Organizer: Lori Meeks, University of Southern California

Chair: Yui Suzuki, Independent Scholar

Discussant: Michael Como, Columbia University

As a cultic practice that achieved popularity among aristocrats and commoners, clerics and laypeople, men and women, veneration of the iconic Prince Shotoku (customarily 574-622) cut across many boundaries. The dynamics at work in Shotoku-centered devotional practices and artistic production, then, are suggestive of larger trends in Japanese religious history that often elude traditional studies focused on doctrines and institutions. This panel explores hitherto understudied aspects of Shotoku veneration as it spread in Heian and Kamakura Japan. Sakakibara discusses the tenth-century production of the Shotoku taishi denryaku, which declares Shotoku to be a manifestation of Kannon, and argues that the text’s distinctive portrayal of Shotoku reflects larger shifts in Japanese views of Chinese Buddhism and culture. Pradel introduces a rare Kamakura-period mandala that depicts Shotoku and his relatives as incarnations of Buddhist deities and shows how the work integrates ideas associated with "Kamakura New Buddhism" into a complex iconographic vision. Meeks addresses the ways in which thirteenth-century nuns at Chuguji exploited ties to Shotoku and his mother both to argue for the legitimacy of their temple and to suggest, in defiance of official doctrine, that women could indeed succeed on the Buddhist path. Finally, Lee discusses the many hymns Shinran wrote in praise of Shotoku and demonstrates how careful analysis of Shinran’s devotion to Shotoku sheds new light on our understanding of early Shinshu. As discussant, Como will reflect upon the ways in which these local manifestations of Shotoku devotion offer new perspectives on Buddhist practice in premodern Japan.

Sayoko Sakakibara, Stanford University

Silla’s increasingly powerful role as a tributary state in the eighth and ninth centuries contributed to various changes in the way that Japan understood its role in East Asia. These changes came to a head in 907, when the Tang Dynasty fell. Consequently, Japan began to question its understanding of China’s significance as a source of cultural and religious inspiration. It was during this period of shifting attitudes towards China that the tenth-century Shotoku Taishi denryaku, a foundational biography of Prince Shotoku, was produced. Shotoku narratives were constantly transformed in response to the political, religious, and socio-cultural needs of each new age. This phenomenon was apparent as early as the seventh century. As is the case with other narratives of political and religious developments in the early to mid-Heian period, the Denryaku emphasized Japan's independence from China, thereby reflecting and promoting innovations in politics, thought, and culture. Earlier Shotoku narratives emphasized the Prince’s achievements as regent, diplomat to China, and Chinese-style historian. These narratives stressed the glory of China, its culture, and its Buddhism. The Denryaku mentions these aspects of earlier narratives, especially in relation to Chinese Buddhism, but it also works to reinvent Shotoku so that his story is compelling in light of changing attitudes towards China. Through a comparative analysis of the Denryaku and earlier biographies of Shotoku, I will reflect upon the ways in which the Denryaku's particular reimagining of Shotoku was utilized to communicate new, mid-Heian perspectives on Japan’s relationship with China.

Chari Pradel, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Prince Shotoku (Shotoku Taishi, 574-622 C.E.) became the focus of a cult as early as the late seventh century, and Horyuji, a temple allegedly established by the Prince, one of its important cultic centers. The cult of Prince Shotoku evolved over time, and by the early Heian period (794-898), the Prince was believed to be the incarnation of the Bodhisattva Kannon and was worshiped as such in the Yumedono Hall. By the end of the late Heian period (898-1185), sculptural icons representing the Prince were constructed for use at memorial services performed in his honor at Toin Edono and Shoryoin. This paper will focus on the cult of Prince Shotoku during the Kamakura period and, in particular, on the painting known as Shoko Mandarazu (the Mandala of the Saintly Prince) housed in Shoryoin. The monk Kenshin (act. thirteenth century) designed this painting, and its iconography reflects the complexity of the Prince’s cult at the time. Through visual analysis and an examination of textual evidence associated with the painting, I will argue that the cult of Prince Shotoku, as expressed in the Shoko Mandarazu, included the deification of his relatives, the cult of his tomb, and Pure Land beliefs, among other aspects. The monk Kenshin transformed the cult of the Prince at Horyuji by adopting elements of the so-called "New Buddhism." Thus, this study -- the first in English- will shed new light on the cult of the Prince, and, more importantly, on the nature of Kamakura "New Buddhism."

Lori Meeks, University of Southern California

Some 600 years after the initial founding of the Nara nunnery Chuguji, the Buddhist nun Shinnyo (1211-?) worked to restore the temple as a religious community exclusively for women. As a part of this effort to revive Chuguji, Shinnyo and her cohort produced of a body of literature that developed and exploited the nunnery’s connections to Prince Shotoku and his mother, Empress Hashihito (?-621), who are said to have originally founded Chuguji. These Chuguji narratives fully deify Empress Hashihito, elaborating upon the notion, hinted at in earlier Shotoku legends, that the Empress was an incarnation of Amida Buddha. What’s more, the texts valorize Shinnyo for her devotion to the vows of Shotoku and Hashihito and do not treat her female state as soteriologically problematic. Declaring that Shotoku had a special affinity with female practitioners and personally decided that Japan’s first clerics should be nuns, the narratives also argue for the legitimacy of female ordination. My study seeks to unravel the ways in which Chuguji narratives utilize interest in Shotoku and his mother both to advance their own interpretations of Buddhism and to attract the patronage of court women. I will also reflect upon the broader ways in which Kamakura-period nuns like Shinnyo and the court ladies from whom they sought patronage succeeded in creating and promoting feminine images of the divine, thereby thwarting, or at least detracting attention away from, conventional androcentric Buddhist views of women, their bodies, and the obstacles they were thought to have faced on the Buddhist path.

Kenneth Lee, California State University, Dominguez Hills

In the ninety years of his life, Shinran (1173-1263) composed over 500 hymns (wasan) expressing his religious awareness of the Pure Land path. Significantly, of the 500 hymns, 307 were dedicated to Pure Land patriarchs, while 190 were specifically dedicated to the worship and praise of Shotoku Taishi (574-621), who was the Prince Regent during the reign of his aunt, Empress Suiko (592-628) and the person responsible for the spread of Buddhist teaching in Japan. Shinran’s devotion to Shotoku stems from his belief that Shotoku was a manifestation of the Bodhisattva Kannon (Skt. Avalokitesvara) who compassionately appeared in Japan to guide beings to the Pure Land path just as the world was entering the last dharma-age (mappo). This study analyzes the importance of Shotoku worship in Shinran’s Pure Land Buddhism, using a close examination of Shinran’s liturgical text, his dream of Shotoku’s manifestation as the Bodhisattava Kannon, and other relevant events surrounding his life.