Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba

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The Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba (諏方大明神画詞 or 諏訪大明神絵詞 "Illustrated Record of

Suwa Grand Shrine in Shinano Province (modern-day Nagano Prefecture) and its deity
as well as its various religious festivals as performed during the Middle Ages, the original scrolls containing the illustrations were eventually lost, with only the text being preserved in various manuscripts.

Historical overview

The Ekotoba was created under the supervision of Suwa (or Kosaka) Enchū (諏訪（小坂）円忠, 1295-1364),

Grand Shrine of Suwa, the Upper Shrine or Kamisha that had, by the Kamakura period, took up arms and became a clan of warriors.[3]

Enchū was originally an officer or bugyō under the Hōjō clan, which the Suwa served as vassals or miuchibito at the time.[1] After the fall of the Hōjō, Enchū moved from Kamakura to Kyoto, where he served under Emperor Go-Daigo's court as a yoriudo (寄人) or clerk in the Court of Pleas (雑訴決断所 Zasso Ketsudansho, also 'Court of Miscellaneous Claims'), which handled minor lawsuits.[1]

Suwa Daimyōjin as depicted in the Butsuzōzui (originally published 1690).

Suwa Shrine in the Kamakura period

The deity of the Suwa Kamisha, Suwa

Ryōjin Hishō.[4] A popular legend claimed that the god appeared to the 8th-century general Sakanoue no Tamuramaro and assisted him in his subjugation of the Emishi peoples who lived in what is now the Tōhoku region; in thanksgiving, Tamuramaro was said to have instituted the religious festivities of the shrines of Suwa.[5][6][7][8]

During the

Minamoto (Seiwa Genji) clan).[11] The Suwa were themselves regarded as the most influential among the shogunate's vassals.[10]

The Suwa clan and the fall of the Kamakura shogunate

The Suwa clan suffered a heavy setback at the downfall of the Hōjō and the shogunate itself in 1333, when Ashikaga Takauji, a chief general of the Hōjō, switched sides and began to support Emperor Go-Daigo against the shogunate.

Testifying to the close connections between the warrior families of the Suwa region and the Hōjō is the fact that many members of the Suwa clan present in Kamakura during

daimyō of the same name) and his son, Tokitsugu (時継), the Suwa Kamisha's ōhōri or high priest believed to be the physical manifestation of Suwa Myōjin during his term of office.[1]

In July–August 1335, the Suwa and other clans who remained loyal to the Hōjō, led by Tokiyuki, instigated an armed rebellion with the intention of reestablishing the Kamakura shogunate, which was quashed by Takauji;[12][13] Yorishige, Tokitsugu, and some others who participated in this uprising – later known as the Nakasendai Rebellion (中千代の乱) - all committed suicide in Kamakura.[1] Tokitsugu's son who inherited the office of ōhōri, Yoritsugu (頼継), was stripped from his position and replaced by Fujisawa Masayori (藤沢政頼), who hailed from a cadet branch of the clan. Now declared an enemy of the imperial throne, Yoritsugu went into hiding.[1][14]

Upon his successful retaking of Kamakura, Takauji began to turn against Go-Daigo, granting land to his retainers without the approval of the emperor.[15][16] In 1336, Takauji defeated pro-imperialists Nitta Yoshisada and Kusunoki Masashige in the Battle of Minatogawa and drove Go-Daigo out of Kyoto. Setting up his own military government in the capital, Takauji then installed a new emperor in opposition to Go-Daigo's court. Thus began a conflict that would lead to the rise of two rival imperial courts.

The Maemiya (前宮), one of the two sub-shrines of the Upper Shrine (Kamisha) of Suwa.

Enchū's promotion of the Suwa cult

Enchū, naturally, apparently found himself in a difficult position during this turbulent period due to a conflict of interest, his position at the court clashing with his familial ties as a member of the Suwa clan. Leaving Kyoto to go to his ancestral land, he set about redeeming the good name of the Upper Shrine's ōhōri and ensuring that the prestige the shrines of Suwa enjoyed in the past be revived and continue under the new state of affairs.[17] Enlisting the help of both the Ogasawara clan of Shinano and the Takeda clan of Kai, he deposed Masayori from the high priesthood[17] and put Yoritsugu's younger brother, Nobutsugu (信嗣), in his place.[14] Enchū strove to secure the Ashikaga shogunate's support of the shrines of Suwa and to get back shrine landholdings that had been appropriated by disaffected samurai.[17]

By 1338 (Ryakuō 1), Enchū was back in Kyoto, Zen master Musō Soseki (adviser and close confidant to the two Ashikaga brothers, Takauji and Tadayoshi) securing him a position within the Ashikaga shogunate.[17][14] While in the capital, Enchū continued to promote devotion to Suwa Myōjin.[17][14] In 1339, he was appointed overseer of the construction of Tenryū-ji, which was meant to function as a mortuary temple (bodaiji) for Go-Daigo, who died that year.[17][14]

At Soseki's persuasion, Takauji had a temple (Ankoku-ji, "Temple for National Pacification") and a pagoda built in every province in Japan. It is thought that Enchū exerted an influence over the location of Shinano Province's Ankoku-ji: rather than being situated in the provincial capital (the modern city of Matsumoto), the temple was instead built near one of the two sub-shrines of the Kamisha, the Maemiya (modern Chino City), where the Suwa ōhōri then resided.[18][19]

Compiling the Suwa Engi

Detail from a scene in the Kiyomizu-dera Engi Emaki (清水寺縁起絵巻) showing Sakanoue no Tamuramaro's forces fighting against Ezo troops.[20] Illustrated scrolls (emaki) that narrate and portray the origins (engi) of prominent shrines and temples such as this one were popular during the medieval period.

Illustrated scrolls (emakimono) depicting the respective foundation legends (engi) of various important shrines and temples and related anecdotes (setsuwa) were popular in medieval Japan. Intended to showcase the history and/or the religious rites of the shrine or temple in question as well as to advertise the powers and benefits of the god or buddha enshrined there, such picture scrolls were produced either by patrons or worshipers or the religious institutions themselves and were at times even considered to be sacred.[21][22][23][24][25]

Suwa Shrine originally also had an emaki of its own that apparently depicted the shrine's religious ceremonies; this scroll (or scrolls), however, have already disappeared during the 14th century.[26][27] Enchū, who have been thinking of another means to promote devotion to the god of Suwa and his shrine, thus decided to commission a new set of engi emaki as a replacement for these lost scrolls.[26]

In composing the main text, Enchū researched both the official chronicles, namely the

Sendai Kuji Hongi (at the time still considered to be of venerable antiquity on par with the Nihon Shoki and the Kojiki), as well as local sources. He also made use of various tales and legends concerning Suwa Shrine.[28][29] He was assisted in this task by Yoshida Kanetoyo (吉田兼豊),[30] then senior assistant director (神祇大輔 jingi taifu) of the Department of Divinities, via a friend in the court, aristocrat and statesman Tōin Kinkata (洞院公賢, 1291-1360).[28][31]

The actual scrolls themselves were written and illustrated by some of the best high-ranking calligraphers and artists of the age such as Prince Son'en (尊円親王, 1298-1356), son of Emperor Fushimi and abbot of Shōren-in in Kyoto.[28][32][14][33] Emperor Go-Kōgon of the Northern Court inscribed the title on the labels (外題 gedai) of each scroll, while Ashikaga Takauji wrote afterwords at the end of each volume.[28][32][19]

The ten-volume work was finally completed in 1356 (Enbun 1) after ten years of production.[34][35]

Later history and disappearance

The scrolls were kept in Kyoto under the possession of Enchū's descendants.[28][19] In mid-1442 (Kakitsu 2), Enchū's fourth-generation descendant, Suwa Shōgen Chūsei (諏訪将監忠政), exhibited these to courtier Nakahara Yasutomi (中原康富) and certain others.[36][37][38] Later the same year, the scrolls were temporarily loaned to be shown to the then Fushimi-no-miya and his son, Emperor Go-Hanazono.[39][37][38] Records from this time such as Nakahara's diary consistently refer to the Suwa Engi as comprising twelve volumes, suggesting that two more scrolls were added to the work in the interim.[37]

A possible passing reference to the Suwa Engi still being in Kyoto occurs in 1585 (Tenshō 14),[40] after which they completely vanish from the historical record. However, one copy of the text made in 1601 may suggest that the work was still extant as late as the beginning of the 17th century.[40]

Contents

The work originally spanned ten scrolls: the first three were devoted to the engi of Suwa Shrine, while the other seven described the yearly religious festivals of the shrine (mostly that of the Kamisha) by season. Some time afterwards, a further two scrolls of engi – the fourth and fifth volumes – were added to the collection, for a total of twelve.[28][41][19]

  1. Legends (Engi), First Volume (縁起　上巻)
  2. Legends, Second Volume (縁起　中巻)
  3. Legends, Third Volume (縁起　下巻)
  4. Legends, Volume 04 (縁起　第四)
  5. Legends, Volume 05 (縁起　第五)
  6. Festivals (Matsuri), Volume 01: Spring, part 01 (祭一　春上)
  7. Festivals, Volume 02: Spring, part 02 (祭二　春下)
  8. Festivals, Volume 03: Summer, part 01 (祭三　夏上)
  9. Festivals, Volume 04: Summer, part 02 (祭四　夏下)
  10. Festivals, Volume 05: Autumn, part 01 (祭五　秋上)
  11. Festivals, Volume 06: Autumn, part 02 (祭六　秋下)
  12. Festivals, Volume 07: Winter (祭七　冬)

Manuscripts and printed editions

Manuscripts of the text

While the original twelve scrolls containing the illustrations are now lost, the text is preserved in a number of manuscripts.[40] Some of these are:

Colophon of the Bonshun manuscript of the Ekotoba. The title Suwa-sha Engi (諏方社縁起) can be seen in the rightmost column, with the date of copying and Bonshun's name (慶長辛丑六年十一月廿八日 梵舜) on the third column from the right.
The first pages of the Gon-hōri-bon. The title of the work is given here as Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba (Kyūjitai: 諏方大明神畫詞).

In print

The earliest printed edition of the Ekotoba is that included in the

Zoku Gunsho Ruijū, volume 73.[50] This edition is based on late copies of the Gon-hōri-bon that reflect the defective page order of the original.[46][51] The text of the Gon-hōri-bon itself has been published in a number of anthologies, with the defect in the manuscript usually corrected.[52][53][54] The Bonshun manuscript, meanwhile, is the basis for the text published by Koten Bunko in 1971.[55][46][56]

Kanai (1982) features the text of the Bonshun and Gon-hōri manuscripts compared with each other.[57]

Related texts

A Shinto-Buddhist liturgical eulogy (講式 kōshiki) to the god of Suwa known as the Suwa Daimyōjin Kōshiki (諏方大明神講式),[58][59] surviving in a late 15th century manuscript transcribed in Kōzan-ji in Kyoto, is believed to have been composed by Enchū around the same time as the Ekotoba.[60]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 814.
  2. ^ Kanai (1982). p. 192.
  3. ISBN 978-4800308924
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  4. ISBN 978-0-520-08066-9
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  5. ^ Hanawa, ed. (1914). Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba. pp. 499–501.
  6. ^ Kanai (1982). pp. 225-226.
  7. ISBN 978-4-582-80094-4
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  8. ISBN 978-1400861828
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  9. ^ a b Yazaki, Takenori, ed. (1986). 諏訪大社 (Suwa Taisha). Ginga gurafikku sensho. Vol. 4. Ginga shobō. p. 25.
  10. ^ a b c Kanai (1982). p. 14.
  11. ^ Muraoka (1969). p. 112.
  12. ^ Brinkley, Frank; Kikuchi, Dairoku (1915). A History of the Japanese People from the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era. New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Co. pp. 390–391.
  13. ^ "諏訪氏 (Suwa-shi)". 風雲戦国史-戦国武将の家紋- 播磨屋 (in Japanese).
  14. ^ a b c d e f 戦国時代の諏訪の武将達. リゾートイン レア・メモリー (in Japanese).
  15. ISBN 978-0824823344
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  16. ISBN 978-0813345611
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  17. ^ a b c d e f Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 815.
  18. ^ Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). pp. 815-816.
  19. ^ a b c d e Jinchōkan Moriya Historical Museum, ed. (1991). 神長官守矢資料館のしおり (Jinchōkan Moriya Shiryōkan no shiori) (Rev. ed.). pp. 30–31.
  20. ^ "清水寺縁起絵巻 巻上". e-Museum. National Institutes for Cultural Heritage.
  21. ISBN 978-0231136976
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  22. ISBN 978-1135797393
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  23. ^ Okada, Yoshiyuki. "Emaki". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Kokugakuin University.
  24. ISBN 978-0804709545
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  25. ISBN 978-1119022350
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  26. ^ a b Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 816.
  27. ^ Kanai (1982). p. 193.
  28. ^ a b c d e f Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 817.
  29. ^ Kanai (1982). p. 192-195.
  30. ISBN 978-0313264313
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  31. ^ Kanai (1982). p. 193-194.
  32. ^ a b Wakita, Haruko; Varley, Paul. "The Creation of Fabricated Myths in the Medieval Age: An Examination of Shintoshu, Histories (Engi), Noh Plays, and Other Sources" (PDF).
  33. ^ Kanai (1982). p. 200-201.
  34. ^ Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 814, 816.
  35. ^ Kanai (1982). p. 198-199.
  36. ^ Shinano Shiryō Kankōkai, ed. (1957). 信濃史料 第8巻 (Shinano Shiryō, volume 08). 信濃史料刊行会 (Shinano Shiryō Kankōkai). p. 167.
  37. ^ a b c Kanai (1982). pp. 199-200.
  38. ^ a b "五百五十年前の絵巻鑑賞". 絵巻三昧. 8 January 2008.
  39. ^ Shinano Shiryō Kankōkai, ed. (1957). Shinano Shiryō, volume 08. pp. 194–197.
  40. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 818.
  41. ^ Kanai (1982). pp. 199–211.
  42. ^ Kanai (1982). pp. 207–210.
  43. ^ a b c d Kanai (1982). pp. 202–203.
  44. ^ "諏方大明神画詞". 八ヶ岳原人. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
  45. ^ Kanai (1982). pp. 206–207.
  46. ^ a b c Suwa Shishi Hensan Iinkai, ed. (1995). p. 819.
  47. ^ Moriya, Sanae (1991). Moriya-jinchō-ke no ohanashi (守矢神長家のお話し). In Jinchōkan Moriya Historical Museum, ed. Jinchōkan Moriya Shiryōkan no shiori (Rev. ed.). pp. 2–3, 5.
  48. ^ Kanai (1982). p. 203.
  49. ^ "今井 信古∥イマイ ノブヒサ". 国学関連人物データベース. Kokugakuin University.
  50. ^ Hanawa, Hokiichi, ed. (1903). 續群書類從 第參輯下 神祇部 第七十三 (Zoku Gunsho Ruijū, vol. 3, part 02; Jingi-bu) (1925 reprint ed.). Tokyo: Zoku Gunsho Ruijū Kanseikai.
  51. ^ Kanai (1982). pp. 205-207.
  52. ^ Kanai (1982). pp. 206-207, 215.
  53. ^ Shinano Shiryō Kankōkai, ed. (1971). 新編信濃史料叢書 第3巻 (Shinpen Shinano Shiryō Sōsho, vol. 3). 信濃史料刊行会 (Shinano Shiryō Kankōkai).
  54. ^ Suwa Shiryō Sōsho Kankōkai, ed. (1926). 諏訪史料叢書 第2巻 (Suwa Shiryō Soshō, vol. 2). 諏訪史料叢書刊行会 (Suwa Shiryō Sōsho Kankōkai).
  55. ^ Kondō, Yoshihiro; Miyachi, Takakuni, eds. (1971). 中世神仏説話 続々 (Chūsei Bussetsuwa, zokuzoku). Tokyo: Koten Bunko.
  56. ^ Kanai (1982). p. 215.
  57. ^ Kanai (1982). pp. 218-277.
  58. ^ "諏方大明神講式". National Institute of Japanese Literature (国文学研究資料館).
  59. ^ 諏方大明神講式 (Suwa Daimyōjin Kōshiki), in Shintō Taikei Hensankai, ed. (1982). 神道大系 神社編３０ 諏訪 (Shintō Taikei Jinja-hen, 30: Suwa). Tokyo: Shintō Taikei Hensankai. pp. 237ff.
  60. ^ Shintō Taikei Hensankai, ed. (1982). p. 9.

Bibliography

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