Which sentence best summarizes the central conflict in amaterasu

Sources of Japanese Tradition

second edition

volume 1

introduction to as ian civ il izat ions

Introduction to Asian Civilizations

Wm. Theodore de Bary, General Editor

Sources of Japanese Tradition (1958; 2nd ed., 2001)

Sources of Indian Tradition (1958; 2nd ed., 1988)

Sources of Chinese Tradition (1960; issued in 2 vols., 1964;

vol. 1, 2nd ed., 1999; vol. 2, 2nd ed., 2000)

Sources of Korean Tradition (vol. 1, 1997; vol. 2, 2001)

Sources of Japanese Tradition

second edition

volume one: from earliest times to 1600

Compiled by Wm. Theodore de Bary, Donald Keene, George Tanabe, and Paul Varley

with collaboration of William Bodiford, Jurgis Elisonas, and Philip Yampolsky

and contributions by

Yoshiko Dykstra, Allan Grapard, Paul Groner, Edward Kamens,

Robert Morrell, Charles Orzech, Rajyashree Pandey,

Denis Twitchett, and Royall Tyler

columbia university press

new york

Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester, West Sussex Copyright � 2001 Columbia University Press All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sources of Japanese tradition / compiled by Wm. Theodore de Bary . . . [et al.] ; with collaboration of William Bodiford, Jurgis Elisonas, Philip Yampolsky ; and contributions by Yoshiko Dykstra . . . [et al.]. — 2nd ed.

p. cm. — (Introduction to Asian civilizations) Includes bibliographical references and index. Contents: v. 1. From earliest times through the sixteenth century ISBN 0–231–12138–5 (cloth) ISBN 0–231–12139–3 (paper) 1. Japan—Civilization—Sources. 2. Japan—History—Sources. I. De Bary, William

Theodore, 1919– II. Dykstra, Yoshiko Kurata. III. Series.

DS821 . S68 2001 952—dc21 00-060181

Casebound editions of Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper.

Printed in the United States of America c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Acknowledgment is gratefully made for permission to reprint from the following:

Anesaki Masaharu. Nichiren, the Buddhist Prophet. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1916, pp. 83–85.

Aoki Michiko, tr. Izumo no Kuni Fudoki. Monumenta Nipponica Monographs. Tokyo: Sophia University Press, 1971, pp. 80, 82.

From pp. 71–75 of Conversations with Shôtetsu, translated by Robert H. Brower, with an intro- duction and notes by Stephen H. Carter, Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies, Number 7 (Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 1992). Used with permission.

Reprinted from Japanese Court Poetry, by Robert H. Brower and Earl Miner, with the permission of the publishers, Stanford University Press. � 1961 the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.

Delmer Brown, and Ichiro Ishida. Future and the Past: A Translation and Study of the Gukanshô. Copyright � 1979 The Regents of the University of California.

Thomas Conlan, tr. In Little Need of Divine Intervention: Scrolls of the Mongol Invasions of Japan, Translation with an Interpretive Essay of the Invasions. Forthcoming 2000, Cornell East Asia Series, East Asia Program, Cornell University, 140 Uris Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853–7601.

James Dobbins. Jôdo Shinshu: Shin Buddhism in Medieval Japan. Bloomington: Indiana Uni- versity Press, 1989, pp. 141–142, 145.

Yoshiko Kurata Dykstra. ‘‘Jizô, the Most Merciful: Tales from the Jizô Bosatsu Reigenki.’’ Mon- umenta Nipponica 33.2 (1978), pp. 27–29, 192, 197–200.

Yoshiko Kurata Dykstra. Miraculous Tales of the Lotus Sutra from Ancient Japan. Hirakata City, Japan: Intercultural Research Institute, Kansai University of Foreign Studies, 1983, pp. 27–29.

Continued on page 517

Dedicated to the memory of Ryūsaku Tsunoda

Pioneer teacher of Japanese Studies in America

contents

Preface xvii Explanatory Note xix

Contributors xxi Chronological Table xxiii

part one Early Japan 1

1. The Earliest Records of Japan 3

Japan in the Chinese Dynastic Histories 5

Accounts of the Eastern Barbarians 6

History of the Kingdom of Wei (Wei zhi) ca. 297 c.e. 6

History of the Latter Han Dynasty (Hou Han shu) ca. 445 c.e. 8

History of the Liu Song Dynasty (Songshu) ca. 513 c.e. 9

History of the Sui Dynasty (Sui shu) ca. 630 c.e. 10

New History of the Tang Dynasty (Xin Tang shu) 12

The Earliest Japanese Chronicles 13

viii contents

Birth of the Land 13

Preface to Records of Ancient Matters (Kojiki) 15

2. Early Shinto 17

Legends Concerning Shinto Deities 19

Birth of the Sun Goddess 20

The Divine Creation of the Imperial Ancestors 21

Legends Concerning Susa-no-o 23

Susa-no-o and the Sun Goddess 24

Susa-no-o in Izumo 25

Descent of the Divine Grandson with the Three Imperial Regalia 27

Princess Yamato and Prince Plenty 28

The Founding of Izumo 29

Enshrinement of Amaterasu 30

Shinto Prayers (Norito) 31

Norito for the Festival of the Sixth Month 31

The Blessing of the Great Palace 33

The Great Exorcism of the Last Day of the Sixth Month 34

Moving the Shrine of the Great Deity at Ise 36

Driving Away a Vengeful Deity 36

Congratulatory Words of the Chieftain of Izumo 38

3. Prince Shōtoku and His Constitution 40

Internal Strife in the Late Sixth Century 42

The Reign of Suiko and Rule of Shōtoku 46

The Empress Suiko, 592–628 c.e. 47

The Seventeen-Article Constitution of Prince Shōtoku 50

The Lotus Sūtra 55

Preaching the One Great Vehicle [Mahāyāna] 56

The Parable of the Burning House 57

The Vimalakı̄rti Sūtra (Yuima-kyō) 59

Entering the Gate of Nondualism 61

Contents ix

4. Chinese Thought and Institutions in Early Japan 63

Chinese-Style History and the Imperial Concept 70

From the Preface to Records of Ancient Matters (Kojiki) 71

Emperor Jinmu 72

Nintoku: Rule of Benevolence 74

The Reform Era 75

Fujiwara no Kamatari and the Future Emperor Tenchi 76

Inauguration of the Great Reform Era 76

Reform Edicts 77

The White Pheasant 83

The Chinese Model of Rulership (Denis Twitchett) 84

Taizong: Plan for an Emperor (Difan) (Denis Twitchett) 85

The Commentary on the Legal Code (Ryō no gige) 89

Memorial on the Submission of the Commentary on the Legal Code 90

Regulations for Fitness Reports 91

New Compilation of the Register of Families 95

Preface in the Form of a Memorial to Emperor Saga 95

Preface to the Kaifūsō 97

5. Nara Buddhism 100

The Sūtra of the Golden Light 106

The Protection of the Country by the Four Deva Kings 107

The Flower Garland School 108

The Flower Garland Sūtra 108

The Flower Garland Sūtra: The Tower of Vairochana 109

The Buddha Kingdom of the Flower Garland 110

State Sponsorship and Control of Buddhism 111

The Humane King as Protector of Buddhism 112

Buddhism and the State in Nara Japan 114

Proclamation of the Emperor Shōmu on the Erection of the Great Buddha Image 114

The Bodhisattva Gyōgi (Yoshiko Dykstra) 115

x contents

Regulation of the Buddhist Orders by the Court 118

Edicts of the Empress Shōtoku Concerning Dōkyō 119

Edict of October 19, 764 119

Edict of November 26, 766 120

The Merger of Buddhist and Shinto Deities 120

part two Mahāyāna Universalism and the Sense of Hierarchy 123

6. Saichō and Mt. Hiei (Ryusaku Tsunoda and Paul Groner) 125

The Tendai Lotus Teaching 131

Guanding: On the Five Periods of the Buddha’s Teaching (Daniel Stevenson) 133

Huisi: The Method of Calming and Contemplation in the Mahāyāna 137

Zhiyi: Calming and Contemplation 139

Saichō: Vow of Uninterrupted Study of the Lotus Sūtra 140

Saichō: Explaining the Precepts 141

The Mahāyāna Precepts in Admonitions of the Fanwang Sūtra 142

Regulations for Students of the Mountain School in Six Articles I 145

Regulations for Students of the Mountain School II 147

Subsequent History of Tendai and Mt. Hiei (Paul Groner) 150

7. Kūkai and Esoteric Buddhism 153

Indications of the Goals of the Three Teachings (Sangō shı̄ki) 157

Kūkai and His Master 162

Encounter with Huiguo 162

Enlightenment in This Bodily Existence 165

The Ten Stages of Religious Consciousness 168

Recapitulation of the Ten Stages of Religious Consciousness 169

A School of Arts and Sciences 170

Regulations for Inviting the Instructors 172

Contents xi

8. The Spread of Esoteric Buddhism 175

Prayer of the Retired Emperor Shirakawa on Offering the Tripit.aka to Hachiman 180

Miracle Tales of the Bodhisattva Jizō (Yoshiko Dykstra) 184

How Mochikata Received a Miraculous Revelation 184

About the ‘‘Malt Jizō’’ of Kanuki in Suruga 185

Sex and Buddhahood—A Shingon Heresy 188

Selections from The Precious Mirror (Hōkyōshō) 188

Prayers for the Shogun 190

Letter of the Monk Mongaku to Shogun Yoriie a.d.1200 190

Annen: Maxims for the Young (Dōjikyō) 193

9. The Vocabulary of Japanese Aesthetics I 197

Murasaki Shikibu: On the Art of Fiction 201

Fujiwara Teika: Introduction to the Guide to the Composition of Poetry 203

part three The Medieval Age: Despair, Deliverance, and Destiny 205

10. Amida, the Pure Land, and the Response of the Old Buddhism to the New 211

Traditional Pure Land Buddhism 217

Genshin: The Essentials of Salvation 217

Innovators of the New Pure Land Buddhism 222

Hōnen: Choosing the Original Vow for the Recitation of the Buddha’s Name (Senchaku hongan nembutsu shū) 222

The One-Page Testament 225

The Lamentation and Self-Reflection of Gutoku Shinran 226

Shinran: A Record in Lament of Divergencies (Tannishō) 227

Rennyo: Rennyo’s Rules 228

Items to Be Prohibited Among True Pure Land Adherents 228

Nembutsu as Gratitude 229

Ippen: Selections from A Hundred Sayings 229

xii contents

The Revival of Earlier Buddhism 231

Myōe: Smashing the Evil Chariot 231

The Meaning of the Kegon Practice of Meditation, Clarity of Insight, and Entry into the Gate of Deliverance 234

Jokei: Gedatsu Shonin’s Petition for Reviving the Precepts 235

11. New Views of History (Paul Varley) 238

Historical Tales (Rekishi monogatari) 240

A Tale of Flowering Fortunes (Eiga monogatari) 242

Fujiwara no Michinaga: Flowering Fortunes 243

The Great Mirror (Ōkagami) 244

Fujiwara no Michinaga: Flowering Fortunes, Continued 246

Medieval Uses of the Past 250

Jien 250

Gukanshō 252

One Hundred Kings 254

Helping Emperors Rule 255

An Appeal to Retired Emperor Go-Toba 256

Kitabatake Chikafusa and the Southern Court 257

The Direct Succession of Gods and Sovereigns (Jinnō shōtōki) 258

Fujiwara and Murakami Genji as Assistants to Emperors 261

On Imperial Restoration 262

12. The Way of the Warrior (Paul Varley) 265

Taira and Minamoto 269

The Tale of Hōgen (Hōgen monogatari) 270

The Night Attack on the Shirakawa Palace 272

The Tale of the Heiji (Heiji monogatari) 274

The Burning of the Sanjō Palace 274

The Tale of the Heike (Heike monogatari) 276

‘‘The Mighty Fall at Last, They Are Dust Before the Wind’’ 276

Eastern Warriors 277

Contents xiii

The Taira as Courtier-Warriors 278

The Mongol Invasions of Japan 280

The Mongol Scrolls 282

Chronicle of Great Peace (Taiheiki): The Loyalist Heroes 284

13. Nichiren: The Sun and the Lotus (Philip Yampolsky) 292

Nichiren: ‘‘Rectification for the Peace of the Nation’’ (Risshō ankoku ron) 295

The Eye-Opener 299

The True Object of Worship (Kanjin honzon shō) 302

14. Zen Buddhism (William Bodiford) 306

Zen in Japan 308

Eisai: Propagation of Zen for the Protection of the State (Kōzen gokokuron) 311

Zen and Precepts 313

The Darumashū 314

Language 315

Ten Facilities for Zen Monasticism 316

Essentials for Monastics (Shukke taikō) 318

Dōgen: How to Practice Buddhism (Bendōwa) 319

The Fully Apparent Case (Genjō kōan) 325

Buddha Nature (Busshō) 326

Musō Soseki: ‘‘Sermon at the Dedication of Tenryū-ji Dharma Hall’’ (from Musō kokushi goroku) 328

‘‘Reflections on the Enmity Between Go-Daigo and the Shogun, Ashikaga Takauji’’ (from Musō kokushi goroku) 330

Ikkyū Sōjun: The Errant Cloud Collection (Kyōunshū) 332

15. Shinto in Medieval Japan 336

Empress Shōtoku: Edict on the Great Thanksgiving Festival 341

The Miracles of the Kasuga Deity (Royall Tyler) 342

Kōfuku-ji Goes to War in the Eikyū Era 343

Sanetsune 344

xiv contents

Yoshida Kanetomo: Prime Shinto (Allan Grapard) 346

The Lineage of Yuiitsu-Shinto 356

Regulations of Yuiitsu-Shinto 356

Kitabatake Chikafusa: Chronicle of the Direct Descent of Gods and Sovereigns (Jinnō shōtōki) 358

16. The Vocabulary of Japanese Aesthetics II 364

Zeami: Entering the Realm of Yūgen (Donald Keene and Thomas Rimer) 369

Connecting the Arts Through One Intensity of Mind 371

The Nine Stages of the Nō in Order 372

The True Path to the Flower (Shikadō sho) 376

Conversations with Shōtetsu 383

Jakuren’s Poem 385

Kamo no Chōmei: Concerning Mysterious Beauty 387

The Way of Tea (Paul Varley) 388

Drink Tea and Prolong Life 393

Murata Shukō: ‘‘Letter of the Heart’’ 395

The Spiritual Basis of the Tea Ceremony (from Nanpōroku) 396

Purity and Purification in the Tea Ceremony (from Nanpōroku) 397

17. Women’s Education 399

General Preface to Illustrations of the Three Treasures (Edward Kamens) 401

Keisei: A Companion in Solitude (Rajyashree Pandey) 404

Mujū Ichien: Mirror for Women (Robert Morrell) 406

18. Law and Precepts for the Warrior Houses (Paul Varley) 413

The Jōei Code 415

The Law of the Muromachi Shogunate 417

The Kenmu Code 418

The Law of the Warrior Houses in the Age of War in the Provinces 420

The Yūki House Code 423

Precepts of the Warrior Houses 425

House Precepts in the Sengoku Age 427

Contents xv

The ‘‘Seventeen-Article Testament of Asakura Toshikage’’ (Asakura Toshikage jū-shichi-ka-jō) 428

Takeda Nobushige: The ‘‘Ninety-nine-Article Testament’’ 431

19. The Regime of the Unifiers (Jurgis S. A. Elisonas) 433

Oda Nobunaga 441

The Humiliation of the Shogun 441

The Articles of 1570 441

The Remonstrance of 1572 442

The Assault on Mount Hiei and the Blessings of Nobunaga 444

Nobunaga in Echizen 447

Letters from the Battleground 447

Regulations for the Province of Echizen 451

Nobunaga in Azuchi 453

The Proud Tower 453

The Free Market of Azuchi 455

Toyotomi Hideyoshi 458

Domestic Policies 458

The Disarmament of the Populace 458

Regulations for the Municipality of the Honganji 460

Restrictions on Change of Status 461

The Laws and Regulations of the Taikō 463

The Korean War 465

Letter to the King of Korea 465

Korea Day by Day 467

Bibliography 473 Index 481

preface

This volume, part of a series dealing with the civilizations of Japan, China, Korea, India, and Pakistan, contains source readings revealing what the Japa- nese have thought about themselves, the world they lived in, and the problems they faced living together. These readings help provide an understanding of the background of contemporary Japanese civilization, especially as reflected in traditions of thought that remain alive today. Accordingly, we devote much of our attention to the religious and philosophical developments in early times that are still part of the Japanese heritage and affect people’s thinking today. More attention is given to political and social questions ordinary histories of philosophy or religion do not treat. Also, since the arts of Japan have a unique importance in the modern world—indeed, to many people, are the embodi- ment of Japanese civilization—we have made room for a discussion of Japanese aesthetic concepts. Accordingly, we have made brief excursions into theories of literature and dramatic art, even though we cannot hope to take full stock of the arts in a book focused more on society

Western readers attempting to understand Japanese civilization should take care not to assume that one or another of its more striking aspects represents the whole or to select mainly those items that appear important as parallels to developments in the West. To avoid such misconceptions, we have tried to let the Japanese speak for themselves—to let the criteria of selection be those that emerge internally from the dialogue among successive generations of Japanese as they commented on or took issue with one another. At the same time, it is

xviii preface

true that this process has been repeatedly influenced by external challenges. Thus the traditions represented here reflect their continued interactions with other developments in continental Asia and, in modern times, with the West. ‘‘Tradition’’ as represented here is therefore a hybrid growth—diverse, dynamic, and complex rather than monolithic or unchanging.

Another requirement of a book such as this is to achieve balance and per- spective. It is unlikely that we have succeeded completely in doing this, but knowing our aim, critical readers will at least understand why we have spread ourselves so thin over the length and breadth of Japanese history and civilization and have dealt summarily with subjects that might call for more extended treat- ment or for contextualization in greater detail. To a limited extent, we have tried to explain the circumstances that prompted or conditioned these writings and have included more historical and explanatory material in some cases than in others, but those readers not familiar with Japanese history who seek a fuller historical and institutional background may do well to supplement this text by reading a general or cultural history along with it. Given the limitations of an introductory text, we have not sought the coverage of an intellectual history or tried to deal with every thinker or movement of importance but, instead, have selected examples that we think best illustrate the relation of divergent currents to the mainstreams of Japanese thought or that indicate the relevance of intel- lectual and religious attitudes toward the most persistent problems of Japanese society. In the modern period, for instance, we have bypassed some of the more obvious examples of either Western influence or apparent Japanese idiosyncrasy in favor of others better illustrating trends or tendencies of central importance. Thus, when describing recent trends, we have often focused on persons active in public life or organized political movements, close to the great events of their time, rather than intellectuals or scholars in the narrow sense.

These readings were originally compiled in the 1950s and based on a series of essays and translations prepared by Ryusaku Tsunoda, for many years the cu- rator of the Japanese collection at Columbia University and a lecturer on Jap- anese religion and thought. In this second edition, these readings have been considerably supplemented, revised, and adapted. In the process we have solic- ited, and benefited from, the collaboration of others who have contributed their expertise in special fields.

This series was originally produced in the 1950s in connection with the Columbia College General Education Program in Oriental Studies, which was encouraged and supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. For the wide use of these sources over the years since then, we would like to acknowl- edge the debt owed to Deans Harry J. Carman and Lawrence H. Chamberlain of Columbia College. Their foresight and leadership were responsible for the progress toward a goal long sought by members of the Columbia College fac- ulty, who even before World War II recognized the need for the college’s core curriculum to include other world civilizations.

explanatory note

The consonants of Japanese words or names are read as in English (with ‘‘g’’ always hard) and the vowels as in Italian. There are no silent letters. The name Abe, for instance, is pronounced ‘‘Ah-bay.’’ The long vowels ‘‘ō’’ and ‘‘ū’’ are indicated except in the names of cities already well known in the West, such as Tokyo and Kyoto. All romanized terms have been standardized according to the Hepburn system for Japanese, pin-yin for Chinese, and the McCune-Reis- chauer for Korean. Chinese philosophical terms used in Japanese texts are given in their Japanese readings (e.g., ri instead of li for ‘‘principle,’’ ‘‘reason’’) except where attention is specifically drawn to the Chinese original. Sanskrit words appearing in italics follow the standard system of transliteration found in Louis Renou’s Grammaire sanskrite (Paris 1930), pp. xi–xiii. Sanskrit terms and names appearing in roman letters follow Webster’s New International Dictionary, sec- ond edition unabridged, except that a macron is used to indicate long vowels and the Sanskrit symbols for ś (ç) are uniformly transcribed as ‘‘sh’’ in the text itself. Personal names also are spelled in this manner except when they occur in the titles of works.

Japanese names are given in their Japanese order, with the family name first and the personal name last. The dates given after personal names are those of birth and death except in the case of rulers, whose reign dates are preceded by ‘‘r.’’ Generally, the name by which a person was most commonly known in

xx explanatory note

Japanese tradition is the one used in the text. Since this book is intended for general readers rather than specialists, we have not burdened the text with a list of the alternative names or titles that usually accompany biographical references to a scholar in Chinese or Japanese historical works. For the same reason, the sources of translations given at the end of each selection are as concise as possible. There is a complete bibliography at the end of the book.

Contributors are identified with their work in the table of contents; unat- tributed chapters are the responsibility of the editors. Unless otherwise indi- cated, in the reference at the end of each selection, the author of the book is the writer whose name precedes the selection. The initials following the source citation are those of the translator or the compiler of the section. Excerpts from existing translations have often been adapted and edited to suit our purposes. In particular, we have removed unnecessary brackets and footnotes and have inserted essential commentary in the text whenever possible rather than add a footnote. Those interested in the full text and annotations may, of course, refer to the original translation cited with each such excerpt. As sources for our own translations, we have tried to use standard editions that would be available to other scholars.

W. T. de B.

contributors

Identified by initials following original translations

YD Yoshiko Dykstra: Kansai Gaidai University JSAE Jurgis S. A. Elisonas, Indiana University AG Allan Grapard, University of California, Santa Barbara PG Paul Groner, University of Virginia EK Edward Kamens, Yale University JPL Jeroen Pieter Lamers, Royal Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs RM Robert Morrell, Washington University in St. Louis RP Rajyashree Pandey, La Trobe University TR Thomas Rimer, University of Pittsburgh DS Daniel Stevenson, University of Kansas GT George Tanabe, University of Hawaii, Manoa RT Royall Tyler, Australian National University TH Tsay Heng-ting, Columbia University PV Paul Varley, University of Hawaii, Manoa

chronological table

First century b.c.e.

First reference to Japan (called land of Wa) in Chinese dynastic histories.

c.e. 57 Envoy from country of Nu in land of Wa makes tributary visit to Han court. First exact date concerning Wa in dynastic histories.

239 Envoy sent by Queen Himiko of Yamatai in land of Wa to Wei court.

538 Recognized as date for formal introduction of Buddhism to Japan. 562 Kingdom of Silla destroys Mimana, Japanese enclave at tip of

Korean Peninsula (present-day Korean scholars disclaim existence of such an enclave).

592–628 Reign of Empress Suiko. Prince Shōtoku serves as regent. 600 First Japanese embassy to Sui Court. 604 Prince Shōtoku’s Seventeen-Article Constitution. First official use

in Japan of Chinese calendar. 630 First Japanese embassy to Tang court. 645 Taika reform. 668 Tenchi becomes emperor, Silla unifies Korea. 672 Tenmu becomes emperor after armed succession dispute (Jinshin

War).

xxiv chronological table

702 Promulgation of Taihō Code.

Nara Period 710 Establishment of first permanent capital at Nara. 712 Records of Ancient Matters (Kojiki). 720 Chronicles of Japan (Nihongi or Nihon shoki). 741 Copies of Golden Light Sūtra distributed to all provinces. 751 Kaifūsō (Fond Recollections of Poetry), first collection of Chinese

verse by Japanese poets. 752 Dedication of Great Buddha (Daibutsu) at Tōdaiji Temple in

Nara. 754 Chinese monk Ganjin arrives in Japan and establishes ordination

center at Tōdaiji. c. 759 Compilation of Man’yōshū (Collection of a Myriad Generations),

oldest anthology of waka (or tanka) poetry. 764 Empress Kōken reascends throne as Empress Shōtoku; appoints

priest Dōkyō as prime minister. 770 Death of Empress Shōtoku and fall of Dōkyō from power. 781 Kanmu becomes emperor. 788 Saichō founds Enryakuji Temple on Mt. Hiei.

Heian Period 794 Court moves capital to Heian (Kyoto). 805 Saichō returns from study in China. 806 Kūkai returns from study in China. 815 New Compilation of the Register of Families (Shinsen shōjiroku). 816 Kōyasan Monastery founded by Kūkai. 817 Saichō codifies regulations for monks at Enryakuji Temple on Mt.

Hiei. 838 Last official mission to Tang China. 847 Ennin returns from China to found Tendai esotericism in Japan. 858 Beginning of Fujiwara regency at court. Enchin returns from

China and founds study center at Miidera Temple. 905 Kokinshū (Collection of Ancient and Modern Poems), first impe-

rially authorized anthology of waka (or tanka) poetry. 972 Death of Kūya, early popularizer of devotion to Amida Buddha. c. 990–1020 Classical age of Japanese court prose: Tale of Genji, Pillow Book,

Izumi Shikibu Diary, Honchō monzui (Chinese prose by Japa- nese).

Chronological Table xxv

1017 Death of Genshin, author of Essentials of Salvation. 1068 Accession of Emperor Go-Sanjō and beginning of attempt to curb

power of Fujiwara regents. 1086 Abdication of Emperor Shirakawa and commencement of age of

ascendancy of senior retired emperors at court (1086–1156). 1132 Death of Ryōnin, early popularizer of Pure Land Buddhism. 1156 Beginning of rise to power at court of Taira warrior family under

Kiyomori. 1180–1185 Minamoto-Taira (Genpei) War. Victory of Minamoto.

Kamakura Period 1185 De facto founding of Kamakura Shogunate by Minamoto Yori-

tomo. 1191 Eisai (Yōsai), founder of Rinzai branch of Zen sect, returns from

second trip to China; introduces tea to Japan. 1192 Yoritomo receives title of shogun. 1205 Beginning of rise to power of Hōjō as shogunal regents. 1212 Death of Hōnen. 1220 Gukanshō by Jien. 1223 Dōgen, founder of Sōtō branch of Zen sect, goes to China. 1232 Jōei shikimoku (basic law code of Kamakura Shogunate). 1260 Nichiren first predicts a foreign invasion. 1262 Death of Shinran, founder of True Pure Land sect. 1268 Nichiren warns of impending Mongol invasion. 1271 Nichiren sentenced to death, escapes, and is banished. 1274 First Mongol invasion. 1281 Second Mongol invasion. 1289 Death of Ippen, popularizer of Amida cult. 1325 At suggestion of Zen master Musō Soseki, Emperor Go-Daigo

sends first official embassy to China since Tang dynasty. c. 1331 Essays in Idleness (Tsurezuregusa). 1333 Overthrow of Kamakura Shogunate. Beginning of Kenmu Res-

toration (1333–1336).

Muromachi (Ashikaga) Period 1336 De facto founding of Muromachi Shogunate in Kyoto by Ashikaga

Takauji. Beginning of period of War Between Northern and Southern Courts (1336–1392).

1338 Takauji receives title of shogun.

xxvi chronological table

1339 Chronicle of the Direct Succession of Divine Sovereigns (Jinnō shō- tōki) by Kitabatake Chikafusa.

1368 Ashikaga Yoshimitsu becomes shogun; fosters diplomatic and trade relations with China.

1384 Death of Kan’ami, early master of Nō drama. 1443 Death of Zeami, greatest master of Nō drama. 1467–1477 Ōnin War. Much of Kyoto destroyed. 1478 Commencement of Age of War in Provinces (Sengoku, 1478–

1568). 1488 Death of Nisshin, evangelizer of Nichiren sect. 1499 Death of Rennyo, leader of True Pure Land sect. 1511 Death of Yoshida Kanetomo of the ‘‘Primal Shinto’’ movement. 1543 Portugese merchants land on Tanegashima—first Europeans to

visit Japan. Introduce European guns (arqubuses). 1549 St. Francis Xavier arrives in Japan and founds Jesuit mission. 1568 Oda Nobunaga enters Kyoto and begins process of military uni-

fication of Japan. 1571 Nobunaga’s army destroys Enryakuji Temple on Mt. Hiei. 1582 Nobunaga assassinated; Toyotomi Hideyoshi succeeds him as uni-

fier. 1591 Death of Sen no Rikyū, greatest of tea masters. 1592 Hideyoshi’s first invasion of Korea. 1597 Hideyoshi’s second invasion of Korea. 1598 Death of Hideyoshi. 1600 Battle of Sekigahara and founding of Tokugawa Shogunate by

Ieyasu. 1603 Ieyasu receives title of shogun.

Sources of Japanese Tradition

second edition

volume 1

part i

Early Japan

Chapter 1

the earliest records of japan

The oldest extant annals in Japanese are the Records of Ancient Matters (Kojiki, 712 c.e.) and the Chronicles of Japan (Nihon shoki or Nihongi, 720). The Rec- ords opens with chapters on the mythological Age of the Gods and continues the story of Japan to about 500 c.e..1 Although this book reveals early Japanese ways of thinking and patterns of behavior, it contains little that can be taken as historical fact. The Chronicles, a much longer work, covers the same story from the Age of the Gods to 500 but continues for some two hundred years more until the end of the seventh century (697). The Chronicles becomes increasingly reliable as history after about the late sixth century. Indeed, the bestowal of the posthumous name of Suiko, meaning ‘‘conjecture the past,’’ on an empress who reigned from 592 to 628 seems to suggest that it was around this time that the Japanese, no doubt under Chinese influence, first began the serious writing of history, albeit often in the interests of the ruling house that the historians served.

An important source of written information about Japan before the sixth century is the Chinese dynastic histories. By the time Japan first came into the Chinese purview, about the first century b.c.e., the writing of history had left far behind the foundation myths of the Classic of Documents, and Chinese

1. The Records of Ancient Matters also provides genealogical data for the sovereigns of the sixth and early seventh centuries.

4 early japan

historians were compiling generally reliable records of the past. In the first century b.c.e., Japan was called Wa by the Chinese2 and was described as a land comprising more than a hundred tribal communities. As late as the Chi- nese Three Kingdoms period (220–265), according to the dynastic accounts, Wa was still divided into some thirty communities (although we know from the archaeological record in Japan that the country was then evolving into its first centralized state).

The Chinese histories do not tell us how the people now known as the Japanese first found their way to the islands. Without conclusive evidence on this subject, modern scholars have expounded various theories based on lin- guistics, archaeology, architecture, and a great many criteria, with some con- tending that the Japanese originally came from Southeast Asia and others in- sisting that they were a northern people. The Japanese probably had diverse origins, with various peoples entering from different directions. The mainstream of cultural influence came from the continent by way of Korea. When the first Qin emperor (247–210 b.c.e.) unified China and built the Great Wall to pre- vent the northern barbarians from making incursions on the fertile plains of the Yellow River, it seems likely that his actions helped direct the migrations of different peoples eastward or westward along the wall. Disturbances resulting from the movement of tribes were sometimes so severe that Emperor Wu (r. 140–87 b.c.e.) of the Han dynasty was compelled to send expeditionary forces to restore order. An outpost of the Han empire thus was established in northern Korea and served as a model of organized government to the surrounding tribes, possibly including the Japanese.

It may seem surprising that Japanese were in Korea in the first century c.e., but there appears to have been no fixed boundary at the time between the territory of the Koreans and that of the Japanese. Very likely there was a fairly steady eastward migration from north of China to the Korean peninsula and thence to the Japanese archipelago. During the third century, the Chinese withdrew from Korea, and the country was divided into three states, Koguryŏ, Paekche, and Silla, and beginning in the fourth century, Japanese periodically fought in Korea, usually siding with Paekche against Koguryŏ and Silla. Japa- nese historians claim that Japan established a territorial enclave at the tip of the Korean peninsula called Mimana sometime during the fourth century, al- though nationalistic Korean historians vigorously deny that such an enclave ever existed. Whatever interests the Japanese may have had in Korea were finally destroyed in 562. During the seventh century, Silla, with Chinese aid, subju- gated the rival kingdoms of Koguryŏ and Paekche and unified the peninsula. These successes of the combined forces of Silla and Tang China drove the Japanese from the continent into the relative isolation of their islands, an event

2. Wa is the Japanese pronunciation. In Chinese, it is Wo.

The Earliest Records of Japan 5

that may have helped bring about the birth of the historical Japanese state. That is, the rise of powerful dynasties in China and Korea impelled Japan to achieve a unified government in order not to be overwhelmed.

To understand some of the important influences on Japanese thought since earliest times, we turn next to the islands’ geographical features. The Chinese account of Japan in the History of the Latter Han Dynasty opens with the words ‘‘The people of Wa live on mountainous islands in the ocean,’’ and in fact, the two elements of water and mountains, together with a kind of sun worship, have always been very close to the Japanese. Although we are likely to find in any country’s religious beliefs a worship of noticeable or beneficial aspects of nature, the combination of these three elements is especially characteristic of Japan. The numerous clear streams and the ever-present ocean have always delighted the Japanese, as we can tell from their earliest poetry. To their love of water the Japanese joined a passion for lustration and cleanliness and, in our own day, for swimming. The Japanese love of mountains is not surprising in a country renowned for its numerous peaks, especially the incomparable Mount Fuji, and the worship of the sun is not unnatural in a country blessed with a temperate climate. Today we can still appreciate what an awe-inspiring experience it must have been for the Japanese of any age to stand on the summit of Mount Fuji and greet the sun as it rose from the waters of the Pacific. Other characteristics of the Japanese recorded in the early Chinese accounts that are still noticeable today include honesty, politeness, gentleness in peace and bravery in war, a love of liquor, and religious rites of purification and divination.

The Japanese accounts of the birth of the gods and of the foundation of their country belong, of course, to the realm of mythology rather than history, but they afford us a glimpse of Japanese attitudes toward the world and nature. Also, since later Japanese attached importance to these legends, some knowledge of them is indispensable to understanding Japanese thought.

JAPAN IN THE CHINESE DYNASTIC HISTORIES

The following extracts are from the official histories of successive Chinese dynasties, beginning with the Latter Han (25–220 c.e.), although the first of these accounts was written for the Kingdom of Wei (220–265) and compiled about 297 c.e.. The History of the Latter Han was compiled about 445 and incorporates much from the earlier description of the Japanese.

These accounts are contained in a section devoted to the barbarian neighbors of China at the end of each history. Thus they do not occupy a prominent place in these works, being more in the nature of an afterthought or footnote. Particularly in the earlier accounts, the information is apt to be scattered and disconnected and, not surprisingly, is presented by official chroniclers who viewed Japanese affairs with an eye to Chinese interests and prestige.

6 early japan

Nevertheless, we can discern some of the main outlines of Japan’s development in these early centuries. In the first accounts, Japan appears to be a heterogeneous group of communities in contact with China, with one ruling house bidding for Chinese recognition of its supremacy over the others. In one case, the influence of the Chinese ambassador is said to have been the decisive factor in settling a dispute over the succession to the Yamato throne. The kings of Wa, as the Yamato rulers were known, also made strong claims to military supremacy in Korea, which were at times acknowl- edged by the Chinese court. In the later accounts, the unification of Japan has pro- gressed noticeably. The sovereignty of the Yamato house has been asserted over hith- erto autonomous regions, and its government displays many of the trappings of the Chinese imperial structure. On occasion, the Japanese court is rebuked for its preten- sions to equality with the Chinese and even for its hinted superiority, as when the Japanese ruler addressed the Chinese, ‘‘The Child3 of Heaven in the land where the sun rises addresses a letter to the Child of Heaven in the land where the sun sets.’’

accounts of the eastern barbarians

history of the kingdom of wei (wei zhi) ca. 297 c.e.

The people of Wa [Japan] dwell in the middle of the ocean on the mountainous islands southeast of [the prefecture of] Daifang. They formerly comprised more than one hundred communities. During the Han dynasty, [Wa] envoys ap- peared at the court; today, thirty of their communities maintain intercourse with us through envoys and scribes. . . .

The land of Wa is warm and mild. In winter as in summer the people live on raw vegetables and go about barefooted. They have [or live in] houses; father and mother, elder and younger, sleep separately. They smear their bodies with pink and scarlet, just as the Chinese use powder. They serve food on bamboo and wooden trays, helping themselves with their fingers. When a person dies, they prepare a single coffin, without an outer one. They cover the graves with earth to make a mound. When death occurs, mourning is observed for more than ten days, during which period they do not eat meat. The head mourners wail and lament, while friends sing, dance and drink liquor. When the funeral is over, all members of the family go into the water to cleanse themselves in a bath of purification.

When they go on voyages across the sea to visit China, they always select a man who does not comb his hair, does not rid himself of fleas, lets his clothing get as dirty as it will, does not eat meat, and does not lie with women. This

3. The term tenshi, usually rendered as ‘‘Son of Heaven,’’ is actually gender neutral; here, in the Japanese case, it refers to Empress Suiko.

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man behaves like a mourner and is known as the ‘‘mourning keeper.’’ When the voyage meets with good fortune, they all lavish on him slaves and other valuables. In case there is disease or mishap, they kill him, saying that he was not scrupulous in observing the taboos. . . .

Whenever they undertake an enterprise or a journey and discussion arises, they bake bones and divine in order to tell whether fortune will be good or bad. First they announce the object of divination, using the same manner of speech as in tortoise shell divination; then they examine the cracks made by fire and tell what is to come to pass.

In their meetings and in their deportment, there is no distinction between father and son or between men and women. They are fond of liquor. In their worship, men of importance simply clap their hands instead of kneeling or bowing. The people live long, some to one hundred and others to eighty or ninety years. Ordinarily, men of importance have four or five wives; the lesser ones, two or three. Women are not loose in morals or jealous. There is no theft, and litigation is infrequent. In case of violations of the law, the light offender loses his wife and children by confiscation; as for the grave offender, the mem- bers of his household and also his kinsmen are exterminated. There are class distinctions among the people, and some men are vassals of others. Taxes are collected. There are granaries as well as markets in each province, where nec- essaries are exchanged under the supervision of the Wa officials. . . .

When the lowly meet men of importance on the road, they stop and with- draw to the roadside. In conveying messages to them or addressing them, they either squat or kneel, with both hands on the ground. This is the way they show respect. When responding, they say ‘‘ah,’’ which corresponds to the affirmative ‘‘yes.’’