Legends of Holy Men of Early Japan

LEGENDS OF HOLY MEN OF EARLY JAPAN
Author(s): Susanne Andrea Anderson

Source: Monumenta Serica, Vol. 28 (1969), pp. 258-320
Published by: Monumenta Serica Institute
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LEGENDS OF HOLY MEN OF EARLY JAPAN*
Susanne Andrea Anderson
Abbreviations and References
DBZ Dainihon
bukky
zensho
KT Shintei zho kokushi taikei
NKBT Nihon koten
bungaku
taikei
TYKS Teihon
Yanagita
Kunio sh
ZGR Zoku
gunsho ruij
ZMK Zenkoku mukashibanashi kiroku
ZTB Zoku teikoku bunko
Aarne,
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Folklore,
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(1954)
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.
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in Journal
of
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(1965)
: 3-20.
Beowulf
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Burton Raffel. New
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1963.
Bett, Henry. English Myths
and Traditions.
London,
1952.
Blinkenberg,
Chr. The
Thunderweapon
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Religion
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Bohner, Hermann.
Legenden
aus der Frhzeit des
japanischen
Buddhismus.
Nippon-Koku-Gemb-Zenaku-Ry-1-Ki,
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Brown, Norman. The Indian and Christian Miracles
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*
This
paper
was written as a Master's thesis at the
University
of California, Los
Angeles.
I wish to thank the three
professors
on
my
committee for their kind assis-
tance : Professor Ensho
Ashikaga
for his
help
in the use of Buddhist
terminology,
Pro-
fessor Ben Befu for his criticisms with
regard
to both
style
and
content, and Professor
Wayland
D. Hand for his instruction in folklore methods and
techniques.
258
LEGENDS OF HOLY MEN OF EARLY JAPAN 259
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I. INTRODUCTION
When Buddhism was introduced into
Japan during
the sixth
century,
the
Japanese people,
accustomed to the shamanistic rites
of the
indigenous
Shinto
religion,
were first attracted more to the
ceremonial
aspects
of the new
religion
than to the
philosophy.
Buddhist
scriptures
were
regarded
as
magical
formulas and Bud-
dhist rites were held to ward off
drought
and
pestilence. Generally
speaking,
there has not been
any significant
amount of
hostility
between Buddhism and
Shintoism,
as
opposed
to the
great antag-
onism which has existed between
Christianity
and
pagan religions.
In
fact,
Buddhism
consciously
absorbed elements of
primitive
magico-religious
belief into its
doctrine, utilizing
them as media for
expounding
abstract
philosophical concepts.
This situation is reflected in the life stories of the
holy
men
-
commonly
called
hijiri i
in
early Japanese religious
tradition1
-
of this
period.
While the saints of the
early
Christian church were
venerated for their
courage
and
righteous
defense of their faith
against
hostile
pagan religions,
the
Japanese
saints of
early
Bud-
dhist tradition were noted for their activities which reconciled this
imported religion
with
indigenous beliefs; they piously spread
the
gospel
of Buddhism
among
the common
people
and
yet, they readily
accepted
the divine favor of Shinto
gods
and
propitiated
deities of
nature who
governed
the elements.
The
early
Buddhist saints most
closely
associated with the
1) According
to Hori
Ichiro,
the word
hijiri presumably
was first used to indicate
the leader of shamans or medicine men in
prehistoric times, literally meaning
a man of
great knowledge concerning
the movement of
heavenly
bodies.
Later,
the term was
not
only applied
to Buddhist
saints,
but also to the
emperor,
residents of the land of
immortality,
and men
especially
talented in
games
or arts. See Hori
Ichiro,
"
On the
Concept
of
Hijiri (Holy-Man),"
in Numen 5
(April, 1958)
: 128-131.
shamanistic
aspects
of Shinto were called ubasoku
fl| ^ H.
The
ubasoku,
in
turn,
were
composed
of two
groups
of individuals : those
who traveled from
village
to
village, acting
as healers and
magicians
while
they performed
various
rituals, supervised community proj-
ects and
preached
the doctrine of reward and
retribution,
and
those who concentrated
upon
ascetic
practices
on sacred mountains
to
sharpen
their
powers
of
magic.
As
opposed
to the orthodox
Buddhist
priests
who
emphasized
the
importance
of valid ordination
and hierarchical
authority,2
ubasoku were interested in
spreading
a
more
personal
form of Buddhism and sometimes
they
were
per-
secuted because of these convictions.3 Two famous ubasoku were
En no Shkaku

<D
'h fa
and
Gygi
Taitoku
fr 3 ;*; fi.
En no Shkaku lived
during
the seventh and
early eighth
cen-
tury.
He was born in Chihara mura
^ JS ft,
Katsur
agi j-gun H
^ _h SB,
Yamato
Province,
under the name Kamo no E
^ S
or
Takakamo
df^.
Because it is said that he
practiced
austerities
in a mountain cave for
forty
some
years,
he is also known as En
no
Gyja $
<D
ff ^f,
or En the
Ascetic,
the founder of a mountain
ascetic movement called
Shugend S& il-
As this man commanded
great
influence over the
people, Emperor
Monmu
(r. 697-707)
feared
that he
posed
a threat to the throne and banished him to the
prov-
ince of Izu.
However,
he was
pardoned
after three
years
and is
said to have
gone
over to China.4
2) During
the Nara and Heian Periods, many priests belonging
to orthodox Bud-
dhism were also
required
to exorcize evil
spirits
and
perform
other
magical
rites to
protect
the national welfare. As close connections
began
to
develop
between certain
temples
and certain noble families who became their
patrons,
these orthodox
priests
became involved in
conspiracies
and
power-struggles
and at times, they
were even
called
upon
to work black
magic
for their
supporters.
See Hori, pp.
143-146.
3)
Ubasoku were not
recognized
as
regular
members of the orthodox Buddhist
clergy,
but because
they
worked
among
the common
people
rather than the aristoc-
racy, they enjoyed great popularity.
It was for this reason that
they
incurred the
jealousy
and
antagonism
of the orthodox
priests
as well as the
government,
who be-
came alarmed at their
increasing power
and influence. The ubasoku advocated a
way
to salvation which was later termed
hijirid | * or bosatsud
H g M.,
the
holy
man
path
or the bodhisattva
path.
For a discussion of ubasoku,
see
Joseph
M.
Kitagawa,
Religion
in
Japanese History (New York, 1966), pp.
38-45.
4) Takeuchi Riz et
al., ed.,
Nihon kodai
jinmei jiten (1958),
1 : 273-274. The chief
aim of
Shugend
was to
acquire supernatural power by
means of
practicing
austerities.
These austerities were
practiced
on various mountains which were held to be sacred.
Gygi
Taitoku
(670-749)
was born in
tori-gun ^ Jfe fR,
Izumi
Province. His
lay
name was Kshi
J ^,
his father
being
the son
of a Paekche
king. Gygi
became a
priest
at
Yakushiji H gfi ^f ,
but he was arrested in 717 for his
preaching
activities
among
the
masses.
Later, however,
he
gained
the
respect
of
Emperor
Shmu
(r. 724-749)
and was
appointed Daisj ft IE
"
Grand
High
Priest
"
in
745,
over several more orthodox
priests.
In this
position, Gygi
was involved in
many
activities
concerning
the erection of the
great
image
of Rushana Buddha in Nara.
Through
his
pilgrimage
to the
Ise Shrine to
gain support
of the Shinto Sun Goddess Amaterasu in
building
this
image, Gygi
also is accredited with
instituting
the
trend toward a
greater
reconciliation of orthodox Buddhism with
popular religious
elements.5
Other
holy
men established their own sects of
Buddhism,
thus
inheriting
the aura of divine charisma so often associated with re-
ligious
founders in
Japan.
Two such famous saints of the Heian
period (794-1185)
were Saich
H g
and Kkai
3? jg.
Both men
contributed further toward a
synthesis
of Buddhism and
Shintoism,
also
including
other
aspects
of
popular religion imported
from China
such as the
Yin-Yang
cult and Taoism.6 Both men
emphasized
the
chanting
of
mystical
formulas and the maintenance of
vigorous
discipline.
In
keeping
with the
concept
of mountain
asceticism,
the
sectarian
headquarters
of both
holy
men were established
upon
sacred mountains.
Saich
(767-822),
of Chinese
ancestry,
was born in
Shiga-gun -g
f$,
Orni
Province,
with the
lay
surname of Mitsu H
f.
He
established the Tendai
^ -p?
Sect of Buddhism based on the Chinese
school of T'ien-t'ai
% ,
and erected his
temple headquarters
En-
ryakuji i^
on Mt. Hiei
jt fX.
He was
sharply
critical of
city
Besides Mt.
Katsuragi
where Enno Shkaku
performed
his
austerities, other
important
mountains were Mt. Kimbu ($,
Mt. Ornine ^ fc|
and Mt.
Kumano,
to name but a
few. For a discussion of
Shugend
and the
significance
of mountains in
Japanese
re-
ligion,
see Hori
Ichiro,
Folk
Religion
in
Japan (Chicago, 1968), pp.
141-179.
Shugend
later became
aligned
with the Tendai and
Shingon
sects of esoteric Buddhism.
5)
Nihon kodai
jinmei jiten (1961),
3 : 658-66. For
legends regarding Gygi
and
the erection of the
image
of the
great Buddha, see notes 14 and 15.
6)
For a discussion of the
conciliatory relationship
between Buddhism and Shintoism
during
the Heian
Period, see
Kitagawa, pp.
66-73.
temples which, being patronized by
the
aristocracy,
often became
involved in
corruptive practices. Instead,
Saich
preferred
the
quiet,
secluded mountain life where he could
practice
strict mental
and
physical discipline.
He also venerated Shinto
deities,
and thus
gave
rise to a
theory
of coexistence between Buddhism and Shin-
toism later known as San'
Ichijitsu
Shinto
|l| 3
-
jf jfit jH.
Saich
is better known
by
his
posthumous name, Dengy
Daishi
{# %k X
Sfi.7
Kkai
(774-825)
was born in
Bybu
no Ura
H )
<r>
ftf,
Tado-
gun ^ K |$,
Sanuki
Province,
under the
lay
surname of Saeki
fe
{.
He founded the
Shingon 3*
Sect of Buddhism based on the
doctrine of the Chinese
Chen-yen % B
school. He founded the
temple Kongbuji ^ S|IJ % ^
on Mt.
Kya j f?
as a
headquarters
of his sect. Unlike
Saich, however,
Kkai maintained a
good
re-
lationship
with the
nobility
and the orthodox
priests
of the
capital.
Kkai's
conciliatory
attitude toward Shinto deities also
provided
the basis for a
synthesized
Buddhism and Shintoism later known
as
Rybu
Shinto
^ t$ ff M-
Like
Saich,
Kkai is more
popularly
known
by
his
posthumous title,
Kb Daishi
g & X fif.8
The lives of these four famous
holy
men of
early Japan,
En
no
Gyja Gygi Taitoku, Dengy Daishi,
and Kb
Daishi,
have
provided
the basis for
many interesting legends
found in both liter-
ary
and folk tradition. These
legends,
in
large part,
reflect the
involvement with mountain asceticism and
personal,
shamanistic
Buddhism which characterized the ubasoku. The
frequent legendary
encounters with Shinto deities which are attributed to these saints
most
likely
are a
product
of their activities related to the
synthesis
7) Shimonaka Yasabur, ed., Daijinmei jiten (1957), 3/4
: 17-19. Prior to establish-
ing
their new sects of Buddhism,
both Saich and Kkai had
gone
to China in 804 to
study
Chinese Buddhist doctrine. For
legends
of their travels,
see notes 91 and 115.
8) Daijinmei jiten (1957),
1-2 : 357-359. Under the doctrine of
Rybu Shinto,
which became well established during
the Heian Period, special
Buddhist
temples
called
jinguji 1$ 'S --
were built on the
precincts
of Shinto shrines so that Buddhist
priests
could
perform
rites for the Shinto deities. Shinto deities were also enshrined at Bud-
dhist
temples.
The belief was held that Shinto
gods
were actually
manifestations of
buddhas who
appeared
in
Japan
and therefore, they
were
worthy
of
worship
and re-
spect by
Buddhists. The Shinto deity
Hachiman of the Usa Shrine is believed to have
been the first so considered,
for he also issued a favorable oracle
regarding
the con-
struction of the Rushana Buddha and was then enshrined at
Tdaiji.
of orthodox Buddhism and
popular religious
elements. The
many
stories about these
holy
men of
early Japan, however,
are
by
no
means
unique
in the field of folk literature.
Many
of the
motifs,
and even the life
pattern,
found in stories about
Japanese holy
men are found also in stories about Christian
saints;
and
many
legends
about
holy
men in
general
have
parallels
in stories about
secular heroes.
It is
hoped
that the
following
discussion of
legends concerning
the four
holy
men of
early Japan
mentioned
above,
En no
Gyja,
Gygi Taitoku, Dengy Daishi,
and Kb
Daishi,
will serve not
only
to
point
out the
particular
characteristics of stories about these
individuals,
but also to indicate the similarities and differences
between these
legends
and those
concerning
saints in Christian
tradition. Where
appropriate,
an
attempt
will also be made to
draw
comparisons
between stories of
holy
men and stories of
secular heroes in both traditions.
To view
legends
about
Japanese holy
men in the
proper per-
spective,
some clarification of the term
"
legend
"
must first be
made.
Legends
are often confused with other forms of folk litera-
ture such as
myths
or
fairy tales,
but for the
purposes
of this dis-
cussion,
some basic differences will be noted.
Legend,
like
myth,
is a narrative which is believed to be true
by
the
society
in which
it is told. This is an contrast to the
fairy tale,
which is
recognized
as
fantasy. Legends, moreover,
relate events which occur within
the time
span
of historical
man,
whereas
myths
and
fairy
tales
involve a
period
of timelessness when
gods
roamed the
earth,
or
of once
upon
a time. In
addition, legends may
be classified as
either sacred or secular in
character,
and thus
may
be
compared
either to
myths
which are sacred
literature,
or to
fairy
tales which
are
generally profane
narratives.9
Therefore,
based on these dis-
9) These
concepts
about the distinction of
myth, legend
and
fairy
tale
(or marchen)
are
basically
the same
put
forth
by
William Bascom in
"
The Forms of Folklore :
Prose
Narratives,"
Journal
of
American Folklore 77
(1965)
: 3-20. The
Japanese
term
for
legend
is densetsu
# t&. Although Japanese
folklorists have not described den-
setsu in
exactly
the same terms as the definition of
legend given above,
it is felt that
densetsu can be
equated
with
legend.
For a discussion of
densetsu,
see
Yanagita
Kunio, Densetsu,
in TYKS
(1962),
5 : 1-110. It should also be noted that
many
motifs
and combination of motifs found in one form of folk literature can be found in other
forms too.
tinctions, legends
of
holy
men can be defined as stories which
(1)
are believed to be
true, (2)
are about historical
men,
and
(3)
are
sacred in nature.
Legends generally
are told to
glorify
certain
people, places
or
events in order to
strengthen
their relative
position
of
importance
historically
or
geographically. Legends
also function as a means
of social control in the sense that
they present
the
pattern
of an
ideal
image,
or
they
condemn
unacceptable
behavior. For this rea-
son, legends
tend to
forget
or eliminate the less favorable
aspects
of the hero and
exaggerate
his virtues. The reverse is true of the
anti-hero.10
One
frequent
method
apparently
used in the formation of
legends
is the
imaginative
addition of
possible
events to authentic
events. Such is the
legend describing Dengy
Daishi's influence
concerning
the transfer of the
Imperial
residence to
Nagaoka ^
|3jJ. Emperor
Kanmu
(r. 781-806)
was hesitant about
moving
be-
cause the tall mountain Mt. Hiei
lay
toward the northeast of the
new site and thus
represented
kimon
% P5
or demon's
gate.
Be-
cause it was
thought
that demons could enter and leave the human
world at this
point,
Mt. Hiei
consequently posed
a
dangerous
omen
to the future of the new
capital. However,
when
Dengy
Daishi
heard of the
Emperor's fear,
he
persuaded
him to make the move
by explaining
that the various buddhas which were
residing
on
Mt.
Hiei,
the
headquarters
of the Tendai
sect,
would
guard
kimon
and
prevent any
misfortune.11
10)
For a discussion of the functions of folklore, see William
Bascom,
"
Four Func-
tions of
Folklore,"
Journal
of
American Folklore 67
(1954)
: 333-349. He lists as the
four functions :
(1) amusement, (2)
validation of
culture, (3) education,
and
(4)
maintain-
ing conformity
to
accepted patterns
of behavior.
11)
Imahori Bun'ichiro, Dengy
Daishi
(1962), pp.
32-33. Another
legend regard-
ing
a
possible
but
perhaps unlikely
event concerns Kb Daishi. It is said that while
Kb Daishi was in
China,
he
performed
an esoteric rite to determine which buddha
would be the main
object
of his meditation. For this to be
achieved,
he cast a lotus
flower on each of two sacred
diagrams
or mndalas of the
Shingon
Sect.
By
some
wonderous coincidence,
both flowers landed on the central
figure
which was the
Vairocana Buddha and this was considered to be indeed an
auspicious sign.
See Ya-
mada Yoshio et
al., ed., Konjaku monogatari,
in Nihon koten
bungaku
taikei
(NKBT)
(1961),
24:75.
Other
legends
are
obviously
a romanticization of events. Such
is the dramatic
story
of how one man abandoned all to become a
follower of
Gygi
Taitoku.
According
to the
legend,
this man
hap-
pened
to observe some birds
making
a nest in a tree. He noted
that the female bird
gave
birth to her
young
and he watched as
the male bird flew off in search of food for his wife and children.
The
man, however,
became filled with
dismay
as he saw the female
bird commit
adultery
with another bird in her husband's absence.
The female bird then flew
away
with her new
mate, leaving
her
children behind. When the husband returned and found his wife
gone,
he remained in the nest and
embracing
his
children,
he went
to
sleep.
Several
days passed
and the
man, wondering
what had
happened
to the
bird,
ordered someone to climb the tree and in-
vestigate.
The male bird was found
dead,
still
embracing
his
young.
The man became so
upset
at the cruel lust of the female bird that
he himself left his
home,
his wife and his
children,
abandoned his
official
rank,
and became a follower or
Gygi
Taitoku in order that
he
might practice good
and find the
way
to salvation. The man
later became the
priest Shingon fa Wi>
lived a virtuous
life,
and
then
departed
from the wicked world that he abhorred.12
An unusual name also
presents
an
interesting
basis for the
development
of
legend.
This is the case with the
holy
man named
En no Shkaku. The word shkaku means
"
small horn
"
and ac-
cording
to one
legend,
the saint received this name because he was
born with one small horn on his forehead. In order to hide this
horn,
it is said that he
always
wore a
cap
on his head as he trav-
eled about the land. It is
interesting
to note that this
legend
also is used to
explain
the custom
adopted by
his
followers,
the
yamabushi 'l] {,
in which
they always
wore hoods as a
distinguish-
ing
characteristic.13
12) End Yoshimoto and
Kasuga Kazuo, eds.,
Nihon
ryiki,
in NKBT
(1967),
70.
A German translation of
legends
in the Nihon
ryiki
can be found in Hermann Bohner,
Legenden
aus der Frhzeit des
japanischen
Buddhismus.
Nippon
Koku Gemb Zenaku
Ry
I
Ki,
in
Mitteilungen
der Deutschen
Gesellschaft fr
Natur- und Vlkerkunde
Ostasiens 27
(1934).
13) Emi
Sunn, ed., Bukky
kakush zoku
ksjitsuden zen,
in Zoku teikoku bunko
{ZTB) (1903),
49 : 775-779. This
may
be
compared
to the
legend explaining
the name
of St.
Christopher. Christopher
means Christbearer. The saint received this name
It seems that
many legends
have arisen out of the desire to
indicate that a certain event or
activity
was blessed with divine
favor. The stories
surrounding Gygi
Taitoku's involvement with
the erection of the
great
Rushana statue at
Tdaiji j^l ^ ^f orig-
inated in this
way.
There are two
separate legends concerning
this event. One
story
relates that when the
holy
man
journeyed
to the Ise Shrine to
present
a Buddhist relic to the Sun Goddess
and seek her divine favor for the construction and
worship
of the
Rushana,
after seven
days
and
nights,
he received a favorable
oracle in which the
goddess gave
her assent to the
project, proclaim-
ing
in a dream that she and the Rushana Buddha were one and
the same.14 The second
story
involves the
"
eye-opening
"
ceremony,
in which the
eyes
of the statue were touched to
symbolize
the
image coming
to life.
Apparently, Gygi
was asked to
perform
this
rite,
but he felt
unworthy
of it.
Therefore,
the
holy
man in-
vited a
priest
from India to come and
preside
over the event. The
manner in which the saint sent his
invitation, however,
is
quite
unique.
He went down to the harbor of
Naniwa, accompanied by
one hundred
priests,
and
preparing
a Buddhist water
offering,
he
set it afloat on the sea. The
offering
floated out of
sight
to the
west. Sometime later,
this same
offering
was
sighted, returning
in
front of a boat which carried a Brahman
high priest.
The Brah-
man
alighted
from the boat and
greeted Gygi
as if
they
were old
friends. Thus,
the
ceremony
was held and the Brahman became a
priest
at
Daianji ^.15
because he bore the Christ child on his shoulders and carried him across a river.
Even
though
his burden seemed to
get
heavier and heavier until the saint feared that
he
might drop him,
he
managed
to
carry
him
safely
to the other side. See Granger
Ryan
and Helmut
Ripperger, trans.,
The Golden
Legend of
Jacobus de
Voragine
(London, 1941),
I: 377-382. The
yamabushi (literally "priests
who lie down in the
mountains") belonged
to the
Shugend
movement (see note 4) and were also called
shugenja fe^^k.
Besides
wearing hoods, they
were also
distinguished by
the shell
trumpets which they carried. See Folk Religion
in
Japan, pp. 74-78.
14) Mochizuki Shinko and Takakusu
Junjir, eds., Shikadaiji
kokon denki
shuy
shinsho,
in Dainihon
bukky
zensho (DBZ) (1930),
122 : 248. An
English
version of the
legend
is
provided
in G. B.
Sansom, Japan
A Short Cultural
History (New York, 1943),
pp.
132-133.
15) Konjaku monogatari, pp.
70-71.
According
to the
legend,
the Brahman claimed
that he had been on a
pilgrimage
to Mt. Wu T'ai Shan S fi UJ to meet the bodhisat-
tva
Majusri,
but he had met an old man
along
the road who told him that the
bodhisattva had been reborn in
Japan
as the saint
Gygi. Thus,
the Brahman had
made the
journey
to see
Gygi.
See also note 69.
Many legends
endow
holy
men with various
supernatural
powers.
For
example,
at various times En no
Gyja
is described as
flying through
the
air,
either
by
means of a cloud of five
colors,
a
dragon,
or
simply
under his own
power.
In other
instances,
he
is said to have walked across the surface of the water.18 Stories
of such
magical
feats of
holy
men often
testify
to the belief in the
power
of ascetic
practices. Many
ascetic cults
throughout
the world
have held the tenet that various
supernatural powers
could be
achieved
through rigorous
mental and
physical discipline. Ostensibly,
the chief aim of such
discipline
was to
separate
and
purify
the
mind or
spirit
from the sensual desires of the
physical body.
Be-
cause it was believed that the lusts of the flesh were
responsible
for all the evil that befell man or the sins that he
committed,
it
was
thought necessary
to
mortify
the
body
in order for the human
soul to be able to commune with the divine or absolute
being.
It
further was believed that the more
intensely
such austerities were
practiced,
the
greater
was the
power
the soul or mind achieved
over
physical
matter. Such
supernatural power
was achieved in
steps according
to the level of
spiritual emancipation
attained. The
ability
to walk on water or
fly through
the air was one of these
stages.17
The ultimate
stage
of
supernatural power
was
immortality
of
the soul. This
concept perhaps provided
the basis for
legends
about
holy
men who never
die,
but remain sealed
up
in a
mountain, ready
to come forth should the need arise. Kb Daishi is one of these
individuals.
According
to one
legend,
this saint built a cave of
meditation on Mt.
Kya
and in the
year 835,
he entered the cave
62-63. En no
Gyja
is said to have
employed
the chant-
ing
of a sutra called
Kujakuju ky Jl 3E 68 fi (Mahmayurividyrjfi)
to aid
him in
attaining supernatural powers. Walking
across water has been a feat attributed
to
many holy
men. Christ walked
upon water, after
having gone
into a mountain to
pray.
See Mark 6 : 45-51.
However, according
to Indian notions of ascetic
practice
walking
on water was a lesser
stage
of achievement than
flying through
the air. See
Norman
Brown, The Indian and Christian Miracles
of Walking
on the Water
(Chicago, 1928), pp.
17-18.
17) For a discussion of the
philosophy
of
asceticism, see John
Campbell Oman, The
Mystics, Ascetics and Saints
of
India
(London, 1905). Two famous ascetics of Chris-
tianity
were St. Paul and St.
Anthony. They, however, performed
their austerities
in the desert rather than in the mountains.
and never came out. For some
time,
the cave was
periodically
opened
to shave the saint's hair and
change
his
garment,
but this
eventually stopped.
Much
later,
a former
disciple
of the
holy
man
made a
pilgrimage
to Mt.
Kya
and
opened
this meditation cave.
A mist rose
up
and it was
pitch
dark inside.
Finally,
the mist or
dust subsided and he saw Kb Daishi with his hair a foot
long
and his
garment decayed.
The
string
of the saint's
rosary
had
rotted also and the beads
lay
strewn about the floor. The
disciple
bathed the
holy man,
dressed him in a fresh
garment
and shaved
his hair.
Then,
he
gathered up
the
rosary beads, restrung
them
and
placed
them in the saint's hand. As he
left,
he
began
to
cry,
fearing
that no one would come after him to take care of the
Daishi.
However, many
other
people
did make
pilgrimages
to this
cave of
meditation,
and it is said that whenever the door was
opened slightly,
a sound
rang throughout
the mountain.18
II. MIGRATORY LEGENDS
Legends, however,
are
usually
classified
according
to whether
they
have
migrated
from area to
area,
or whether
they
have re-
mained
relatively
fixed in a
given
location.
Some
legends
about
holy
men of
Japan
so
closely
resemble
other well-known tales both in
Japan
and abroad that it is difficult
not to
presuppose
some historical or
geographical
connection be-
tween them. In other
words,
the number and combination of mo-
tifs
present
in these narratives
comprise
a stable and
recognizable
pattern
too
complicated
to have
permitted independent origination
106-107. This motif of the hero who does not die,
but remains
sleeping (or
in this
case, meditating)
in a mountain or cave is
very pop-
ular in
legends.
For
example,
this
phenomenon
is attributed to
King
Arthur and
Frederick II. See Alexander H.
Krappe,
The Science
of
Folklore (New York, 1964),
pp.
108-109. In Christian
legend,
the Seven
Sleepers
of
Ephesus
also
belong
to this
tradition (The
Golden
Legend,
II: 382-286). With
regard
to death motifs,
it is in-
teresting
to note that
although many holy
men of both Buddhist and Christian tra-
dition are said to have had
prior knowledge
of their
death,
the motif of torture and
martydom
which
appears
so often in Christian
legends
does not seem to exist in Bud-
dhist
legends
to
any great
extent. In
fact, most often it is the enemies of Buddhist
saints who
experience
the
greatest suffering
in the
legends.
at different
places
or times. Elements of one tale must have been
borrowed from
another,
or more
likely,
all tales must have devel-
oped
as variants of a much older
archetype. Legends
of this
nature are termed
migratory legends
because the different variants
are believed to have
migrated
from one central
point
of
origin,
although
in most cases it is
impossible
to
actually
trace a
particular
legend
or tale
type
back to its
point
of dissemination,
the
major
problem being
that the older variants which existed
only
in oral
tradition were never recorded for
posterity. Migratory legends
thus
may
cover a broad area in
space
and
time,
and it will be in-
teresting
to note how variants of
legends
about
holy
men of
Japan
current in other Asian traditions relate to those of Christians or
Western culture.19
One
popular migratory legend
concerned with
Gygi
Taitoku
involves a combination of Tale
Type 425A, The Monster
Bridegroom,
and Tale
Type 300,
The
Dragon Slayer.20
The basic
story
is as
follows : There once was a
girl by
the name of Okisome no Omi-
tahime
jg ^ fg M k-
This
girl
was
very pure
in heart and worked
diligently everyday gathering greens
and
serving Gygi
Taitoku.
One
day
while she was in the mountains about her work,
the
girl
saw a
huge
snake on the
verge
of
swallowing
a
frog.
Omitahime
pleaded
with the snake to set the
frog free,
but the snake
paid
no
attention and swallowed the creature
anyway.
The
girl, however,
did not
give up
and offered to become the snake's wife if he would
only
release the
frog.
This
time,
the snake listened and
raising
its tall
head,
stared at the face of the
girl.
Then it
disgorged
the
frog
and let it
go.
True to her
word,
Omitahime made a
pledge
with the snake that he
might
come and fetch her for his wife in
19) For a discussion of the characteristics of
migratory legends,
see
Krappe, pp.
101-137. Reidar Th.
Christiansen, one of the foremost Western scholars of
migratory
legends,
has
compiled
an index of these
legends together
with a list of their
Norwegian
variants. The
scope
of his
index, however, is rather limited in
nature, and he includes
local as well as
migratory types.
See Reidar Th.
Christiansen,
"
The
Migratory Leg-
ends,"
in FF Communications 175
(Helsinki, 1958).
20) These tale
types
are those used
by Aarne and
Thompson
in their classification
of the
types
of the folktale. See Antti Aarne and Stith
Thompson,
"
The
Types
of
the
Folktale," in FF Communications 184 (Helsinki, 1964). Seki
Keigo, however, lists
this tale as a
sub-type
of his classification
Type 133, The
Serpent Bridegroom. See
Seki
Keigo,
"
Types
of
Japanese Folktales," in Asian Folklore Studies 25
(1966).
seven
days.
When the avowed
day came, however,
the
girl
was
frightened
and she shut herself
up
in her
room, blocking up
all
holes where the snake
might possibly
enter. In accordance with
the
pledge,
the snake came and
finding
the
girl
locked
up,
he tried
to knock down the walls with his
tail,
but had no success.
Manag-
ing
to
escape
her fate this
time, Omitahime went to see the Taitoku
the next
day
and asked him for advice. The saint
replied
that she
could not be released from her vow. She could
only
take
refuge
in the commandments of Buddhism.
Thus,
the
girl
was converted
to the faith. Now it so
happened
that on the
way
home from the
temple,
Omitahime met an old man with some
large
crabs. She
asked him to set the crabs
free,
but the
stranger
refused because
he had made a
bargain
to sell them. The
girl
offered her dress
in
exchange,
but the man still refused. Then the
girl
offered her
skirt also and the man
finally agreed
to release the crabs. Omitahime
took the crabs to
Gygi Taitoku,
who
performed
the
proper
rites
and released them. On the
evening
of the
eighth day,
the snake
again
came to the
girFs
house and
climbing up
to the roof,
it
pulled
off the thatch and entered inside. Omitahime was
frightened
and
yet,
she remained unharmed in the
dark, hearing only
a sound of
slapping against
the floor. When
day came,
she saw that a
large
crab had cut
up
the snake into small
pieces,
and then she knew
that this deed was in
repayment
for the
previous
favor she had
per-
formed for the crabs.
Wanting
to find out the truth of the
matter,
the
girl
made
inquiries
about the old man that she had
met,
but
she had no success.
Thus, people
became convinced that the old
man was
actually
a transformation of the saint
Gygi.21
This
legend
bears
astonishing similarity
to a
story
about the
bodhisattva Kannon. In this
case, however,
the
girl
is dedicated
in her faith to
Kannon,
who
replaces
the
figure
of
Gygi
Taitoku.
21) Ryiki, pp.
200-203.
Actually,
there are two variants of this same
legend
in
the
Ryiki.
The other version, pp. 210-215, contains the
following
variations: A
girl,
name unknown, first obtains
eight
crabs from a
youthful
cowherd who intended to eat
them; when the
girl
sees the snake about to swallow the
frog,
she first offers it (1)
sacred
strips
of cloth, and (2) enshrinement as a
deity; only
when these offers are
unacceptable
does she
pledge
to
marry
the snake
;
and in
releasing
the
crabs,
the
girl
seeks the counsel of a Zen
priest by
the name of Gi

rather than
Gygi
Taitoku.
These are the main differences.
M.S. XXVIII 18
Other motifs also are somewhat
changed
in this variant of the
legend.
The
story begins
with the
girl meeting
a man who is car-
rying
a crab on a
string.
After
having
discovered that the man
intends to eat the
poor creature,
the
girl
offers to
exchange
some
dead fish for it. An
agreement
is made and she takes the crab to
the river and sets it loose. In the second
episode,
it is the
girPs
father who
spies
a snake about to swallow a
frog
while he is work-
ing
in the
fields,
and it is the father who
promises
his
daughter
to
the snake in
exchange
for the
frog.
That
evening,
the father laments
his
impulsive promise,
but the
girl
is determined to fulfill the bar-
gain
and
requests only
that she be
given
three
days
of
grace.
During
this
time,
she builds a cabinet of thick boards and on the
avowed
evening,
shuts herself
up inside, trusting
to the divine
protection
of Kannon. Her
prospective bridegroom
first
appears
in
the
guise
of a
man,
but when he discovers the
girl
has hidden in
the
cabinet,
he becomes filled with
rage
and
changes
into his
orig-
inal snake form. He
wraps
himself around the cabinet and beats
on the door with his tail. This continues on into the middle of the
night,
when the
knocking
sound
suddenly stops.
At
daybreak,
the
snake is found bitten to
pieces by
a number of crabs who are
gathered
around a
large crab,
their leader.
Unharmed,
the
girl
steps
out of the cabinet and attributes the miracle to the bodhisat-
tva Kannon.22
A third
example
of the
legend
can be found in a folktale from
Iwaki Province. This
story
relates how a warrior saw a snake
swallowing
a
frog
and
promised
it
anything
if
only
it would release
the
poor
creature.
Contrary
to the man's
expectations, however,
a
stranger
came to the warrior's house that
night
and
claiming
that he was the
snake,
demanded the man's
daughter
for his bride.
The warrior asked for seven
days
of
grace
and
during
this
time,
the
girl
went
every morning
to the shrine and
prayed.
On the
morning
that the snake was to claim
her,
she
happened
to meet
453-455. A kind of reverse
example
of this
legend
is found in the
story
of
Djji it le ^.
This is the tale of a
girl
who falls
passion-
ately
in love with a
priest.
In order to avoid her
advances,
the
priest
hides under a
huge bell,
and this so incenses the
girl
that she
changes
into a snake and
wraps
herself around the bell, finally demolishing
it with the heat of her breath. See,
for
example, Nogami Toyoichir, ed.,
"
Djji,"
in
Ykyoku
zensh 4 (1935)
: 415-432.
an old woman
carrying
some crabs in a basket. When the
daugh-
ter heard that the woman was
going
to town to sell
them,
she
bought
all the crabs and set them loose in a ditch. That
day,
a
nest of
eight
boxes was built and the
girl
climbed inside. Then
her suitor came and
changing
into a
snake,
carried the box
away
to the mountains. With his
teeth,
he
pulled
the boards
away
from
the box until
only
one
layer
remained. But then
suddenly,
in-
numerable crabs
gathered
from somewhere and killed the snake.
These were the crabs whose lives the
girl
had saved.23
These
examples
should be sufficient to show that the
story
of
Gygi
Taitoku and the snake exists as a
migratory legend.
The
tale
types forming
this
legend,
The Monster
Bridegroom
and The
Dragon Slayer,
are also
popular
stories in Western culture.
The motifs of the
legend
which more
properly belong
to The
Monster
Bridegroom
are as follows:
(1)
a
girl promises
herself as
a bride to a
monster,
or her father
promises her,
and
(2)
there is
an
attempt
to evade the
promise.
The tale in Western tradition,
however,
contains the additional motifs :
(1)
enchanted husband, (2)
loss of husband
by breaking
an interdiction,
and
(3) quest
for lost
husband. Thus,
in the Israeli folktale of The Ten
Serpents,
a
merchant is threatened with death
by
a snake and in
exchange
for
his
life,
he
promises
his
daughter
in
marriage. Although
the man
later laments this decision,
the
girl agrees
to fulfill the
bargain.
After some time has
passed,
the
serpent
comes to claim his
prize
and takes the
girl
into a bedroom. Once inside, however,
he
changes
into a handsome
young
man
by shedding
his snake skin. He warns
the
girl
not to ask
any questions
nor to tell her
parents
what she
has
seen,
and he
explains
that he can
only
see her in the
evening.
Unfortunately,
the
girl
breaks her
promise
and discloses her hus-
band's secret to her
parents. Therefore,
the
snake-bridegroom
has
to leave her and
sadly they part.
The
girl, however, journeys
to
23) Iwasaki Toshio, ed.,
Iwaki mukashibanashi shu,
in Zenkoku mukashibanashi
kiroku (ZMK) (1942),
2: 16. For an
interesting
discussion of the
Serpent Bridegroom
Tale,
see Seki Keigo,
"
The
Spool
of Thread : A
Subtype
of the
Japanese Serpent-
Bridegroom Tale,"
in Studies in
Japanese
Folklore
(Indiana, 1963), pp.
267-288. On
page 284, Seki notes that in some
parts
of
Japan
there is a tradition that maidens
once were offered as sacrifices in
request
for a
good
rice
crop,
and that the
frog
is
regarded
as a
helpful
servant of the rice field
deity.
an
underground palace
and recovers her husband
by burning
his
snake skin while he is
asleep.
The next
morning,
the
couple
em-
brace and the
groom explains
that he had been enchanted.24 There
are
many
different versions of this
story
in Western tradition. The
oldest written variant of the tale is said to be the
story
of
Cupid
and
Psyche,
an
episode
inserted in a
longer
narrative The Golden
Ass
by Apuleius
and
dating
back to the second
century
after
Christ.25
The
legend
of
Gygi
Taitoku and the snake
changes
from the
introductory
motifs of The Monster
Bridegroom
and focuses on the
central theme of the tale known as The
Dragon Slayer.
The
elements involved here are :
(1) grateful animals, (2)
sacrifice of
human
being
to
dragon
or
periodic
sacrifices to
monster, (3) fight
with
dragon
and
(4)
rescue of a
princess.
The
story
of The
Dragon
Slayer, by itself,
is
quite popular
in
Japan.
There
is,
for
example,
a tale called
Shippei
Taro which
clearly
shows a
relationship
with
the
legend
of
Gygi
Taitoku described above. In this
story,
an
itinerant
priest happens
to
pass by
a house in a
lonely
mountain
village
and finds a crowd
gathered
around a
young
maiden and
weeping.
When he
inquires
about the reason for their
tears,
he
is told that each
year
at harvest
time,
a human sacrifice is
offered to the mountain
deity
and that in seven
days
it will be the
girl's
turn to suffer this fate. After
hearing
these
details, the
priest
calms the
people
and offers to take the
girl's place.
The
next
day,
he
journeys
to the mountain shrine and hides in a hollow
tree. At
midnight,
a
group
of
strange
creatures
appear
at the
temple
and from a
song
which
they sing,
the
priest
discovers that
they
can be
conquered by
someone called
Shippei
Taro. He sets
out to search for this
person
but does so in vain until he finds out
that
Shippei
Taro is a
large dog. Accompanied by
this
dog,
the
priest
returns to the
girl's
house
just
in time to meet the
villagers
carrying
the maiden in a wooden chest
up
the mountain. The
girl
is taken out and the
priest
and the
dog
take her
place. They
are
24) Dov
Noy, ed., Folktales
of
Israel
(Chicago, 1963), pp.
161-165. Another version
of the tale can be found in Josef
Scharl, trans., Grimm's
Fairy
Tales (New York,
1944), pp.
571-577.
25) For an extensive
analysis
of this tale
type,
see J.-O.
Swahn,
The Tale
of
Cupid
and
Psyche (Lund, 1955).
left at the mountain shrine and at
midnight,
the monsters
appear
and dance around the chest. When
they
take the lid
off, however,
the
priest
and
Shippei
Taro
jump
out and cut them down. The
next
morning,
the
villagers
climb the mountain to see what has
happened
and
they
find dead
monkeys
strewn about. From that
time
on,
no more human sacrifices were needed.26
Among
the
many
stories of
dragon slayers
in Western
tradition,
the
legend
of St.
George
and the
dragon presents
an
interesting
counterpart. According
to the
story,
a
dragon
once dwelled at the
bottom of a
deep
lake near the town of Silena in the
province
of
Libya.
This monster would
prowl
about the
city
and
poison
all
who came within reach of its breath. To
appease
the
beast,
the
townspeople
were
eventually
reduced to the
necessity
of
offering
a
human sacrifice chosen each
day by lottery.
It so
happened
that
St.
George
reached the town when almost all the
young people
had
been eaten
up
and the lot had fallen on the
only daughter
of the
king.
While the maiden was
describing
her fate to the
saint,
the
dragon
rose out of his lair and attacked them. Without
fear,
St.
George
brandished his sword and struck the beast to the
ground
with a
mighty
blow. He then ordered the
girl
to throw her
girdle
over the
dragon's neck,
and the monster became as
gentle
as a
pet.
The saint led the
dragon
back to the
city
and after
having
baptized
all the
people,
he drew his sword and slew the beast.27
Although
the
Japanese holy man, Gygi Taitoku,
takes a more
passive
role than St.
George
in the
slaying
of a
monster,
in terms
of basic motifs,
the
legends
are
essentially
the same. A
migratory
legend
about another
Japanese saint, however,
involves a more
active battle with a monster. This is the
story
of Kb Daishi
and the demon who came down from the mountain
every
month to
eat a
villager
in the town of Urabara
[ JK, Kikai-ga-shima |f #
26) Seki Keigo, ed.,
Folktales
of Japan (Chicago, 1963), pp.
33-36. According
to
Seki's classification,
this is
Type 91, Destroying
the Monkey
Demon. This
story,
however,
is
very
similar to the
myth
which relates how Susanoo no mikoto
^ $E ~L z%
(D f
saved the maiden Kushinada hime
jf % ffl it M
from the
eight-forked serpent
who came each
year
to devour one of the
daughters
of Ashinazuchi a ^S ft
and
Tenazuchi ^ jf
. See Kurano Kenji, ed., Kojiki,
in NKBT
(1958),
1 : 84-89.
27)
The Golden
Legend,
1 : 232-238. For an extensive discussion of this tale
type,
see Edwin S. Hartland, Legend of
Perseus
(London, 1894-96),
III: 1-65.
Hi, Kagoshima
Prefecture.
According
to the
legend,
as the
popula-
tion of the town
began
to
dwindle,
a
lottery
was held each month
to select the human sacrifice. It so
happened
that one month a
beautiful
young girl
and her
grandmother
were chosen. While
they
were
weeping
about their
fate,
Kb Daishi came
by
and
inquired
the reason for their tears. When he learned of the
situation,
the
saint told them not to
worry
because he would take care of
things.
Then,
when the demon came down to
get
his
prey,
the Daishi chal-
lenged
him to a contest
;
if the demon could
pull
a iron bar out of
the rock in which the saint had stuck
it,
he could eat
people
when-
ever he
pleased.
But
although
the demon tried and
tried,
even
with his
teeth,
to
pull
out the
bar,
he could not.
Losing
the con-
test,
the monster
requested
to become the retainer of the saint.
A while
later,
Kb Daishi built a house in this
village
and invited
the
townspeople
over to celebrate the occasion.
However,
when the
festivities
began,
the saint took the demon aside and invited the
monster to sit and drink sake with him on a branch of a tall
pine
tree. Then after
engaging
in
revelry
for a
while,
the Daishi ex-
cused himself to
go
to the
bathroom,
and left the demon on the
tip
of the
pine
tree. As soon as he
got
down to the
ground,
however,
the saint bent the
top
of the tree down to the earth and
let it
fly.
The demon was
propelled through
the air and
finally
was smashed
against
a
rock,
all his bones broken.
Thus,
the mon-
ster died and was no
longer
a menace to the
community.28
Another variant of this
legend
involves the bodhisattva Jiz.
According
to this
story,
a statue of Jiz once was
newly
enshrined
in a certain
village.
The
townspeople periodically
made
offerings
to the
image
at
first,
but after two or three
years, they
became
negligent
in their
duty.
Then
quite unexplainably,
the
villagers
began
to
disappear
one
by
one. Those who remained behind
thought
that no doubt some monster carried them
off,
but
they
had no idea
what kind of a creature it was or where it came
from,
and
they
were
frightened
that
they might
be next. Thus as time
passed,
28)
Iwakura Ichiro, ed., Kikairga-shima
mukashibanashi
sh,
in ZMK
(1944), 4:
119-120. Seki classifies this tale as
Type 83,
The Contest with the Demon. Another
demon who
periodically
came down from the mountains and
kidnapped
maidens was
the famous
ogre
of
eyama, Shutendji iti.
See Ichiko
Teiji, ed., Otogi zoshi,
in NKBT
(1958),
38: 361-384.
LEGENDS OF HOLY MEN OP EARLY JAPAN 279
they
all were seized one
by
one until
only
one man was left. On
the
night
that this lone
villager
was to be
taken,
a traveler
hap-
pened
to
pass through
the town and was in search of a
night's
lodging.
The traveler
inquired
at
every door,
but could find no one
until he came to the door of the one
person
who remained alive.
When the
villager
told him of his
impending fate,
the traveler told
him to
go
inside and
sleep
as he would take care of the monster.
Then the traveler waited at the entrance. It was
past
one o'clock
when he heard
footsteps
outside. The traveler stood
ready
and
opening
the
door,
he unsheathed his sword and slashed out. But
the monster fled and
although
the man made a
search,
he could
not find it in the darkness. The next
morning,
he looked about
and discovered traces of blood which led to the town's statue of
Jiz. The traveler raised the Jiz
image
and found a
big
hole
inside where all the
captured villagers
were crowded
together. Ap-
parently,
Jiz had seized the
townspeople
because
they
no
longer
made
offering
to him and so after
that,
a
great
feast was held
and the
villagers again
resumed their
offerings
to the statue.29
Although
the two
legends
described above
closely
resemble the
dragon slayer episode
in the
story
of
Gygi
Taitoku and the
snake,
there is an
important
difference. This is the inclusion of the fol-
lowing
motifs :
(1)
watch for the
devastating monster,
and
(2)
con-
test with monster or trail of monster to its lair. For this
reason,
the
migratory legend
about Kb Daishi and the demon more
prop-
erly belongs
to Tale
Type 301,
The Three Stolen Princesses. The
Three Stolen Princesses is a
very important
tale in both Oriental
and Western
cultures,
for the order and combination of motifs in
this
story
have been
closely
associated with the life
pattern
of the
29) Seki Keigo, ed.,
Shimabara hanto minwa shu
(1935), pp.
105-106. A classic
example
of this
story
is found in the
legend
of
Dj
Hshi 3 ^ * ffi.
It tells that
when
Dj
Hshi was an
acolyte
at
Gangji 7C !S ^-, every night
the
young priest
who
kept
watch in the bell tower was killed.
Dj
Hshi decided to
put
an end to the
demon who was
committing
this crime,
and so he waited for the monster in the tower.
When the demon
came, Dj grabbed
the monster's hair and a
wrestling
match
began.
Finally,
the demon fled with his hair
ripped
off and the next
day,
the
young priest
followed the trail of blood to a
grave
site near a fork in the road. See
Ryiki, pp.
73-75. It is
interesting
to note that in
Japanese
folk belief, both Jiz and demons are
involved with the
concept
of the underworld after death. Jiz leads the
good
souls to
paradise,
and demons lead the bad
souls
to hell.
cultural hero.30 This is
especially
true of a
sub-type
of the tale
known as The Bear Son. The classic illustration of this
story
in
Western tradition is the
poem
of
Beowulf.
The famous
episode
which
compares
with the
legends
of Kb Daishi and Jiz described
above is Beowulf's confrontation with the monster Grendel. Ac-
cording
to the
poem,
Beowulf traveled to
Herot,
the hall of the
Danish
king, Hrothgar,
to save it from the
periodic
attacks of
Grendel.
Thus,
he waited one
night
in the hall and when the
monster
attempted
to
grab
him with its
claws,
Beowulf wrestled
with Grendel across the hall.
Finally,
he tore off the creature's
arm and it fled in
pain
to its lair.
Later,
when GrendeFs mother
came to Herot and stole back her son's
arm,
Beowulf followed her
to her residence at the bottom of a
deep
lake and after a
mighty
struggle,
killed both mother and son.31
The fact that the stories of
Gygi
Taitoku and the snake and
Kb Daishi and the demon bear a close
similarity
not
only
to
other
Japanese tales,
but also to well-known narratives of Western
tradition such as St.
George
and the
dragon
and
Beowulf,
indicates
indeed that these stories are
migratory legends.
It is
highly
un-
likely
that the same combination of motifs found in the different
variants of these tales could have
developed independently
of each
other.
III. LOCAL LEGENDS
The number of
migratory legends
about saints is
relatively
small when
compared
to the
profusion
of
short, localized stories
about them. A local
legend
is
generally
brief in form
and,
in con-
trast to a
migratory legend,
it is
closely
linked to a
specific
local-
ity.
Most
often,
an
aetiological
or
etymological
element is
present,
explaining
the existence of some unusual feature of the
landscape
30) For a discussion of the life
pattern
of the cultural
hero, see
part
IV of this
study.
31)
Burton
Raffel, trans., Beowulf (New York, 1963), pp.
25-79. For an
analysis
of the Grendel
episode
as a variant of The Bear
Son, see R. W.
Chambers, Beowulf
(Cambridge, 1932), pp. 62-65,
369-380.
or the
origin
of a certain
geographical place
name.32 Local
legends
specifically involving
the miraculous activities of saints consist of
two basic
types
:
legends
about natural
phenomena,
and
legends
about
masterbuilding
and
craftsmanship.
Stories about
trees,
springs
or
wells,
and rock formations are
especially prominent
in the
first
category,
while stories about the
building
of
temples, bridges
and other
structures,
the
carving
of
statues,
and the erection of
tombs make
up
the bulk of the second
category.
In
addition,
two
other motifs are
popular
in local
legends.
These are the attribu-
tion of miraculous curative
properties
to the
place
in
question,
and
reward for charitableness or
punishment
for uncharitableness. In
the case of the latter
motif,
the
holy
man
frequently appears
in
disguise
to test the
good
will of the local inhabitants. Similar
local
legends
can be found in
many
different
regions
of the world
and variants of a
particular
local
legend
can involve either a sacred
or secular cultural hero. It
is, therefore,
not
surprising
to find
that
many
of the same
types
of local
legend
exist not
only
with
regard
to
Japanese holy
men and
Japanese
secular heroes,
but also
with
regard
to
Japanese holy
men and Christian saints.
In
studying
local
legends
about the
particular Japanese holy
men with whom we are here concerned one is struck
by
the fact
that
although
a number of stories can be found
concerning
En no
Gyja, Gygi Taitoku,
and
Dengy Daishi, respectively,
it is the
saint Kobo Daishi who is
by
far the most
popular
hero of such
legends.
Among
local
legends
about
trees,
there is one
group
which tells
that certain trees were
originally objects implanted
in the
ground.
One
large
tree at Takai
jS #,
in Uchimaki mura
f* tfc tt, Uda-gun
? PS ffi>>
Nara
Prefecture,
is called the
Chopstick
Cedar. Accord-
ing
to a
legend
of the
area,
Kb Daishi once
stopped
there to eat
his lunch as he was on his
way
to climb Mt.
Hj S .
It is said
that after the saint had finished
eating,
he thrust his
chopsticks
into the
ground
and these two
pieces
of wood took root and
grew
32)
A discussion of the characteristics of local
legend
can be found in
Krappe, pp.
70-100. For an
English
translation of several
Japanese
local
legends,
see Richard M.
Dorson, ed.,
Folk
Legends of Japan (Rutland, Vermont, 1962).
together
into a
huge
cedar tree.33
Such
legends
about
chopstick
trees
appear
to be variants of a
popular
tree motif known as the
flowering
staff. A
regional story
of Hana sato
ft S,
Ona-ch
jz%WS, no-gun ^ If ?$,
Gifu Pre-
fecture,
states that an old cedar in the
precincts
of
Sugishiro
sansha
^ IH fi grew
from a staff which En no
Gyja
stuck into
the
ground.34
Often these rooted staffs are believed to have
mag-
ical curative
properties.
One such
example
is the cedar staff
which
Gygi
Taitoku
implanted
in the
ground
at Yakushi d
m f
^
in Nishi
Toyonaga
mura
g f 71c , Nagaoka-gun Jft |59 2$,
Kchi
Prefecture.
According
to
legend,
it is believed that
people
who
suffer from
eye
diseases can be cured
by worshipping
this tree.35
This miracle of the
flowering
staff is also
popularly
found in Chris-
tian
legends.
The
Holy
Thorn of the
Abbey
of
Glastonbury,
En-
gland,
for
example,
is said to have taken root from the hawthorn
staff which St.
Joseph
of Arimathea thrust into the
ground
as he
rested on
Wearyall
Hill. A
special
attribute of this rooted staff
is that it is
supposed
to bloom
regularly every year
at Christmas.36
33)
Nihon hs
kykai, ed.,
Nihon densetsu meii
(1950), p.
44. There is a similar
legend
about a
Chopstick
Willow which stands
by
a small
pond
near
Toyohara
mura
S 15 t, Yamabe-gun [U ff,
Nara Prefecture.
Apparently,
this tree also
grew
from
chopsticks
which Kb Daishi
implanted
in the
ground
after he had finished
eating.
Ibid.. d. 45.
34) Nihon densetsu
meii, p.
47. The motif of the
flowering
staff also can be found
in
legends
about secular heroes. Such is the six branched willow tree in Yakami
mura
A, Taki-gun ^#B5&, Hygo
Prefecture.
According
to
legend,
this tree
grew
from a staff struck in the
ground by
Minamoto no Yorimitsu and his five retain-
ers while on their homeward
journey
after
having
subdued the demons of
eyama jz
K 'U. See Kakita
Ioji,
Kuchi Tamba Uhi sh
(1925), p.
54.
35)
Nihon densetsu
meii, p.
56. The
legend
further states that a famous
priest
once stuck himself in the
eye
with a branch from this tree. He became blind and
considered this an
auspicious
omen that his
departed spirit
would come to dwell in
this tree.
Although
it is the tree which is believed to have the miraculous
healing
powers,
it is curious that this cedar stands on the
grounds
of a
temple
dedicated to
Yakushi
Nyorai
or
Bhaisajyaguru-tathgata (the
Buddha of
Healing).
36) Henry Bett, English Myths
and Traditions
(London, 1952), pp.
55-56. One of
the oldest Western tales about a
flowering
staff can be found in the Bible. This is
the occasion when the Lord caused the rod of Aaron to bloom and
bring
forth almonds.
See Numbers 17 : 1-8.
According
to
Bett, pp. 57-58, the
image
of a
dry
staff
budding
and
blossoming
also was used in ancient times as a standard
expression
of
impossibil-
ity.
Another series of local
legends
associate the unusual fruitful-
ness or barrenness of
particular
trees with the treatment that cer-
tain residents of the area have accorded a saint. Such is the
legend
of the
twice-blooming persimmon
tree in Tambaichi-ch
ft $ rf BJ,
Yamabe-gun |lj ja f$
Nara Prefecture. It seems that Kb Daishi
once
happened
to
pass through
this
region
and
feeling hungry,
he
asked a farmer for some
persimmons.
The farmer
cheerfully
com-
plied
and for this act of
charitableness,
the saint rewarded him
by
causing
the
persimmon
tree to bloom twice a
year
thereafter.37 On
the other
hand, according
to another
legend,
when Kb Daishi
once chanced
by
Sono
# fg, Oda-gun /J H f$, Okayama Prefecture,
he desired a
peach,
but the old woman who owned the tree would
not
give
him one. Because of this
uncharitableness,
the saint
pro-
claimed that thereafter, although
the tree
might blossom,
it would
never bear
any
fruit.38
These stories
may
be
compared
to
legends
of Christian saints
who also have unusual control over the
productivity
of trees. For
example,
St. Berach caused a willow tree in
Glendalough, Ireland,
to bear a
heavy crop
of
apples every year
until doom.39
Also,
in
the Bible there is an
interesting story
about a barren
fig
tree
cursed
by
Christ. We are told that when Jesus was
returning
to
Jerusalem from
Bethany
one
morning,
he felt
hungry
and
spying
37)
Nihon densetsu meii, p.
77. It
appears
that Kb Daishi
closely
resembles St.
Peter in the sense that both
holy
men were believed to reward the charitable and
hospitable
while
punishing
the
opposite during
their travels. For other instances of
this motif
involving
Kobo Daishi,
see notes 38,
43 and 53. For a discussion of stories
associating
St. Peter with this motif,
see Stith
Thompson,
The Folktale
(New York,
1946), pp. 134-135,
150-151.
38)
79. Sometimes,
saints
punish
uncharitableness
by
changing
the food into stone. For
example,
it is said that when Kb Daishi once was
traveling through
Aoki mura
% % ft, Chiisagata-gun /J jf i, Nagano Prefecture,
he
began
to feel
hungry
and asked an old woman of the
vicinity
for some taro. The
woman, however,
refused to
give
him
any, saying they
were hard and could not be
eaten. Thereupon
the
holy
man turned the taro into stone and from that time onward,
they
have been inedible. Ibid., p.
86. See also note 40
concerning
the miracle of
turning
food into stone.
39) Charles Plummer, Lives
of
Irish Saints (Oxford, 1922),
II : 29. St.
Coemgen
also is said to have done miraculous
things
to trees, causing
them to bloom out of
season for the sick and
ailing
folk who desired them. He is said to have
supplied
such
people
with blackberries in
winter, apples
on willow trees,
and
sprigs
of sorrel
on rocks in winter time.
Plummer,
II: 124.
a
fig
tree in the
distance,
he went there with the
hope
of
getting
some fruit to eat.
Unfortunately,
he found
only
leaves on the
tree,
for the fruit was not
yet
in season. Unable to
satisfy
his
hunger,
Christ
proclaimed
that thereafter no man would be able
to eat
figs
from the
tree,
and the next
morning
the
fig
tree was
found withered to the roots.40
The creation of
springs
or wells is another common motif found
in local
legends
about natural
phenomena.
In most
cases,
the
holy
man achieves this miracle of water
production by striking
his staff
against
a rock or
digging
it into the
ground.
One
legend
of Shimobun
kamiyama
mura
F ft |U ft, Mysai-gun 45 S $,
Tokushima Pre-
fecture
explains
the
origin
of a well called Willow Water. Accord-
ing
to the
story,
Kob Daishi once
passed by
the area and
feeling
thirsty,
he struck his staff into a
rock, causing
fresh
spring
water
to
gush
out. Because the saint's staff was made of
willow,
the
spring
was
given
the name Willow Water.41 Another
interesting
legend
from Shimbara
ff Hi ,
Sue mura
g S ft, Kasuya-gun fft M $,
Fukuoka
Prefecture, explains
the
origin
of Reflection View Well.
It seems that at the
age
of
seventy-two, Dengy
Daishi
dug
his
staff into the
ground
and created this well. Then after the well
had filled with
water,
he carved an
image
of himself
by looking
at
his reflection in the water.42
40) St. Mark 11 :
12-14, 20-22. Christ also turned food of the uncharitable into
stone (see note
38). According
to an
English legend,
there is a
large
stone near Cais-
tor in Lincolnshire called the
Fonaby
Stone Sack. It is said that the Lord once was
riding through
this
region
on an
ass,
and
happened
to see a man
sowing
a sack of
corn. Christ asked the man for a handful of corn to feed his
ass, but the man re-
fused to
part
with
any, claiming
that the sack of corn was
actually
a stone. For this
act of
uncharitableness, therefore, the Lord turned the sack into a real stone which
became a hindrance to the farmer while ploughing his fields. Bett, p. 44.
41) Nikon densetsu
meii, p.
207. Wells and
springs
often are believed to have
miraculous curative
properties
also. One
legend
relates how a miner in Takaoka mura
iff f^ +
Ibaraki
Prefecture, prayed daily
at a
temple
to be cured of a certain
eye affliction.
Finally
after some
ninety days
of
prayer,
he had a vision in which he was told that
by digging
under a certain cedar tree near the
temple,
he would find a well
dug by
Kb Daishi. The man followed these instructions and
by washing
his
eyes
in this
well water, he was cured.
Yanagita Kunio,
Sansn no seikatsu
kenky (1937), p.
509.
42) Nihon densetsu
meii, p.
223.
Legends
of wells also are associated with
Japa-
nese secular heroes. The main
difference, however,
is that the secular hero more com-
monly employs
an arrow or a sword to create the miracle. For
example, according
to
a
legend
of Yura
& &, Nishi
Tagawa-gun M ffl )'' ffl, Yamagata Prefecture, Benkei
#
!& created a
spring by thrusting
the
point
of his sword into the
ground. Ibid., p.
214.
Local
legends
about water
production
also
frequently
involve
the motif of charitableness
rewarded, uncharitableness
punished.
One
regional story
of
Goj-ch E 4 tj, Uchi-gun ^ ^ t&,
Nara
Prefecture,
relates the
origin
of a
spring by
Sakurai-dera
# t?.
It seems that
long ago,
Kb Daishi once
happened by
this area
and asked for some water. The old woman who
acknowledged
the saint's
request obligingly
walked
quite
a distance to
get
him
some and in
appreciation
for her
kindness,
the Daishi struck the
point
of his staff in the
ground
and a
spring gushed
forth.43
Comparable
stories of
springs
and wells abound in Western
legend. Perhaps
one of the oldest stories about water
springing
from a rock is associated with the
prophet
Moses on the occasion
of the exodus of the Jewish
people
from
Egypt. During
their
stay
in the
wilderness,
the
people
were
dying
from thirst and
Moses,
as
their leader
petitioned
the Lord to
help
them. In
answer,
the
proph-
et was told to smite a rock in Horeb with his rod and when he
did
so,
water
gushed
forth.44
Other local
legends dealing
with the natural
landscape
involve
stories of rock formations caused
by holy
men. There
are,
for ex-
ample,
several
legends
about rock
impressions supposedly
created
by
some
part
of the saint's
anatomy.
In
Nagura
mura
^S # t
Kita
Shitara-gun it Wt ^ ff>,
Aichi
Prefecture,
there is a rock which
bears a
footprint
and various other
depressions
believed to have
been left behind
by
Kb Daishi when he rested there.45
Also,
at
43)
207. A
legend
from Takaono mura
'ti Ns if t,
Izumi-
gun [li tK IB, Kagoshima Prefecture, provides
an
example
of
punishment
for uncharitable-
ness with water. It seems that a woman was
washing
radishes in a stream when
Kb Daishi
happened
to
pass by
and asked for some water. The woman, however,
refused to
give
him
any,
and so the saint
pointed
his staff at the stream and caused
the water to
dry up.
It is said that from that
day on, there has been no water dur-
ing
the radish season. Ibid., p.
242. In a similar Christian
legend
about uncharitable-
ness, St. Brendan of Ireland sent his
disciples
to the River
Fergus
in Deise Muman to
ask some fishermen for fish. The fishermen, however, refused to
part
with
any
of
their catch and, therefore, the saint cursed the stream so that thereafter it would be
barren of fish. See Plummer, II: 77-78.
44) Exodus 17 : 1-7. For several additional
examples
of
holy
wells m Christian
legend,
see Robert Charles
Hope,
The
Legendary
Lore
of
the
Holy
Wells
of England
(London, 1893).
45)
121. There are countless
legends
about
footprints
in
Japan, many
of which are attributed to
giants
and other secular heroes. One of the
most
fascinating
characters in this
respect
is the semi-historical
figure Dj
Hshi.
a
temple
in Nakasu mura
+ #1 tt, Suwa-gun ifc ffr !$,
in
Nagano
Prefecture,
Kb Daishi is said to have left a
handprint
about five
and one-half inches in
length
and three inches wide on a certain
rock where he once had occasion to
press
his hand.46
In a similar
vein,
En no
Gyja
is said to have left an
impres-
sion of his staff on a rock on Mt. Mino
% gj,
in
Toyono-gun J| tti
|$,
Osaka Prefecture.
According
to
legend,
he stood his staff on
this rock after
dreaming
of an audience with
Ngrjuna.47
These stories resemble the
many legends
about Christian saints
who have left
footprints
and other marks
upon
rocks. St.
Patrick,
for
example,
is believed to have left traces of his
footprints
on a
rock at
Sheestown, Ossory,
Ireland.48
Other
legends
relate the
special
curative
properties
of rocks
touched
by holy
men. Such is the rock at
Iway
adera
g M ^?,
One
episode
of the
legend
about this
priest
describes a rock
throwing
contest with a
strong
man at the
Imperial
Palace.
Dj Hshi, then a mere lad of
ten, finally won
the match
by tossing
an
eight
foot
square
rock a distance of three feet. In
doing so,
the
weight
of the rock caused his feet to sink three inches into the
ground leaving
an
impression.
See
Ryiki, pp.
70-75. This
legend
is
interesting
from the
standpoint
that there are several other stories about cultural heroes with similar names
(e.g.
Daidara Bokke # <i ? =7 tf y * and Dada Bshi ? ? tf *7 ->) who leave
footprints
in various
regions
of
Japan,
often as the result of
carrying
a
heavy object. See
Nihon deu8et8u
meii, pp. 367-369,
and
Yanagita Kunio,
"
Hitotsu me koz sono
ta,"
in
TYKS, 5: 306-327.
46) Nihon densetsu
meii, p.
143. In a
comparable
Christian
legend,
St. Nonna is
said to have left a
handprint
on a stone near a well in
Pembrokeshire, England.
Ac-
cording
to the
story,
the saint
gave
birth to her son, St. David, on this
spot
and left
this hand
impression
as she
pressed
down o the rock
during
the throes of labor.
See Christina Hole, Saints in Folklore
(New York, 1965), pp.
84-85.
47) Nihon densetsu
meii, p.
128. Another
interesting
stone
legend
about En no
Gyja
relates that a rock near Nachi mura M ? H* Higashi Muro-gun ^ ^ | i,
Wakayama Prefecture, was
originally
the saint's
cap which, when left
behind, turned
to stone.
Ibid., p.
137. For a more detailed
description
of the
legend concerning
En
no
Gyoja's
audience with
Ngrjuna,
see
pages
308-9 of this article.
48) W. G.
Wood-Martin,
Traces
of
the Elder Faiths
of
Ireland
(London, 1902), I,
163. See also note 46. In
addition, there are several Christian stories about rock
formations which resemble chairs and
may
be
compared
to
Japanese legends
of koshi-
kake ishi
M Wt H or
Sitting
Rocks (see note
49). Among
several rock chairs described
by Wood-Martin, there is one called St. Dabehoe's Chair or St.
Brigid's
Chair which
is located on the shore of
Lough Derg, County Donegal, Ireland, facing
an island which
is said to be the entrance of
purgatory. Ibid., pp.
253-254.
Uchiumi mura
ft $g tt> Chita-gun p # f$,
Aichi
Prefecture,
which
Kbo Daishi is believed to have sat
upon. According
to
tradition,
this rock will effect various cures if it is venerated.49 The
concept
of a stone
bearing
medicinal value can also be found in Christian
legend.
There
is,
for
example,
the
Healing
Stone of St. Conall,
which is found not far from St. ConalFs Well near Bruckless,
Ireland. This dark brown stone is
shaped
in the form of a dumb-
bell about five inches in
length,
and the custom has been for the
afflicted
person
to borrow the stone until a cure is effected and
then return it to its
proper place.50
Another common stone motif deals with
throwing large
rocks
or
moving
them out of the
way.
There is a boulder near Yama-
moto tenman
jinja [I] if ^ K #
in
Nagao
mura
Jb g fi,
Kawabe-
gun j|| & f$, Hygo Prefecture,
which
according
to
legend, originally
blocked the road and obstructed the
path
of travelers. The saint
Gygi Taitoku, however,
once
happened by
this area and hurled
the
huge
rock aside to make
passage
easier.51
49) Nihon densetsu meii, p.
115. There is another interesting
local
legend
about
five rocks at the
Mysenji BJ3 =f $
in Morohashi mura if ft, Fugeshi-gun E S ift,
Ishikawa Prefecture. It is said that once when Kb Daishi was
performing
austeri-
ties at this
temple,
these stones fell from a
morning
star into a
spring. They
are
believed to
effectively
cure warts and eczema,
and it has been the custom for
people
to borrow these rocks and return them to the
temple
after use. Ibid., p.
106. Many
of these rocks with
special properties
are called Sitting
Rocks because of the belief
that
holy
men once sat
upon
them. Another rock at
Sugino
mura f- if fcf, Ika-gun
& H ffl>, Shiga Prefecture, upon
which Kb Daishi is
supposed
to have sat,
is believed
to
prevent
disasters from fire and because so many people
have taken
chips
from it
to use as flints, the rock has become
quite
small in size. Ibid., p.
116.
50) Wood-Martin,
I: 69. Another stone called St. Declan's Black Relic is used to
cure sore
eyes
and headaches. According
to
legend,
this stone is
supposed
to have
floated from
Italy
to Ireland on
top
of a
larger
rock which now stands in Ardmore
Bay,
Ireland. Ibid., p.
71.
51)
401. Saints of Christian legend
also had the
power
to
lift
great
rocks. St. Patrick,
for
example,
with the
help
of a monk by
the name of
Cainnech, lifted a
great
four-cornered stone which covered a well dedicated to a
heathen
god
at
Findmag
in Ireland. See Whitley Stokes,
The
Tripartite Life of
Pat-
rick (London, 1887),
1 : 123. Many
feats of
hurling
rocks also are attributed to
Japa-
nese secular cultural heroes. One rock near Shitorichu mura fu ^C 4 H* Kume-gun X
%: |, Okayama Prefecture,
which measures
approximately
four
yards,
two feet and
eight
inches in circumference,
is said to have been hurled to this location by
Benkei.
See Nihon densetsu meii, p.
96.
The second main
category
of local
legends
associated with
holy
men involves
great
feats of
building
and
craftsmanship.
There is
no doubt that
many
of these stories have some foundation in
fact,
for
saints,
whether Buddhist or
Christian,
often were confronted
with the
necessity
of
performing
or
supervising
construction and
welfare
work,
not
only
to
improve
the
living
conditions of the
common
people,
but also to facilitate
propagation
of their faith.
Gygi
Taitoku is credited with
many
construction
projects.
He is said to have erected
forty-nine
Buddhist shrines : twelve in
Izumi
fn ,
seven in Yamato
^ $},
nine in Yamashiro
til $c,
five
in Settsu
gS i$
and six in Kchi
M p*3
Province. In
addition,
he is
supposed
to have constructed six
bridges,
one
road,
two
harbors,
nine
almshouses,
fifteen
reservoirs,
six
drainage systems,
four
canals and three
aqueducts.52
Kb Daishi is also believed to have erected
many temples.
On the island of
Shikoku,
there are
eighty-eight
sacred sites which
are
legendarily
associated with this
holy man,
and thousands of
pilgrims
make the traditional round of these
holy places
each
year.
The
pilgrimage begins
with the
Ryzenji g Ul r^f
in Bant-ch
jg
j BJ, Bant-gun,
Tokushima
Prefecture,
and
progresses through
the
prefectures
of Kchi and
Ehime, ending
at Okubo-dera
~kM^r
in Tawa mura
^ ftl ft, kawa-gun X Jl| U, Kagawa
Prefecture.
The entire distance of the
pilgrimage
stretches over 700 miles and
takes about
forty
to
fifty days
to
complete.
Various local
legends
are associated with each of these sacred sites. For
example,
the
twelfth
stop, Shzanji ^ [ ^
in Tokushima
Prefecture,
is said to
have been established
by
Kb Daishi after he exorcized a
poison-
ous snake in the area. Near
by
the
temple
is a famous
hermitage
believed to be the hut of one Emonzabur
% P5 H
[5,
a
wealthy
man from Ehara
f JlfC, Ukena-gun j? ft U,
Ehime Prefecture. This
man is
supposed
to have been the first
pilgrim
to travel the route
of the
eighty-eight
sacred
places. According
to
legend,
Emonzabur
was an avaricious millionaire who treated his servants
cruelly.
It
so
happened
that a
shabby
mendicant
priest
once came to the
gate
52) For a detailed list of the location of these
projects,
see Nihon kodai
jinmei
jiten (1961), 3: 659-660.
of the man's home and
begged
for
food,
but Emonzabur had a
servant chase him
away.
The
monk, however,
came back the next
day
and several
days thereafter,
each time
begging
for food.
Eventually,
Emonzabur became so
enraged
at the monk's
persis-
tence that he came to the door himself and knocked the iron bowl
out of the monk's hand.
Breaking
into
eight pieces,
the bowl
shone forth with a
light
and then flew
up
to a
yonder mountain,
which
today
is called
Hachiori-yama $$ $ [il
or
Begging
Bowl
Landing.
From that
night on,
one of Emonzaburo's
eight
children
died each
evening
until all had
passed away.
It was then that
the man first realized his evil deed and became aware that the
monk
might
have been Kb Daishi.
Hoping
to meet the saint
once more and atone for his
sin,
Emonzabur set out on a
pilgrimage.
But
although
he traveled the route as much as
twenty times,
he
still did not meet the Daishi.
Finally,
he started in the
opposite
direction and exhaustand from his
travels,
he took sick and fell to
the
ground, just waiting
to die.
Suddenly,
the Daishi
appeared
and
Emonzabur, shedding tears, apologized
for his sin and died.53
Another
interesting legend
involves the
carving
of statues
by
Kb Daishi at the
seventy-first
sacred site on this
pilgrimage,
Iyatani-dera ?fi ^
on Mt.
Iyatani, Mitoyo-gun
H S $, Kagawa
Prefecture. Besides
renovating
the
temple,
the saint is said to
have carved 999 Buddhist
images
on the rocks of this mountain.
According
to the
story,
the Daishi intended to carve
1,000 images,
but as he was about to start work on the final
one,
a demon
ap-
peared
and
declaring
that it soon would be
dawn,
forced the
holy
man to
stop.54
53) Miyamoto Tsuneichi, et al., eds.,
Fudoki Nihon
(1960),
2: 118-119. In his final
words, Emonzabur
expressed
a desire to be reborn as a
provincial governor.
Kb
Daishi took
pity
on him and
picking up
a small stone, the saint wrote Emonzabur on
it and stuck it in the
grasp
of the dead man's left hand. Afterwards, on the 20th
day
of the 10th month of the
year 831, an infant
boy
was born to the wife of the
lord of
Iyo Province,
Kno Saemonnosuke Yasutoshi foj If tE flfi H SO B ^J. For some
reason,
the
baby's
left hand was
firmly
clenched and could not be
opened.
With the
aid of a
priest,
the hand was
finally opened
and the small stone with Emonzabur
written
upon
it was found inside.
54) Miyamoto, pp.
116-117. As
Miyamoto points out,
this
legend
is
apparently
re-
lated to stories about demons who must
put
an end to their activities at
daybreak,
commonly signaled by
the
crowing
of the cock. There are
many folktales,
for ex-
ample,
where an old man tricks demons out of their treasure
by imitating
a cock
crow and
thereby scaring
the creatures
away.
See Shimabara hant minwa
sh, pp.
114-116. See also note 127.
M.S. XXVIII 19
Gygi
Taitoku also is believed to have created
many
Buddhist
images.
A statue of the bodhisattva Jiz called Inazumi Kokubo
Jiz
f Sf m # j&
at
Tkji ^ 3fe ^
in
Tkji mura,
Nishi
Yamanashi-gun g |I| 30 i,
Yamanashi
Prefecture,
is said to have
been carved
by
the saint while he was
working
on one of his
many
water
projects.55
The Hara obi no Jiz
0 $?
<D
itfe jS
at
Seitaiji M
ft?#
in
Kyoto,
which was believed to
give pregnant
women
easy
birth,
has also been attributed to this saint.56
There is an
interesting legend describing
the
origin
of another
Jiz
image
at Kfukusan
Chdenji 5fc fg [1] |9 EH
^p,
in
Chdenji
mura, Iitaka-gun fg b |$,
Mie Prefecture. It seems that a rich
man who once lived in this
village
was a devout believer in Jiz
and for
many years,
he had desired to obtain either a wooden
image
or a
picture
of the bodhisattva. It so
happened
that in the
year
770 on the 24th
day
of the seventh
month,
a
day
sacred to
Jiz,
the man
perceived
a divine
light coming
from the direction
of Kamikawa mura
_L Jl| fi- Upon
closer
investigation,
he found
the
light emanating
from a withered tree
floating
on the water
and
considering
it
sacred,
he took the tree and enshrined it. Kb
Daishi later
paid
the man a visit and
began
to carve the tree into
an
image
of Jiz. When the statue was
finished, however,
it
started to bleed.
Proclaiming
it a
living bodhisattva,
the saint
immediately stopped carving
and the
image
has remained in its
half finished state to the
present day.57
Another series of
legends
involves the erection of various
types
of tombs or
grave
mounds. One such mound is the
Mosquito
Mound found on the road between Kameoka-ch
|Sj BJ
and
Sogabe
mura
# $c g|5 tt
in
Kyoto
Prefecture.
According
to a re-
55) M. W. De Visser,
The Bodhisattva
Ti-Tsang (Jiz) in China and
Japan
(Berlin, 1914), p.
71. In this book, De Visser relates several other
legends
about Jiz
images
carved
by holy
men of
Japan.
Jiz or
Ksitigarbha
was the bodhisattva who
led
departed
souls to the
pure
land
paradise
of Amida.
56) Nakagawa Kiun, Ky warabe,
in Kinsei
bungei
ssho
(1910),
1 : 296. The hara
obi or
belly
band is worn across the abdomen
during pregnancy
to
protect
the fetus
from harm.
Jiz, as well as the bodhisttva Kannon
H if,
is
commonly
associated
with the
protection
of mother and child
during
birth much like St.
Margaret,
St.
Leonard and other saints in
Christianity.
57) De
Visser, pp.
78-79. The
carving
of statues from sacred wood is an
especial-
ly prominent
motif in
legends
of
holy
men of
Japan.
See note 116.
gional story,
this
place
enclosed
by
thickets was fashioned
by Gygi
Taitoku to confine
mosquitoes.58
These
legends
of
building
and
craftsmanship
also have
paral-
lels in Christian lore. An
interesting story
of miracle
building
overnight
is attributed to the Irish saint Maedoc and his divine
helpers. According
to the
legend,
Maedoc
promised
to
help
Molua
of Lorrha build a church under the condition that
everyone
should
go
to his chamber and refrain from
observing
the work in
progress.
One man, however,
could not control his
curiosity
and stole a
peek
through
a slit or
keyhole
in the door. Outside he saw a
group
of
angels
in the form of
young
monks with
golden
hair
carrying
timber from the forest to construct the church. But
just then,
a
voice commanded the
angels
to
stop
their work and stated that if
the man had not
looked,
the church would have been built all in
that
night.59
Countless other
examples
of local
legends involving holy
men
might
be
given,
but the above series of stories should be sufficient
to indicate the
general
nature of the two main
types
of
legends.
IV. STRUCTURAL MODEL OF THE LIFE STORY
Geographically
or
historically speaking,
one cannot examine
sacred
legends,
or indeed other
genres
of folk narrative,
without
becoming
aware of
striking
similarities in
plot
structure. This in-
teresting
fact has
prompted many
folklore scholars to
analyze
the
different forms of folk literature in efforts to determine a common
formula for narrative construction and the
psychological
or cultural
basis for its
development.
As a
result,
various structural models
for
myths,
folktales and
epic legends
have been
produced
to de-
scribe the life
pattern
of the cultural hero.60 An extension of this
58)
327. Another
Mosquito
Mound at Saka mura $ f,
Ikaruga-gun M L tft, Kyoto Prefecture,
is said to be a stone
sarcophagus
built
by
Kb Daishi to confine
mosquitoes.
Ibid.
59) Plummer,
II : 230-231. For other
examples
of Christian
legends
about master
engineering
and construction,
see C. Grant Loomis, White
Magic (Cambridge, 1948), p.
89.
60)
For
example,
Jan de Vries delineates the
following
structural model tor tne
pattern
of heroic life :
(1)
the
begetting
of the hero : a) the mother is a
virgin
or has
extra-marital relations, 6) the father is a
god, c) the father is an animal,
or d) the
structural model
concept
to
legends concerning holy
men indicates
not
only
the existence of a common
sequence
of miraculous activi-
ties in the lives of various
saints,61
but also a
gross correspondence
of events in the life
pattern
of the saint with activities attributed
to the secular hero.
Although
little
investigation
of this nature
has been directed toward the
study
of Oriental folk narratives,
or
more
specifically, Japanese legends,62
the
plot
elements of stories
concerning Japanese holy
men are
quite
similar to the series of
motifs found in stories
describing
their Western
counterparts.
An
examination of
legends
about the lives of En no
Gyja, Gygi
Tai-
toku,
Kb Daishi and
Dengy
Daishi validates the
following
struc-
tural model :
(1)
unusual circumstances
surrounding
the saint's birth,
(2) early
demonstration of the saint's
superiority among men, (3)
the saint's
departure
from home
prior
to
engagement
in miraculous
activits, (4)
the saint's confrontion with a
powerful dragon
or
snake,
and
(5)
the
appearance
of a
contemporary adversary
who either
child is conceived in incest
; (2) the birth of the hero : a) it takes
place
in an unnatural
way,
or 6) he is
'unborn'; (3) the hero is threatened
during childhood; (4) the way
the hero is
brought up: a) he reveals
special
characteristics at an
early age,
or b)
he
is slow in
development; (5) often the hero attains
invulnerability; (6)
the hero's
fight
with a
dragon
or other
monster; (7) the
winning
of a maiden; (8) expedition
to the
underworld; (9) if the hero has been banished, he returns and achieves
victory
over
his
enemies; and
(10) the hero often dies
young
or has a miraculous death. See Jan
de
Vries, Heroic
Song
and Heroic
Legend (London, 1963), pp.
211-216. Other structural
models can be found in Vladimir
Propp, Morphology of
the Folktale (Austin, 1968),
and
Joseph Campbell,
The Hero With A Thousand Faces
(New York, 1967), inter alia.
61) Loomis, pp.
12-14. Loomis
presents
a structural model of the life
pattern
of
of
holy
men in the form of a
legend
about Saint
Alpha.
In
fact,
this model is based
on the life of
Buddha,
but it can be
applied broadly
to
any
saint. Gerould also makes
several
interesting
comments
regarding
similarities in
legends
of saints. See Gordon
Hall
Gerould, Saints*
Legends (Boston, 1916), pp.
21-29.
62) Yanagita
Kunio and other
Japanese folklorists, however,
have made extensive
comparative
studies of various individual motifs and
motif-complexes
found in
Japanese
legends
and other folk narratives. See, for
example,
"
Hitotsu me koz sono ta,"
in
TYKS,
5: 113-340.
Inspired largely by
the work of
Yanagita,
Ishida Eiichiro has
analyzed
the Oriental mother-son
motif-complex consisting
of the
following
elements:
(1) a divine
boy
associated with the water world who benefits man
; (2) miraculous or
virgin
birth of the divine
boy;
and (3) close association with his mother or a mother
figure.
See Eiichiro Ishida,
"
The Mother-Son
Complex
in East Asiatic Folklore,"
in
Die Wiener Schule der Vlkerkunde
(Wien, 1956), pp.
411-419. C. Ouwehand also dis-
cusses various
aspects
of the
Japanese
cultural hero in Namazu-e and Their Themes
(Leiden 1964). See
especially pp.
141-182.
LEGENDS OP HOLY MEN OF EARLY JAPAN 29a
calumniates the saint at the
height
of the latter's
popularity,
or
engages
in a contest with him.
1.
Birth,
Youth and
Separation
from Home
The birth of the
saint,
like that of the secular cultural
hero,
involves
many supernatural
elements. Common in
many
Buddhist
religious legends
is the miraculous
conception
of the future
holy
man
through
a
dream,
a motif that
may
be
compared
to the
Christian
story
of the
Virgin Mary
who bore
Jesus,
the son of
God.63 One
important
difference between Buddhist and Christian
legends
of
virgin birth, however,
is the fact that
although many
of the stories
concerning
the births of Christian saints contain
elements of wonder as indications of their future
greatness,
divine
parentage
and miraculous
conception
is reserved for the Christ
child alone.64 This is in direct contrast to Buddhist
legends,
for
not
only
is
virgin
birth recorded in stories about Gautama Buddha,65
but the same honor is awarded to
many
other Buddhist
holy
men
as well.
Examples
can be found in
Japanese legends describing
the
virgin
birth of En no
Gyja,
who was conceived when his mother
dreamed about a staff
entering
her
mouth,66
and of Kb
Daishi,
who was
similarly
conceived on a
night
when his mother envisioned
a
holy
man
entering
her stomach.67 In the latter
case,
it is also
63) St. Luke 2 : 26-38. The
angel
Gabriel came to
Mary
and announced that she
would conceive and bear a child who was the son of God. An
interesting
discussion
of the motif of
supernatural
birth can be found in
Hartland,
I: 71-146.
64) Loomis, p.
15. The
appearance
of an
auspicious
star is also a motif found in
legends
of the birth of
holy
men.
65) According
to Buddhist
legend,
Gautama Buddha or Siddhartha was conceived
during
a
sequence
of four dreams in which his mother
perceived
a white
elephant
with six tusks which came down from heaven and entered her
womb; thereupon,
her
body
rose
up
to a
high
mountain and
many people
came and
worshipped
her. See
Iwano Shin'y
"
Shukomakadaiky kaidai,"
in
Kokuyaku issaikyo,
Horieribu (1924),
4 : 24.
66)
Zoku
ksjitsuden zen, pp.
774-775. The statt or tolctcosho
m flx Tf
is a start
used
by
Buddhist
priests.
It is one of three
types
of
vajra-pounders
or
kongsho &
flj fr, vajra
or diamond
symbolizing
the hardness or
strength
with which the
enlight-
ened mind can
destroy
evil. Besides the tokkosho or
one-pronged staff,
there is a
three-pronged
staff known as the sanko H l (see
note 99)
and a
five-pronged goko E
|.
In terms of
efficacy,
these staffs are akin to the
sign
of the cross in Christian
legend.
67) Konjaku monogatari, p.
73. In secular
legend,
this motif
might
be
compared
to the
story
of Kintoki
^f,
one of the retainers of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, who
was conceived one
night
when his mother dreamed of a red
dragon.
See Ohashi
Shintar, ed.,
Zen Taiheiki,
in ZTB
(1908), Sup.
10: 664.
interesting
to note that Kb Daishi's mother bore the name Tama-
yorihime 3E ^ #,
an
apellation commonly
used for female shamans
who served the
gods.68
Another
frequent
birth motif ascribed
specifically
to Buddhist
saints is the fact that
they
are re-incarnations of a bodhisattva or
some other
holy
man.
Gygi
Taitoku was considered a re-incarna-
tion of the bodhisattva
Majusri,69
and
during
his lifetime he was
popularly
known as
Gygi
Bosatsu.70 Since it is true that
Gygi
and other
holy
men were often
engaged
in welfare work and other
charitable activities
among
the common
people,
the
appearance
of
this
motif,
no
doubt, developed
from the belief that these saints
were
fulfilling
the bodhisattva's function of
providing compassionate
help
to others in the search for release from
suffering
and attain-
ment of salvation.71
Perhaps
the most common
Japanese
birth motif is that of the
mshigo ^f
or
requested
child. This is the theme of the childless
68) Kamiya Toshio,
Kb Daishi
godenki (1943), p.
2. In
Japanese mythology,
the
original Tamayorihime
was the
younger
sister of
Toyotamahime Sfe who married
Hoori no mikoto
iicl,
the brother with the luck of the mountain.
Tamayorihime
and
Toyotamahime
were
daughters
of the Sea God. For a discussion of
Tamayorihime
as
shamaness,
see
Yanagita Kunio,
"Imoto no
chikara,"
in TYKS
(1962),
9: 41-62.
69) Majusri,
the bodhisattva of
wisdom,
is
regarded
as the
personification
of the
wisdom of the
Buddha,
and he is
popularly
believed to endow
people
with the mental
powers required
to master the Buddhist
scriptures. Legend
states that he was
originally
a
holy
man who lived on Wu T'ai
Shan,
a
five-peaked
mountain in China.
According
to a
story
in the
Ryiki, Otomo no Yasuko
;fc SP M fil "f,
who
belonged
to
one of the
founding
families of Buddhism in
Japan, suddenly passed away
and was
transported
to Wu T'ai Shan. There he met such famous
personages
as Shtoku
Taishi and
Emperor
Shmu. He was
given
an elixir and told to
repeat
the
charm,
"
Namu
Mytoku
Bosachi
"
ffi" j& #> W HF , three times. Later,
it was
explained
that
Mytoku
Bosachi referred to
Manjusr,
who was to return to earth in the form of
Gygi
Taitoku. See
Ryiki, pp.
80-87.
70) Kuroita
Katsumi, ed.,
Shoku
nihongi,
in Shintei zho kokushi taikei
(KT)
(1935),
2: 197. After his
death, the
holy
man En no Shokaku also was revered as a
bodhisattva and he was
given
the title
Jinpen
Daibosatsu
# 1 ^ H H,
Great Bodhisat-
tva of Divine Power. In
addition,
En no Shokaku was believed to have been the re-
incarnation of the bodhisattva Kannon and Shtoku Taishi. See Zoku
ksjitsuden,
pp. 776,
854-855.
71) Gygi
is credited with the establishment of several charitable institutions and
construction
projects.
See note 52.
LEGENDS OF HOLY MEN OP EARLY JAPAN 295
couple,
often
quite elderly,
who
petition
the
gods
for a
child,
and
eventually
have their
prayers
answered because of their
pious
and
righteous
nature.72
Dengy
Daishi was a
mshigo, having
been
conceived on the fourth
day
after his
parents
made a
pilgrimage
to a shrine at the foot of Mt. Hiei.73 In Christian
legend,
a similar
motif
may
be found in the
story
of the birth of John the
Baptist,
who was conceived in answer to the
prayers
of the
pious
but
elderly couple,
Zacharias and Elizabeth.74
Most cultural heroes are
assigned
a
precocious youth,
but
while secular
legends
tend to
emphasize
unusual
strength
or
physical prowess,
sacred
legends
seem more concerned with
superior
mental
qualities
and
piousness.75
En no
Gyja
was so devout at the
age
of three or four76 that he
deftly
avoided
taking
the life of
any
sentient
being.
He refused to eat meat or to
step
even on such
72) Ninshin
kigan # 41 #f SB,
the custom of
praying
to the
gods
for a child
by
making pilgrimages
to various shrines,
is
apparently
still observed in
Japan today.
See
Minzokugaku Kenkysho, ed., Minzokugaku jiten (1963), pp.
437-438.
73)
Ohashi
Shintar, ed., Bukky
kakush
ksjitsuden zen,
in ZTB
(1896),
44 : 263-
264.
Legend
also states that at his birth, Dengy
Daishi had a small
gold
statue of
Yakushi
Nyorai grasped
in his hand.
Also,
as an
auspicious sign,
flowers descended
from heaven and
changed
the
family's garden
into a lotus
pond.
74) St. Luke 1 :5-25. The
angel
Gabriel
appeared
first to Zacharias, declaring
that
Elizabeth would bear a child and that
they
should call him John. Zacharias, however,
did not believe the
angel
at first and for this
reason,
he was rendered
speechless
until the
baby
was born.
75)
The motif of
great physical precociousness
can be
found,
for
example,
in
Japa-
nese
legends concerning
Benkei
$$ IS and Kintar & ~X $ (Kintoki).
After
remaining
eighteen
months in the
womb,
Benkei was born with hair
reaching
to his shoulders
and with all his teeth.
By
the
age
of
five,
he was as
large
as a
boy
of twelve or
thirteen. Kintar,
another
strong boy,
is said to have
played
and wrestled with wild
animals while a
youngster.
See Okami Masao, ed., Gikeiki,
in NKBT
(1959),
37 : 104-
108,
for a discussion of the
early
childhood of
Benkei,
and
Fujisawa Morihiko,
Nihon
minzoku densetsu zensh
(1955),
2 :
165-172,
for a
legend
about the life of Kintar. An
English
account of the life of Benkei and his adventures with Minamoto no Yoshitsune,
another cultural
hero,
can be found in James S. De Benneville,
Saito Musashi-bo
Benkei,
2
vols., (Yokohama, 1910).
For a
English
translation of
Gikeiki,
see Helen
Craig McCullough,
Yoshitsune
(Stanford, 1966).
76)
All
ages
recorded in this discussion of
legends
about
Japanese holy
men are
stated in terms of the old method of
Japanese counting. According
the this
system,
each individual became a
year
older on New Year's
Day,
no no matter whether he
was born the
day
before or the
day
after.
Therefore,
there can be
actually
as much
as two
years
difference between stated
age
and real
age.
lowly
creatures as worms.77 A
very interesting legend
about the
childhood of
Gygi
Taitoku describes his
superior oratory powers
as a
youth.
It seems that while still a
young
child of seven or
eight, Gygi began preaching
the Buddhist law to other children in
the
neighborhood.
He so entranced his audience that more and more
people gathered
to
listen, neglecting
their
daily
chores. Men and
women, young
and
old,
assembled to hear him. When news of this
reached the
village officials, they
were determined to chase
Gygi
away
because he was
interrupting
work in the fields.
However,
as
soon as
they
came near
enough
to hear his
words, they
too found
the sermon valuable and
inspiring
and remained to listen. The
district chief and the
provincial
chief
responded
in a similar manner,
and soon rumors of his
preaching ability
reached the ears of the
Emperor,
who summoned him to court.78 This
story
can be
easily
compared
to the Christian
story
of Jesus
preaching
in the
temple
at the
age
of twelve.79 Kb Daishi was also considered a
pious
youth
and
according
to
legend,
while a mere child of five or
six,
he
fashioned Buddhist
images
out of
clay
and
placed
them in a shrine
which he built out of
grass
and wood.80
Lastly, Dengy
Daishi is
said to have stood
up
seven
days
after
birth,
and after
having
taken
seven
steps
toward the
east,
he
clasped
his hands and chanted from
the Lotus Sutra.81 A similar tale of Christian
precociousness
is found
in the
legend
of
young
St. Nicholas. It tells that on the
day
of his
77) Zoku
ksjitsuden, pp.
775-776. It is further stated that En no
Gyja
never
lost his
temper.
He
began
to
practice magic
for
compassionate
salvation at the
age
of seven,
and if it
happened
to rain while he was
performing austerities,
his
clothing
never crot wet.
59.
79) St. Luke 2:41-52, According
to this
passage, Mary
and
Joseph
took the
young
Jesus
up
to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. After the feast,
Jesus remained
in the
temple discussing questions
with the doctors of
learning
instead of
returning
with his
parents. Mary
and
Joseph
discovered him
missing
and returned to the
temple
to fetch him.
73-74. It is also stated that Kb Daishi had a
vision as a child in which he
perceived many
buddhas within an
eight-leaved
lotus
conversing
with him.
Legend
also records that he had four devoted
youths
or dis-
ciples
who followed him as a child and
paid
reverence to him.
81) Ksjitsuden, p.
264.
Dengy
Daishi is said to have
begun
his studies at the
age
of four or five.
According
to the
legend
of his
youth
in
Konjaku monogatari,
p. 78,
he is said to have
gained enlightenment
at the
age
of seven and to have been
endowed with the wonderous
power
of
precognition.
birth,
Nicholas stood
straight up
in his bath. While a
baby,
he refused
to take his mother's milk
except
for one meal on
Wednesdays
and
Fridays,
and he
spent
a
pious
childhood
visiting
churches and
memorizing
the
Holy Scriptures.82
The next
major
motif in the life of the cultural hero is his
separation
from
family
and native
village, usually
to be reared or
educated
by
others. In
Japanese legends
of
holy men,
the hero is
commonly
sent to a
temple
to
begin
his
religious
education. Kb
Daishi was sent to the
capital
at the
age
of fifteen to
study
the
Chinese classics under Umasaka
Kiyonari B fi ^ $c.83
At the
age
of
twelve, Dengy
Daishi became a
disciple
of
Gyhy fr i (722-
797),
a
priest
of
Daianji.84
A
very interesting legend
recounts the
departure
of En no
Gyja
from home. When
Gyja
decided to set
out for the mountains in order to
begin
his ascetic
practices,
he
carved a wooden statue of himself to leave behind in his
place.
However,
on the
night
of his
departure,
his mother awoke with a
chest
pain
and
believing
the statue to be
Gyja,
she asked it to
bring
her
something
to relieve the ache. She waited
impatiently
until
dawn,
but the
statue, naturally,
did not
respond. Only
in
the
morning
when she took a closer
look,
did she discover the
trick
played by
her son.85
Gygi
Taitoku is said to have entered
the
priesthood
at the
age
of
fifteen,
but a more classic use of the
motif of
separation
from home
appears
in a
story
related to his
birth.
Legend
states that when
Gygi
was
born,
he did not re-
semble a normal
baby
in
appearance.
That
is,
he was born with
82)
The Golden
Legend,
I: 17. In
folklore, St. Nicholas is
commonly
associated
with the
giving
of Christmas
presents
to children.
74.
According
to
legend, although
Kb Daishi studied
such works as Mencius and the
Spring
and Autumn
Annals, he valued most of all
the
teachings
of Buddha and received instruction in the doctrine of
snyat
from the
Priest Gons W) (758-827)
of
Daianji.
84) Ksjitsuden, p.
264.
Legend
also states that the
parents
of
Dengy
Daishi
requested
him to make a
pilgrimage
to Mt. Hiei where
they
had
prayed
for his birth.
At Mt. Hiei, he built a
grass hermitage,
and it was here that he
miraculously
found
a Buddha relic and
golden
vessel within the ashes of a censer. Because of this won-
drous
sign, Dengy
decided to erect the
temple headquarters
for his Tendai Sect on
on this
spot.
See
Konjaku monogatari, p.
78.
85)
Zoku
ksjitsuden, pp.
806-808. The statue is enshrined in the
Gyja
d h %
^
at
Chiharaji ^ Jj^ 3p, Katsuragij-gun,
Nara Prefecture,
his birth
place.
See
page
263 above.
a caul. His mother was so
frightened upon seeing him,
that she
put Gygi
in an earthen
bowl,
took him outside and
placed
him in
a nettle tree.
Fortunately, Gygi
did not have to remain abandoned
too
long,
for he was found
by
a
wandering
ascetic who
happened
to
spend
the
night
there. Awakened
by
loud
cries,
the ascetic dis-
covered
Gygi
and cared for him.86 In Western
legends,
this motif
of
abandoning
a child
by putting
it in some
receptacle
and
leaving
it unattended is
quite widespread.
The common reason for this
action is the belief that
prophecies
of the child's future
great-
ness
pose
a threat to someone in the
family
or
community. Thus,
the child is either hidden or
exposed
to the elements and eventual-
ly
falls into the hands of others. In this
sense,
the
legend
of
Gygi might
be
compared
to the
story
of
Moses,
who was
put
into
a basket and hidden in the bulrushes
by
his mother. This was
done to
protect
him from the Pharaoh's command that all sons
born to Hebrews should be killed.
By coincidence, however,
Moses
was found
by
the Pharaoh's
daughter,
who
adopted
him as her
own son.87
According
to some Western
scholars,
the motif of
separation may
well be linked to ancient rites of initiation at the
age
of
puberty, separation symbolizing departure
from childhood
and entrance into manhood.88 This could indeed be true in cases
86) Hanawa
Hokiichi, ed., Gygi
daibostasu
gyj ki,
in Zoku
gunsho ruiju (ZGR)
(1929),
16 : 442. In Western folklore a caul is
generally
considered to be a
good
omen
and to have various
magical properties.
It is also often deemed a life token. See
Maria
Leach, ed.,
Funk and
Wagnalls
Standard
Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology
and
Legend (New York, 1949),
1 : 199. It
might
also be noted that in
Japanese
secular
legend,
the
strange
looks of Benkei at his birth
nearly brought
about his abandon-
ment too. See
Gikeikif pp.
104-108.
87) Exodus 2:1-10. Another
example
can be found in a
legend
about Judas
Iscariot,
the
apostle
who
betrayed
Christ.
According
to the
story,
the mother of Judas had a
dream which foretold that she would bear an evil son.
Therefore, when the child was
born, the
parents placed
it in a basket and left it to the
mercy
of the sea. The bas-
ket drifted to the island of Iscariot where it was discovered
by
the
queen
of the
island. The
queen
took the child and raised it as her own. See The Golden
Legend,
I: 172. A
psychological interpretation
of the
exposure
theme is
presented by
Otto
Rank,
The
Myth of
the Birth
of
the Hero
(New York, 1964), pp.
72-84.
According
to
Rank, the basket or
receptacle represents
the
womb,
and
exposure
of the child
signi-
fies the
process
of birth.
88) See,
for
example,
Lord
Raglan,
"
The Hero of Tradition,"
in The
Study of
Folklore
(Englewood Cliffs, 1965), pp.
151-152. The
process
of
separation
is one of the
three
phases (separation, transition, and
incorporation)
which Van
Gennep
attributes
to the rites associated with the
major
life crises or rites de
passage.
See Arnold Van
Gennep,
The Rites
of Passage (Chicago, 1961), pp.
10-11.
of the secular hero in various
cultures,
but the
separation
motif
seems to bear different overtones in
religious legends, particularly
in those
describing departure
for a
temple
or
monastery. During
the era in which
Japanese holy
men such as
Gygi
and Kb
Daishi
lived,
the
temple
was considered the main center for
scholastic studies and moral and
physical discipline. Therefore,
it
was not uncommon for
young
sons to be sent to the
temple
for
educational
purposes
or
disciplinary training.89
This
fact, however,
should in no
way
detract from the
importance
of
including
the
motif in the structural model of
Japanese religious legends.
It
would seem too much of a coincidence that this theme occurs in
so
many
of the stories about
Japanese holy men,
and
yet
also in
the
legends
of
Japanese
secular heroes.90 That this motif was
based
closely
on
reality perhaps merely
added to its credence
among
the
people
of the times.
2. Miraculous Activities and Encounters with
Supernatural Beings
Upon separation
from
family
and
community,
the cultural
hero
normally
commences the
many
adventures for which he is
famous. This is the time when the
holy
men of
Japanese legends
begin
their ascetic
wanderings, healing
the
sick, encountering
supernatural beings,
and
performing
various other miracles.
89)
An examination of the
biographies
of various
Japanese priests
will show that
many began
their
temple
life at an
early age.
For
example,
the Priest
Ganjin $
(688-763)
left home at the
age
of
fourteen,
Priest Shinnen
JK j& (804-891) departed
at
the
age
of nine,
and Priest
Rynin g. S (1072-1132)
left his
family
at the
age
of
twelve. See Daijinmei jiten
1-6 (1957).
Youthful
priests
were called either kuushami
I* y> M (those
between the
ages
of seven and thirteen) or bshami
? y4> M (those
between the
ages
of fourteen and nineteen). The kuushami were also
commonly
known
as koz
/Jn fi
or little
priests.
See Mochizuki
bukky daijiten
3
(1954).
2178. The
koz also
appears
in a
cycle
of
Japanese
folktales known as Osh to koz
#1 fj <h 'Js if"
or Priest and
Acolyte.
90) The motif of the threatened child is also
present
in secular
legends concerning
such
Japanese
cultural heroes as Minamoto no Yoshitsune and
Soga
Gor. In the
aftermath of the
Heiji
War (1159),
the
young
Yoshitsune was
spared by
the victorious
Taira,
but he was sent to Kurama-dera $& M ^P to
prevent
him from
plotting revenge
for his
family. Similarly,
the
younger Soga brother, Goro,
was sent to the Hakone
Shrine to
prevent
him from
revenging
his father's death. In both instances, however,
the
youths escaped
the fate of
becoming priests
and left their
respective temples.
Of
course,
in the
days
of the
holy
men of
early Japan,
travel-
ing
was
quite
a
dangerous
adventure in itself. This was
especially
true of
journeys
to China such as were
actually
undertaken
by
Kb Daishi and
Dengy
Daishi. From the true
dangers
inherent
in
crossing
the broad
expanse
of water between the islands of
Japan
and the Asian
mainland,
it is not
surprising
that fanciful tales
should have
developed.
One
legend
states that
during
the
trip
of
the above two saints in
804,
a terrible wind
began
to blow on the
seventh
night
out at
sea,
and
threatening
black clouds
began
to
appear
from the northeast.
Soon,
a
raging
storm was in
prog-
ress. Awakened
by
the
commotion,
Kb
Daishi,
who was in the
first
boat,
came
up
on deck and
closing
his
eyes, prayed fervently
to the buddhas and the three treasures for
protection.
When the
saint
opened
his
eyes,
Fud
My ^S0J appeared
and brandish-
ing
his
sword,
cut the waves.
Then, miraculously, eight large
youths appeared
on both sides to
protect
the
vessel,
and it was
able to
proceed smoothly through
the water.91
Among
the
many
miracles
performed by holy
men
during
their
wanderings,
the motif of wonderous
healing
occurs with
great
fre-
quency
in both Buddhist and Christian
legends.
En no
Gyja
is said
to have cured the
prominent
statesman
Fujiwara
Kamatari
M i^M
JEg. (614-669)
from an illness after all known medicines and
drugs
had
been exhausted without results.02
Gygi
Taitoku was also known for
his
great healing power. According
to one
interesting legend, Gygi
once was headed towards the hot
springs
of Arima
^f ,i
to aid the
many
sick
people
who
congregated
there.
Along
the
way,
he met
a man on Mt. Muko
& J(L
This man was
suffering
from a serious
ailment and he
implored
the saint to
help
him.
Gygi
offered his
own food as
nourishment,
but the sick man
replied
that he could
only
eat fresh fish or meat. To
satisfy him, Gygi
went down to the
shore,
obtained some raw
fish,
and
presented
it to the man. The
91) Kamiya Toshio, pp.
67-72. For a
corresponding legend
about
Dengy Daishi,
see note 115.
92) Zoku
ksjitsuden, p.
795. Kamatari was the
progenitor
of the
great Fujiwara
clan,
the
politically powerful family
which controlled
Japan during
the Heian Period.
According
to Loomis, p. 103, healing
is
perhaps
the most common form of white
magic.
By making
the
sign
of the cross, St. Peter
Martyr
healed a man named Asserbus who
had been
paralysed
for five
years.
See The Golden
Legend,
I: 249.
man, however,
refused to take it until it had been
properly
season-
ed
; so, Gygi
seasoned the fish and tasted it. He
again
offered the
fish to the sick
man,
and this time the man
accepted
the
gift.
A
day
went
by
and the man
requested
further assistance from
Gygi,
ex-
plaining
that
although
he had tried the hot
springs
as a
remedy,
he
had received little benefit and his
pain
was unbearable. He there-
fore beseeched the saint to lick his sores. The man's
body
was
festered and smelled
badly,
but out of
deep compassion, Gygi
over-
came his
repugnancy
and licked the skin of the
ailing
man. As he
did
so,
the
places
touched
by
his
tongue
turned to
gold
and the man
revealed himself as Yakushi
Nyorai,
the Buddha of
Healing.
The
buddha
explained
to
Gygi
that he
temporarily
had manifested
himself as a sick man to test the saint's
compassion
for
people.
In
reverence to this divine
encounter, Gygi
built a shrine on the
spot
and
placed
within it an
image
of Yakushi
Nyorai.93
The idea that
the touch of a
holy
man can cure
any malady
is found also in Christian
legends.
For
example,
one
story
relates how St. Martin came
upon
a
leper
whom all other
people
avoided with horror. Out of
great
humility, however,
the saint kissed the man and blessed
him,
and
the
leper
was cleansed
immediately
of his disease.94
93)
Ikebe Yoshikata, ed., Kokonchomonju,
in Kochu kokubun sosho
(1915),
17 : 26-27.
A similar legend
about the Priest
Hsan-tsang : Jg (602-664)
is recorded in the Sen-
jsh,
in ZGR (1927),
65: 338. In this variant, the diseased man turned into the bod-
hisattva Kannon after Hsan-tsang
licked him from head to foot. For
comparison,
an
interesting
Christian legend
relates how St. Julian and his wife were
performing pen-
ance by carrying
travelers across a
dangerous
river. One
night
after Julian had lain
down tired and weary,
he heard the
cry
of a
stranger desiring
to be carried across.
St. Julian arose and hurriedly brought
the
nearly
frozen traveler to his house. The
man was half eaten
away
with
leprosy
and a horrible
sight
to behold,
but the saint
laid him in his own bed and covered him, whereupon
the
stranger
turned into an
angel.
See The Golden Legend,
I: 131.
94)
The Golden Legend,
II: 668. Christian saints, however,
not
only
heal
people,
but also raise them from the dead. Christ,
for
example,
revived the twelve year
old
daughter
of a certain Jairus. See Luke 8 : 41-56. This motif of
raising
the dead does
not seem to
appear
in stories of
Japanese holy men, perhaps
because of the
popular
Buddhist theory
of
transmigration.
That is,
if an individual is
going
to be reborn in
another life,
there is no need to
bring
him back from the dead. There are, however,
several
Japanese legends
in which a man falls into a death-like trance,
travels to heaven
or hell,
and then returns to life. Such are the
legends
of tomo no Yasuko (see
note
69)
and Priest Chik (see
note 124).
On the other hand,
one
legend
does record that
Gygi
Taitoku restored fish to life.
Once,
after
having practiced
austerities in various
Another
important
element found in the above
legend
of
Gygi
Taitoku and Yakushi
Nyorai
is the motif of
testing virtue,
a motif
common in folk literature of
many
cultures.
Perhaps
the most
famous Western
story
of this kind is the
tempting
of Abraham's
faith
by
God. In this
story,
Abraham
dutifully complied
with a
command to sacrifice his
only
son
Isaac,
but
just
as he was about
to
plunge
the knife into his
son,
an
angel
of the Lord
spoke
to him
and ordered him to desist.95
Frequently
associated with this element of
testing
is the motif
of encounter with a
supernatural being.96
Buddhist
legends
of
holy
men are filled with the
appearances
of buddhas and
bodhisattvas,
Shinto
deities,
or even demons. Such
beings may
test the
saint,
help
and
guide him,
or
perform
various other roles in the
story.
One
legend
relates the encounter of Kb Daishi with the
bodhisattva
Majusri. According
to the
story,
while the Daishi was
in
China,
he demonstrated various feats of
calligraphy
to the Em-
peror. By holding
one brush in his
mouth,
one brush in each
hand,
and one in each
foot,
Kb wrote with five brushes at the same
time. In another
instance,
he
simply poured
some ink on a wall
of the
palace,
and it formed the character for tree on its own ac-
cord. It was because of this
dexterity
that the
Emperor
of China
bestowed the title of Five Brush Priest on Kb Daishi. Now it so
happened
that while the Daishi was
roaming
the
grounds
of the
palace,
he came to a stream and met a
youth wearing
a torn
gar-
ment and with hair like
sagebrush.
The
youth inquired
if Kb
provinces, Gygi passed by
a
pond. Many people
were
gathered there, catching
and
eating
fish. In a
jovial mood, they
offered some
vinegared
fish or namasu

to the
saint, who
accepted
it and ate it. A few minutes
later, however,
the crowd was as-
tonished to see
Gygi
remove small fish from his mouth and
place
them back in the
pond. Frightened,
the
people repented
for
having
made
sport
of the
holy
man. See
Konjaku monogatari, p.
59.
95) Genesis 22: 1-19. In another
legend,
St. John the Almoner
pretended
not to
recognize
that a certain
beggar kept returning
in different
disguises
to obtain alms.
When a steward informed him of the man's
trickery,
the saint
replied
that he would
continue to
give
the
beggar
alms because the man
might
be the Lord
testing
him.
See The Golden
Legend,
I: 121.
96) In folklore
terminology,
such
supernatural beings
are often called
friendly
or
grateful helpers.
For a discussion of their role in
folktales,
see
Thompson, pp.
47-67.
was the Five Brush Priest from
Japan.
When the Daishi
replied
in the
affirmative,
the
youth challenged
him to write some charac-
ters on
top
of the water. Kb
complied
and wrote a
poem prais-
ing
the clearness of the
water,
but the characters broke
apart
and
floated downstream. The
youth
smiled in admiration and indicated
that it was his turn. He made the character for
dragon, purposely
omitting
one of the strokes on the
righthand
side. The character
remained on
top
of the water and did not float
away ;
but as soon
as the last stroke was
added,
a sound
arose,
a
light
shone forth
and the character turned into a
dragon
and flew off in the
sky.97
Kb Daishi then
recognized
the
youth
as the bodhisattva
Majusri
and the
boy disappeared.98
On another
occasion,
Kb met two Shinto deities.
Legend
tells
that
just
before the Daishi returned home from
China,
he stood at
the
edge
of the sea and tossed his
three-pronged
staff in the direc-
tion of
Japan.99
Later on in his old
age,
the Daishi decided to visit
the
spot
where the staff landed. In
Uchi-gun ^ ^ f$
in the
prov-
ince of
Yamato,
he met a red-faced hunter about
eight
feet tall.
He was a muscular
chap
dressed in blue and
leading
two black
dogs.
When the hunter
inquired
where the saint was
going,
the
Daishi
explained
about his staff and mentioned that he was
positive
that the instrument had fallen into the
zenj
reiketsu
jpp /g H *fc>
the Divine Hole of Silent Meditation. The hunter informed the
97)
In Oriental folklore,
the
dragon
is
closely
associated with the rain
cycle.
It is
believed to dwell at the bottom of bodies of water,
and at times it leaves its abode
and flies
up
into the
sky.
For a discussion of the characteristics of the
dragon,
see
Fujisawa Morihiko,
Zusetsu nihon
minzokugaku
zensh
(1960),
4:142-163.
76. Kb Daishi was well known for his skill in cal-
ligraphy
and is the traditional
originator
of the
hiragana
or cursive
syllabary
and the
arrangement
of the
syllabary
into the iroha
poem.
See Hasuo Kanzen,
Kb Daishi
den (1931), pp.
515-521.
99) The sanko or
three-pronged vajra-pounder (see note 66) is said to
symbolize
the three secrets of esoteric Buddhism, the
body, speech
and mind of Buddha.
Although
the
vajra-pounder
is associated with the attributes of the diamond in Buddhist theory,
it can
actually
be traced back to the
thunderweapon
of the Hindu
god Indra,
which
in turn bears marked similarities to the Greek keraunos and the trident of the Greek
god
Poseidon.
Attempts
have been made to
explain
the
concept
of the
thunderweapon
in terms of
primitive
man's association of
lightning
and its
accompanying phenomena
with the use of stone tools or
weapons.
For a discussion of this
subject,
see Chr.
Blinkenberg,
The
Thunderweapon
in
Religion
and Folklore
(Cambridge, 1911), pp.
34-60.
Daishi that he knew the location of this
spot,
and offered to show
it to him. Kb
spent
the
night
near a
large
river on the border
of the
province
of Kii. Here he met a woman of the mountains,
who directed him south to Hirahara
*p Jg Swamp.
As
they
walked
along
the next
morning,
the woman
explained
that she was the
ruler of the mountains
;
her domain consisted of about hundred
towns situated in an area enclosed
by eight peaks. Presently,
the
Daishi found his staff in the crotch of a
cypress
tree and
overjoyed,
he turned to his
companion
and
inquired
who she was. The woman
replied
that she was Nifu
Myjin ft fc 8E M
and that the hunter
with the
dogs
was
Kya Myjin M If BE S-
Then the
goddess
dis-
appeared.100
Dengy
Daishi also encountered a Shinto
deity
when he made
a
special pilgrimage
to the Hachiman Shrine in Usa
^ fe upon
his
safe return from China.
According
to
legend,
he erected an
image
of Yakushi
Nyorai
at the shrine with the
hope
that it would cure
all the illnesses of the
people.
As he
prayed
to the buddha for
this to
happen, suddenly
a melodious sound came from within the
shrine,
and a voice said that his
prayers
were answered. A
gar-
ment of
deep purple
silk was
presented
to him and he was directed
to wear it and make
images
of Yakushi.101
Such
legends relating
fortuitous
meetings
of Buddhist saints
105-107. It was at this
spot
that Kb Daishi erected
Kyasan, the
temple headquarters
of the
Shingon
Sect. The
legend says
that even
today,
the
gods
Nifu and
Kya
stand
along
side the
gate
of the
temple
as
guardian
protectors.
These two deities are more
commonly
known as Nibutsuhime fj- 4. $ it
M
and Kar iba
Myjin f Wj M #,
the mountain
goddess
and her divine son of Mt.
Kya.
According
to
Yanagita,
such mountain deities also had a close
relationship
with hunt-
ers. See Sansn seikatsu no
kenky, pp.
544-548. Tradition also associates Kb
Daishi with the rice
deity
Inari
Myjin | $f 93 #.
It is said that the saint met an
old man
carrying
a sheaf of rice in the
vicinity
of
Tji jfC ^,
in
Kyoto,
and because
he received noble instruction from him, Kb
regarded
the old man as a
temporary
manifestation of the
guardian protector
of the
temple. Thus,
he called him Inari
Myjin
or
Rice-bearing Deity.
See Shimonaka
Yasabur, ed.,
Shinto
daijiten
1
(1937).
139.
78-79. The deities enshrined at the Usa Hachiman
Shrine are Hachiman Daibosatsu A ftf H jj, who is associated with the
Emperor
jin (270-310), Himegami it M ,
who is also considered to be
Tamayorihime (see note
68), and tarashihime no mikoto ; ffl Jg f, who is
thought
to be
Empress Jing (201-
269). See Asakura
Haruhiko, ed., Shinwa densetsu
jiten (1963), pp.
370-371.
with Shinto
gods
are
perhaps
based on the theories and
practices
of
Rybu
Shinto or Sanno
Ichijitsu Shinto,
which
attempted
to in-
tegrate
Buddhism with the
popular religion
of the masses.102 In a
sense,
these
legends perhaps
lent credence to the idea that the older
Shinto
gods
sanctioned the activities of the
Japanese holy
men and
benevolently
watched over them.
En no
Gyja
had encounters with
supernatural beings
of a dif-
ferent nature. One
legend
recounts how
Gyja
obtained his two
marvelous
companions,
the demons Zenki
|ff %
and Goki
H %.
Ac-
cording
to the
story,
he was
practicing magic
in a cave called
Hannya
Reikutsu
#} ^ Jg
on Mt. Ikoma
Jgfij
in the
province
of
Yamato.
Every night, however,
someone tried to toss a rock at
him,
but failed in the
attempt
to
injure
him. Then one
day,
two
demons
approached Gyja
and tried to beat him with
uprooted
pines they
carried in their arms. The
saint, however,
warded them
off with his staff and after a
chase,
he
finally captured
the crea-
tures and demanded to know who
they
were.
Frightened,
the two
demons
explained
that the cave had
originally
been their
home,
but since
Gyja
had come to live
there, they
were unable to return
to their abode. For this
reason, they
had been
trying
to scare him
away
with their
magic. Unfortunately,
their
power
was no match
for the
saint's,
and so
they
offered to serve him instead.
Gyja,
thereupon, forgave
them for their evil intentions with such
great
compassion
that the demons
wept.103
Christian saints also have their share of adventures with
super-
natural
beings, frequently confronting
the forces of
good
and evil.
The forces of
good
are
angels
and deceased
holy men,
while the
forces of evil are the Devil and other demons.
Angels
and
holy
men often
appear
to saints to comfort them in times of
great need,
as in the case of St.
Peter,
who came to St.
Agatha
in
prison.
102) The main
aspects
of
Ryobu
Shinto are discussed in note 8.
103)
Zoku
ksjitsuden, pp.
834-836. The
legend
also states that this is the
origin
of the
proverb,
Oni no me ni mo namida
J| (D BH K t> Mt
or
"
Tears even in the
eyes
of demons."
Curiously,
oni or demons
frequently
bear
many
of the same characteristics
as the
Japanese
cultural hero.
According
to the
story
related
by
Zenki and
Goki, they
were
separated
from their
parents
at an
early age,
and
during
their
youth, they
de-
veloped great strength.
In this
respect,
it is
interesting
to note that the
young
Benkei
(see
note 75)
had the nickname Oniwaka
% ^ or
Young
Demon, See Gikeiki, p.
105.
M.S. XXVIII 20
Having
been tortured for her
beliefs, Agatha
was in
great anguish,
but St. Peter
provided
her with remedies to heal her wounds.104
The forces of
evil,
on the other
hand, attempt
to entice the saint
away
from his virtuous life. St.
Anthony,
for
example,
was
tempted
by
demons on several occasions.
According
to
legend,
a demon once
pretended
to be God and offered St.
Anthony anything
that he
wanted. Not fooled
by
the demon's
pretence,
the saint
spat
in his
face and
jumped upon him, whereupon
the evil creature vanished.106
Frequently,
it is the task of
holy
men to cast demons or evil
spirits
out of demented
people.
In
Japanese legends,
the evil
spirit
is
commonly
conceived as a fox or
badger
who
magically possesses
people.
En no
Gyja,
for
example,
cured a
young
man
by
the name
of Sakumaro
fp fjt B ,
who was
possessed by
a fox. In this
case,
the
spirit
animal was
seeking revenge
because it had been hit on
the tail
by
a rock which the
youth
had thrown.106 There are also
many
stories of Christian saints who drove out evil
spirits.
Accord-
ing
to one
legend,
St. Donatus drove the Devil out of the
daughter
of
Emperor
Theodosius.
Frightened by
the
sign
of the
cross,
the
demon
obeyed
the saint's command and
departed
from the
girl ;
but as it
passed by
the
saint,
the whole house
quaked.107
A Buddhist variation on the motif of
casting
out demons in-
volves the
theory
of retribution and
re-incarnation,
which
explains
104) The Golden
Legend,
I: 159-160.
Perhaps
the two most famous
angels
which
appear
in Christian
legend
are the
angel
Gabriel (see notes 63 and 74) and the
archangel
St. Michael (see
note 118).
105)
The Golden
Legend,
1 : 101.
According
to Jacobus de
Voragine, Ibid.,
II :
583,
585, every
man is
given
two
angels
at
birth,
a
good angel
to
guard
him and a bad
angel
to
try
him. The bad
angels
are more
commonly
termed the Devil or
demons,
and the
good angels daily engage
in battles with these evil forces to defend and deliver
us from their
temptations.
It should be noted that Christian saints never
employ
demons for their own
purposes
as did the
Japanese holy man,
En no
Gyja. By
com-
parison,
it would seem that the oni of
Japan
are more vulnerable and less
crafty
than
their Christian
counterparts.
106) Zoku
ksjitsuden, pp.
779-786. For a discussion of the characteristics of
Japanese foxes, see
Kiyoshi Nozaki,
Kitsune
(Tokyo, 1961).
107)
The Golden
Legend,
II: 434. St. Martin was also
quite
skilled at
driving
out
demons,
and he could
perceive them,
whatever form
they
assumed. Once he even noted
that a cow was
possessed by
a demon that rode on its back and he commanded the
evil creature to
get
off and
depart. Ibid., p.
670.
that
present suffering
is the result of one's activities in a
prior
life.
In
Japanese legend,
a woman once came to hear a sermon
preached
by Gygi
Taitoku. She
brought
her
baby
with her and all
during
the
service,
the child cried so
loudly
for food that the
holy
man
could not be heard. The Taitoku turned to the woman and
firmly
told her to throw the infant into a
deep pool nearby.
This
seeming-
ly
cruel
injunction
caused the
congregation
to
whisper,
and the
woman, refusing
to
obey,
remained
hugging
her
baby.
The next
day,
the woman
again
attended the service with her
child,
and the
same
thing happened.
This
time, however,
the woman could not
endure the situation
any longer
and
following Gyogi's instructions,
she tossed the infant into the water.
Contrary
to
expectations,
the
child did not
drown,
but rather floated on
top
of the water and
exclaimed,
"
What bad luck ! I had
hoped
to make
you
feed me
for three more
years." Astonished,
the woman returned to the
service and
reported
the incident to the Taitoku.
Gygi
then ex-
plained
that in her
prior life,
the woman had borrowed an article
and failed to return it. In
retribution,
the lender had become her
child in the
present
life and was
seeking repayment by asking
for
food.108
Often
during
the sermons of
holy men,
a
sign
of divine favor
is bestowed
upon
them as an indication to the
people
that the saint's
teachings
are
approved by higher powers.
One
legend
relates that
Dengy
Daishi once made a
pilgrimage
to the
Kasuga Shrine,
and
while he
preached
the Lotus Sutra before the
gods,
a
purple
cloud
rose above the mountain
peak.109
Another
legend concerning
Kb Daishi describes how he dis-
pensed
the doubts of
many
with
regard
to his
teaching
that one
could obtain buddhahood while still
remaining
in a
corporeal body.
108) Ryiki, pp.
264-269. Like St. Martin, Gygi
was endowed with a marvelous
perception
of evil. According
to one
legend,
a certain woman annointed her hair with
animal oil before attending
a seven
day
service
given by
the Taitoku at
Gangji.
No
one else noticed anything
unusual about the woman,
but
Gygi perceived
blood in the
oil she had used and ordered that the woman be cast out. Ibid., pp.
264-265.
109) Konjaku monogatan, p.
79. An unusual cloud also covered tne
peaK
oi ivit.
Hiei when
Dengy
Daishi
passed away. Ibid., p.
109. In this connection,
it is interest-
ing
to note that the Daishi
perceived
the date of his death in advance and so advised
his followers. See note 18.
At
Seiryden f Jg
in the
Imperial Palace,
the Daishi turned
toward the south and formed the mudr of Dainichi
Nyorai,
Mah-
vairocana-tathgata. Then,
while the saint was in
deep contempla-
tion,
his
complexion
turned
golden
in color and his
body
shone forth
with a
yellow gold light.
It is said that this miracle was witnessed
by
ten thousand
people.110
The above
story
bears marked resemblance to the
description
of the
transfiguration
of Christ. The
Gospels
tells that Jesus once
took the three
disciples Peter,
James and John
up
onto a
high
moun-
tain. While
they
were
there,
the face of Christ shone like the sun
and his raiment was as white as the
light.
The ancient
holy
men
Moses and Elias then
appeared
and conversed with him.111
One of the most
frequent
motifs found
among
the adventures
of the cultural hero is the victorious combat with a
dragon
or
monster. It
is, therefore,
not
surprising
that
Japanese holy
men
should encounter such creatures also. En no
Gyja
battled a black
dragon
at the foot of Mt. Mino
% . According
to
legend,
the
dragon
was about ten
yards long
with
eyes
like
polished jewels
and
antlers
upon
its head. It dwelled at the bottom of a
falls,
ever
ready
to
grab
and eat
passers-by. Confronting
the
beast, Gyja
first waved his staff at the
monster,
but the creature remained
motionless. Then he
poked
the
dragon
and it
scampered up
the
mountain, leaving
its
imprints along
the
craggy
sides.
Arriving
at
the
top
of the
falls, Gyja
found a
pine
tree whose branches
gave
forth a
light,
and as he stood at the base of the tree
inspecting
this
phenomenon,
a sanko H
$
fell down and
lodged
in his sleeve.
Gyja
took the sanko and
sitting
on
top
of a
rock,
he meditated
with the staff in front of him.112
77. The dharma-dhatu mudra of Dainichi
Nyorai
or
Mahvairocanca-tathgata
is formed
by putting
one hand on
top
of the
other,
with the
right
hand on the bottom and
placed
on the knee and with the
tips
of the thumbs
touching
each other. See
Mochizuki,
4
(1954). 3345.
Ill) St. Matthew 17: 1-9. This
passage
also states that a cloud
appeared,
and a
voice came out of the cloud
saying,
"This is
my
beloved Son in whom I am well
pleased;
hear
ye
me."
ir)
Zolcu teoso
jitsuden, pp.
829-830. It is said that this
pine
tree was later
given
the name sanko matsu H & f. An
interesting
Christian
description
of a
dragon
is
found in a
story
about St. Martha. The
legend
states that a
dragon
dwelled in a forest
The
dragon
in
Japanese folklore, however,
is not
always
such
a horrendous creature. This is indicated
by
the
episode appended
to the above
legend.
The
story
continues with the
description
of
a dream in which En no
Gyja
descended into a
dragon
hole near the
pine
tree. With a
sharp
sword and a
long rope
tied around his
waist,
the saint let himself down and after
traveling
about two and a half
miles,
he found himself in the
paradise
of
Ryju
Bosatsu
f| $ H fu.
Gyja
came to a castle with a stone
gate,
and
hearing
the sound of
music,
he knelt before the
gate
and
prayed.
A voice from inside
inquired
who was
reciting magic,
and the saint
gave
his name. He
was invited inside the
dragon's palace,
where he met
bodisattvas,
sages, heavenly beings,
and
ryki f| J|
or
dragon
demons. The
god-
dess
Daibenzaitennyo ^c $# jft 5 ~k
was there also.113
Presently,
some
perfumed
water was
brought
and
sprinkled
on
top
of
Gyja's
head.
He then floated
up
to the surface and awoke from his dream.114
between Aries and
Avignon
on the shores of the Rhone River. This beast was half
animal and half
fish;
it was
larger
than an
ox, longer
than a
horse,
and it had teeth
like swords.
Laying
concealed in a
river,
the
dragon
sank
ships
and slew
people
who
passed by.
It was believed that the monster
originally
came
by
sea from Galatia in
Asia and that it was the
offspring
of Leviathan,
a ferocious
serpent
which lived in
the
ocean,
and
Onager,
a beast which dwelled in the Galatian area. St. Martha,
how-
ever, calmly
tamed this
dragon by throwing holy
water
upon
him and
holding up
a
cross before him. See The Golden
Legend,
II: 392.
113)
Zoku
ksjitsuden, pp.
830-831.
Ryuju
Bosatsu refers to
Ngrjuna,
the
princi-
pal expounder
of
Mahayana
Buddhism and the doctrine of
snyat.
His name
literally
means
'
serpent (or dragon)
and tree/ He also was believed to have been a
great
master
of the
magic
arts and one of the
eight patriarchs
of the esoteric school of Buddhism.
According
to
legend, Ngrjuna
received the
Prajnpramit
Sutra from the
nagas
or
dragons
of the
sea,
to whom the Buddha had entrusted its
keeping.
See Alice
Getty,
The Gods
of
Northern Buddhism (Rutland, Vermont, 1962), pp.
174-175. Daibenzaiten-
nyo,
or
simply Benten,
is related to the Hindu
goddess
Sarasvat. She is considered
the
goddess
of
learning
and
speech,
and is
commonly pictured
with the
dragon
and the
white
serpent,
her
messenger.
114) There is a similar
legend
about the adventures of a
priest
called Nittai 5 pj
and a
dragon
hole.
According
to the
story,
Nittai had desired to meet the
dragon king
Zentatsu
H 31 for
many years,
and one
day,
he entered the
dragon
hole on Mt. Muro
lg k
in the
province
of Yamato. He too found himself before a
magnificent palace.
When a voice
inquired
who he
was,
the
priest gave
his name and
spoke
of his desire.
On this occasion, however,
the
dragon king explained
that it would be
impossible
for
the
priest
to view him in the
hole,
and therefore,
he
promised
to meet Nittai near the
entrance. The
priest
then left the
dragon
hole and soon beheld the
dragon king,
who
arose out of the
ground,
clad in a robe and
cap.
See Kojidan,
in KT
(1932),
18 : 102-103.
Dengy
Daishi also had both
terrifying
and
friendly
encounters
with
dragons.
One
legend
tells that while the Daishi was
crossing
the sea to
China,
a fierce storm threatened his
party.
The
saint,
however,
was able to restore a calm sea
by presenting
some relics
he carried to the
dragon king
of the sea.116 On another
occasion,
Dengy
Daishi
happened
to notice a
peculiar
mountain
peak
to the
north of his
hermitage.
This mountain
peak
was crowned
by
a
purple
cloud
during
the
day
and shone forth with a white
ray
at
night. Upon
closer
inspection,
the Daishi came across an old fallen
tree
guarded by dragons
and the other seven
species
of
beings
who
protect
Buddhism.
Eighteen
hermit
sages
also were there and
they
explained
to the saint that this
particular
tree had been the
slip
of a sandalwood tree and that it had been
brought
from India
by
a
holy
man and
planted
at this
spot.
The tree was over a thousand
years old,
and had been blown over
by
a
great
wind. After relat-
ing
these
facts,
the hermit
sages expressed
their desire that the
Daishi make Buddhist statues out of the wood. The saint
complied
and
taking
the divine
wood,
he carved three Buddhist
images,
one
each of Yakushi
Nyorai,
Shaka
Nyorai
and Amida
Buddha,
with
his own hands.116
In other
Japanese legends,
the
dragon appears
in the form of
his
alter-ego,
the
serpent.
The vicarious defeat of an evil
serpent
by Gygi
Taitoku has
already
been mentioned. This
creature,
how-
ever,
can also be
friendly
in nature and in its association with the
rain
cycle
as the
pseudo-form
of the
dragon,
its
presence
has
actually
been
sought by holy
men in times of
drought.
On one such occa-
115) Miyoshi Tameyasu,
Shut
j den,
in DBZ
(1916),
107 : 38.
Apparently, Dengy
Daishi was unaware that Kb Daishi had made other efforts to calm the sea. See
note 91.
116) Ksjitsuden, pp.
267-268.
According
to Buddhist
thought,
there are
eight
kinds
of
beings
who
protect
Buddhism:
devas, nagas, yaksas, gandharvas, asuras, gaidas,
kirhnaras and
mahoragas.
A similar motif
concerning
a sacred tree is found in a
legend
about tomo no Yasuko (see note
69). According
to the
story,
one
day
Yasuko
heard the sounds of koto and flute music,
or
perhaps
the din of
thunder, coming
from
out at sea. He
reported
this to the
Emperor
and
Empress,
and the latter ordered him
to
investigate. Lodged
on the
beach,
Yasuko found a
camphor
tree which had been
hit
by lightning.
He transmitted this information to the
Empress
and
reverently
re-
quested permission
to have Buddhist
images
made from the tree. His
request
was
granted
and three statues were carved. See
Rydiki, pp.
80-87.
LEGENDS OF HOLY MEN OF EARLY JAPAN all
sion,
Kbo Daishi was summoned
by
the
Emperor
to
perform
a
rainmaking ceremony
in the Shinsen'en
jjj$ ^ ^g.
After the Daishi
had recited a rain
prayer
sutra for seven
days,
a
serpent
five feet
long appeared
on
top
of the
right
side of the
altar,
and this
snake,
in
turn,
bore on its head a
gold
colored
serpent
about five inches
in
length.
Both snakes
disappeared
into the
pond
of the
park. Only
four assistant
priests
besides Kb had witnessed this event and
when
questioned,
the Daishi
explained
it was an omen that the
dragon king Zennyo # #P
had moved his residence from the An-
avatapta
Pond in India to the
pond
of the Shinsen'en. At this
time,
the
sky suddenly
darkened with black clouds and rain
began
to
fall, ending
the
drought.117
The
dragon
and
serpent
are also
closely
associated with each
other in Christian
legend,
but in contrast to their
Japanese
counter-
parts, they
are more
single-mindedly
evil in
character,
and fall in
the same
category
as demons and the Devil. One
legend
about St.
Margaret,
for
example,
relates her
experience
with a
dragon
while
in
prison. According
to the
story,
the saint
requested
the Lord to
reveal the form of the unseen
enemy
was
working against
her.
Thereupon,
a hideous
dragon appeared
and
attempted
to devour
her,
but St.
Margaret
made the
sign
of the cross and the monster
vanished.118
Various
interpretations
have been
presented regarding
the
signif-
icance of the cultural hero's encounter with a
dragon
in folk nar-
ratives. In his
study
of heroic
song
and
legend,
De Vries
suggests
that the monster motif
may
be associated with the rites of
puberty,
the creature
representing
the chaos which the child must
conquer
to become a man.119 With a more
particular
view towards
hagiology,
334-335. For another version of this
legend,
see note
122.
118)
The Golden
Legend,
II : 353. That the Devil is also conceived of as a
serpent
and
dragon
is evident in the Bible. There is the
serpent
which
tempted
Eve in the
Garden of
Eden,
and the
dragon
and
serpent
which was
overpowered by
the
archangel
Michael and cast from heaven. See Genesis 3,
and Revelation 12.
119)
De
Vries, pp.
220-226. He
points
out that the
fight
with a
dragon
is often
closely
associated with the rescue of a maiden and thus involves a sexual element,
which is one of the most
important aspects
of the initiation rites. For another discus-
sion of
dragons
and the rescue of
maidens,
see The
Legend of Perseus,
III: 1-94.
Loomis
interprets
the
dragon
as a
symbol
of
pagan religion,
and
the victorious
conquest
of the beast
by
a saint as
signifying
the
elimination of this
religion.120
On one
hand,
the
dragon
or
serpent
is associated with
sin,
hell and the
Devil,
as in
Christianity,
and on
the other
hand,
the creature is associated with the unification of
opposite
forces and the
protection
of
knowledge
and
truth,
as in
Buddhism and various esoteric cults.121 The
dragon
of
Japanese
folklore is a
composite
of all these characteristics. In the tales of En
no
Gyja
and the black
dragon,
and
Gygi
Taitoku and the
serpent,
the monster is
obviously
evil in nature. In
contrast,
the
legends
of
Kb Daishi and the
serpents
of the
Shinsen'en,
and
Dengy
Daishi
and the
dragon king
of the sea reveal the creature in his ambivalent
role as rainmaker,
while the stories of
Dengy
Daishi's encounter with
dragons by
the divine tree and
Gyoja's trip
to the
dragon palace
present
the beast as Buddhist
protector.
3. Contests with Human Adversaries
Often confused with the
dragon episode
is the contest motif
which
frequently
occurs in the life of the cultural hero. In
fact,
the encounter with
supernatural beings,
the confrontation with a
monster,
and the contest or
rivalry
with an
adversary might
well
be considered variations of the same
general
theme which involves
testing
the
power
of the
holy
man. The
distinguishing
feature of
the contest or
challenge motif, however,
is the element of
jealousy
or slander which
usually
is
present.
One
legend
tells of a contest
in
magical powers
between Kobo Daishi and another
priest by
the
name of Shen
^ Q (771-835). According
to the
story,
Shen once
demonstrated to the
Emperor
that he could boil a
large
chestnut
without the use of
fire, employing only
incantations.
Through
the
accomplishment
of such
feats,
he
greatly enjoyed
the favor of the
120) Loomis, p.
65. That the
dragon
is
synonymous
with
heresy
is evident,
for
example,
in the
legend
of St. Dominic and his vision that a monstrous
dragon
was at-
tempting
to swallow two of his fellow friars who had
accompanied
him to
Spain.
Although
the saint
pleaded
with his
companions
to be constant, true to the vision, they
soon took their leave of the
order, i.e.,
returned to the world. See The Golden
Legend,
II: 423.
121)
In esoteric
philosophy,
the
concept
of
unity
is
symbolically
illustrated
by
the
depiction
of a
dragon
or
serpent
with its tail in its mouth. See Kurt
Seligmann,
The
History of Magic (New York, 1948), pp.
120-190.
Emperor.
The Daishi soon heard of these activities and insisted
that the
Emperor
have Shen
attempt
to boil a chestnut while the
saint was
present.
Kb then hid himself and Shen was
summoned,
but
although
the latter
repeated
his incantations over and
over,
his
efforts were to no avail. When this was
evident,
Kb Daishi came
out from his
hiding place,
and Shen knew that his failure was due
to the Daishi's intervention.
Immediately,
the
priest began
to
harbor
enmity
towards the saint.
Thereafter,
both individuals
began
working magic
to
bring
about the other's
death,
but
unfortunately,
their mutual efforts cancelled each other out.
Finally,
Kb Daishi
devised a
plan
to deceive Shen into
believing
that he was
dead,
and had his
disciples spread
a rumor that he had
suddenly passed
away.
When Shen heard this
news,
he
stopped
his
magic
rituals.
The saint's
magical power
then took effect and Shen died.
Thus,
Kb Daishi was the victor in this
contest,
but
afterwards,
he felt
great
remorse for what he had done and vowed to end such
magi-
cal
practices.122
Gygi
Taitoku also had a rival in the
person
of a
priest
named
Chik
^ %. Legend
tells that Chik was considered one of the
wisest and most
intelligent
men of his
day ;
he wrote
many
com-
mentaries on the sutras and he read and transmitted Buddhist
doctrine to
many
students of the faith.
Gygi,
on the other
hand,
was a mere novice in the
religion.
The
latter, however,
was
very
popular among
the
people,
who
respectfully
called him a bodhisat-
tva,
and his virtue bore
great
influence even on the
Emperor.
For
332-334. Another
interesting legend
involves a
rivalry
between Kb Daishi and the
priest
Shbin J j&. Apparently,
Shbin had
enjoyed
a
period
of eminence while the Daishi was
away
in China. When Kb
returned,
how-
ever, Shbin was overshadowed and for this reason, he
began
to harbor
jealousy
and
resentment toward the
holy
man. As
revenge,
Shbin used his
magic powers
to
cap-
ture all the dragon gods
and shut them
up
in a water
pitcher. By
this
means,
he
caused a
great drought
which lasted for a full three months. Kb
Daishi, however,
knew of one
dragon
which was not under Shiibin's
power;
this was the
dragon king
Zennyo
who lived in the
Anavatapta
Pond in Northern India.
Therefore,
a
pond
was
dug
in front of the
Emperor's palace
and
Zennyo
was invited to live there.
Zennyo
appeared
in the form of an
eight
inch
golden dragon
seated on the head of a nine foot
snake,
and entered the
pond.
After
offerings
were
presented
to the
dragon,
it soon
began
to rain. See Goto
Tanji
and Kamada
Kisabur, eds., Taiheiki,
in NKBT
(1964),
34 :
420-424. This
appears
to be a variant of a
legend found in
Konjaku monogatari (see
note 117).
these
reasons, Gygi
was
appointed Daisj ^c f# j
instead of the
priest
Chik.
Understandably,
Chik was
quite upset by
this turn
of
affairs,
and he
began
to harbor hatred and
jealousy
toward the
new
Daisj.123
After
voicing
some sarcastic
remarks,
he retired to
Sukita-dera
M EB
tP
. While at this
temple,
Chik
suddenly
con-
tracted a severe case of
diarrhea,
and a month
later,
the
priest
knew he would soon die. He
gathered
his
disciples
around him and
instructed them to wait nine
days
before
commencing
funeral
prep-
arations. In accordance with his
words,
the
disciples
shut the door
of the
priest's
room and
guarded
it like a fortress. In the mean-
time,
two assistants of the
King
of
Hades,
Enra
KJ H 3E,
came
and took Chik
away
to Avici
Hell,
the Hell of Incessant
Suffering.
The
priest
was led
along
a road towards the
west,
and on the
way,
they passed
a
gold palace guarded by
two deities dressed in armor
and
wearing
helmets with red bands around their foreheads. When
Chik
inquired
about this
palace,
the two assistants
replied
that it
was
being
made
ready
for
Gygi
Bosatsu. Then the
pair
from hell
kneeled before the two deities and were instructed to take Chik
to the north. As
they proceeded along,
in
spite
of the absence of
light
and
fire,
the
priest
was tortured
by extremely
hot air which
roasted his skin. The assistants
explained
that this was the hot
wind of hell. Soon
they
came
upon
a hot iron
pillar standing
in
the middle of the road. Chik was ordered to
grab it,
and when
123) Ryviki, pp.
192-201. In a variant of this
legend
found in
Konjaku monogatari,
pp. 60-61, it is
explained
that
Gygi
knew Chik in a former life.
According to. the
story, Gygi
had
previously
been a
girl
whose
family employed
a certain uncouth ser-
vant
by
the name of Mafukuta Maru
1 EH A,
later to become the
priest
Chik.
Desiring
to follow a life of
asceticism,
the servant
youth
one
day requested
a leave
of absence from his master and,
as reward for his
years
of
service,
he also asked for
a robe. His
request
was
granted
and after the
young daughter
had sewed the
gar-
ment for him,
he
departed. Eventually,
this
boy
became a
priest
at
Gangji,
and he
took the name Chik, being widely
revered as a
diligent
scholar of Buddhism. The
young girl, however, passed away shortly
after the
youth's departure
from her
family,
and she was reborn as
Gygi.
As a
young priest himself, Gygi
later encountered
Chik when the latter was
preaching
a sermon at a
temple
in the
province
of Kawachi.
Upon descending
the
platform
after his
sermon,
Chik heard sounds of a debate behind
the
temple.
The
priest investigated,
and met
Gygi who, having knowledge
of his
previous life,
taunted Chik
by claiming
that it was he who had sewed the
priest's
purple
robe. At this remark,
Chik became
exceedingly angry
and rebuked the
young
Gygi,
who
merely laughed
and ran
away.
This was the
beginning
of the rivalry
be-
tween the two.
he did
so,
his flesh burned and melted
away
until
only
his skeleton
remained. Three
days
went
by
and then the two
messengers
of
hell restored him back to life and
they
resumed their
journey. Next,
they
came to an even hotter
copper pillar.
Because of his evil
thoughts
and words
against Gygi,
Chik was forced to
grab
this
rod
also,
and
again
his
body
burned and dissolved. After three
more
days,
the
priest
was revived as before and the
trip
continued.
Finally, they
reached Avici Hell and
there,
the
priest
was burned
and boiled until the sound of a bell was heard. It then became
cooler and Chik was
given
a rest for three more
days,
after which
he was beaten
through
hell and restored to life
again.
Now
purged
of his sins after nine
days
of
torture,
the
priest
was allowed to
return to the
regular
world.
Upon
his
resurrection,
the
priest
shouted to his
disciples
and informed them in detail of his adven-
tures in hell. Chik then
journeyed
to see
Gygi
to
apologize
for
the
jealous
and evil
thoughts
he had harbored in his heart and to
acknowledge
the
saintly
character of the Taitoku.124
The
priest
Tokuichi
% -,
who insulted
Dengy Daishi,
faired
a little better.
Legend
tells that when the
priest
ascended Mt.
Hiei with the intention of
rebuking
the Tendai
doctrine,
his
tongue
split
within his mouth.126
An
interesting legend
also relates a contest in
power
between
En no
Gyja
and the Shinto
god,
Hitokotonushi
-
If E.126
Accord-
ing
to the
story, Gyja
desired to have a
bridge
built between the
two mountains Kimbu
^ t
and
Katsuragi H feic
in the
province
of
Yamato,
and in order to
accomplish
this
task,
he summoned the
various demons in his
employ.
The
demons, carrying large
stones
on their
backs,
worked
only
in the dark of
night
because
they
were
124) Visions of hell are
quite popular
in Christian
legends
also. St.
Brendan,
the
Irish
saint,
saw hell as a
place
full of
stench,
flame and
filth,
with
poisonous
devils
and
worms,
monsters and
dragons. Weeping
and loud lamentations filled the air and
there were tortures innumerable. See Plummer,
II: 95-96.
125) Jshin,
Shishu
hyakuinnen,
in DBZ
(1912),
148: 129.
126) Hitokotonushi is
supposedly
the oracle
god
who discerns
good
or evil with one
word. His
dwelling place
was believed to be on Mt.
Katsuragi,
and it is mentioned in
the
Kojiki
that he revealed himself to
Emperor Yuryaku
on this mountain. See
Kojiki,
pp.
316-317. For a discussion of the characteristics of this
deity,
see
Yanagita Kunio,
"Hitokotonushi,"
in
TYKS,
9: 309-317.
embarrassed
by
their
ugliness.
For this
reason,
work on the
project
progressed very slowly
and
Gyja
became so
angry
that he casti-
gated Hitokotonushi,
the leader of the crew.
Using
his
superior
magic powers,
he bound
up
the
god
and set him down at the bottom
of a
valley.
This infuriated Hitokotonushi and he went into a
frenzy
and slandered
Gyja, saying
that the saint intended to over-
throw the
Emperor. Believing
this
lie,
the
Emperor
sent
messengers
to seize En no
Gyja,
but because of the latter's marvelous
powers,
they
were unable to do so. The
Emperor
then ordered
Gyoja's
mother to be seized and in order to have his mother
released,
the
saint was forced to surrender. As
punishment,
he was banished to
the
province
of Izu.
Through
his
magic, however,
he was able to
leave the island at his
pleasure,
and after three
years,
he was
par-
doned.127
In Christian
legends,
there are also several accounts of contests
between saints and
magicians. Perhaps
most famous in this cate-
gory
are the stories of St. Peter and Simon
Magus. According
to
legend,
Simon
Magus
had
ingratiated
himself into the favor of the
Emperor
Nero and convinced him
through magic
that he was the
Son of God.
Therefore,
St. Peter and St. Paul went to Rome to
expose
Simon as a sorcerer. The saint
whispered
to Nero that he
would
challenge
the
magician
to tell what he was
thinking
and
doing.
Then the saint ordered a
barley
loaf
brought
to him in
secret.
Refusing
to admit his
defeat,
Simon demanded that St.
Peter first reveal what the
magician
was
thinking. Perceiving
the
scheme that the
magician
had in
mind,
St. Peter declared that he
would
prevent
the event from
occurring,
and when the
enraged
magician
set loose
huge dogs
to devour the
saint,
St. Peter threw
the bread to them and chased them
away.128
62-63. In Kushimoto-cho
$ ; HT, Nishimuro-gun
^ H f$, Wakayama Prefecture,
there is a
legend concerning thirty
varisized rocks
which are set
up
in a
straight
line like
bridge piles.
It is believed that these rocks
are the remnants of a
bridge
that either Kb Daishi or demons
unsuccessfully attempted
to build in a
single night
from the sea coast to the island of shima. See
Saiga Teijir,
Muro khi sh
(1927), pp.
59-60. A float
depicting
En no
Gyja
and the demons
building
the bridge
is an annual
part
of the Gion Festival.
128)
The Golden
Legend,
I: 332-336. The
legend
also relates another contest be-
tween St. Peter and Simon Magus
in
reviving
a
young
man from the dead.
Again,
St. Peter won a
victory
over Simon by showing
that the
magician
was
only employing
Again
it can be
pointed
out that the contest motif
may
be
closely
correlated with initiation
rituals,
the
challenge symbolizing
the test of manhood. Secular
legends
also
frequently
contain this
motif,
often in connection with
achieving kingship
or
obtaining
a
wife.129
However,
it must also be noted that the
holy
men of
early
Japan
did in fact
frequently
meet
opposition
from the established
clergy,
and as a matter of
course,
were
exposed
to
jealous
criticism
because of their
popularity among
the masses and with certain
emperors.
It is
equally
true that Christian saints met with
opposi-
tion in the form of the other established
religious
cults of their
day.
It
may
be mere coincidence that the contest motif
appears
in both sacred and secular
legend,
but it is
interesting
to note that
this
similarity
does exist.
V. CONCLUSION
Various
holy
men have
appeared
at different
places
and at
different times
throughout
the
history
of man. These
extraordinary
individuals of different
personality
and
physical
character have lived
and worked in different
surroundings. Furthermore, they
have
professed
different life
philosophies
within the framework of dif-
ferent cultural traditions.
Yet,
for some
reason,
the stories which
remain as tribute of their
glorious
efforts for
humanity
are
vastly
similar in nature. The
legends
which describe the different events
in the life of
Japanese holy
men
closely parallel
those
describing
the life of Christian saints. In the case of some of these
legends,
it is almost certain that the
storyteller
of one tradition must have
borrowed material from another
;
the same
story theme, thinly
veiled
by
different names and cultural
overtones, appears
here and
tricks and not
performing
a true miracle. Lord
Raglan
makes the
interesting
observa-
tion that the
magical
victories of the three Jewish heroes, Joseph,
Moses and
Elijah,
were all connected with
rainmaking
contests (see notes 117 and 122). See Lord
Raglan,
p.
153.
129)
In Western
legend,
for
example,
there is the
episode
of
Odysseus stringing
the
mighty
bow to win back his
wife, Penelope.
See
George
Herbert Palmer, trans., The
Odyssey (New York, 1962), pp.
255-275. In
Japanese legend,
the cultural hero Yoshi-
tsune is described as
defeating
Benkei in a contest of
swordsmanship
at the
Goj
Bridge.
See Gikeiki, pp.
119-122.
there in
many
lands.
Although
it
may prove
difficult to trace the
actual movement of one
legend
from
place
to
place,
it
may
be con-
jectured
that
many
of these
migratory legends
which are found in
both Christian and Buddhist tradition diffused in different directions
from an
original
base in India. The
spread
of Buddhist
philosophy
and culture from
India, through
China and
Korea,
to
Japan
is a well-
documented fact. Theories have also been
put
forth
regarding
Indian
influence on Western culture.130 In
fact,
Buddhist influence can be
found
quite clearly
in certain Christian
legends
and moral tales.
Perhaps
the classic
example
in this
regard
is the
legend
of St. Josa-
phat,
for this is none other than the life
story
of Gautama Bud-
dha !131
Of
course,
not all Buddhist and Christian
legends
can be related
to each other. The localized
etymological
and
aetiological
tales
which exist in
profusion
in
every
land are too brief in form to merit
attempts
to link
any
two
together.
The fact does
remain, however,
that similar marvels are attributed to both Buddhist and Christian
holy
men. Both are believed to have made
impressions
in
stones,
to have created
springs
with a strike of their
staffs,
and to have
caused trees to bloom or wither at their command.
Perhaps
the
resemblances found in these local
legends
are a result of similar
processes
of creative
thinking,
an
expression
of
parallel
human
desires to find
importance
and
meaning
in their
surroundings
and
of human tendencies to
glorify
and
exaggerate
what
they
admire.
An unusual name or an unusual
geographical
feature almost demands
an
equally
unusual
explanation
for its
existence,
and what would
be more natural than to associate it with some
extraordinary
human
being
?
130) Especially prominent
in this area with
regards
to the
study
of folk literature
was Theodor
Benfey.
In his introduction to the Panchatantra in
1859, Benfey
claims
that India was the center of dissemination for a
great
number of folktales and states
that most of these stories
began
to move west around the tenth
century
after Christ.
He also mentions the
great
Buddhist influence in the dissemination of these tales,
but
only
in connection with transmission of Buddhist literature to China and
Tibet,
and
thence via the
Mongols
to
Europe.
For a discussion of his
views,
see
Thompson, pp.
376-380.
131)
The Golden
Legend,
II : 720-734. The
story
of St.
Josaphat
and the life of
Gautama Buddha are
essentially
the same, except
in the Christian version, Josaphat,
a
king
in
India, is converted to the Christian faith
by
St. Barlaam.
Often similar motifs found in
legends
of
holy
men
may
be at-
tributed to certain common ideas about
supernatural powers being
achieved
through
ascetic
practices. By cleansing
his
body
of the
pollutions
of
desire,
the
holy
man could increase his mental or
spiri-
tual
powers
to such an extent that he had tremendous control over
the
physical world,
thus
performing any
number of
magical
feats
or miracles.
It has been
pointed
out that
legends
of
Japanese holy
men and
legends
of Christian saints are not
exactly
the same in all
respects
because of the
particular
circumstances
involving
the historical
development
of each
religion.
While much
antagonism
existed be-
tween the
early
Christian church and
pagan religions
of the
time,
a harmonious and
conciliatory
attitude existed between Buddhism
and the
indigenous religion
in
Japan. Thus, many legends
of
Japa-
nese
holy
men describe how these saints had favorable encounters
with the Shinto
gods,
while in
contrast, many legends
of Christian
saints describe how
they
submitted to severe tortures and mar-
tyrdoms.
It should also be noted that even when the Christian
saints and
Japanese holy
men are
pictured
as
given
to similar ac-
tivities,
such as the
working
of
miracles,
their
respective
motives
were not
necessarily
the same. While the
holy
men of both tradi-
tions
engaged
in
rainmaking contests,
for
example,
the motive of
the Christian saint was to
prove
the
greater power
of God over
pagan gods,
while the motive of the Buddhist saint was to
prove
his individual
magical power.
A
peculiar
feature of the
Japanese
legends
is the
frequent
contest of
power
between the
holy
men and
more orthodox Buddhist
priests, reflecting
the former's
propagation
of a more
personal type
of Buddhism.
In
spite
of these
factors,
it cannot be denied that the
legends
about the life of
Japanese holy
men and those about the life of
Christian saints follow an
extremely
similar
pattern.
This
pattern
of
legends
about the life of sacred
heroes,
in turn
closely
resembles
the structural model for
legends describing
the life of secular cul-
tural heroes.
Perhaps
these similarities are
again
the result of
common human
psychology,
or
perhaps
one structural model was
borrowed from the other. Various theories have been
propounded
along
these
lines,
but most
likely,
a combination of various factors
is involved. At
any rate,
this is an
interesting problem
which
deserves further
study, especially
with
regard
to
Japanese
cultural
heroes.

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LEGENDS OF HOLY MEN OF EARLY JAPAN

Author(s): Susanne Andrea Anderson

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