Matara-jin

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Matara-jin (摩多羅神) is a Buddhist god from the Tendai school of Japanese Buddhism. Through history he was closely associated with the Mt. Hiei temple complex.[1] He was commonly worshiped in an area called ushirodo (後戸; "backdoor") in Tendai temples.[2]

Functions[]

Suzuki Masataka and Bernard Faure consider Matara-jin a typical example of the so-called shukujin.[3][4] Faure considers the primary role of this category of deities to be that of an "astral god (...) controlling human destiny."[5]

Many researchers consider Matara-jin a god of performing arts. Hattori Yukio, following Zeami's Fushikaden (風姿花傳), concluded that Matara-jin was connected to the origin of sarugaku and noh.[6][7] Omote Akira proposed that the okina mask, representing an enigmatic "auspicious old man" character in performances, was viewed as a representation of Matara-jin.[8]

Additionally in 1617 Tendai priest Tenkai established Matara-jin as one of the divine protectors of the Tokugawa shogunate.[9]

Origin[]

According to William M. Bodifordd, Matara-jin has his origin in the introduction and subsequent confusion of two separate deities to Japan: Taizan Fukun, the Taoist afterlife judge and god of Mount Tai (incorporated into Mahayana Buddhism as one of the kings of hell), and the Hindu wrathful protector deity Mahakala.[10]

Syncretism[]

In the writings of 13th century Tendai monk Koshu, Matara-jin is identified as one and the same as Mahakala (Daikokuten), or as a demon (specifically a dakini) serving him.[11]

Konparu Zenchiku in his work Meishuku shū (明宿集)envisioned a complex network of connections between various shukujin figures, regarding all of them as manifestations of a single Okina deity.[12] Zenchiku's shukujin network also incorporated the legendary figure of Hata no Kawakatsu.[13]

Later history[]

Ushimatsuri

Due to his gradual loss of relevance (connected to the decline of the Tendai tradition as a whole), as early as in the 1720s Matara-jin's nature and origin were regarded as a mystery even by Tendai clergy itself. In the same time period, kokugaku scholar Amano Sadakage condemned the worship of this deity. By 1782 Matara-jin was regarded as a "false icon."[14] However, it seems that his relative obscurity also shielded Matara-jin from later shinbutsu bunri policies.[15]

Matara-jin continues to be worshiped today during ushimatsuri (ox festival) in Kōryū-ji, a temple which legends associate with the Hata clan and Hata no Kawakatsu in particular.[16]

References[]

  1. ^ W. M. Bodiford, Matara: A Dream King Between Insight and Imagination, Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 16, 2006. Rethinking Medieval Shintō – Repenser le shintō médiéval, p. 238
  2. ^ B. Faure, The Cultic World of the Blind Monks: Benzaiten, Jūzenji, and Shukujin, Journal of Religion in Japan 2 (2013), p. 182
  3. ^ B. Faure, From Bodhidharma to Daruma: The Hidden Life of a Zen Patriarch, Japan Review, No. 23 (2011), p. 57 contains a summary of Suzuki Masataka's conclusions
  4. ^ B. Faure, The Cultic World of the Blind Monks: Benzaiten, Jūzenji, and Shukujin, Journal of Religion in Japan 2 (2013), p. 171
  5. ^ B. Faure, From Bodhidharma to Daruma: The Hidden Life of a Zen Patriarch, Japan Review, No. 23 (2011), p. 47
  6. ^ W. M. Bodiford, Matara: A Dream King Between Insight and Imagination, Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 16, 2006. Rethinking Medieval Shintō – Repenser le shintō médiéval, p. 235
  7. ^ B. Faure, The Cultic World of the Blind Monks: Benzaiten, Jūzenji, and Shukujin, Journal of Religion in Japan 2 (2013), p. 182
  8. ^ W. M. Bodiford, Matara: A Dream King Between Insight and Imagination, Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 16, 2006. Rethinking Medieval Shintō – Repenser le shintō médiéval, p. 236
  9. ^ W. M. Bodiford, Matara: A Dream King Between Insight and Imagination, Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 16, 2006. Rethinking Medieval Shintō – Repenser le shintō médiéval, p. 234
  10. ^ W. M. Bodiford, Matara: A Dream King Between Insight and Imagination, Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 16, 2006. Rethinking Medieval Shintō – Repenser le shintō médiéval, p. 240
  11. ^ W. M. Bodiford, Matara: A Dream King Between Insight and Imagination, Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 16, 2006. Rethinking Medieval Shintō – Repenser le shintō médiéval, p. 240
  12. ^ B. Faure, The Cultic World of the Blind Monks: Benzaiten, Jūzenji, and Shukujin, Journal of Religion in Japan 2 (2013), p. 171-172
  13. ^ B. Faure, From Bodhidharma to Daruma: The Hidden Life of a Zen Patriarch, Japan Review, No. 23 (2011), p. 57-58
  14. ^ W. M. Bodiford, Matara: A Dream King Between Insight and Imagination, Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 16, 2006. Rethinking Medieval Shintō – Repenser le shintō médiéval, p. 234
  15. ^ W. M. Bodiford, Matara: A Dream King Between Insight and Imagination, Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, vol. 16, 2006. Rethinking Medieval Shintō – Repenser le shintō médiéval, p. 235
  16. ^ B. Faure, From Bodhidharma to Daruma: The Hidden Life of a Zen Patriarch, Japan Review, No. 23 (2011), p. 58
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