's protectiol1 from
natural disaster. 3 Buddhism increased its claims by adopting indige-
nous rites, reinterpreting the m, an d providing thern wi th CI n cw synl-
bolie m ea ning. For example, from the tin1c o f Sakyamuni the
f confession of sins had been onc of the most impo rtant rittS in the
, sa mgha, and many scriptures taught rhe me rit of confcs,io n and
4
repentanee. Beginning in thc sc venth cencury th e rite of re pel1tan ce
I (keka tmj~) was held in the Japanese court on various occasions. 5 T his
rite usually rook th e form afa devotional service which centcred on a
Buddha or bodhi sattva mentioned in a p articular scri pture. (n [h e
eighth centur y a rite of repentanee based o n th e Saisho-kyo :Kichij-
r .i"\"'Iir,), cd. b y T ;l kl'cla YQkichi (,\'K T , r, 4.22 - .1-:'7). Sec Philippi. t ~:; IlS., SO/ir:, ' ,4 Ne w
l.
T wml iIIitll1 l?f I/,r Aud ml R i IlI.i I P, <i )"l'r J; 1:. Sa tow an cl K. Fio r ClltS, "1\ nCl t"n t JJ p;m c K' R irUJ iJ ...
TA~, re prim, 11 (Dcrembcr 1,)27),5-143.
2. R)'o 11<1 g(~e, '"Jingi-ry," Artidcs :'- 9, 1 b. See SansOIll_ .. Ea rl y Ja p.me''"' l;I W. Pnrt Two.
123-1.26.
3. Shl)kll Ni/wHgi , IX Uinki 2: I : 17) .
4. Sec S/I,JrihOl511 luk a-k)' ~i'-:IJ,Jtli~;l:>.r (T,Ji,;I'" XXIV, N o. 14Y2 ) ror ig full ~ xp05ltioIl .
5. Sh,'/m ,\'iflollj',i, XXV (Hak~ch ! 2: 1.2:30. -' 12:30).
!
'_~"w~ ,l., ~ #: ...." r ..::l rl"~ .. ,,,. ,r ( ,\,, T I . <: r . _l r ' I . .. .. rT I . \ .
;
rcspondence between nature and man w as rccognized in a11 phenome- tradition is evidenccd by the fact th at n1any of th c rites m cn t ioned
na as a conseq uen cc o f the interaction of these twO forces. Seasonal above have eontinued to be observed throughout J apan's history. We
vicissitudcs, a man's li fe and dcath, human relationships, and history can tra ce thc rite of repentan cc and cosmic rcnewal in the tra ditio n of
werc all cxplain ed in terms of yil1 and Ya/Ig, an d any dish armony and Mt. Kya, the headg ua rtcrs of the Shing on Sch ao l, wh,eh ha s f.11th-
abnornlality in the hu man world incvitably stirred Heaven to m ani- ful1y prcserved many ancient ritual s. D u ring thc last fou r day s of thc
fe st corresponding abnorm al phenomena in the natural world. 16 Such yea r, D ece m ber 28- 3 I , Shingon B uddhist m onks pe r form th e rite of
phenomena were known as Itvisitarions" (tsai ~) C l' "p rodigi cs" (yi Golle! hasami. Gahei {jp~ is J Shinto symbol of thc prescnec ofkami
~ )17 an d were interpreted as I-:Ieavcn's warnings to the ruler, whilc the and also an lnstrUlTIent for purification. t8 Whilc rcciting thc l-lmmya
app earance cf u n usua l birds and ani m als Or events were conside rcd to shill-gyo $li.15 /L,~,19 the m onks make gohei. which are consecratc d and
be signs of Heaven's sanction and blessing. Accordingly , wheneve r enshrined in the temple und l Ncw Year's Eve. At midnight tb ey ar e
and \vherevcr such occ urenccs ro o k place, the co urt was Ilotified and carricd to th e shrin e and burn ed. Their cmbcrs are distributcd to tbc
somctimcs the unusual anima ls and birds were presen ted to t he cou rt. con grega tion t o makc a new [lfe on N ew Yea r's Day.20
On such occasio ns th e empero r mig ht w ish to ch ange the n ame o f the B uddhism served to interna lize an cientJ apancse rituals such as pllri-
era, n::l1TIlng it after fel icitous omen s such as a white ph easan t (Hakuchi fica ti on rites and an cestor rit es . Traditional ritu als and s);mbo ls p er-
i3 ;\i), a ven11l1ion bird (Akamido ri *,,,"), s.cred torto ise (Reiki sisted because of t h eir signiftcance fo r hunun life, although thcy
\lHIl), a di, ine t a r m ise Uink i ffi"'Ill) , o r sy mbo lieal phrases or events we re given new mean ings? l Dhann a was interpreted by Ky k:: as thc
such as uni,'"sal pe"ce (Tenpyo ;R 'F), universal peaee "nd exeellent uni ve rsal law in the sense ofrao lli. H e in cl uclcd thc way ofk ,uni, yill -
trc"sme iTenpyo ,hh ;R'FIIli'l't), universa l peace "nd preciou s sc ript yallg tao, and aU other ways in dharrna itself, tor dharma is universal
(Tenpyo hoj i :R'F11I'f.'). T hc emperor's decision to ch ange th e name of and comprehen sive, and therc is cammon gro und fo r thcl11 in the id ea
thc era rcprcscnted the abo lishm cn t of thc past and th e initia tion of a of cosmic inte rrela tio n of aU cxistcnces. Thc COSIllOS can bc rcn ewed
tl ew perjod ' and restrucrured accordin g to tradi tional patte rns and rhythms oflifc,
With such a cosm ologieal frame of rcferencc, pr" ying for the dead which Buddhism inco rp oratcd in its cosrno logy.
an d pra ying fo r the welfare of th c nati on werc not separa te actio ns. In
b. SJ'lIll!oli5m o{/he Vi,i/lo Ihe O ther World
th e Asuk a and N a.ra period s political intrigue and m urder took place
frequent] y, and p eoplc fcarcd that na tural disasters and cpi dCl11 ics were InJ apa llese litcl'aturc prior to the l'.lihofl ryiki, th ere are lcgends in
which heroes such as UrashimJ 110 ko iflLBr:f22 and Tajimamo ri lEi~l:rdJ
cluscd by the cu rses of the viCtill1S. Those in autho rit y lo n ged to return
~ 23 visit the o th er world beyond the sca. The Yu-IIs;e/l-k'/f 1.:'WS,24.
to astate of primordialu nity by d estroyi ng the past and ren ewing life.
This unity was rea li zed in the ccremonialmcal of th e llving and dead, 18. Also ca lled lIIil(.~lIr(l; it consim o (:l twig or ;\ stick '''' ith som e Strips or roic:kd p~pc r
atnched amI is often hcld by a !mdi~tor; hencc, it scrvcs ~s W offt.'"ring to kam!.
Ln wh ich the mo ra l an d cos mi c order '\vas rcncwed an d reestab lished.
19 HmmY d lrarillll;tSIi Slrill-gyO ti1ii.rta:.t:.L.'ff (TaiJ II". VllI, Nos. 250-255, 2:n). SC'c Max
S ince Buddhism had been ab le to incorporatc the an cest r al eult and Mller, trans .. 'file Larger and Smal/rr Prajli,ipiiramit;ihrd.l),tJSlitf<l. !Jllddhisl .'1lahil)"III,1 T est (S8E.
XUX) .
aho tau ght a life after death , it scc m ed to offer a more co mprehensive
20. J M. Ki(agawa, 'Goht:i has:\m i- A !tue ofPurification ofTil1l(' ~t MI. Ky~," Pnllwd
w a y to ensure h ap pincss an d prospc rity. Ic was only n a tural that Blld- I, iugs ~r th f Xltll Jlilc rJ1Mioll,J! COIIg rcs5 ~t l ,.l HR., I I, 173- (74.
dhism sho ul d be patronizcd by emperors and empresses who keen ly 1 1. Sec Eli:ldc, "Methodologieal R.cmarb on thc S tudy o f R. eliglO us Symbol ism," TiI ..
His/ory of R('It:,?i"Il5: Es~(/ys ill Al ctI/OJ"h'g}/, B()- [07. (or a gennal di;Cllss\On of the fu r:ctioli c f
fo lr thc need fo r peaee and harmony provided by rites of eosmic symbols.
renewal. E uddhlst ri t es were performed in the traditional pa t tern and 22 . Nih(lU s/wki, XIV (Y rya kll 22:7): "Mizunoe no Ura)hitll~ko ofTsutsuka \\:l, Y07.J
i
l" ' r"A"rti",, r ~ Q 1 r I. ..... . ~ r r 1.\ ~ {JIlrndurli(lf/ r LI. 0 I rha/Jler II ( ,) h I
a Chinese novele tte which enjoycd grcat popularity among educated is an abyss w deep tha t no light of the solar or lunar deiti cs, aJ-
28
peoplc during the N ara and H eian periods, is a tale of a visit to the though cffective in the heaven s, could penetrate it.
ideal land o f im morta ls in th e mo unt.ins. 25 T he popularity of th ese This abyss is hell (Ilaraka) .
tales suggests that the Taoist idea of the eterna l land was accepted in Whell this conception of hel l was int roduced into China, it was
\
Japan at an early d ate and sprcad widel y fro m the sevcnth cCl1tur y. transli terated as ~t&~, O f translated as illifl\k, ri-yjj or underg round
I
"'The other worLd" as a creation of papular imagin ation d oes not prison , and o ften eo m b incd witb the name of T'at shan ~ (;:t:) Lli o r
prescnt a un ifo r m ilnage. However, sevcral ideas of the other wo rld I Mt. T 'ai in ea rly tran slat ions. 29 This was a device for presenting a new
fo und in the Kojiki , Ni/lOri shoki, and Fudo ki may be c1assifi ed as fol- idca in old cloth in g tO facilitate understan d ing and accepta11 ce , In
lows: a h ea vcnly land kn ow n as Takama gahara iiIi:RD1(, an utlder- m any regions of pre- Bud dhis t China, people venerated moun rain s as
ground land know n as Yomi 110 kuni, which is aJapancsc rcading of an abode of deities, and emperors and nobles made offerings o n t he
the Clnesc H l,ang- eh' an-kuo or "Land of th c Y ellow Springs" J,UR m ountains to pra)' for the prosperit y ofthe land. T'ai shan in Shantun g
Im, md a distallt lan d beyond th c sea known as Tokoyo no ku ni :f;jjl:Ii!I. provincc gain ed nat ional p reemincnce as th c residence af th e lord w h o
Altho ugh these catego ries are diverse in o ri gi n and nature, they are not was b cl icved to eom ro llife and dc ath, an d as a ga therin g plaee for the
necess ari1 y exclusive of each ether and toge th er t hey suggest a C0 I11- spirits ofthe dead,30 T aoist and Buddhist ascet ics chose rnount a ins for
mo n symboh c lmders tand ing of the other wo rld?6 For the ancient
J.panese, ette a ther wo rld meant the land of the d ead o r the abode of
I th cir retrea ts, secking a beu er un derstanding of the mystery of the
universe; they bc lieved that deities, spiri ts, or Buddhas wou ld appea r
ka ml or immo rtals which lies so mcwhe r e above, below, or b eyond an d help them attai n m ystical know ledge.:H M ountains werc iden tl-
tls world , \.vher e the li v ing m ight visit under ce rtain canditions. fied with tbe other world, including both the land af the dcad "nd t he
BuddhIst Idcas of the othe r world faseina ted th ose who lac ked a
w ell-delmeat ed cos m ology in China as weil as in Japan. Just as the
I land o f imm o[ra ls. H owever, be fore the int roductian of Buddhist
ideas, hel l and pa radise were not clearly difterentiatcd.
d octrlnes of ka rma an d samsara wcrc n ovcl aod appcaling, so, tao, Thc Niho/1 ryiki d oes not pIese nt a uniform image of th e ather
w ere thc ideas of para disc and h ell, wh ich offcred a differen tiated vicw
of th e oeher world, a n d ehe n otion of judgmen t after death with a
I world. We can recognizc a d iffe.rencc bet \vcen the earlier and tater
ta les: the former ar e rnore va r ied and refiect so me pre-Budd h lst b ut
judgc pre siding . l n the Indian tradition inhcritcd by Buddhism, five no t n ecessarily indlgenous idcas, wh ile the latte r tend tO be ste reotyped
o r six levels of existence charactcrize the cosmos. 27 Although different an d patterned on the Buddhist tradition . Fourteen of the one hundr ed
pco pb at di ffe rent peri ods of their history had thci r own par t ie u lar and sixt ecn storics tha t share thc sa me m Orlf of a visit to the ot h er
bclte/i;, there were al so some basic simi lar ities: the heils were loeated wo rld, a re distribu ted as fo lIows:
ae the bo ttom ; t he heavens which houscd the deities were on top; men Vo l. Tale R eign Year
and animals exis ted in berweell . Olle ofthe ea rliest Buddhist scriptures i
presents such a COSIllic irnag e :
T hc fO llr land s [t ha t is, J amb lldvil' l in the south, Purvav idehad-
I 1. 5 Emp ress Suiko
Empcror tvl onmu
593-628
697-707
30
vlpa in the cast, Avarago dn iya d vipa in thc west, and Uttaraku- n. 5,71 l6, 19, 2S Empcror Shmu 7 24- 74 8
rudvipa in the n orth 1 are surrounded by <igh t tbau sa nd lands, I 111. Empress Sh toku 704-770
9
which are again enclosed by the g reat ocean. There is a great 22,23 ,20 1 37 Empcror Kn in 77 1- 780
rnculltain, J\1.t. Diamond, encircl ed b y the waters and agaln by 35 , J6 Empero r Kanll111 7~ 1-796
an ou ter m o untain, a second Mt. D ialnond. Bctween theIn th ere
28. )oagml-gyo :M%~y., 1 (TaU/I(>, I, l2[be). cr Vasubandhu. A{)hidIIMl'ii1Juljajli,' l r ll &'fm~
)tliA~:~ (Taisho. XXIX, 57e-58;)).
29. Sec Saw2da Miwho. ) iRokw-/!tll, .off., for refe rcnces tO the R(J/.:udo j ik-k)'o t.;:re.:m*1
25 . "ecor din g to Slith Th ompson's MOiiI-Illdex, "visit to the other world" is indcxcd as F. (trans. 251-2&0), Hokkw hiyu-g y it:!IlJ!t~l (t r;.l1ls. 290- 306), SJr:achl)-.ra,'; tilUlfif'F. ([r ,lIls. 350-
! I1. 417). eIe.
26_ See Y\aLqJmur~ T .. keo . ,"Vil' Oll shiUlv<l 110 keukyii, IV, ehap. 5. For a good English summa r y ]0. cc.
Edouard Ch,w<l n nes, L I" TI/i chaII.
o[vaL'l Ou ~ tl1eori. ~~ on the ol hcr world, 5ee C. Ouwehand, N(/III{)ZII{' 11l1d l/teir Them fs , 85-96. 31. Cf. Ko Hung 'IiJf<;'fao-p'II-1Ztl f:j f lT, XVII. Set' Jamcs R . Ware, trJJ1S. , Aldw l'/}',
2";'. See Ch<l p '~ z:)a. 11. [27. Mcdici!lc, Religioll i'l Ihe Cllih<! elf A,D, ]20, 279
~l.. Sc.:: Ch~ :J. 1(1.)e. 36. K,'jiki, I (NK/J T, 1. 6 8-73)' See Phi lippi, mns .. /(''Jik 61 - 70.
3 j . O 'U;lI ,.!?-.ZII. :: 1;1. S::e J~l\1l"'S Legge, trans .. TI/(: T exl vI T(/(JislI1 (SBE, xxxrx. 164) 37. Fr a detaikd anJ.lysi~, sC'e Matsu lllllr:l , Ni/WH .,!riIW'<I, 11. ~:'7--1-3!).
~ .. . Th~ b ::::~i c f w is :nalcd wi th Ihr chap tl'T on Kallnun of Ihe Hvkl'-kyi."> (M ),(i/i~re llgc-kl'ii. I .ltl. Skt. 111I11.1i, w hi eh has the po\ver to protc,'c m:lIl fro lll disJstl.:r ;l lld misfor!\lne: iludJht
XXV) ( T.1l.'kJ. LX . .<:6e); Kern , tr~m . , .)ild.1hmlll<l (XXIV, 406--407) ; Kn, trans., M),;;/io- tradition sap tha t Sak yannllli's reHes WCfe tramformcd imo Jt' wch. In Ch in :l ja(k nnc,pomb
l a ~~-I.. }',i (XXV. 4--=4); and Kcg,m-.l!),ti (Ta i;hii, X, 3Mc). 10 m,I!';. (Sec Ikrthold lau fn.J ade.) Jad,: ~y mboliz cs sovl'rt'i~1I po wn. ill1 ll1ort:tli l ,. Losllli :'
H. Thoe .!Ori c~ IUg5~ Sl a possibk relation to du: symbols in thc lr:l11 iJll tradition, th:\t is, I de iti c~, Cie.
(in...,al Bridge. B~ i ::ge ofRrq\litcr, which leads to neavcl1 or hell, ;md wn ich the dC1d have ro 39. Sec Maeda Egaku. 'R.yok no tochii mcbi ni sg mru mo nogatari k." ILJ K. V I
(IOss. ! l owc\"l' ~. III thl' l'\! !I,MI ryiil ki tht: other world i, nOt diITcre n tiatd into two parts. Sec (N O. 1, Jamtary 19 SR), 196--200 ; cx:panded in . 'Indo Buk ky ni J ra \\'J retJ la ,cb. hTl1 oJl!;:lI, ll()
R . C. b<:hn<:,. Thi' DM"" <!lId TlI'ili.~11I o/ 7. ,Jr(l,lSlrifwm. 302-38. ! ~ikaku:' BJ/Ilg<!ku IIr okfm~1II h)'lis/r,i I/v lullkyii. ed. by Ulda YmhifulTll anJ o th"rs
\
l/1lrodll clioJ/ [ 56] Chap/ er JJ (1) C r... f 1"llf"I, u t;nn rc ~ I r I1r1 l1 f" " lr { J \ r
B uddha, dharma, .nd samgha, and killing, which included not only f1i cting vicws. For instancc, stories dated in 773 and 774 d lSCUS ~ the
matrieide (1.23 , 24 ; 1I 3) and patrieide (III.4), but the kil ng of animals thIer: patllS: the first path is fiat and w ide ; th e second is covered wit h
(I. 16; ll..j.o) and the t.kin g o f birds' eggs (I!. 10). The pcrsecurors of weeds; the thicd is nartow and har d to p ass th rough beeause of thiek
monks and usurp ers of the samgha properties are pi ctu red as being bushes (m. 22, 23). Eae h seems to lead to hell, and Yama rells rh e dead
m ost sevcrel y punished , w hieh m ay refleet the longin gs of monks person whieh path to fo llow based on his past karma. The wide and
w ho lived in the decadent age of dha r ma. /l at path is reserved fo r devotees of the Hoke-ky or those wh o luve
]n spiee of same preoccupation with m an 's rebirth in the r ealm of aecumulated merits. The narrow and hard path is for th e most wi eked.
he ll 2nd in the f orm of animals, the world view of th e JVihon ryoiki H owever, in the Buddhist scriptures these three path s are interpreted
refleets tb e optimistie attitude of the aneient Japancse. There is little as leading to rebi rth in hell, as an animal or as a hungry g h ost. In
indication of an exi stential sense o f crisis, but rather lam_entation for contrast, th e stories in the Niholl ryoiki do not provide such an excgesis.
tbe d ecaden ce of th e times. The idca of a sinful self is absent, and, "The three pa ths" was a univcrsally popular m otif, w hich w as pro ba-
in stcad, emphasi s is placed on efforts to improve. The idea of a pure bly adapted to Bu ddhist tradition. ln hero tales a man w ho ehooses
land was still novel and lae ked popular appeal; only eminent monks the hardest path will be vietorio us," but in the Buddhist tradi tion the
such as D,b (1.22), Shin gon (11. 2), and Kan ki (lIl.Jo) are known to order of the paths has been reversed as a consequenee of the law of
have bcen bo rn in such a la nd. On the other hand, in the joden se ries karma. ln o ther words, a doer of g ood deeds will pass along an easy
compiled between the tenth and the twe!fth eenturies, there are bi- path, wh ile a doer of evil deeds will trave! painfully along a diff,eult
ographies of those fro m all soeial strata-high and low, elerieal and one. There is a striking resemblance with the Z o roas trian imag e ofthe
lay- '.vho at ta incd rebirth in thc pure land .54 paths to the nether world.
Hell m Budd hist tradition has somethin g ofthe quality of purgatory (79) And w hen the soul of th e saved passes over tha t bridg e, the
an d is no t a p]ace of etcrnaI damnation since Buddha-nature inheres brcadth ofthe bridge appears to be one parasang broad. (80) An d
in all li ving beings . In order to pursue the bodhisattva ideal, rebirth thc so ul ofthe saved passes on accom panied by th e blcsscd Srsh .
., a h uman being w as prcferred to rebirth in the pure land or heavem. (8 1) And his own good deeds com e to m eet hirn in the fo rm of a
Ji z ~Jl !il!Z , the Bod hisattva Ksitigarbha, out of his eo mpassion fo r young glr . 1, .. .S8
those who suffer, d esecnds to hell to save them. A story, dated in 768, This is the "Bridge of th e Rcquiter" which every man rnust cross for
o f hrjiwar a no asomi Hirotari ifi)Jj( !ji,Jj~JJ/iJE identifles Jiz with Yama, three days aIld nights.
a tradition w hieh probably o rigin.ted wirh the Daihoko j iirin-gy :k;JJ In contrast to th e well-delineated Iranian or Ch inese versions o f the
55
lI'i+ !lf1fJ A lthough Jiz was known in Ja pan as earl y as the eighth other worl d , the Japanese versio n in the Nt'hol1 ryoiki is vague, frag-
cent cry, th e eult eentering on hirn did not become poplrlar until the m ented, and inconsistent. Thc Chin ese traditi on established a b u reau-
s6
la ,e Heian period With the advent o f eschatologieal ideas, he earne eratic system in hell, while thc Japanese traditiDn loea ted hell in a
to bc lookcd upan as a savior who had vowcd no t to scek his own volcano, cmphasi zing co ne Tete visual itnagery.S9 Thc other world
salvati on unt il a11 senrient beings had been saved from th e wo rld o f remained essentially homogeneo us with this world in spite o f i ts
samsan .
mythieal aspeets. Another example of this vag ueness is fo und in the
Ir the au to no m y of the law of karmie retribution is e mphasized, notion of time. Indian eosmologieal thought is full of astron o m ieal
th efe i~ lde n eed fOT the intervention of a judge Of savior. Sinee the units of time d urat io n and numbers. O ne d ay and n ight in hell is said
l\riho n r)'oih represents variOllS stages of transi ti on, it inc1udcs coo- to eorrespond to a hundred years (U I. 3S) ; and one day in paradisc, to
a single yeor in this wo rld (1. 5). O nl y the M ae da m onuseript sp eeifies
~+. Sec: Ch<l p. I (~J:I. n . 186. a "hund red days" in plaee o f rhe " h undred ycars" ofthe other manu-
~5 T IJ :! /!;).X!1!. N o ..p o. Transla tc.!d fo r thc first time in th c period 397- 439. Thc !lCW
Ir;lr.llati :J1t do m: b~ H~L.: J.I1-tsa n g in 5 1 is D aij o drlijrl Jiz o jiirill-gyii :;\;* * rujd!./ij+ ~f)c (Jbid., 57. See G. l)umezil, ' Thc Tll ree Last Voyages of lt"ja of Murolll," A'l yl lu md S)'I/III[l /;:
:'-l" o. .. ! :. 6d4 c-6/\ S3 ) l& ll'!. ~ l' ii ff IJ: m.ijlII iiil.1J Zf1i ~Ht 1i.x ff: ,"'fi3:.tJ- iiX. (1'J!l!.f~4i4" !.t 11'JI!!,
ryr, S(udit$ in H O/JOT I?! Mire Eliadr, cd. y Kit2gawa and La n g. 153- 162, for a gen eral d lscussioll
~!f" .
oflhis motif. 1I is indexe sN. 2 in Sti th T holllp\on , M o(!( lude.\" .
5(, Set" T~ k;;.$t Shigeo . Kalitli sill/gak " shillko 11 0 slrircki kOS(1 IS11, 364-36H; Mlnabe Ks;, 58. /'vli llk i Kliral, tram. and '1u otl.'d by Zaelmer, in [Ir,' T"e(lf/li,lgs of 111(' M ,lsr, J .13- 1]4.
f iz(i- bo.; ..r:ulto ~<'rJk)- ij , 16-- 17.
59. C f. T akasc. Kodai .Iilllga kll ~ hillk (j .
J
Itltrod/lctioll [ 62 ] Chapter Il (2) a IlIlrodl/(/ioll r6 J I Chapter JI (2) a I
scripture copier who , driven by lust , had interco urse wi th a girl w hile
I devo t io n " i5 a cent ral them e in the Buddhisl lege nds o f thc Konj aku
he was ar wo r k i n a t e mple and wa s punishcd by death. " If you k now l1Ioliogatarishi"i, cempiled in the tw dfth cencury, and th:t t je 15 the
what the ftve kinds of desire are , YOll will not find an y plcasure in fo rer unncr ofrhe r ise ofrhe pu re land f31th which swep[ ] a pan. d urin g
th em . No r will you rem ain a slave to them ... cven 1110l11cnrari- th e Kamakura p eriod (1192-1333 ).78 As \vc luve sc-en, h o'Vvcvcr, the
1:,"74 (111. [8) , Kyo ka i does n o t necessariJy negate d esire per se; he l\liho/1 ry iki h as already in sist ed t h at faith is the basis for s. a lva tion ,
n egares t he d esire t hat driv es man to oppose the Threc Treasurcs. In w h ich is a vailable ta all being s.
o t her wor ds, he is a gainst an y desire w hi ch prevents m an from acce pt- A story is t o ld o f [WO ignora nt fishe rm en w ho, on a sto rmy Illgh t ,
in g d harma. One st o ry teIls of a lay brother w h o lustcd after th e statue we re told to co ll ect driftwood by t heir m ast er. Whik cloillg so, t hey
of a fe rn al e deity" until the deity resp onded to him because of his drift ed out of POrt on tl1CJr brokcn raft. Aft er repea tedl y er j"lng out
,;nglc-m indedness (11. 13). K yka i d oes no t conde mn hirn fo r his "Sakyamuni D udd ha, please de li ve r us [ro m this calamity !" th ey \.\'ere
lust , but si mpl y rem arks, " Inde ed w e know that profound faith n e ver even cuall y sa ved b y the B udd ha 's co m passioll, re pen red of l heir past
falls :in gain:in g a re sponse." H e d oes reject anothe r ki nd o f lust, how- occu pa tion, a nd beca me m onks. T h c author co mm ents a s fe ll ows:
ever. A wicked husba n d viola ted hi s wife while she was obser ving a T h c sea bcing full of dangel , it was owing t o th e pow er ofShab-
pe t iod ofs trict discipline for a day an d I1lght, and he was punished by nyo rai and the deep fa it h af those who drifted on the sea [h at
d eat h as a oonsequen ce of his w ick ed lust ([l. I I). In a no ther st o ry a they cou ld su rv ive the peril [][ 1. 2S].
1i centio u5 w om an ""ho had atfairs w irh man y m en an d deserted her This sto r y ill ustratcs a t y pical patt ern of con version in Ih e l\'Uron
chi ldr en d ied su ffering fro m swollen brcasts, but a fter death she as ked ryiki .' m cn co me to repenr of th eir past k ar m a in theiI cx pcrience of
he r cllild ren to for gi ve her (Ill. 16) . These a cts are cailed wi cked by the peril , illncss, misery, or rescue, and thereaft er thcy become de\'out
aurha r, atld those who committed such acts are all punished by death. fo llowcrs of Budd ha. As SOO I1 as f3ith ari scs in th eir heart s, tb ev are
These o ffens e-s are rel ig ious rather t han morallsti c since the fund a men- saved . R cpcn tan ce of past karma lead s to th c con fessioll o f sins 111 the
tal cause lies in the ignorance o f d h arma. prcsen t as w e il as to the making o f a vo w for the fu t ur c. The seeds of
jt is c1ea r th at the Nehal1 -gy in Ruenced K ykai 's view of man . In faith are sown in man, but b eca u sc of ign oranee sorn e m en Clil to
' pite of his d enunciatiol1 of ichisel1dai, Kykai basica Uy ag reed wirh di sco ver and culti va te them.
Saich in n ot recog ni zing any distin ctio n b etw een clergy and laity.76 K ykai 's vicw of Inan is also sub stantiatcd in the way he trcat s
l n an att em p : co uni fy the confli eting doctrincs, th e Nehmt-gyo says people of no ble birth. As w e luv e seen, h e ,cce p ted the traditio:1.s o f
th at if the "hisendai confesses hi s si n, he wi ll attain the way of Bud- (h e cou r t h ist o ri es, such as the Niholl shoki and S hoku l\:i/!(mgi, bu r hc
77
d ha What makes possible t hi s fundamental change is faith in tried to interpret histo ry from the Buddhist view ofth e law ofka rmic
dhar ma, which is a turning of th e h eart to the Three Treasures. More cl usality. A hi gh stat us at birth indica ted, for h im, meri t ~1Cc'~l !11 u lated
than half of rhe legends in th e N iho/1 'yiki are about poor hel pless in previous Ji ves. There is J sto r y of two virtuous 1110nks " ,ho were
peo ple who we re sav ed by Budd ha in answer ta their sin gle- hea rted born as p rinces as a consequ en ce oftheir past kanna (11 1.39). Th is daos
fa ith . E,'en men driven b y des ire are accep ted by Buddha fo r their n o t mean th a t h ighborn men w ere infalli ble or free from cvil ; rathe r,
great devotion. N oces by th c author whieh explici tly stress th c signifi- therc were empcrors and p rin ces w ho erred becallse they w crc too
can ee o ffa itb a re fo und in twclv e stories: o ne from the first volumc proud, inconsid er ate, or pa ss io n ate. For imt ance, Princ e Nagay a *ffi
(I. [';), four from the second ([1. 6, 13, [ j , 28), and seven fro m the third :E perished b ecau se he in sul ted so m e m onks ([1.1 ) ; Prin ce Uji 'i'i1l!:E
(IJ[ 3 7, S, [], 12, 25, 34) Sinee th e Ni"otl ryoiki is at ranged chro no- was p unished b y dea th because he pcrsecuted a Buddhist m cndicant
logic ally, th is d i st ribution sh ows that profound fa ith and utmost devo- (11. 35) ; Empress Jit was admonishcd b y her loyal min is te r fo r bcing
:ion C~:.[.,) w erc in crcasingly c111 phasized. Ka tayose says that "utmost in considerate o f her subJects (1. 2S) . Abov c all , KYOkal d e sc rib es thc
love affair between Empress Shotoku (Koken) an d the Buddh ist monk
,04.. [)~i/(;l!;U J/ d( ~!l -g f,
XX II ( T aho. XII, 496): B,mmii-kyii kOj/",kki ( T aij/rii, XL, 70 S).
';5. Klch j -tc: n : ;ee C hlp. 1I ( 1).a. n. 6. Dkyo more fran kly than any co urt chronicle ever dared to do (111.38) .
,;6. $aic:-x.. "Ke:1b ~ -r on ," Den:,!yii D,lisil j urulri;. I, 111. Sec:- Nakao T oshihiro , " Den gy K ya ka i does not \ at e his opin ion direc t])" b u t record s th e po ~ula r
l) : shi Sa ic:J He :-. ;ngL"u kan," BlIkk yv lIli nillg mkllll, cd. by Nlhon u kk y gakkai, 188- 203.
~7. Ddwl.StJ Ilc;lr.;lI-gyii (Taish;; , XI I , 4 2S(-426a). 7S. Ka ta ;'osc, K'Yljiil.m r,jlC'g ,lI<lrisllli - roll, Part I, Chap. : .
J
r." .." A'Jr ;;n .. rA . ' rL. .. " . ~_ " f~\ " 1' f f1 d,ur;r1l1 r fi <; I r l ulIJ!PY 11 ( ? ) /J
sa tHlcal son gs abou t the empress and the monk th at we re sung o n the I
missing a sin gle word .. . . An<Jther emperor m ade great vows
st rccts at th at time. Alth ough the empress was no ted in o th er wri tings
and, as an act of devotion, built a statue o fBu ddha. Heavcn aided
as a great patron cf B udd hism , this fact is n cver mentioncd in the
his VQWS, and the earth opened its. tteasu re hau se tO o lfer gold
Niholt r)'oiki. an d linIe restraint 1Sshown in describing the sex ual indis-
[LPreface].
cretion ofthe empress. [t is impor tant to rClnemb er that Kykai COln-
I This passage is based on the acco unts in the l\.rihon s'lOki concerni ng
piled the NihoH.yiki in thc early H eian period when th e governmcnt
Emperor Nin ro ku, P rince Sho toku, and Em p cTo r Shm u. These men
w as t ryin g t o b reak it s elose ties w ith Buddhist institu tions in N ara,
are vene ra ted not b ecause of th eir hcredita ry status bm b ecause of
for w hich the cmprcss w as parti al1 y responsibJe . Howeve r, this realism
their deeds of co mpassion and faith as ill us tra ted in their legends.
ma ya Iso be th e n atural Outeome ofthe Buddhist emphasis up on seeing
olle warld as it re ally iso Prinec Shtokll and Em peror Shom u a re regarded as inca.rnatiol15
In Indian h is to ry , the Brahmans held th e highest placc in thc cas te o f the B o dhi sattva Maiijusri (L5), w h o eame co J apan to propaga te t he
structure, and the rul er had to see k thei r sanction and supp ort . The Buddhist tcachings. K yokai shows g rea t v en e ration fo r Emperor Saga
tdea of cakravartitl (lrnrillj f(!J.$Bi MlEf) , a universal king who turn s the in w hose re ig n he probably concluded th e writing of the Nil.0I1 ryo ik i.
whecl o f the la nd, developed amon g the Buddhists as a result o f the Empcror Saga was a g reat patron o fl ea rnin g and ofthe n ew Buddhist
un iversality of tb eir ceach ings. 79 The cakravart in is an idea l ki ng w ho schools ofTendai and Shingon . [n th e Nilroll .)'oiki Emperor Saga is
pr<JEects aU scm:ien t beings by ru ling the world on th e sole basis of the described as an incarnation ofD h yna M aster J akusen ~ftlJ , and, the fe-
dha rm a as revealed by Sakyamuni. Ea rly Buddhist scriptures presen t fore, a sage e m peror. Kyokai argu es fo r the m erits of Emperor Saga
him as t hc best o f all mon; later ones ml'thologize and emphasize his as a sage empcror. Those WllO favorcd Emp eror Saga said that he was
superhu m'<1 eharacter. This idea of cakraval'tiH was rcadily aecepted a sage emperor because he had abolished ca pi tal pUl1lshm en t and had
outside of In dj a, wherc rulers were viewed as cosmic fi g ur es or rulcd thc state wi rh ben evolcn ce . T h ose w ho were against hirn s~li d
mediato rs bctween the d ivine and human realms. Sin ce Buddhism that he was not cOInpassionate becau se h e enjoyed h uncing, and h e
was intr odu ced tO tb ose lands mainl y on [he initiative of [h e rulers, was not v ruo us cno ugh to maintain the ha n n ony of the universe
th ey wcre rece pt iv e to thc idca of cakralJartifl an d identifi ed the m selvcs and prevent n atu ral calamities from desce n d in g <Jn the peoplc. K y kai
wlth th e ideal un iver sal k ing. says in rcpl y to the la tter :
In japan <se history , aetual political power has customarily been Thei[ ch arge, however , is n o t rig ht . Everythin g in th e country
c>:cr cised by in11 uential court nobles an d latet by a growin g warrio r he reigns o ver belangs to hitn, and we cann oc claim as o ur own
claS>, ratller than by the e mpero r . Thej apanese emperor traditionally even a piece of earth the si ze of a n e edle p oint. All ar e at th e \\'i11
was more a symbol o f the uni ty of the peo ple than an aetive potitieaI ofthe cn1pcroL How could we accuse h irn ofsu ch things? Even
ruler. The Co nfu cian image o f the sage empero r and pro bab ly the in the rcig n o f th e sage empe ror s Yao and Shun, the re were also
B ud dhi st idea of cahava .tin were adopted when the co urt st an ed drou ghts and plagues. So we shouId refrain from suc h ab use
com p lling th e cartiest hi stori es, and th is gavc Ky kai an impressive [[[L3 9].
pr ecedent. In bis prefaee he looks back a t japancse history and says: In Kyokai 's d efense o fEm peror Saga we h ear the eehoes of thc ideo lo-
gy of unIversal so v ereignty found in the C hinese classics. Some Bud-
T llerc are m an)' examples of piety in th e imperi al line. Far in-
dhist scrip tures reveal sim ilar ideas ; thc Sh iuji kml-gyo ~tates:
"anee, it is said th at th ere was an emperor who climbed a hilI to
Mo untain , river, earth o f th e lan d .
slUve)' llis domain, h ad co m passion for the p eople, and thereaftc r
R eaching all the w al' to the ocean ,
contented hirn self w ith a palace that had a leak y roof. Again,
Belong to the Lo rd ;
there was a pri n ce w h o was innately prudent and foresighted,
able t o listen t<J ten men addressing hirn at the same ti me witholl t For in for tune and virtue he e xccls aB othcrs. 80
/9 Sec F uj itJ K Gt,\t! lJ, "T emin jOG n i tsuite." in In dlJ,l),r Jm Bukkyiigaku nmslu'i, 14 5- 156. l~ o r 80. S llillj! kan-gyci, J[ (Ta islt(;. [11 , 297 C) , m ~~ ~ 'J~ I.ui iif j( t'l'.JI)"::ii?ItM.JT~..E ~ A ,i"j ~~:ttji1Iz
.. gt:ncr~ 1 trc :tt mem :Jr In d i. n kmgship sec J. Gonda, Allclenl Indian Kings/llp '/;'0111 ,!re R eligiOlH - t<J!f<:* (i~f,l . Cf. rv~s un :t gJ Yiikei, " Gokoku shis r.o kigen, " IK. xv (No.
De\el nbcr t.
f>r, iH "c k iw' ~ J cp r i n;: from .'v,m:w, 111 . IV). 19(6), 69-7~; Kallilob ~ huyli, . 'Konk lIl yG- kyo no tei5-bn 10 sono Shina-Nl hO:1- teki j u ,. 6, "
Bukkyii .< lligc.ku. V I (Ndt- 4, Octob~r 195i ), 21 - J:2.
Itl tro dHctiotl [66 ] C hapter [[ (2) a " . _-1 .. . 0_ .! r .... _ ' .,--. , ..' ,
Thc mon <lrch y b eing cl divine institutio n, passive obedien cc on th e ' lp in the case of an einp ress d owager 5ucceeding he r deceased llllsb an d
pa r t of the p co ple is enj oined. Buddhist ru lers govcrn the state wh beca u sc a female shaman such as Amaterasu m ika m i83 and Hlmiko
:he altrui stic love of bodhjsattvas, dnd the peop le should respond with l!i-\R!Pf 84 w as a virgin ofthe trib e and not a chi eft ai n' s w ife w itle child-
o bcdi encc and l oyalty. T h e BuddhlSt idea of d epe nd en t origination is ren.
ap plicd to rhe 50cia] h ierarchy in tbis case, and thc sense of g ratitude, Inaue Mitsu sada makcs a clear di stin cti o n bct wcc n [emaIl' m lers of
paticutarly toward a ru ler, is emphasized. rhc sixth and seven th centuries 3nd tho se of th e cighth centllry an d
Thc signiflcancc o f the em peror in the Japa nese tradition rests on rejects Orikuchi's th eory as an excessi vely mythological interpr eta-
ehe na tio ns th at the re tempo ral contin ui ty of an un broken line of ti on. H owevc r, hc d oes not d eny the infiuence o f a my thical shaman-
~ mperia l ruJc froDl an cestors in the remo re p ast to d cscend ants in rhe istic female ruler even as late as th e Na ra p eriod . According to Inoue,
future and th at t b ere i5 a cosmic unit y o f h ea yen, carth, and man. th e frequent appearance of fe ma le ru in s in that agc is no t an lsola ted
K~'okaj 's :ltremprs to reconci1e such fundam ental n otions abo m his phenomenon at co urt bur an ind ica tion o f th c persistcn cc o f <l ma.tri-
o~\ (} tradition w i rh B uddhi st uni versalis tic idcas met \vith o nly limi ted lineal trad ition tha t lead existed berore the Taika R eform (64 5) an d
succcss. One d iffi cu lty in d elinea ting h is view o f m an is due to COI1- was patterncd on th e Ch inese pa trili ncal tradition . Althougb fan Li ly
Aicring materia ls p resent in tbc Buddhist scrip tures, which had been regiscries da ting [ro m 702 show tha t thc hcads of famil ies wert usually
w:-itten at d iffer ent tinle5 and p laces. Thc pritna r y d ifficulty, howevcr, males, it is assu med that the earl y tradition was still al ive in the p ractice
ls that his par t ic ipat ion in a 50cia1 order based o n su ch deepl y roo te d of llsing thc mo rher's surnamc in naming th e child d ur ll1g the Nar a
hierarch icaJ prin cip1es limit cd his claim s for th e unive rsal dharma . period and e.ven in the H eian period. ss
T b c storics ofth e j\Jiholt yyoiki dcscribe a ri ch divcrsity Ofl.VOll1en ,
b. J..{,lomffll as a COJrtl ic Symbof bo th high and Jo w , rich an d poor, lay and clerical. T hir ty talcs ou t of
Du rin g the one hundred and seventy- seven years of the A suka and onc hun dred :md sixteen feature h eroi n es, and wamen appe ar in
Na ra pe riods, r o u g hl)' t he vears covcred by th e Niholl ryoiki, six in anoth er ten. Nuns appear in six stories (1 .35; 'J 1. 2, [7, 19; II I. I 9, 34) ,
emprcsses rcigne d fr a to tal of scvent y-two years. 8t They wcre all an d the rcnui nder are devoted to lay women. As mcntioned above ,
m cmbers o f the im pe rial [ami ly, and o n e reason fo r thei r selection the lega l system of thc society was parri lin cal, bu r socia1 cOllvent io n
wa s tbc difficuJty of dec iding 011 a male rule r. Fe ma le rul ers in the berra ycd the persis tence of thc mat rilineal traditio n . A typica.l f;unily
six th and seven ch ce nturi es wert em press dowage rs. In the eighth of a freeman co nsist ed of a d ozen mcmbers : h usband and wile, child-
:emury, aiter the esta blish m en t o f the C h inese legal system, warnen ren , elose relatives, and serva n ts. After marriage a wife usual1 y lived in
oecame empresses as a resu lt of th e principle of parent-child succession he r husband's fam ily (1.2 ; 1l. 27; [[[ A). On the o the r hand, goin g to
:hat rcp laced the tra dition al prin ciple of sllcccssion [rom brother to the wife's home f r courtship and m arriage was also in prac rice (1. 3 [;
o rother. Seve::J.] theories havc becn adva n ced for the largc nu m ber of 11.)), ) 4). Supporting parents was an est ab lished practice, and fail ur e
WOJn ~'n fulers. Orik uchi Shinob u , a conte mp o rary Jap::mesc classicist, to da so brou ght ethical condemna tion ( 1. 2) , 24). In spite of snch a
str e ~scs thc S~l;unallisci c role o f the em press 011 th c prcsu pposition patrilin cal so cie ty , stories abut parent- chil d relationship s st ress t he
that the an ci en t cribal Iu le \vas curied out th ro u gh the co l1abo ration ma tern al ries in a11 but th ree insta nces (L9, ro, ] 5).
of the nulc cbieft:\in ~ll1d a fe malc shaman. 82 H is th cOJY docs not h old
k.l. Thc SlIll goddt;;, ;lIld myth o logiea! anccstor ofthe illl p cri~l f~lllily who\e m m c lit cTJIl ;'
" Empn"" Rcigrl Emprcss R eign
mcnns Ik~vcnshllling.grt<lt-dt i ty. According tO NlOki KOJi re, Anl.\ttr:ml "'~s pr b.l bly a
10eal deie)' of 1St cr a prieste,<; of t he sungcd cilshrincd ar lsc. Th c Gr:md ShTllll' of lsc 0 r;glnalcd
in th c lattcr p;Jrt Of tllt' flfth Ctntury. dlld tht, elost' de wlth thc l lllpcnal f~ n , dy ,v al cst.lblishcd
Sui;" v 593 -6lX CCllTll)' 70 8- 7 14 prob" bly i11 thc rClgn of Empcror Kinlllci in thc C<lrly St~th cent u ry. S:.:r his ,\"ifwlI ~. :Jili rIO
.,
K-" ' ok Ll 6.P.-6 .J4 Ccnsh 7 ( 5-723 sllizoku 10 tm' ,P, 241 -16 ~ .
S ~ : me l rl S5-6 6- Kken 749-757 11.+. T hc W ('l dril, ~;.\.;; compiJed about l !J7 n.[). ghcs pas.ingcs Oll \Va fit U;JpJlli. :J.lld r: f:rs
ri{gyok L I
tO H im iko (ar Pimi ko);u ib ruler. "She occupied hend( wnh ll!lgic ~n d sor (cry bl w i.tc:lin g
~.IO 6 87--6\)6 Shtoku 764-770 thc l' ro plc. Though mature in ~gr . ~he rt'll1ain~d unmar fl!:d . She bad a yo ullger hothl'r ~d lO
(Koken ) asmtl,d her in ru lin~t hc (ountrr ....... See R. T~ullo d ,l ,l nd L. C. G OO dll ( h , j. ;!h~ J /1 1 C;lill~g
PO' rcn t' ~' ~~"5 iuo)GLlC mit for a ~.;cCld p:"' riod.
D}'II>uri( H i.~:"ri('s, ll- N).
8:<. O r: kuc hi, '\!}otci-k." Orrki,,jJl Slr i/l olm <:fll ;hii. XX, 1-2 3.
8:5. hl,,)lIl' \1ilsmJd~ .\."iIIOII Km/ai, 22} - 2 53. Sn.' 1H.1 6 . ]9. C f. K oj rk;, IJ (.\KJJT. I . . .J : ).
Intl"Odl/ctif'1/ [68] Chapra 11 (2) U Tl1 tm riu rf i lHJ r f...n 1 rll/Tll lfJl " (? \ /,
DuaOJUsm llltrodu ced in its world viev.... [he n ation of the equal it y the y have chang ed sex an d b eco m e men . Thc H oke-ky contain,
of all beings be(o re d h arma. Sak ya muni 's teachings whi ch challen ged story ab out an cig ht- yea r old d aughtcr o f Kin g Nga w ho wa.'\ ('n-
50cia] discrimin ation Jod the castc- o rien ted socie ty, appea led to lightened. Shc WeS so intell igent th at she co uld acq uire Ln one m o ment
wom cn as weH 8. S t o lo wer-caste p eo ple in lndia . Equality was rcaJi zed a thousand meditations and proofs ofthe essen ce of d h arma. Saripu tra,
,
withitl the sam g h a in which dis cus sions and decisions werc made in Skyarnuni 's diseiple, told h er t ha t there w as no ex anl p le of a woman
the cDuneil o f ail ln embers. How ever, same qualifi cations were made having rcachcd Buddhaho od becausc a woman cannot attain any of
o n the sta tus of \Vornan jn the sa mgha. In spite of t he fac t that ea rl y the fi vc ran ks : Brahm , Indr a , thc Guardians o f tb e Fo u r Qua rte rs,
P li scriptu res in clude biog rap h ies of emin ent nu ns, as w e ll as m on k s ,akrallartin (universal Buddhist ki ng), o r bod h isa tt n. She mi racul ous-
v.,..-ha atta:in ed e n lighte n m ent,8 6 other scriptures disparage wornen and Iy transform ed hersclf from fe mal e co m ale, rhcrcup on m;mi fc stin g
Str ess their jnfc rjor ability to p racticc , the disciplines t hat lead to herself as a bod hisattva, and went CO thc pure land.91 In the same
en]]ghtcnnl cn t. A tr adition has it that Skyamuni cO l1 sentcd to the manner, the JVeJum-g yo narr at es (hat two thou sand billio n wom en and
admiss lon of women to the samgha as lang as the regulati ons pe rtain- femal e d ei ties tr ansfo rnlcd their fe ma le b odi es into m ale bodies anel
in g co the m werc snleter than th ose for monks. 87 H e is creditcd with attained arha rship.92 Thc sam e vicw i5 exp ressed in ehe scp rures of
saying that the a dm ission o f \voman to thc sa m gha wo uld sho rten the the pure land sc hool, in whieh , h e pure lan d is depict ed as a land with-
tboll5and yca rs of Euddhism's g olden agc by five hundred years88 o ut any Vlamen. Amida v O'.ved (hat he wo uld n ot attain cn hg htcn-
A h ho ugh dl c re a ce, m an)' reasons to doubt the historicity of these lnent if wom en shou ld fa il t o turn the ir though ts towa rcl attaining
worru ascrib ed to Sakyamum , the e xistcn ce of such a tradition indi- cnlightenment and to d cspi sc their fe male nature, an d Ith ey shotlld )
-
eat es that the re was a canRiet betwecn Skyamuni's teachings and the be born again as wornen after h aving heard his nanlc. 93 T here is eyen
traditiona] Hindu warld view. a scripturc writtcn specifi eaJly o n the transformati on ofwomen into
[" Vedic l nd ia , women had not onl)' tbe right of offcring sac rili ces m en. 94 C h ange of sex i5 accompl ished by meditatio n , Amid a's vow,
.:in their own names but also th at of co m posing hY1nns. 89 Later, in t he or recitation o f dharani.
B rahman.:i ca] p e riod , warnen lost freed o rn in reli gi o us pract ices as we il K yokai lea m ed the Bu ddhist teaehings tbrough th ese scriptures,
as in ome[ social activ.iries. Wornen we rc exp ec tcd to li ve in compIete but he did not aecept the view of w o rnan cont ain ed in tbem . The
subsen'ien ce to th ei r p arcn ts in chi ldhood, to their hu sba n ds afte r warnen in tb e N i/wll ryoik i convey a quite differe n t impressio n. Gener-
marrjage, a::1d to th eir S0l15 after thc dea th of thei r spouscs. 90 Sueh ally Ky a k;li n ot only dep icts women as devout an d co m passion ate,
discrim ina ti o n may be explain ed in v arious ways: "\vomcn's sufferi ng even cap able of attaining enlightcnmcm, but hc also alt ers th c m e aJ1-
in cbildbirtb was intctpreted as a res ult of cvil decds 111 past lives; thc ing of thc scri ptural passages to fit his own purposes. Fo r in ~ tance , in
pa th to the enli g ht enment which Sakyamuni- bad prcaehed was a story o f a poo r mo ther with ni ne children, a bod hl sattv a com es to
th ought to bc 1110rc suitable for men; wo m en were co nsidered to be their reseue in response to t be m othcr 's faith (IIAl) . In thc not e,
m o re emotion al than m en, and. rherc fore, to lu ve 1110re diffi culty in K yokai gives a quotation from the ;\Iehm/-gyo: "By 100-in g , he child
rcaching enlightenl1lcllt. No m atter what the reason s, the traditinal the mo the r is reborn inre Brahm's hc aven." Tbis qu Ota on is a
10 w \"L eW of ,"vornan gained pro rni ncl1ce in hter Buddhist literature. modificd version of the followin g passage: "A lt hough wom en are
fn t hl'i\'lah ayal13 nadition, the Hok e-ky, ]\lehan-gy, and Muryju- inna tcly infer ior an d worse (th an m e-nJ, th ey may bc ba rn in h ea ven
ky ~ktEnft ar e fam ollS far th eir message of salvation f r WOInen. I as a consequence o f th eir motherly love. " 95 Obvious ly thi s scrip tura l
However, in these scrip tur es warnen gain enlightenm_enr o nl y aft er
91. 1\.o1}MIDrWxt- k} o, X [ (T " ilo. IX . 35 bel -;:tni Uifi -l5 ,.UH k ftJ~; ~ w : ~, Jt lJ r !~ f~'ri!t fj -
Sec Kat, tr:ms., M y,"ihJ- rrll,f<!r-k y, 258-260.
~6. l~li&d;ha. S ec P;-::.Im! Cl/ rhe Early Bllddh rs: r. Psafms ~rlhl" Sislers, trans. by Mrs. R h ys 92_ D<liJl.1lS1nuhall-f.iyo. XL (T aisn, X [[. 60 Jc ). A:!c 7": .~= 1Il {:,}' A.. 'Xh!! !(Ji ;~.Y~ ::::..Q' :iH-,'{3i:~
D a\!ds. 'u = ~l~ '--" "
1'1'1,11, ntUQ *" .
~,
,
87. See H irab wa .~,k. :-~ , Rir, l/Z D II J km k)'i:j, 493. A ccrt~in Vinaya text gives two hun dred 93. ,\.fIlfJ'1lju-kro. I (Ta ishti, XII. 268<.:). Cf M ~ x M ii llC"r. tram .. 'l Ire L :lIger Srll'i!.11.r;iv),ii I1<l.
.md ftt-[ y prcccp n for ;l. fu t! -Aedged m on k and threl:' h un dred and fon y-cight prccepts fo r a , 9
fL: lJ-tledgLi. :1u r.. 94 For eXJm plc. [rllll}'l'shi!i-kyli ~~k J;l~~ ('J,risilLi, IV, N o. 594j.
H8. df;;II"ll.~d, X. l (SEE, XX, 3:.1 0-3J6). 95. O'lllwlSI< /J dJ(HI-.~ Y ;:; , X (T Ili,h<l, Xl! . .p 5<'j . Sec H f La/I' . ', "'BI, V, I..j./ - J ', IS BE. X X V .
59. CLl.rim~ BJ de ~. ~:"" ()f>1 (11 in All cii'liJ Ilidia, tr a lls. l> y Mary E. R.. M art1ll. 9. 195-1(6). \Vo m en are t-Jromiscd binh lrl h~ a "e n by Illc~m of thci r loy;a lty I() dmr h usb M-. ds
t;o. Sec The Llws cI.'\,(::II:I, V. 148 :SDE, XXV. !95). and lllothcr ly c~rc and lo ve .
l nllodll a;oll [ 761 Chapler Jl (2) ( l'" tr" A,u r;tu , r,..,..., 1 rl"A " '''~ n {... \ -
Ul!\c mDoalca lrnmortals, whi1c E no Ozunu (I.28) and amorher of to die and what th eir futu re Iife would be (1. 22; nL20, 39).113 In ,pite
s~ven children (1.13) seem to be heavenly immortaJs, for they ascend of thc popula ry of stories con cerning such mira culous powers , pos-
tO heaven. The aneedote ofPrince Shtoku's meeting with a beggar session of thern or particularly exhibition of th enl was regardcd in
is the most famous, and it is found in several different versions. 108 The carly Buddhism as dangeraus for J monk ,:vhose g oal was nirvana.
differcnce between th e i"Jihofj shoki and Nihon ryiki is that the fo rmer In the Japan ese reli gio us tradltion, 0 0 dear-cut distinctton ean be
emphasizes Prince Shotoku as a saint admir cd by hi s contemporaries made between sacrcd and secula r. What is dosest to "sacred" is ~
and the latter depiets the beggar as a saint. In the Niholl ryiiiki, Prinee (sei, sh, or hi.firi) , but its antonym is fL, "ordina ry," as understood by
Shotoku is ad mi red indi ree tly beeause of his ability to recognize Kyokai. " Sacred" me ans "suprcme, precmin ent, extraordinary." No
sainthn ess in a beggar . diseontinuit y exists. This is thc basis for th e do ctr ine of universal
A sage is. said to differ (rom an ordinary person in this way: salvation. Each petson has the po tential to be a bodhisattva, altho ug h
\TJ c le arn that a sage recognizes a sage, whcreas an ordinary man there are ditferellces in the degrecs of aehievcnlent, which is b y 110
cannot reco gnize a sage . Thc ordinary man sees. nothing but the I means predestined. T he ideal image of man is nOt a seho lJrJy <lud vjr-
outer form of a beggar, while the sage has a pen etrating eye able I tuo us monk, b ot one who lives an ordinary life ye t rc"eals an ex-
to recognize the hldden essenee. lt is a .nliraculous event [L4]. trao rdinary quality through such a life. In o ther wo rds, hc is in sOelet )'
In the Eu ddhist tra di ti on th e penetrating eye 109 is th e faeult y that and at the same ti me rises above societ y. Generally speaking, bod hisat-
distinguishes tbe Euddha .nd bodhisattva from otdinary m en. With tvas are mon ks notcd for their virtuous lives, while hijiri is a term
such an eye, a person ean see into the past and thc future, as weIl as applied to those \"'lho possess charismatic cr ll1iraculous quali tics. The
the present ; thel' can also see into o ther people's minds. It is a sign of person who combined these two is Gyogi, the most admired fLgurc
the ascetie's passage froln eonditioned existence to astate of deli ver- throughout th e Nillol1 r)'oiki. He is the cmbodi ment of compassionate
anee, or from samsara to nirvan a. Prinee Shotoku and Gygi are love, wherein the two aspcets are incorporated.
prominent insrances. On the a ther hand, there are stories of m en who There is an aneedote of Gygi's love fo t his dlScip le, Shll1gon. Out
revea l other sorts of mitacu lous powets. Gigaku ;)i!~, a Korean monk, ofhis love for Gyogi, Shingon used tO say th at he wo uld d ie an d go
used ro r ecite the Sh1-gy) 110 aod, as a rcsult, he eould beeonlc visible to t he pure land with Ilis master, b ut he died young. Gyogi, grieving
or invisible at will and move arollnd without any restrictions CL L5).1 11 ovcr the death ofhis dis ciple who had madc such a vow, composed a
I poem:
Knowledge of previous existences is one such power, and there is a
stor y of a devotee of the Hoke-kyii who was rew arded with such Did yo u not promise me w e would die together'
knowledge ofhis past life (1. 18) 112 As a eonsequence o f the penetrat- But, alas! You are gone,
ing cyc, o r clalrvo yance, m any eminent monks knew when they were Leaving 111e behind.
!
A re yo u a crow, to be su ch a gteat liar? [1l. 2].
108. ;\'ihOl'I shokl (Sui ko 4. I : ( 2 : J ) ; Jogei 511010kll h ttrlSlI , Jogii SMfOku Mishi-dell hokelHiki
(,~ 6 : r r : (5); .$h(;tokrl Mishi-d(" tj r}'aku (DEZ. 1 [2); Mall yshii (11 I, 415) . This is si.n1ply an expression of human love. Gyogi's grief o\rer his
(09. T /!IIgm xk/.! (Skt. r:!iiJYdcakl!H) . Sec Va subandhu, AliIlI'dharmakoJaiastra, lX (Bllddht favo rite disciple's death shows the depth ofhis hum an feeling.
Scrip/I""s, t ram. by Conzc. UI- l3 J) . According to Eliade, these "miraculous powers" are for
th c Ir_OSt part st e [cot ~p<:d. and occur in all the ascctic and m ystical litcratU Te'S of lndia. Sec his
Othet legends of Gyogi, howevcr, stress his extraotdina ry ability
Y"{,<1. 177-18:..
"
to penetrate into other people's m inds and to see things as an extend ed
11C. PI:/ii iip .lr<lnlJI,ilrrda yasiitM , BJ/dd/lisr I\4ah}'Li!1<1 Tex ts (S BE, XLIX).
11 j . T h c deiC riptioll of v arious m o des of m iraculou5 power occurs in atl the IJikiij'ilJ. For
series o f cause and effee t from th e past into the future. When Ch,k
exa:n pk. Di.qhllt\ik.i yc: (m. 111- [ LJ) di\'idC3 thern in to two catcgorics, th:n is, ignoble mper- eame to sec Gygi aft er he had abused C yogi .nd had been punishcd
normal power w hkh is conco m itant wirh memal inloxicants and with worldly aims, and the for his inordina te ptide, Gyogi welcomed him wi th o pen arms, know-
noble supernorma.l pow er which ;1.ttaincd only by Buddhist m on ks. In the former. fr om
b eing olle.a n: an becorJIcs lTIu!rj[o rm: from being Illultifor m he becolllcs o lle: from b eing ing w hat had taken place (1l.7). In another sto r y "the penetratin g eye"
v isible he bccome ~ in vhlblc ; hc pa;;scs without hindr:wcc to the further side of a w :tll. o r a
b~t tlem ent. or a mCl:ntain, as if through air ; he travdscross-lcgged through the sk y,like a bird
I is used as a motif\vhereby Gyogi accuscs a woman in his fu~e of
having smeared her hair with animal oil , fr he saw in .thc oil thc ;let
o n the wing . [n thc lauer. he is fr ee ftom desirc :md attains self-m astery. See DiaJo,llues oI Eil t
8rrdJh,1, tun~. DY T. W . an d C. A . F. Rhvs Davids, Part [[[. [06-107. o f killing Me (11. 29). In ano ther stor y hc told a m o thet with a ctying
112. Set' DI<f /:Jg u c~ ~fr llt' ]Ju ddlM. trans . by R.hys Davids, P art T hree, [04-1 06. Cr. Eliade,
YO.g.l, 1 5~ l 85. f.IJ. B'lddl!isl Scripfum, , rans. by C onze. 1)3
["trodl/aio" [ 7 8) eh"Pler II (2) C T.. , >",.,A" ,I;~M f ... ,.., "'",. . .. . rl'" I ,
Chl ld t o throw it lto the rive r. Naturally the mother's affect ion In th e aeCO Lll1t cf the fune ral rit es we fmd a g rca t cancern with
prev ented her fron) ab andoning the child, and she came back to listen spi rits of thc d ead. T herc is evidence of the practice of mOR,ari M, the
to Gyogi again, brin gin g th e chil d wi th her. H e reb uk ed her an d an cien t custom of p teserv ing t hc co rp sc fr a sho rt pe riod bero re
rep eal ed tb e same words. Finall y , when she obeyed G yo g i and Ihrew buriaL Du ring this pe rio d some spi rits of thc dead visit eh e l:lnd o f ehe
the child imo t he wa ter, sh e lea rn ed th at she had no t se ttled all h et dead and co m e bac k to repo rt on what h .s ha ppelled to thom. T he
debts in a pre,...-ious life and tha t her form er cre ditor h Old b een born as dead corne bac k to life in th.ree da ys (1. 5,30 ; lI.l 9: 111.9) , f,W days
her chil d to m a ke her suffer and pa y her debts. The tellin g of thi s (111.23 ), seven days (11.16; 1Il.22, 26), or n ine da ys (II .5, 7). A three-
,story i5 a skUJful means for prcaching karmic ret ribution. This womJI1 da y p cri od 1l5 seem s to hav c been most comm on, while la ng er periods
ca m e to bear dbarma, but had difficulti es in putting her trust in Gygi were ex cep tion al and res ulted fro m an imperi al decrec ( I .5) o r the d ead
aod obeying him ; she was pressed to choose between n ot hearing m an's jast wish (1l .5, 7,16; [1 1.26). Th. e MyOlu'k i, a coll ecriol1 ofChi-
d harma and m aki ng a to tal comlni tm ent. Afte r sh c chose th e la tte r, n ese Buddhist legen d s wh ich influen ced the Niholl ryiki, also teHs of
she le.;uncd how her k a rma was b ein g work ed ou t in the p ast, preSell t, thc dead being revived: fo ur tinl es on the seventh day. two c a eh on
:md future . thc first an d thi rd davs, ) and one eaeh o n th e sccond, founh , aod forti-
\Visdom an d cOlnpassion are means for fulftJling the bodhisattva' s eth days. The [regL1en ey of reviv al s on the sev cnth day m al" rcA ce t
V O ",". \Visdom is cult ivated by loo king at re.li t y, by seeing thing s as the inftu en ec of thc Chinese custo m o f ho ldin g the service f r the
they are. No disc on tin uit y exists be t ween the grea t merey o fBuddha dead o n th e scventh. da)' (11 .33), an d repea tin g it thereafter 3[ r h.e end
and human lo ve. Wh.t distingllishes t h.em is th.e degree to wh ich right of eac h seven-da y inte rval unu l th.e for ty- n inth da y (lil .3 7). B ud tlhi sm
knowJedge sustains love. Ordina ry rrren are consciOllS onl y ofphysi- assimila tcd thi s practice of thc an cestral c ult an d incor porat ed it ltO
cal, ca rn allove as ll1 th e case of the m a th er wirh the crying child. But Buddhist ri tes . 11 6
a sage 's love is based o n right knowlcdge wlth which he m ay see Buddhists brougbt th e Indj3n Cll stOl11 of crcmation to Ch in a, Korea,
I
events on a m acrocosmic scal e. Hum an love is never rcjected, but it an d Japan. Thc C hine se resisted (h is strange cus tol11 , and it was
I largell' ad o p ted by Buddhist ll1 onks ,l17 wh.llc in Jap an it was adopted
l1lus t be eleva ced and expanded on t he basis afthe right undc rstanding
of exisccnce. bl' people of high court rank as weil" monk s. Th.e fi rst Ja pancse
reco rde d c asc is that ofthe Venerable Dosh. o (l. 22) , who diecl an d was
(3) MIRA CU LO US WORLD crcmatcd in 700. Em p ressJi t, cremated in 703- is th c first case a mong
membCl's of tbc imperial h o u seh o ld .! 18 Howeve r, pcop le scc m ed tO
a. Beli/!/in Ii.e Spirits o{ flie Dead
be afrai d oflosin g th c bod)' through crcm ation in eas e th c spirit should
'v./e. fi nd two type s o f mi rac ul o us tale in the f'..,7illol1 r)'iki. In o ne return to thi s wo rld. This might h appen in th e event that d cath took
typ e, a In an o r his s pi rit reveal s hi s ext raardinar y power through p laee premat urd y J S a res ult o f sa m e error of Ya ma o r his messen ger,
m iraculous signs; in th e other t yp e , th e dharmak)'a, essential b ody of
or if t he meri t accumlliated b y the dead man or h is famil )' wasj udged
Eu ddh. a,"4 o r tb e Buddha's spirit (shryii ~illI) works as an agent b y Y am a to be grea t enough to allow h im to return [ 0 life agai n .
tnrough such things a s lluddha images and scri ptural seroHs to cause Some people stipulatcd 111 thelf \Vi Ils that their bodies not be cr rmated ,
miraculo us signs whi eh bring p eo ple la cki n g in faith to th c re aliza- providing for th e possibility ofcomin g back to life (11. 5,7, [ 6). T h ere
bon or the etema} pTcsen ce o f dharmakya. A ccording to K yo ka i, th ese
two are n ot sepa rate, b ut united in o ne d harma tran scend ent and inl-
115. Tcmpon r y b u na! prcceding !inJ! huria! is a llllivcr.a! prac tice, altnough tht' kll~th o f
manent. Let U5 begin wh a discussion o f starle s of the m iraculous thc:- pc:-riod varies. A('(o~di ll g w the ZorO<lsHian trildicion, Ihe sou! of thc:: dcad hOVCH arouu d
p o \\'e r of the spirits of the dead and th at o f extraord inary mcn. I thc bad)' for thrcc d~ Y5 and nights. Sec Zachncr. Tbc TCd(hhl.~; 4th" ,\fil.l!i. 133.
116. Sec Takcda Chcshu, Smw Shlli, 21.\-244.
t t.j. Dhat'l ll a-bod y o f Bud d ha: one :lsptet of thc thrccfold body of Buddha, namdy, 117. SctJ.J. M . de Grout, Ihe R rI(~jolisS}'ilem ~tC!til/(l, m. 1391- 14 17. SilKe ver)' allel elll
tim ~s, <renution has been OdlO\l510 the Chinese , for el abo rate funen! ,md bnri~ 1 w as <:'>lt'lmed
,!lM"m<l ""]'! " .,mrl,~w.~ .lbf )(/, limct ion~l aspect ofBudd ha whieh il.l' pcan in Buddh~s and b o dh isat-
ce
(vas. such :l5 A. m i&, c r K ~ l1 no n ; <lnd lIil1l1c;r.'lIktiy/r, his[Qricalmanifc5t:lrion in S.ikyamuni. .IS thc h ighest du ty prcscribed by filial piet y. In spitc of the dcveloplmm o f .l3ud dhim l in (: hIl1:l,
LoUl' de I... V.,I16;: Pv usin, "Th e Three Badirs of a Buddlu." JRAS (Oetober 1906),943-977; wc find littk p ositiye rden:nc(' 10 crCll1ni Oll in Chinc5c doclln~( m s for nc ;lr!y l 1llilJ,.; n niulIl.
C:lcn Abn ullH, "0" thc TripIe Body of [he Buddha: Tlu' EasteTrr Buddhist, IV (No. I, 118. SJltlkrl !\,'ilt(lllgi. I (Monm u 4: 3: 10), DJ$lul w as a nnalcd; 111 (D aih6 3 ' J2: I ; ), C,,-
.y-- ..
, .,.,,) . - "('
~ ". Emprcs.Jit6 was cremate-d; 111 (KI."iUI1 4: I l: J 2) Empcro r MOlllllU \VJS tTcl!l a~e d .
i
IlltrodilClioll [8 0 J CI,"pter lJ (,) a lll tro dll ctioll I 8 J 1 CI. l1 pler IJ ( 1) 11 ;1
is a story of a girl wh o w as sent to the land of thc dead by thc inten- violent death as a result of hi s insulting treatment of J men.dicant
tional cr ror of YaJna~s m essen gers, w ho had been bribed by an other monk. Although the S hoku Nihollgi givcs a diffe rent version of the
girl d estined to die to substitute the fo rmer girl for herself Yama, story,122 it sccms dear that evel1 a rebel' s spirit deservcd a p roper
after discovering the erra r, told her to go horne, but her body had burial in a gra ve (11 . I ).
alread)' been cremated ([1.22). Thc same thing h ap pened to a former There 'Aras a belief that th e spiri t would not Jeave the bones even
min i"er of thc state who could not be revi ved beeause h is body bad aftcr the flesh d ecayed, or the body was creTn atcd . Therefo rc, after
been eremat ed (1U.36) . The taboo that a ma n born in th c year of c rematio n , bones were collected Jn d bUTied properly in a gra ve. Th e
fu'c 11 9 cann ot be cre mated is recorded in one sto ry (11I.2o). These cases spiri t of thc dea d p e rson existed sO Tnewhere in t he universe, and, in
Tcvcal a belie f Ibot, when a man dies, his spirit leaves thc body . n d the case afa vi o lent death, the spirit haunted the living by hOVerlllg
goes tO thc land of th e dead. A duality of spirit and body is fo und in around the bones, the only remaining portion ofthe body. Sevcral
such rho u ght. stories in the Nillo/1 ryiki rcveal this belief The skull, whie h was
In cont rast, a 11lonistic v iew is found in the 1egends of the beggar regarded as the e"ential part ofthe hum an bad)', was the plaee wh cre
met by P rinee Shtoku (1.4), Monk Gan gaku (IA), E no Ozunu th e spi rit reslded (I. 12; 1ll .27). The cample te Buddhist ve rsion ofthis
(12 8), and th e mot ber of seven children (I. I 3). These four are clearl y beli cfis found in the storics in whieh th e stran g faith of a dead ascct ic
depicted in terms of the imagery of Taoist saints who attained im- remain cd in th e tongue of the skull and mad e it reeite the Hoke-kyii
,
mortalit )'. In the first story (1.4) th e beggar died and was buried wbile (111. 1). Belief in th e mi raeu lous power o f Sakyamuni 's re lies may be
Gangaku died and w as cre mated, bu t both were revived and seen classifted in the , ame group (11.3 1, 36). That fte sh de ca ys bu t bo ne
au vc. T hese tb ree legends, in spite of their Buddhist coloring, are does not is an ancient beli ef whieh may be tr aced back as [ar as the
primarily Taoist. Ho\\'ever, this mon is tic V1CW of man d oes not ap- Paleolithi e age. In the tradition of hunting p eo ples, bone reprcse n ts
pear prominen rly in the lege nds of the Nihon ryiki. The Japan ese the co re of life; in death m an and aniInals are reduced to bone and
attitude to the T aoist ideal o fi mmortality, similar to the way in w hich 123
reborn from it aecording to th e pe rpctual eyclc of life and death.
the j ap ancse aceepted the Buddhist teaehing of the transi en ee of life, A m ediator bet\-veen the dead and the living wa s the diviner,
was la rgely one of sentimental appreciati on. 120 kalllllagi I' 1'[.' 24 When a person died , the b ercaved famDy sent for a
In the Heian period the belief in spirits of the dead grew into a diviner to ask him co instruct thern of the dead person 's last wish Of
mo r bid feu of evi l and vindictive spirits,1 21 but the NihoH ryoiki al- o f any message from h im (I L 16 ; 111.39). This is an ancie m rire to eall
ready exhib its such a tend ency. It wa s b elieved that, after a v io len t back the dead. The diviner also had the role of healer. Wh en "neithc r
death, oft en'5 a resu l t o f politieal intrigue, the spirir would not leave cloeto r nor medicin e could eure the disease, l> divine rs were sllInnloncd
the bad,. but would lin ger in thi s world to haullt the living. Fo r to purifyand pra)' fo r thesiek person (IlI.S ). Doetors were professional
example, Emp ecor Sh mu h ad the rebe llious Prinee Nagaya ki lled physieians who made use of dtugs to eure th<sick ([1.5, 41). They we re
and orclered tha t he be eremated and his ash es thrown into a ri vcr. eon centrated in the vic init y of th e capital , and the flfst to be SUlll-
However, h is cremated bones were buried in a di stant province. Thc tnol1cd on occasions of illness.125 However, sin ce sickncss was bc lieved
local people ascribed an olltb reak of discase to t he vindictive spiri t of to be the result of p ast cvil karma, confession and pra yer was <l f unda- \
the prinee and appealed to the cou r t. T h ereupon, the banes were mental means of treating the patient's soul and body, partieularly if
rcbur.l ed on an lsland offthe eoast ofKii, closer to thc capital, in order he was seriousl y il1.
to ap pease the spi rit. Aceording to Kyokai, the prin ee lncurrcd his
122. Sll()klj Ni/lvI/gi, X (Tempy !: 2: I)). Ir say~ th at Prlllce Nag~y~ ~nd his spOUSC Wl' rc
[ [ 9 . N i/wo' {ping ~ ),lhe chird ofthe T m StCI1I5, refening to thc ~outh ;lnd fiT e in the Chinese buried:ll Ikomayam a S !~t.1J, which i~ ~it u ;Hed in thc sa m c provlncc a$ Ihe cap ital.
yi'1-r .1/lg Ivll-I: S Ilf.~ cosJnQ!og-y-, ~n d thcl e ~r e mallY taboos for a person born In this yea r. See 123. See Eliadc, l\1yr f15 , Drram s, al1d :H)'SrcfII's. 83 - 84. 169. ,,"nd Slllll1laliistJI. 16.:!-1 6J , 32} -
Fur.g Yu-l:lll . ..... H is;;w/ ~r C hi'U5C Philowphy, 11, 11-16, for the Tm S tClll ~.
326.
1::.) . Cf. K ob ~Y;Hh, TOilloab, MI /}o,,",m 110 IJUl1galw ~-;r;It,\q) ;:iC ~. In order to emphasize the 124. Fcrnalc sha mans (J;) who ;).re the lIlo uth piece, o f spirits; krlflllJagi prb.lbl y de ri . .: c:.'d fr olll
J~ p;!,ncse scr, ti me n[ ;!'1 app 1eci atio n of tb: Buddhi st idel of t ransien cy ~!!Oh tQ, the author re placcs kaulII (kami) and I lcgi (pacify) . SJ/(lkll I'\:I!r(lUgl, XV III (Ten pyshh 4 : 8: 17) ~ys [bat ~c.'VCt1lCCI1
k;m ~ :;;'Ipcct, i:it'2, \'" ;ew) with :lnothe r kaI! ~ (feeling, sentiment, em otion). di vincrs in lhe capital were arn'sttd :md exiled tO disWIl[ provillces , uch as Izu, O b. Tosa .
12 1. Hori. Fclk R !'Jig ioll. I 1 [- 117. Goryo jW~ is an angry spirit. C f. Thompson, Folklorr, 125. Suzuki Sh uji, "K onjak u m onogatanshu ni ok{' ru b)osha CD ch irysha," l\ 'iholl ,cJwhi,
:l.57. In hl~ .YJvr~'-]pt d(., . 1: is c1;!'s,ifled ~s E. 413 .
No. 243 (August 1968),92- 105
pr oeess. O n th e other han d , t h ere were a,eet ies (gyja) whose only Skyam uTIl 3 II 28
con ta c r w it h Bt:.ddhist discip Lin c was the p ractice of reci tation of the III 25, 30
n ame of a B uddha, man tra. O I d harani, and w h o becam c religio u s M y k en 3 l 34
leaders in ,'ilJag es. M os t of t hem were lay b ro thers (uvaso k" ('f~l!i) 1lI 5, J2
who 1i\Oed in a v iHag e temple or m o untain ret rea t, Son1e o f them Kiehijten 2 II ' 3, [ 4
'Ne re <or om oted t o the sta tus of o rdain ed m o nk, whil e othe rs rem ained Yakushi 2 [[ 39
as gyj;:;. pcrfo n n ing a ro le sim i1ar to that of kmm1agi , although the III Il
for m er ","ere p ::cdomin an tly male and th e latter fe male.129 13 T. M aitreya. whose fut ure co m ing is prophcsied in Pli, Sanskri t. C hinese script ures su ch
as tbc Dil" ,m i k,j ya (iii, 76), ,\,1 aha1),t;;Ili (ii i, 240), H"kc-k}' ii. M ,li" ey aI' y,i Je 111" ,l.~1 ,I , Mi ro kll .~i!Jr: -k)'5
b. 'V orde,. ofl', e Thrce Trea sores ~f~(r .1:J I, M Iroki,IJ0511rsU Jllr,i To;orsulerl-ky() ~.~JfiHAl J:: ~o/t~l ;R~ , and o th ers. Mai trc ya
resides in th e Tu~ i ta heaven (T osotsuten) and will dcscend to catth to t('aeh d h ann a at the end
Le t us t urn 1l0W fr om th e stories about the m i raculo us powe r o f of IC war ld. Thc- Maitrcya eult shows similarities tO the Amida (1.1 11, bu t th e laltcr outl1l1mbcn
the fo rm er in Ch ina ~ n dJa pa l1 in terms of th ose wila aspired tO birth in th c western p ar~disc.
ha i)' rn en to t h e stories o f th e rniraculo us power disp layed by su ch
Sec Jena.ga S::. buro. j J"i Bl<kk"fo shisiishi kellkyi;, 28-37.
objects as scriptures and B udd h;t images. Amon g the miracu lous ta les 1)2. Am ita bha (I nfmitt: Light) or Amityus (infinite Life) rose in popularit y toward ,he end
cf th e JVr"lWI1 ryikr. th e m ost prominent are the stories abo ut Kann on end of lhe Hci~n period in J:1pa n. Thc Hoke- k y~ memiom Amit yus as OH e of the ~~ xtoXn
Budd has aud the lord of the western pa{ad ise. For the western paradi~e. see C ha p. I( tj A, 11. 16.
an c ebe Hoke-kyo_ A ltb ough devo ti on to Kannon is bascd on a ch apter The Niiwll rrolki does not rcfcr to :II1 Y scriptu rcs of tbc pu re lan d o.c.hool. ahhougJl there ,Ire
of the Ho.r,c_kyo,' 30 w e will di scuss separateJy the K ann on legend s and indi c:niollS o f the belief in thc w este rn pa radi se.
t )) . A bodhisa uli3 w ho o rigin atcd wi th the Ch inese fol k worship of th<: North Pole Star ,
th e H,>kc-ky legen d" par tly because th e ch apter on Kannon was o ften whieh w as belic\'t:d 10 eon trol rhe li fe of pcople as weH as their fOft unes; uddlllst tradition
regards the North P o lc a~ thc ape" oLMt. Mcru, J cosl1lic moun taln. InJa p~n thc cu I!, centt r in g
1!C. R ) ii 1I0.C.'( . " S5 ni-ryo ," Arcick 2. See S.amorn. "Earl y J ~p:Ulese Law," TASJ. S<:col1d
"~e n"~'S , .....\."' , I_,ec.. on the figurc of M y kcn , was celcbra ted not onl)" at B u ddh i~t t empk ~ but also :1[ Sh inr
1!.7. J ;:-:l1{""~C rn d .n g o f rlll- YI;mg lao ; it bt:canw popu lar in J ap:m through di vinatio n lnd
sh ri ncs. The [int e\'iden ce o f the cule Oll cou rt is recorded a,
785 , and th e enshrincd images
;:tmolcBY $cc- :'v\1.l r.\)"JlIIa S :~. ic h i, "Jodai flO omnyd," ill Kcokllm;1I )cilwSl/5Jri kfllkyil, cd. rcstm blc thmc of Ki eh ij ten. Sec Mu rayama, "Judai 110 onmyd6," in KohwJl1I Jl'i/!i!rs'oJh. ('cl.
b )" 1t5 Ta nbL: ro, I'), : :1 - 156 . by It , IV, (j 1- T33 : 2'Jom u r.t Y sh, "K indai ni okcru MykcJ1 shink," Kinddi Nih(JII'1(1
1:.3. Ci ....; n:.tio n ~ nd IlC;J.lio b by ~1l1ll1!dJ~i \Vt're prohibircd by , he au thorities. Sc(- R uijfi
Hokke n"kkyii. ed. by Modl izuk i Kan k. 201-246.
:> oIuJ:li~k)"lk ;f, XII (H r, Kl 1 1: 12: \4.) and ID,d 2:9:28). 1)4. Sec C ha p. 11(1)<1, 11. 6.
1':9 C f. J"Llkap 111 01 T MC, :,';'hcm .Ii')r>-sh ,' . 135. Dllol i~aj Yilg u ru , B ud dh" of H ea ling , who resides in th e land o f pu n:- cmerald in the r a.t.
1 JO . .l1)"<)I,,;rm{(* ..I<-, . XXV ( r .IIslh>, lX , 50c-SSb): K:lt, trans. , .Hr\; II,i-n'Il,~{'- kyij , XXV, Sec )~akll s'-!i lI}'oMi IIIJ/Jg.1/I~krij ~fllj t.o**mtJ:i:e, At y!Jiin:ugl'J..,.ii, XXIII ( T aisillio IX, 5]a-5sa).
136 . Bu dd ha~ (L n d bodhiHttvas reftrred to onl y once are 0111 i ttcd. ,
4:J4- ~I S: Kerl]. tl"2.n5., S,;JrliM" '//" , XXIV , 400-4 1$.
, . _ ~ .1 . ~ ~ : ~ .. r (> .1 ,.... , , I , ,
lll ~ " Crfll ("'[ 1I 1 rR .f 1 r r" " "" " n f.\ I.
Thc g reat popula rity of Kann on rests on th e messag e of the Ka/won-
gyo (the cha pter on K annon o f the Hoke-ky), w h ich affirm s life in this
I of Buddha"s and bodhisattvas that ie b ccame almost an ind e p:::ndene
cosmic flgu re in the nor thern Buddh ist co un tri es,140 Kann on incar-
,,"orId, h u m an natu r e, and t h e doctri nc of un iversal salva tion. It nateel in thirty-three forms is a mediator of chis vvorld and thC" other
tcachC5 thc s:l\"ing p owe r o fKa n n o n Qvcr the seven calamities of fire, worl d, life and death, an d Buddhas and all liv m g bci n gs. Ganjin , a
water: starm, sword. evi l spiri ts, enemies , and inner evi ls su ch as lust, I farnous blind p receptor who came from Chlna to es tablish th e ordina-
an ger, and ignorance. tion p la tfor m at Em pcror Shmu's invita cion, was a great d e vo t ce of
T be stories about the Hoke-kr are distriblltcd as foll ows: the Tho usand- ar med K annon , probably bepuse that K an non was
I. 1 1,1 8, ] 9. 28 b elieved to eu re blind n ess (111 .12) ' 41
IL 3, 6 , [5, 13 I In boundless com passion K annon is eternaJly at work to p ro tte t and
11 1. 1, 6,9, J a, I }, IS , 19,20, 22,24,29, }4, 35,}7, 38. save all sen tient beings in this wodd and an infinite num ber of o th er
Only IWo stories appea r in both h stl (1. 18; 1II .1} ) . T his is duc to the worlds. One tra dition explai ns ho\v the Elev en-headed Kannor, camc
fa ct that th e Ka nn on eult w as centered m ore aro un d images tha n in to being by a stor y: Avalokitesvara on ce loo ked d own on the 5l1f-
Sc:iptLlTes, and devot ees simpl y med ita ted on Kan non, invoked K an-
non b y calling tbe n a me, or m ade offcrings of lights, Rawers, and
I fe ring of the world and was so dist ressed by t he sigh t th at l111 h ead
split into eleve n pieees,142 Female fea tures whi ch cha raeterizc Kan n on
I
incen.se to Kannan. ]\1 respo n se co thcir d evotion, K annoll n ever failed in J apan and Ku::m- yin in C hina ma y have o ri ginated \.vith K ann o n's
l a answcr thei r requem. On the ot he r hand, in the Hoke-ky cuIt role o f savior, an d the fusion o f these fea tures with tbe folk belief in
devotees recitcd ot: co pied the script u rc , wh ich re q uircd so m e de gree I moth er d ivini ties. In medieval China, man y legend s ab a ut a gir' who
of tearning . The conccn tr ation o f the Hoke-k yo sto rics in the thi rd is identifled as an inea rn ati on of th e T ho usand- arm ed K u an- yi n i ll us-
vo lu me shows tb ei r rising popula ri ty toward the end o f th e N ara an d tr ate t he process of acceptan ce o f Kuan-y in as a youn g \..vomul ,14 3
ea rly H eia n peri ods, to r thc co m tnon people d id not h ave access to Obvio llsly Tantric Kuan-yins preeeded b eautifu l [cmale Kuan-yins
thc scripru res in the earl y yc ars o fJa pan ese Buddhism , when a linti ted in China, Ln the l'Jihon ryoiki, th rec sto ries are on the Elcven- hcaded
I
l1n rnh~r of scrip t ures \Net e available only in C hin ese, Kalmo n (Il. I I ; III. ], 30) and Thausand-arm ed Kan non (II. +2; III . [ 2 ,
K an non was kno wn to th e J apancle not only through the H ake-ky 14), whlle ane is on the Kann on based on rhe Hoke-kyo (1. I R).
but also through the serip tures of tb c pure land sc hoal su ch as the Thc same m iraeulous quaEties are attributed to the Hoke-k)'o. l"
kfHryoju-kyo and T an t rie scriptures such as th e J ilicllitnefl kaHzeoll sc rolls were b elicved to be repositorie s of mi racu lo us p o wer , wh ich
I,
rhir.j-kyo + -iIi1f<1tt{flii'7GfJ,131 and Sei';" seligen darani-kyo 'f'l'-'fH~ worked ag.ins t tho se wh a sla nd ered thc scripwre o r its devotees 11I1.6,
r~mJE.~. 138 Over one hund re d and thirty Tantric scrip tUl'cS were 20, etc.), Copying th e H oke-kyo w as considered to be an aet of grcat
transmltted 10 J apan b y eminenr monks such as Dji (d. 700) and merit, a fa ct welt illustrated in the sto r y of a high o fflC ial w h o v,as
Genb (d. 746) and spread quiekl yl39 The Eleven-h eaded Kann on scnt to hel1. Yama tr ied to o ffset h is offen ses \-vith th e l11erit of the
(EkadaSamllkha AvalokireSvara +-ilUJH,cJ and the Tho us and-armed I 69,38 4 eharacters of th e Hake-kyo he had copied du ri ng h is lifc1imc,
Kannon (Sall as rabhujasahasraksa Ava lo ki tesvara 'f'l'- ['fIl~J ilI!{f), but faund that the IIlc rit was insuff1clcnr (ll I.}7) T he blograp hies o f
whieh became po pu]a r with the practice of recitin g the re lev ant the jodefl se ries r ecord the accounts of those bo rn in the pure la nd
l44
d harani, ar e t he cm b odim enr of the cosmic n atur e of Kannon, b y reeiting or copying th c Hoke-kyo. Tbc Hokke kellki shows th"t
A valok,tesvara was originally a my tho logieal creation oflndian Bud- ( the dev otees of the Hoke-kyo were born in Maitre ya's h ea ven or
dhis ts ; eh e being '\vas seldom represe n ted as a human, b ut was inves ted
140 , Set' Palt! Mus, "Thl)l1s~\ld-a fll\ rd Kannon: A Iv1 )'s t er~' or l Problelll?"' IK. XII ( No.
w1th supernatu ral fo r ms, Av alo k itesvara absorbed so many attr ib u tes
1,J an u~ry 1\.l64), 431! - 47 0
I 41. St'C Kob:t yash i T ai,hiro, "N J r ~t"ho no Sr:nJu Kannon:' Bllkky\1 ,~ri)lI '$II, X X V (t 1)) SI, "
137, .r,i.-lllll'i:I: );?,<lI ",C() ~, s!ulI}/f-kr<; (TIl!5/1il, XX. ~ o. I070). ]tiichimcu kilItZ('(1 I' sll iuju shi"-g},p
I 55- 80.
: lbi::J" N:> 1 071:' , 14 2. L. A. Wad deI!, "Thc Indian Buddhist eult of Avalo k in and His Consort Tira 'rh:.-
' ...., ~<lnzc ('" ,, ),; ,1m. kZ,rl ai (I I/II"II I/! I I,~C d.1 IIlisllil l <1(1 rm I i-k)' T -'f"f'UIt liJ!. -Ut1T:ff-t
l ] &. .0:: " l.i 11 " ' ",1
1' . 1 , -
I
Preface to Vo lume I
VOhIllH' T r1 n n 1 P,o(,.,,,,,,
long afterwa r d . My \\lork is comparable to a ro ug h pebble bcside the
29 knowin g that the emper or lay wit h thc empress thete. Th c cm pcro r,
K'un- lUI1 M o u n ta ins. Its SQu rce in the oral tradition is so in disti ll ct
that I am afr aid o f o mitting mu ch. Only thc desire to da good h as ashamcd ofhis conduc t, stopped m aking love, and it thu ndercd in thc
Illovcd IllC to try. in spite o f thc fcar rhat th is m ight tu rn out to be a heavcns. T h e emperor then said CO Sugaru. "\V on'[ YOll invitc th e
presulllptuollS \-\"o rk by an incompetent au thar. I ho pe that learn ed ro ll in g thllnder to co m e here?" "Certainly , " an swercd Sugar u ,
Jnen Ln futur e generat io ns w 111 not laugh at m y cffor ts, and I pray rhat whereat the em pe ror comm anded hirn , "Go , invite it here."
those w ho happen up o n chis col1ection of miraculous st ories will pur Lcaving the pala ce, Sugaru hurried awa y on horseback, \veari ng a
2.stde evil, live in ri g ht eou sness, and, without causing evil, practice red headband 6 011 his fore head an d car ryin g a halberd with a red
good. 30 banne r' He palSed the heights ofYamada in the vi ll agc of Ab c' and
T oyu ra-dera l!'l'iilH'f: finally arriving at the cross ro acls o f Ka ru 11 0
morokoshi. lO He cried ou t : "Thc empcror has invit ed th e rolli n g
thunder ofheavcn tO his palace." While gall opi n g b ack to the pab e<.
be asked him self why, CVCl1 if it w ere a thu nder kami, \vould ir n ot
I acccpt the emp cro r' s in viration.
As h e return ed, it happen ed that the lig h tn ing struck bc tw een
0" Catchiltg Tlnmder t 11
To yura-d era and ioka EfZ WiI. On seeing it, Su ga r u sent fo r pr icst s co
pbcc the thu nder on the portab le carriage,12 a nd he (scortcd it to the
Chisako bc no Sllg a ru !J'-1-mliG,,~ 2 was a favor itc of Empcror Y-
imperial palace, saying to the emperor, "} have brought the thunder
r yaku Jitml\;Rlll (cal Ied O h at suse- wak atake n o su mera miko to :kil'lifi{
ka mi .'" T he thund er g ave off sllch a dazzling light that the cm pc ro r
flhi\ 7C];! ) wh o r ei gned for twent y-three ycars at the P alace of Asa kura
in Hal m se i~ ii1lt'il"83 was terri fled. H e made m an y offe ringsl 3 and then h ad lt sent back to
14
the original site , which is called "Hill ofThun de r " ilJ lffll . (lt is 51t-
O n ee the em per or srayed a t th e Palace of/ wa re ~::R ,4 and it hap-
uared to the n orch o fth e P abce ofOv.' arida ,j " ?f~EB in the o ld cap1tCll.)15
pcaed that Sug aru st epped inta thc Oyasumidono :k'ti'J!,t ' without
After a while Suga ru died. The empe ror let the corpsc sta y. in irs
coffin for seven d ays and nighrsI6 Then, re calling Suga ru 's lo yalty .
29 l'J :{hll 1 ITl c u u t;;. in l"au ge in Sink j"ng p rOVlllCC which is fl lHOliS fo r j ade.
3Q M 'D~ nJ~NN*h. 1 pO).lub r m,:;. ,.. im {o und in Ill ost Buddhisl scripturcs . the emperor h ad a t o mb b ui lt at the pbce w hi eh had bee n struck by
lightning and Ind a pilla r in scribcd : "Thc t omb o fSugaru who caught
J. Anothcr n: rsion Df the S:ll1ll' stOry is fo u nd in lhe j\,'llIoll '/lO k!, XIV (Yuryaku 7:7 : 3);
Aston. 'Nih ongi," 1, 34 7. Thc cm pcror cOl11l11 an dcd Suga rn to go alld scizc the kami afMl. the thunder." T he thunder w as not pleased. It struck th e pillar an d
Minloro. Suga ru . ;1111 bcd t hc h ill ~!ld cau ght J grC::lI snakc, Whcn he sho\Vcd it to tbe cmperor , w as caught b etween the splintered p ieces. Wh en emperor hca rd this,
thund':l IOlkd, and it! e ycb lls rlamed. Thc: c lllpcror was frigh tC'ned alld sent it back 10 Mt.
f"l im:l ro. ri:JJ;J.nli:1g: il lku llch i. thunder. FOI a dlSCussion of sm ke (dragon)-rhunder thelTlcs,
5n~ De \ii~s<.'r . Ti'/( D , cl lm!1l C hina alld Jap'i/I.
ri. t;~~ a piece o r red cloth ried a rOllnd thc head: also worn by .I g llJrd of the kmd of tlw
2. Chi;;,l kobc iS .l SU m ;_:1le, ;tnd Stlg ~ ru a g iven na me, [he laHn lllc~ni ng "wasp." Thc Ni lw'l dead (11. 7) . .A. ccor ding ro Shida , w carin g it wa s ;I pro tect ivc m ea lU rc 19 a1ll ~ t rhnndcr ("C hisJ-
Sh ok l, Xl V (Yry aku 6: 3: i ) giv es ;} story on the ori gin of C hisako bc; Aston, "Ni/lOug!." ka bc," 74).
On:( Ell1 pt:ro:' 'r' lirYl.ku {[!':l di ClO llJlly, 45()- 479) ra Id Sugaru to (olleet silkwonm Ua. kiliko) 7. lw$o'Ht a sign af a roy:\1 mt':,sengl'r : SCC' n. U. Jbw,
in orde! to C li COU I 1?;~ court Lt dics to wo rk fo r thc silk industr y. Suga ru col lectcd babics (kai- H. r.~Iil'I; ' U Ul. a vi ll Jgc to thc south afM !. K ~ gu tfH-. thc cast ('r!l r an of lhe prt'Sl.nt Takn:hi-
Iw ) im CC<-ld of silkw onm . The e m pcro r w:n arnust'd and gave him thf' t ide of Chisak obc, gun it'iitH 1i , Nua- ketl.
literatly rn t',ln ir,g "lmlc child rCI1 coopnall on.' Shida, on the basis of these sto ries, holds Ihat !)_ Also knowll as Mllku ha ra-dcra 1~IO;{=:t ur Kkcll-Jl Jj ijr.f : a nll ll m'r y OI ig llla Jl) butl t by
Suga -u w:! ~ in Lha r3-' cf prcvcn ti ~ t' magi e against rhumkr and w ~s re!ated 10 the Ha ta ~ fam ily Sog,\ no [ mlll l' it'H Hfi f:] (d . .\70) ar his r(sldell(c. whid\ is 10l:lled at prt'~L'I\ [ .'\~uk,H n ur a .
....-lllC:' lllu lmnugrated rro m SI]]a ea rl }" in thC:' fi flh ( cntur)' ;md pro bably ta ught the Japant'sc T akcchi-gun. Nua-kt'n .
Ih ... pro Cl'SS fOI ll1.lking )ilk. Sec hi.' "Chil1.k obc no .~ci kaku ni t>uit e," N i/11m rtkislll'. N o. 2 L~ JO. tn hl 'lItJrok()~ lll l1l ay be J place 11 <1. 111(' which dcrivrd rr o !H the ll1t('rcoune !X:tW l'LTl C hill J
(M.ll-;:h Ij.l6()) , <.('- 79 N 1.k : ~;. lY> dur Suga ru w as a ro~'al gllard in bis " Chi sakob<: no 5eishitsu and Ja p:l11. henec llll',m in g. C hine~' or rradmg cente r.
Il ; t 5I.:il<..'," S !k I).>lj ?,'ill<! lI.~'" 1:(ill.:)':I. VI! (No. 9, Sept embe r 1<j60), 22 5- 22 8.
l! . Ullidentifi :::d locaillamc _
J. LO(.ll~U il1 th -: l",lS(l'n plr: ofp rL'scllt S;;.kurai-shi, Nara-kcn ~& !I!H';I4:m. t.l. "'IUf h ,sllih, ; ~ p,llanqLlin ma de ofbwlboo.
4 It m~ ) bl: ~ dcn ched pa lan' sOIllt'w hcrc ill prl'sem Shiki- gull, Na ra- kL'll; n<:ither thc Kvjiki 1J. ~ If': mi 'Q~ l/rd . sec e ha p. II ( 1).1. n. j 11.
IlOf l" : 1 /~ " 1j .<h" b rl' k rs tc (his pabcc.
q . A 1o,," hili 10cated III thc pnKIII A s u k ~- l llUrJ Oll lhe b ank of the A ~llb R 1VCf.
5 T hl: lIl ~jll bu : UiJl ~ in rho:: i mpl'rial pJ b cc du ring thl' Asu b and N .ua pcriods; i d~ntificd 15. Sill ((' Ky kai li\'ed in thl' b le N :H,\ alld c a rly H( im pcnods . "(he old r ~ p lt~I " rc:fcnto tlw
by $;::' I1 K' ~: ll(>bl'l \'11th the I.. , cr Daigyokudcll ;.'d~J>.1.
cJpitals bcforc the Nam perio d, that is. during thc j\sub .\!lO Fujiwu:1 p ni ()d~
16. Sec Ch;lp. 11 (3);\, n . Tl) _
l
Prefa ce to Volume 111
After so me loyal subjects burned the temple and threw away Bud-
dha images2 and same built temples to spread the Buddhist tea<hing,3
ex-Emperor Shoh-jin-shomu made a huge image of the Buddha
for the first time 4 He established the etemal Buddhist tradition in
this country, shaved his head, and ware a surplice. He was ordained
and practiced good, ruling the people with justice. His compassion
was extended to animals and planes. while his virtue was incompa-
fable in history. On the throne he attained unity,5 had excellenc for-
tune, and appeased all spirits, taking his stand on the three compo-
nents afthe uruverse. 6 Owing to this fortune and vircue, even insects
flying in the sky brought grasses to thatch atempIe, while ants run-
ning on the ground gathered golden sands to build a pagoda. Bud-
dhist b anners' were raised high with their fringes fl ying in all di-
rections. The boat of Buddhism floated lightlyon the water, and the
shadow ofthe sails seemed to send wind into the sky. Flowers of good
omen opened in rivalry here and eheee, and karrnie retribution of
good and evil was revealed in lights and shadows. This is why he was
named ex- Emperor Shh-jin- shmu, meaning Excellent-treas-
ure-truth-corresponding-sacred-power .
. . . incurred much suffering B Evil deeds bring us to lands of suf-
fering, one after another, while good deeds lead us to a safe place.
Great compassion can tarne and train tigers co sir on our knees;9 natu-
ral affection ean make birds live on our head. lO The same lesson will
be found in the episode of the seven virtues ofMeng-ch'ang ;!i'it" or
the ehree wonders of Prince Kun g of Lu il,<i\!i. 12
l. The first part of this prefact' is tnissing in the cxisting manuscri pts. Thc openi n!:: paragraph
. in Ihe Ni/lOrI r)'iiiki (NKB"/) is laken from the Ti)rlai-ji y[;rokll JR*~~i) (ll, 2), which givl."S a
quotation probably from Ihis prefacc (sec Nag.u Yoshinori , Ni/roll Bukk r 111mgab k t ll kyij, 139-
i4 1).
2. 11.dl"rS 10 opponents of Buddhislll such as lhe Monobe family: SN' 1.5.
J. Rcfe rs to BuddlllSts luch JS th~ Soga famil y, Otomo no Yasuno ko; sec 1.5.
4 . Rdt:rs tO the Grrat Buddha oiTdai-ji: sec I.Prefacc. 11 . [4. Also sec 1.5, n. 41.
5. w.-: sec \. 28, n. 6. Mosl comlllc-ntnors interpret -:lS thc imperial throne.
6. Thc thret <Irr H caven, man, alld c<l rth.
7. itHlhOd(lor har'lhoko;sce l.l,n .7.
8. The firn pUt Of the sc ntencc is lost: ... f:.~"ff,.
9 Set'" Slrok)'o yoshii, X (T aisho, LI V. 100 ab) :rfr J;l~:)\;:nlT ~:it:m.}l~M:;atr ~~rIhA rilltJr:- l)'U.:.
[0. Sec i!J/d.
[[. Minister of eh'i during ehe age of the w3rring Stares (403-22 1 8.C.): " seVCtl virtu!:s"
-t:lf, souree unknown.
[2. SC'e Hou-Han ;/u;, XV Biograph ics. Thl' IhreI.' wonders = ~ are rh.at cven i nscct\ do not
transgrcss lhe border, tltat evcn birds :lnd :tnimals can be taughl. and that evcn child rcn hav c
thc btnevolcnt mind.
Volwne [J r I ,7 1 Preface
K ykai, however, is nei ther wise nor eloquent. His Inind is as slow was appointed by ediet to be in charge of serving food to the monk>.
.nd dull as a lead sword, and his writings do not seem beauriful. H e At the banquet there was a novi ce unscrupul ous enough to go to
is as foolish as the man who marked on the boat/ 3 and, in writing, ., the serving plaee and hold up a bowl for food. The prinee, when he
he canno t get his phrases into order. H owever, I cannot supp ress my saw this, stru ck the novice on the head wirh an ivo ry scepter, and
passion to da good, so I da re ro write down oral traditions [at rhe blood came from the wound on the head. Waihng bitterly, the novice
risk of] soiling clean paper wirh mistakes. On refleetion, ( cannot rubbed his h ead, wiped away the blood, and disappeared at onee. No
help feeling ashamed of myself, blushing in rhe fa ce and ears. There- one knew w here he had gone, but both the clergy and laity presenr
fo re I bescech you, the reader of my poar wark, to confess, forget at the service w hisp ered in seerer, "An ill omen, it is not good."
wo rldl y matters, and kee p yo m mind loft y, m aking a master of your In (WO days an envious man went ( 0 the thro ne to slander (he prince,
rnind and n ever rhe rnind yo ur master. By rhe hclp of rn y humble saying, " Prinee Nagaya is rising in revolt aga inst the state to usu rp
work ( ho pe we shall fly beyond the firmament on rhe tighr wing of the throne.'>6 Thc empero r grew ang ey and sent an arm y against the
fortune .nd virrue and the left wing of w isdo m, dimb to the top of prinee. Prinee Nagaya though t to hirnself, " ( am falsely eharged and
the Buddha-nature, . nd attain the parh ofBuddha, giving alms to all surel y will be killed . Ir is better to kill myself than to be ki lled by
b emgs. I.
others." After making his ehildren take poison and stranghng thern,
7
the prinee rook the same poison and killed himself The emperor
ordered their eorpses thrown out of the eastle, burned to ashes, and
I cast in ta the waters. 8 Only the princc's bo n es werc exiled to Tosa
provinee f501ilJ,9 where many people died . In fear the peo ple peti-
0" Ihe Death Penalty i" This Life]o r Takirlg Pride ri oned the offieials, saying, "All ofus in this provinee will die beeause
in Olle's OWIl Virtue and Hit/ing a Hum iJle- looking Nov ice' of the prince's spirit! " At chis the empcror m oved the banes to an
island off the coast of Hajikami , Ama district, Kii provinee itiWlilJifij
On rhe eighth of the second monrh in rhe spring of rh e sixrh year lliH!1I lll1tp lO so rhat the y might lie doser to the eapiral.
of the snake, rhe first yea r of the Tenpy era,2 ex-Emperor Shh- W hat a piry! H owever widely known w hen his fortune was at its
jin-shmu, who reigned over Oyashima *j\~~3 at Nara Palaee, heighr, rh e prinee perished suddenly when an evil fate befell hirn.
made a g reat vow an d held an impressive service to make offerings lndecd. we lea rn that, taking pride in his virtue, he struck a nov ice,
ro the T hree Treasures ar Gango-ji Ji:OOii!f on the East Side of the capi- and, beeause of this, divine guardians of dharma frowned on hirn and
tal" Prinee Nagaya :Oi:!ilJJEE, C hancellor of rhe Senior Seeond Rank,s good deiries hated him l l We should respeet those who wear a sur-
pliee, even if they look humble, for there is a sage hidden among them.
13. See LiI-slu"h eh'ml ch ' iu g l"\: 1Hx (eh' a chin M 4-): A man of eh '\l droppcd a sword whcn T herefore, the Kyoman-gy m1lHlE '2 speaks of " ... the sin of those
hc W<lS crossing a river. He marked the Spot on the edge ofthe baa l where it had fallen overboard
for 1<l l eT idcntiflca tion, never thinking that the boat itself was moving.
14. A bodhisart va is often com pared tu a bird in Mahayan a Buddhist scriptures; see Daich ido-
10/1, XXX VII (Trlish8, X X V, 3pa) . fM (l;:W:1-i .~~! ~t'fll!i~(ft~; ~ 'fjjljl. jjJrtt pug~ ffiW-1;fit:i\'S1il; 6. N uribe no mi ya tsuko Kimitari l~rlilii!i::t5)i ,md N aka t0 1Tll Il O IlH y;nok oro 111 uTaJi Azu!l1a-
[/lid ., XXXV II (Tais/lii, XXV , 5Mb). X~,J;tkl:'ffI:i'i . . ~jijaHS;Iik~~.=g:i!Hi1i','~jjw!; Maka bi la ljl g,:',~fJ;i2ill.Dk: A, slandcrcd Prince N agaya, say illt; he h ad sccrctly stud ied e vil ans and
Ililllflya ilIITQlllit,u-k yii ~ ~ii]" ~;g:Mi.ilH~;.f!i!, XXVI (Taisho, XII I, 410C) . "P[l,~~W~1t1t~f.H .:~ r;t w:lllted 10 ovcrthrow the government. See ibid., X (Tenpy I: 2: ( 0).
!!Uliili ,:I1It''''.MI<iIoJlt'E. 7. Sec i/lid., X (Tcnpy I: 2: 12).
IS. Thc following passage in cluding this sen tenee diffcrs from tht: passage in the SlJoku 1\liholl-
1. C f. SllOkli NihMlgi, X (Tcnpy I : 2: 10), Fu, , yakki (VI, Shmu) , KOlljakll mouogatarishii gi, whieh says that Prinee Nagaya alld Prineess Kibi werc b uried at Ikoma-yama, fo r she wa5
(XX, '7). innoecn t ;lnd ht" was thc grandson of Emperor T en mu. Sec i/Jid., X (Tenpy I : 2: I)).
2. 72y. 9. Pmcnt Kehi- kcn, Shikoku ~Wi;O;jp~.
}. Aecord ing 10 thc K ojiki (NKBT . .54-56), Izanag i and lunami crcated the eighl is lands, 10. !f!.'Il IIn y bc thc name of an island. Q ki no shi ma, o ff thc eo~st of prcsent Kais-gun ,
n am d y, AW.il.ji Island I<*~'&&, Iyo Island f,tJ1:.!.1 (Shikoku IlY m), O ki IsIand ~1!1~, T sukushi Wakayama-kcn flJ~LlJlQ:ffii1i':~, or N' oki tlO shim(l:l.s translated above.
Jsland j~ ~S:b (Kyushii 1vfli). Ik i Island 'altJ:,Q" Tsush lllla Island f.ttKh, Sad o bland flli!lhb, and I 1. ltiJ.dfi+ ,I!ohii ztnjin means "bcneflCi al dt:i til,.'S prolccting dharma" but K ykai often uses
Oya mato-toyoak it su Island *fkllJl!f);tl!,(h (H onsh * Hi). gollti without :utljill. T he Zf'lljill are Brahma, Ind ra, the Guudians of the Four Qwrters, the
4 Sec I. J, n. 9 Twdve Di vinc Generals, and the Twrnty-cight Dcitics, wha vowcd tO protect dhlrma 3ftcr
j . A llhough the text gives f.:t::kl.l!. lE=/!/.!J:WJIFf., the right tide is lE=fi'l.o:*G!~&! ::E th ey had heard of it.
(sec Slltllm Nili GPlg i, IX , Jinki 1:2: 2.2.), sinee '-ItE is lIscd only for thc empcror's SOllS. t z. Unknown sou rce .
-
Prerace to Volume III 1
The Inner Seriptures2 show how good and evil deed s are repaid,
while the Outer WritingsJ show how good and bad fortun es bring
merit and demerit. If we study all the discourses Sk yamuni made dur-
ing his lifetime, we leam that there are three periods : first, the period
ofthe true dharma (shb iEHi), whieh lasts ftve hundred years; second,
the period of the eounterfeit dharma (zbo ftHi), lasting a thousand
years; and third, the period of the degenerate dharma (mapp *ii;),
whieh eontinues for ten thousand years. By the fourth year ofthe hare,
the sixth year ofthe Enryaku en,' seventeen hund red and twenty-two
years ha ve passed sin ee Buddha entered nirvana.' Aceo rdingl y, we
'r,
live in the age of the degenerate dharma following the first two peri-
ods. Now in Japan, by the sixth year ofthe Enr ya ku era, two hundred
and thirty-six yea rs have elapsed sinee the arriv al of the Buddha,
Oharma, and Samgha 6 Flowers bloom without voiee, and cocks ery
withour tcars. In the present world those who praetiee good are as few
as tlowcrs on roeky hills, but those who do evil are as plentiful as
weeds in the soil. Without knowing the law of karmie retribution,
one offends as easily as a blind man loses his way. A tiger is known by
its tai!" Those devoted to fame, proftt, and killing doubt the immedi-
ate repa yment of good aod evil wh ich Qccurs as quickly as a mirro r
refleets. One who is possessed of an evil spirit is like one who holds a
poisonous snake; the poison is always there ready to appear.
The great power of karmie retribution reaehes us as quickly as
sound echoes in a valley.8 If we call, the echo never fails to answer , and
this is the way kar mic retribution works in this life. How can we fail
[0 be m ore careful? Ir is useless to repent after spending a lifetime in
!
vain. Who can enjoy immo rtality sinee you are given a linuted life?
How can you depend on YOUf transient life as being eternal? We are
already in the age ofthe degene rate dharma 9 H ow ean w e live with-
I. T hc Shinpuk uji manuscripl lacks thc first tcn lincs of the pre fa ce. The only extant manu-
t
script which has Ihis parag r aph is the M acda manusc ri pt, and Ihus Ihis p o rtion is caUcd " Un-
known Passage ofthe Macda Manu script." For a discussioll of it. see C hap. I(l )b. It consists of
one hundred and seventy-scven ch3ractcrs, translated as the first paragraph .
2 . f'3.fi!: nrtikyo ; sec I. Prefacc, n. I.
j . jH4 geull; sec I. Prcface. n. 2.
4 7R7.
5 Sec Cha p. l( l)b. 11 . )6 . Thc date around 480 !:I .C. is acccpted by most modem scholars .
6. 538 or 552. Th erc is an indication that Kykai adop t. 552 as the y~ar for the official intro-
dunion o f BuJJhisrn to Ja pan .
7. Thc text m ay be corr upt.
8. Sec Ch ap. I(2)a, n. 1)9 ; I.Prcfacc. n. 24 .
9. *iJJ matsugij; t;Jj ko. an abbrcviated transliteration of SkI. ktllpa. an astro l1o micallength
of tim e:.
, - ,
ou t doing good? My heart aches for all bcings. How can we be sa ved
from ealamity in the age of the degenerate dharma? If we offer monks
o nlya handfuI offood, the merit of our good deed will save us from I
rhe ea!amity of hunger. If we keep a preeept of nonkilling for a day, On ehe Tong"es of eir e R eciters of the Hoke-ky
we will be saved from the ealamity of sword and battle.
Onee there was a full-fledged monk who lived on a mountain and
Which Did Not Decay in ehe Sku/ls Exposed
practieed meditation. At every me al he shared his food with a crow to th e Elem en ts'
which came to hirn every day. After a vegetarian meal, he chewed a
toothpiek,'o c1eaned his mouth, washed his hands and played wirh a In the reign of Empress Abc ';jj-Jd2J1'1f;i';Rlil 2 who govemed ya-
st on e. Thc crow was behind the hedge when he threw the stone. He shim a3 ae Nara Palace, theee was a mank, D hyna Master Eig 7k!jij.4
hit the c row without knowing that it was there. The crow <lied on the in the villa ge of Kurnano in Muro distr ict, Kii pro vince ~fjJllillIif.:W:
spot, its head crushed inro pieces, and was reborn as a boar. The boar llI\/iUHt.s He taught and guided the peo ple by the sca. His eontern-
lived in the same mountain as the monk. It happened to go to the pararies revered hirn as a bodhisattva, respeeting his self-diseipline!
place above his hut, rooting about among the rocks for food, where- As he lived in a place somh of the imperial ca pita!, he was called
upo n one ofthe rocks rolled down and killed the monk. Although the the Bodhisattva of the South mog.jj!i 7
boar had DO intention of killing hirn, the rock rolled down by itself. Onee a dhyiilla master came co the bodhisattva. H e had wich hirn
A sin conlmitted by an action which is neither good nor bad l1 will in a copy of the Hoke-kyo (written with very small characters in one
turn generate the same kind of action. In the case of intentional sero ll),- a pewter piteher, and a stool made ofrope 9 He used to recite
murder, how is it possibIe to escape the penalty? A deluded mind the Hoke-ky constantly. After one yoar or so, he thought ofleaving
produces the seed and fmit of evil; an enlightened mind produces the Dh yna Master Eig, and with a bow presented his stool as an offer-
seed of good to attain Buddhahood . ing, saying, " I am leaving yo u and going into the mountains to cross
1, the mediocre monk K yakai, have not studied enough to ask ques- over to Ise province &t~w;Q ,10 H earing (his, ehe master gave hirn ooe
(ions in the manner of the Tenclai Sage. 12 Nor am I suffi ciently eu- bushel of ground dry glutinous riee, and h ad twO lay brothers ac-
lightened co answer in the manner of holy and eloquent menP My compan y rum co sec him on his way. After hav ing been escorted for
efforts are like bailing water out of the Ocean with a shell or looking at a day, he gave them his Hoke-ky., bowl, and grou nd d ry rice, and
the sky through a straw. Though I am not an eminem rnonk who sent them back, wh ile he continued with onIy twenty yards of hemp
transmits rhe light of dharma 14 [ try hard to meditate on it, following ro pe aod a pewter piecher.
the path to the pure land and directing the mind toward enlighten- After two )'cars had passcd, th e villagers of Kumano went up to
memo I repem ofmy previous misdeeds and pray for future good. By a mountain b y the upper stream of the Kumano to cut down trees
editing these stories of miracuIous events I want to pull the people
I . This sectioll consists of two independent stories on thc same morif of the " singing sk ull."
forward by the ears, offer my hand to lead them to good, and show Set: e hap. lI (l)b, 11. 41 , and (3)a. Cf. KO/ljaku 111o,wgo1lrlrishii (Xli, 3 I ), Gt'rlk shaku sllO (XXIX,
them how to clean se their feet of evil. My sineere ho pe is that we J) .
may all be reborn in the western land of bliss, leaving no one on the 2. Teiki Abt.'")Jo sumeramikoto, That is, Emprcss Koken -.y;Jffi (r. 749-757) or Shotoku Mt-8
(r. 764- 770). twiceenthroned. It is hard ro know whether [his story should Ix dated in h er first
earth, and live together in the j eweled palace in heaven, abandoning or second reign.
Dur earthly residence . ). Sec 11 .1, n. 3.
4. Sec 111.2, nn.}, 4,5. Aho set' thc Siloku NillOIIgi, XXXII (i-J ki J: J :6) . He was appoimed
as o ne orthe ten JhyilllQ masters in 772.
10. Sec 1.26, n. ). 5. In the vicinity of presellt Shing-shi, W akayama-kcn fU:ttIIJ'lUi'Ji,g1tl.
6. ff .Ryii.
11. ~tG milk;. T his story may havc originated in the BOllm-kyo bosatsukaihotl-Iho 'timt!!.
7. M\Il:lln i no bos;mu.
l1ifililt*lf (TaislJ o. X l , 611 ), according to H araguchi ("Nihon ryoiki shuuen goku bnken,"
Kwntel1.eo, N o. 34.61-62). S. K ykai 's note.
9 . Monks are allowed tO possess and ("ar r y scripturcs. a begg i n~ bowl, a pitcher of water for
12 . :.Rti1?;H'; see C ha p. 1( I)b, Il . 51.
d r in king and washing. a stick, a toorhpick, a stool made of Tope, C'tc. in (raveling. In the
I) . 4"'A'h .~.
M ah .. yan a u adition, the number of such items is cLghtccn (-!- i\#J j lilw{lr(mol5u).
LI W:t1HUiI': .
10. Presellt Mic-kcll .=. 1!~ .