Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the connection between the diaries authored by monks Ennin (794–864) and Enchin (814–891) during their time in China and the compilation of “National History," arguing that these personal records were likely written with a view of their inclusion into Japan’s official histories.

Paper long abstract:

Eager as they were to polish their doctrinal training and acquire new Buddhist scriptures, Japanese monks had routinely been visiting the Continent since the late 6th century at least. But it is not until the mid-9th century that they began to bring home a new token of their travels: extensive diaries replete with details about the places they visited, the teachers they learned from, and the many documents they exchanged with local authorities.

Despite decades of textual scholarship and historians’ heavy reliance on these diaries as source of information, a simple yet fundamental question has yet to be raised and answered: Why did these monks bother to author a diary to begin with, while predecessors as illustrious as Saichō (767–822) and Kūkai (774–835) apparently had not deemed necessary to do so?

Focusing on the cases of Ennin (794–864) and Enchin’s (814–891) diaries––the two best documented specimens of this new genre––I will offer the hypothesis that, despite their deceivingly “personal” nature, these records were likely authored with a view of their inclusion into “National History,” as the official chronicles of Japan were then known. Indeed, not only did these diaries indirectly make their way, through biographies compiled on their basis, into the official narrative, but as I will attempt to demonstrate, Ennin and Enchin wrote with a certain form of historical awareness indicating that this outcome was also likely their goal.

Paper short abstract:

Careful analysis of a twelfth-century government report of a "demonic" attack on a Japanese coastal community reveals important insights into Heian ideas of pirates and foreigners, the state of East Asian trade and technology, and the actual identity and motivations of the mysterious marauders.

Paper long abstract:

Japan’s Heian period (late ninth to late twelfth centuries) is often depicted as an age of peace as well as a time of gradually moving away from China and the influence of Chinese institutions. Formal diplomatic exchanges between the two countries stopped after the ninth century; although other types of exchange (such as among Buddhist priests and merchants) continued, they were infrequent. This paper, however, explores an unusual (and violent) incident that may have resulted from Chinese and Japanese coming into close contact with each other during a twelfth-century pirate attack. According to the record of the incident in a courtier’s diary (based on an official government report), “demons” attacked a Japanese coastal community, destroying property and killing locals before sailing away. The description of the pirates’ appearance and weapons makes it clear that locals found them completely foreign and incomprehensible.

Even so, why did the government official refer to the attackers as demons rather than pirates? What clues can be found in the written report that might help reveal the identity of the attackers and their motivations? And what did the label “demon” call to mind for literate Japanese of the twelfth century? Through close analysis of this report, the paper attempts to answer these and other questions about this mysterious incident through references to pre-modern East Asian trade and technology and connections in the Japanese cultural milieu between demons and the sea. It also places the demon attack in a broader context of Heian views on foreigners and otherness, contending that the attackers were actually Chinese but that the Japanese writer embedded references to demons throughout his report to strengthen the connection in the minds of his readers.

Paper short abstract:

In the ancient Japanese court, different performance groups were used according to the ceremony, appropriate to the nature of the participants’ subordination to the emperor. By contrast, the Chinese court had developed its own ritual performance system to harmonize and maintain the universal order.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines some of the political functions of music and dance performances in important rites of the ancient Japanese court, with comparison to Chinese court music.

Many official rites in the ancient Japanese court included music and dance by court performance groups. Why did the court maintain these distinct groups, since their repertoires and sometimes even personnel, were nearly identical? Key to resolving this question is the relationship between emperor and participants or subjects established/confirmed there. Different performance groups were used according to the ceremony, appropriate to the nature of the participants’ subordination to the emperor.

The original music and dance organization, the Gagakuryō, was established at the beginning of the eighth century by the Ritsuryō code and performed at rituals representing the social order based on that code. It is remarkable that an additional music group rose to prominence when imperial governance underwent renovation: a pre-existing female performing group first experienced greater renown at the beginning of the ninth century, during the reign of an emperor who wished to establish his own close circle of aides without legal restriction. Moreover, bodyguard agencies were obliged to perform in ceremonies at which the allegiant might dedicate themselves to their great master as a symbol of their subjection.

By contrast, the Chinese court, from which Japan introduced the Ritsuryō code as well as music and instruments, had developed its own highly elaborated ritual performance system from the second century BC. According to a historian in ancient China, it aimed to harmonize and maintain the universal order. Comparing both courts and their rituals, it will be seen that each ceremonial performance system also represented differences in the ideology of sovereignty in China and Japan.

This study provides useful consideration of the importance of ritual music and dance performance in imperial society—not simply as royal entertainment, but for maintenance of the social order as well as a ruling mechanism.