Research on the Legitimacy of En-no-Gyoja's Biography in Esoteric and Exoteric Temples in the Middle Period

• Project/Area Number: 16K02389
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese literature
• Research Institution: Shujitsu University
• Principal Investigator: Kawasaki Tsuyoshi 就実大学, 人文科学部, 教授 (70281524)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 仁木 夏実 明石工業高等専門学校, 一般科目, 准教授 (40367925)
• Research Collaborator: Okochi Tomoyuki ; Heather Blair
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2018)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥960,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,950,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥450,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000)
• Keywords: 役行者 / 箕面寺縁起 / 修験道 / 灌頂 / 大峯 / 顕密寺院 / 箕面寺 / 縁起 / 国文学 / 仏教学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

From the late Heian Period to the late Kamakura Period, Shugendo gradually came to be be recognized as a stream of Japan’s Buddhism and became part of legitimate history for Japanese Buddhism transmitted from India. One of the most influential books was “Mino’o-dera Engi”, which told that En-no-Gyoja, the founder of Shugendo, had received abhiseka from Nagarjuna Bodhisattva in his dream, before Kukai. After that, some monks said that Yamabushi had received abhiseka from En, by their ascetic practices, through Mt.Omine, like En. Some monks in Exoteric and Esoteric temples, for example Onjoji or Todaiji Tonan’in, also accepted this view under their own existing conditions. As a result, En was generally recognized as a member of the legitimate genealogy of Japan’s Esoteric Buddhist teachings.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

国内外を問わず、修験道は日本固有の山岳宗教とみられてきたが、その評価は古代以来変化し続けてきた修験道のありようの一面を伝えるに過ぎない。本研究では、中世には、顕教・密教と並ぶ正統な日本仏教の一道として修験道は存在し、そのありようにふさわしい修験の歴史や祖師の伝記が創出され定着したことを解明した。その成果は、日本固有という安易な評価を相対化し、歴史的な存在として修験道を再評価するのに寄与すると同時に、時々の状況を正当化すべく作り伝えられた伝記や縁起の機能の重さを再認識するのに寄与すると考える。

Research Products

• [Journal Article] 後宇多院の上丁御会をめぐって (2019)
  • Author(s): 仁木夏実
  • Journal Title: アジア遊学 Volume: 229 Pages: 39-49
• [Journal Article] 承久の乱後の熊野三山検校と熊野御幸 (2017)
  • Author(s): 川崎剛志
  • Journal Title: アジア遊学 Volume: 221 Pages: 218-227
• [Journal Article] 『箕面寺縁起』の撰述と受容 (2017)
  • Author(s): 川崎剛志
  • Journal Title: 就実表現文化 Volume: １１ Pages: 1-15
  • NAID: 40021230152
  • Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Presentation] The Formation and Development of Doctrines on Ascetic Practice at Mt.Omine as an Esoteric Buddhist Kanjo Ritual (2018)
  • Author(s): Tsuyoshi KAWASAKI
  • Organizer: The World of Abhiseka: Consecration Rituals in the Buddhist Cultural Sphere at University of California,Santa Barbara
• [Presentation] 西行の大峯修行の再評価 (2018)
  • Author(s): 川崎剛志
  • Organizer: 西行学会
• [Presentation] Forged history of Mt. Omine worship in "Shozan-engi" (2018)
  • Author(s): Tsuyoshi KAWASAKI
  • Organizer: Workshop “Engi and Sutra Burial; the decoration of sacred mountains in Japan: A New look at the peripheries of medieval Japanese Buddhism”at Harvard University
• [Presentation] Legitimacy for Shugendo, Supported by Forged Origins and History (2018)
  • Author(s): Tsuyoshi KAWASAKI
  • Organizer: The Buddhist Studies Seminar at Columbia University
  • Invited
• [Presentation] En no Gyoja’s Legitimization in the Framework of Esoteric Temples (2017)
  • Author(s): 川崎剛志
  • Organizer: Repositioning Shugendo（International conference, UCSB）
• [Presentation] Mino’odera engi: The Education of Monks and Lay People (2017)
  • Author(s): 仁木夏美
  • Organizer: Repositioning Shugendo（International conference,UCSB）
• [Book] 人文知のトポス (2018)
  • Author(s): 就実大学吉備地方文化研究所
  • Total Pages: 223
  • Publisher: 和泉書院
  • ISBN: 9784757608627
• [Funded Workshop] Repositioning Shugendo (2017)