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Paper short abstract

Folk saimon are often interpreted as reflections of local beliefs, or as theological scripts that reveal the “original meaning” of village rituals. Using saimon of the earth deity Dokō, I discuss whether such readings are tenable and suggest other possible perspectives.

Paper long abstract

Saimon had their widest distribution in the Edo period, when they became an important element of the repertoire of village ritualists. Village saimon have typically been studied as a window on the religious life-worlds of local communities, or as clues to the “original” meanings of rural festivals that have since evolved in other directions. In his talk, I ask to what degree Edo-period saimon can shed light on such questions. Did saimon inform or reflect local beliefs, or were they primarily treated as snippets of elite culture, chanted not to be understood by those present but to have a thaumaturgic effect?

Edo-period saimon were typically brought to village communities by itinerant shugenja or oshi – agents of larger religious centres with specialised knowledge. This explains why similar saimon can be found in many different regions of Japan. I will here focus on saimon dedicated to the earth deity Dokō (Dokū, Dokujin, Daidokujin). While there is a shared narrative to these saimon (which can be traced to such texts as the twelfth-century Chūkōsen and the fourteenth-century Hoki naiden), the details differ quite radically between versions. Even more disparate are the local uses to which this saimon was put. While the theme of the saimon revolves around the establishment of the calendar and the need to avoid disturbing the soil on so-called doyō days, it was often recited as part of proceedings that are completely unrelated to that central theme. In some regions, moreover, this saimon was acted out on the stage in the form of masked dances (ōji mai), while in other settings it was merely recited.

Using examples from Kōchi’s Izanagi-ryū, Oku Mikawa’s Hanamatsuri and other sites, I seek to understand the various functions of saimon recitations in the period of their greatest proliferation, the Edo period. Current interpretations tend to give much weight to saimon as mirrors of local beliefs or as theological scripts that once underlay village rituals. I argue that such readings are not always convincing, because they fail to give precedence to the actual contexts in which these saimon were read and heard.

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Paper short abstract

Early modern ritualist provided ritual services to influence the good or bad outcomes of divination. These rituals made use of saimon narratives that gave meaning to the performance. This talk reflects on cosmological aspects of Kōjin/Gozu Tennō and Banko/Dokō narratives and their role in ritual.

Paper long abstract

Systematized divination in Japan developed in close relation with the reception and transformation of Chinese cosmologies and techniques through various interconnected traditions: Onmyōdō, medicine, mathematics, esoteric Buddhism, and Shugendō. The object of divination (uranai) was usually set as determining or knowing the positive or negative value (kikkyō) of a sign, a situation, or a combination of parameters. However, this value was almost never completely absolute. Undesirable outcomes could be averted or circumvented. Meanwhile, in some cases even a positive configuration needed to be confirmed or guaranteed. This is at least what transpires from divination manuals, manuscript or printed, produced in the 17th century. This is particularly true for divination regarding long-term endeavors such as coupling or building, which also have social meaning and consequences. In these texts, the results of divination, good or bad, are moderated by injunctions to perform rituals dedicated to specific deities, among whom we often find Kōjin, Dokō, or Ujigami.

Diviners—shugenja, onmyōji, or others—were able to provide this additional service to their clients. This is at least what is suggested by the existence of “ritual narratives” (saimon) transmitted in the archives and collections of such specialists. What is more, printed divination manuals themselves bear witness to these practices through manuscript additions.

In this regard, the Hoki naiden, a late medieval calendar-divination treatise, and other compilations derived from it such as Hoki-shō, appear to have played a major role in the diffusion of narratives about Kōjin and Dokō.

The juxtaposition of multiple levels of content and meaning in the same textual space raises the question of their mutual relation. In this presentation, we will take a closer look at the interconnections between the ritual narratives and the technical contents of specialized manuals, starting with Hoki naiden before looking at manuscript notes at the back of divination books.

In particular, we will try to reflect upon the links between the cosmological dimension of Kōjin/Gozu Tennō and Banko/Dokō narratives, the structure of the texts themselves, and the meaning and purpose of the ritual performances they convey.

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Paper short abstract

An Onmyōdō altar and related materials were recently discovered in Nara. This sheds new light on saimon that have been transmitted there. I use these saimon to reconstruct the rituals that they pertained to, and reflect on the evolution of new saimon in this and other contexts.

Paper long abstract

Saimon are liturgical texts used during rituals. Saimon that have been transmitted in folk performances and faith traditions such as the hanamatsuri, various kagura, and Izanagi-ryū have attracted much attention as texts of “medieval Shinto” that offer narratives about syncretic deities. These are “living saimon” that manifested themselves in front of the eyes of folklorists and scholars of religion in modern times.

The origin of these saimon can be traced to liturgical texts in Chinese, transmitted from the Asian continent in the ancient period. These texts were used in rituals as early as the eighth century. Later, they were incorporated in various ritual settings in Buddhist, Onmyōdō, and Shugendō contexts. However, much remains unclear about the historical processes behind these developments. When and how did these classical Chinese texts end up in so many different ritual settings?

I this talk I will focus on Onmyōdō saimon. These saimon were used in Onmyōdō rituals at the imperial court in the Heian period. Later, up to the Edo period, new saimon were created in worship of a wide range of deities, in response to the proliferation of new rituals. In the Edo period, Onmyōdō saimon were transmitted within the urban population of Nara, and these documents still exist today. These documents have as yet received little to no attention because the Onmyōdō rituals of which they were a part have disappeared, and because they lack the narrative contents of, for example, the saimon of the Izanagi-ryū.

The recent discovery in Nara of an Onmyōdō altar and visual charts of Onmyōdō rituals now makes it possible to recreate the ritual spaces in which these saimon were once used. It should now be possible to reconstruct these rituals through a close reading of the texts. My goal is to recover the ritual functions of these saimon texts, and to categorize them based on the names of the deities and the contents of the prayers. This will be helpful in gaining a clearer understanding of Onmyōdō worldviews, and also shed new light on the evolution and construction of saimon as ritual texts.