Previous research on Tendai monk Jien 慈円 (1155-1225) has often presented him as an exemplary literary figure of pre-modern Japan, and he is known most for authoring A Fool’s Exegesis on Historical Events (Gukanshō 愚管抄) and hence a prolific composer of Japanese poetry (waka 和歌). As such, he has been depicted as an intellectual figure who was also torn between his worldly obligations and his desire to pursue the aesthetic pleasures of composing poetry. However, these images of Jien have been constructed through modern academic disciplines and frameworks that have dictated the way his writings have been studied. By illustrating the extent to which he was intricately involved in the establishment and restoration of Buddhist institutions, reviving Buddhist learning, and performing exoteric and esoteric Buddhist rites, this dissertation seeks to show how his active participation in these various religious projects resists the commonly perceived persona of Jien as an internally troubled Buddhist poet, torn between the realms of “religious asceticism” and “politics.” A critical assessment of Jien’s constructed identity can also help us re-evaluate his motivations for composing his most well known work, the Gukanshō. Although known primarily as a work of historical writing, a close analysis of the way Jien crafts his historical narrative suggests that it should rather be read as a religious discourse, and that the other qualities of his writings, such as the political issues it addresses, the poetic and rhetorical refinements as an exemplary literary work, or the understanding that it can be read as a pedagogical device, derive from a fundamental concern that can be seen as religious in nature, and that which addresses the issue of social disorder. I will focus specifically on Jien’s discussion of vengeful spirits (怨霊 onryō) that is weaved throughout the Gukanshō and argue that it is precisely in his discussion of vengeful spirits, which have often been relegated as “odd factors” in his historical writing, that reveal the extent to which Jien’s historical project intersected with his larger ritual projects, specifically in his establishment of the ritual program at Daisangehōin 大懺悔法院 located in the proximity of the Heian capital.
目次
Chapter 1: Re-assessing Jien’s Constructed Identity 1. Introduction 2 2. Jien’s Early Years 4 3. Idealized Interpretations of Jien in Modern Scholarship 9 4. The Rise and Fall of Kanezane and Questioning Jien’s “Period of Reclusion” 21 5. Jien Memorialized in Hagiography: The Biography of the Priest of Compassionate Pacification 28 6. Kujō Kanezane and Jien’s Collaboration to Realize the “Flourishing of the Buddhist Teachings” 36 7. Jien as Emperor Go-Toba’s Personal “Protector Monk” 42 8. Conclusion 44 Chapter 2: Re-assessing Jien’s Motivations for Writing the Gukanshō 1. Introduction 47 2. Basic Structure and Summary of the Gukanshō 50 3. Analyzing the Title: the Gukanshō as “Modest Views of an Ignorant Priest” 53 4. A History of the Study of the Gukanshō 56 5. English Scholarship on the Gukanshō 67 6. Gukanshō as a “Philosophy of History” 75 7. Studying the Gukanshō as Literature 76 8. Conclusion 84 Chapter 3: Re-assessment of Gukanshō as a Treatise about Vengeful Spirits 1. Introduction 87 2. Questioning Vengeful Spirits as “Odd Factors” in the Gukanshō 88 3. Jien’s Vision of Disorder as Both Political and Religious 93 4. Deterioration of Relationship between Emperor and Regent 99 5. Jien’s Advice on How to Restore Order 105 6. Appearance of Vengeful Spirits in Jien’s Narrative History 111 7. Two Great Vengeful Spirits as Outcome of the Hōgen Rebellion 119 8. The Principle of Vengeful Spirits 122 9. Conclusion 130 Chapter 4: Jien’s Self-Image and the Intersections Between Historical Writing and Ritual 1. Introduction 133 2. Jien’s Self-Image as the “Capable Priest” 134 3. Jien’s Grand Ritual Project: Pacifying Vengeful Spirits to Protect the Heian Capital 146 4. Legitimizing Lineages through Relic Worship and Poems for the Dead 156 5. Reorienting the Center in the Record of the Assembly for Relic Worship and Repaying Kindness160 6. Conclusion 165 Bibliography 169
