The Mystery of the Six Poetic Geniuses (7)
Chapter 3: Is Prince Koretaka the Ancestor of the Woodworkers?
◆The Legend of the Omi Woodworkers◆
Woodworkers (kijishi) are artisans who use a lathe to shape wooden materials such as bowls. A legend has been passed down among these woodworkers: that Prince Koretaka of Ononomiya is the ancestor of the woodworkers. The outline of the story is as follows.
Emperor Montoku passed away, and Emperor Seiwa ascended to the throne. The era name was changed to Jogan, and Prince Koretaka, weary of the world, retired to the village of Ono at the foot of Mount Hiei. After that, accompanied only by a few retainers including Fujiwara no Sanemide, the Prince secretly fled to Ogura Valley on the east side of Lake Biwa in Omi. There, he built a palace at a place called Komatsubata and appointed Sanemide as the Grand Minister of Ogura. Some time later, a series of natural disasters occurred, and divination suggested this was because the Prince was living in unfortunate circumstances. The Imperial Court sent an envoy to grant the Prince a territory, which was later called the Ogura Manor. Later, the Prince became a monk and took the name Sokaku. One day, he was inspired by the axis of a Lotus Sutra scroll to create a lathe. He taught this to the local woodcutters and instructed them in the methods of making bowls and trays. Because of this, Prince Koretaka came to be revered as the ancestral deity of the woodworkers.
This story is a legend passed down in the medieval Ogura Manor, in what is now Hirudani and Kimigahata in Eigenji-cho, Kanzaki-gun, Shiga Prefecture. This story is thought to have been formed around the 12th or 13th century and spread throughout the country by itinerant preachers of the Jishu sect and woodworkers moving from mountain to mountain. It is believed that the goal was to unify and organize the woodworkers under the symbol of Prince Koretaka. They created a register of woodworkers in the form of a 'ujiko-gari' (ujiko hunt), and all woodworkers across the country claimed Ogura Valley as their place of origin. Of course, Prince Koretaka did not live in Ogura Valley, nor did he invent the lathe. However, why did the Prince become the ancestor of the woodworkers?
I have repeatedly mentioned that Prince Koretaka had another name, Ononomiya. The land of Ono was originally the territory of the Ono clan, and the Ono clan deity had been worshipped there. The Ono where Prince Koretaka lived is said to be near the current Ichijoji at the western foot of Mount Hiei, but the exact location is unknown. The area around Ichijoji has now become an urban district, and it does not feel much like a mountain village. The territory of Ono extended further north from there, through Kamitakano to Yase and Ohara. In Kamitakano, there is a place name called Ono, and the Sodo Shrine is a burial mound of the Ono clan, where the grave of Ono no Imoko's son, Ono no Kemuri, is also located. In Ohara, there is the grave of Prince Koretaka, which is currently under the management of the Imperial Household Agency. Very close to it is the Ono Goryo Shrine, where the enshrined deity is Prince Koretaka. When you come to this area, it truly feels like a mountain village, and it feels appropriate for the Prince's life of seclusion.
The land on the east side of the Hira Mountains, facing Lake Biwa, is said to be the ancestral home of the Ono clan. The Ono clan was a family that branched off from the ancient Wani clan, and there are place names like Wani and Ono on the west coast of Lake Biwa (Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture). In Ono, there are shrines that enshrine Ono no Takamura and Ono no Michikaze, as well as an Ono Shrine. The enshrined deities of the Ono Shrine are the ancestors of the Ono clan, Amenotarashihiko Kunioshihito no Mikoto and Taganetsuki Oomi no Mikoto. 'Tagane' is a tool for crushing ore, and since place names related to metal, such as 'kanakuso' (slag) and 'tatara' (bellows), remain in this area, it is thought that the Ono deity might be a god of axes, in other words, a blacksmith god. In other words, it is suggested that Taganetsuki Oomi no Mikoto might have been a shaman who worshipped a blacksmith god. Around Lake Biwa, there are other Ono Shrines in Kaizu, Makino-cho, and Ono-yama, Noji, Kusatsu City, and both have remains of iron manufacturing sites nearby. Also, since axes are used by woodcutters, they were also worshipped by woodworkers. Furthermore, the Ono deity also had the characteristics of a water god. Note that Taganetsuki Oomi no Mikoto is also written as Mochitsuki Oomi no Mikoto and is currently worshipped by confectionery businesses, but this is associated with mochi (rice cakes) and is likely a recent belief.
By the way, the entire Kanzaki-gun area, including Ogura Valley, was land where the Echi Hata clan lived. The Hata clan was a clan of immigrant descent that worshipped the Hachiman deity. The Hachiman deity is a metal god. The Tsutsui Hachiman in Hirudani is their clan deity, and it also enshrines Prince Koretaka. Having worshipped metal gods, they also worshipped the Ono deity. It is suggested that this might be the connection to Prince Koretaka, who had the alias Ononomiya. Perhaps Ononomiya and the Ono deity overlapped, and eventually, the woodworkers of the Echi Hata clan came to make the Prince an object of their worship. Furthermore, it is said that it was the Jishu sect followers who spread this belief. The second patriarch of the Jishu sect, Taa [1237–1391], made the Ono deity the 'Ono Daibosatsu' (Great Bodhisattva Ono) and the guardian deity of the Jishu sect. It is said that the followers who traveled to Ogura Valley performed a connection ritual between the woodworkers (rokuroshi) and Ono Daibosatsu. The Ogura Risshi of Omi had an audience with Taa to hear the Buddhist teachings directly, and it is suggested that this Ogura Risshi might have been from Ogura Valley. (Tetsuo Hashimoto, 'The World of Woodworkers: Wandering Mountain People', Hakusuisha)
The Ono deity docked with Ononomiya, and it became a story as if Prince Koretaka had come to Ogura Valley, and while many woodworkers across the country took the surname Ogura, they revered the Prince as the ancestral deity of the woodworkers. It is said that the fact that they often used the sixteen-petaled double chrysanthemum crest (the Imperial crest) as their family crest emphasized this connection with the Prince. (Currently, there are provisions in the Trademark Act, so it is unclear if it is used as a family crest.)
As an aside, regarding the chrysanthemum crest, I think it is a symbol that the mountain people originally possessed, rather than something related to the Imperial family. I wonder if it is not a flower, but a star or the sun. I think it might have its origins in the Orient rather than being unique to Japan, but I will stop pursuing this in detail here. The powerful mountain clan Kusunoki Masashige of Kawachi also used the chrysanthemum-water crest, and although it has been the Imperial family crest since the time of Emperor Gotoba's chrysanthemum crest, I think the mountain people's chrysanthemum crest is of a different lineage.
◆The True Identity of Kisen Hoshi◆
'My hermitage is to the southeast of the capital; that is how I live. People say it is Uji-yama (the mountain of sorrow).' This is a poem by Kisen Hoshi that was included in the Hyakunin Isshu. Its meaning is: (My hermitage is in Uji-yama to the southeast of the capital, a deep mountain where deer also live. People in the world call it a mountain of sorrow, but I am living here just like this.) He plays on 'Uji-yama' (Uji Mountain) and 'ushi-yama' (mountain of sorrow), and also plays on 'shika zo sumu' (deer live here) and 'shika zo sumu' (living just like this). It is a witty and lighthearted poem, and it does not feel very dark. However, the person who received this poem, probably someone living in the capital, might have imagined that Kisen was living in a lonely, deep mountain. That is why Kisen might have intentionally composed the poem to say, 'It is not really like that. People in the capital might think so, but I am living here without any sorrow.'
By the way, this poem reminded me of another poem. 'When I hear the voice of a deer crying while treading on autumn leaves in the deep mountains, autumn is sad.' In the Kokinshu, it is by an anonymous author, but in the Hyakunin Isshu, it is attributed to Sarumaru Dayu. I don't think poems about the voices of deer in deep mountains are rare, but there is a reason why I specifically remembered this poem. It is the part in the Manajo (True Preface) of the Kokinshu where Otomo no Kuronushi is evaluated as 'next to the ancient Sarumaru Dayu.' I will leave the relationship between Kuronushi, Sarumaru Dayu, and Kisen Hoshi for later, but thanks to the name Sarumaru Dayu being in the Manajo, the two poems strangely overlapped. It seems that Fujiwara no Kinto, the selector of the Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry, chose 'In the deep mountains...' from among the anonymous poems and attributed it to Sarumaru Dayu. However, the reason Kinto chose this poem was probably because Sarumaru Dayu had the image of a hermit in the deep mountains. And Kisen Hoshi also had the same image.
In Chapter 2, I wrote that Kisen might be 'Kisen' (Ki no Sen). I suggested that he was a monk of the Ki clan who lived in the deep mountains like a hermit, and thus took this name. (Masahide Takasaki, 'Before and After the Six Poetic Geniuses') Speaking of people from the Ki clan who lived in seclusion like this, I am reminded of Sojo Shinzei. Shinzei was one of Kukai's direct disciples and had a brilliant career as the Sojo of Takao-ji (Jingo-ji), the head of To-ji, and the Sojo of Jisso-ji. His father was Ki no Misono, and Ki no Nagatora was his cousin. As mentioned above, he prayed for Prince Koretaka to become the Crown Prince and prayed for the recovery of the Empress Somedono and Emperor Montoku from their illnesses. He is also known by another name, Kakimoto no Ki Sojo. Kakimoto was called so because Shinzei retired in disappointment to the Kakimoto-san Yogen-ji Temple (Kakimoto, Katsuragi City, Nara Prefecture) in Yamato Province. This temple is said to have been founded by Shinzei, and there was a Hitomaro-do hall in the precincts that enshrined Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. The statue of Kakinomoto no Hitomaro currently enshrined in the Kakimoto Shrine (Hitomaro-do) that still remains is said to have been carved by Shinzei himself. This land was originally the land of the Kakimoto clan.
【Kakinomoto no Hitomaro and Sarumaru Dayu】
As I touched upon slightly in Chapter 1, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro is a person with many mysteries. And there is also a tradition that identifies Hitomaro as the same person as Sarumaru Dayu. In the entry for the 20th day of the 4th month of the 1st year of Wado [708] in the 'Shoku Nihongi', it says, 'Kakinomoto no Ason Saru of the Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade, passed away,' and there is a theory that this refers to Hitomaro. From the poems Hitomaro left behind, he did not die a normal death. I infer that he was probably executed, and since Hitomaro seems to have been a high-ranking official (?), the fact that his obituary does not appear in the official history is because he was executed, and his name was surely demoted from Hitomaro to the lowly Saru (Saru). Although this theory is not supported by historians, there was indeed a tradition that equated Hitomaro and Sarumaru.
The Kakimoto clan is a family of the Wani clan, the same as the Ono clan. There is a legendary figure named Ono no Sarumaru in the Ono clan. It appears in the 'Nikko-san Engi'. It is a story related to the Futarasan Shrine in Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture.
Long ago, a person named Uu Chujo loved hunting, and because of that, he was driven out of the capital and drifted to Shimotsuke (Tochigi). There, he married the daughter of Asahi Choja (Asahi-hime), and the princess gave birth to Uma-o (or Bato Gozen). Uma-o had a child with a lady-in-waiting. Because the child was as ugly as a monkey, he was named Sarumaru. Uu Chujo, Asahi-hime, and Uma-o were enshrined as the Nikko Sansho Gongen after their deaths, and were made the enshrined deities of the Nantai Hongu, the Takio Nyotai Chugu, and the Shingu Taro Myojin, respectively. Now, one day, the god of Akagi in Joshu (Gunma) claimed that Lake Chuzenji was his territory. The god of Futara rejected this, but the god of Akagi was angry and attacked. The fierce attack of the god of Akagi was tremendous, and the god of Futara was about to lose. Then, the Kashima Myojin of Hitachi (Ibaraki), who could not bear to watch, told the god of Futara that he had a grandson. When they searched, there was a matagi (hunter) named Ono no Sarumaru in a place called Ono in Oshu. Sarumaru was led by a white deer (an incarnation of the god of Futara) and came to Nikko. The god of Futara told him that Sarumaru was his grandson. He said that the god of Akagi had transformed into a giant centipede and attacked, and although the god of Futara was fighting back by transforming into a giant snake, he was about to lose, so he wanted him to help. If he defeated the giant centipede, he would give him this mountain as a hunting ground. So, Sarumaru shot an arrow and pierced the right eye of the giant centipede. Unable to bear the pain, the giant centipede fled, and Sarumaru chased it, finally driving it away as far as the Tone River. For his merit, Sarumaru obtained the right to catch animals in the mountains around Nikko as promised, and after his death, he was enshrined as the deity of the Futarasan Shrine (Utsunomiya Myojin).
This story also appears in the 'Yamadachi Konpon no Maki' passed down among the matagi of Tohoku, where the name of Sarumaru is Banji Bansaburo. (Bansaburo is the child of Sarumaru and the mountain princess.) The shrine administration of the Nikko Sansha Gongen has been served by the Ono clan for generations, and its genealogy is as follows. Here, it is estimated that Ono no Keno is Ono no Sarumaru. ('108 Mysterious Figures in Japanese History', Shin-Jinbutsuoraisha) Keno was a Chunagon of the Junior Third Rank and a person from the beginning of the 8th century (died in the 4th year of Wado [708]). Since he is 'an ancient person from the perspective of Kuronushi,' this is said to be Sarumaru Dayu. Regardless of that, it is interesting to relate it to the fact that Kakinomoto no Hitomaro is listed as Senior Third Rank in the preface of the 'Kokinshu'.
[The Relationship Between Imperial Prince Shinnyo and Shinzei]
It is unknown why Ki no Shinzei decided to make Kakimoto his place of retirement. It is said that Kakimoto-san Eigen-ji Temple was founded in the second year of Ten'an [858]. (There is also a theory that it was the second year of Saiko [852].) The second year of Ten'an was the year Emperor Montoku passed away, and the year Shinzei retired in disappointment (according to the 'Sandai Jitsuroku'). If he decided on Kakimoto as his place of retirement and then built the temple, where was Shinzei until it was completed? Was it at Takao-san-ji Temple?
Could Shinzei have been at Uji-yama? There is no evidence for this, but there is a clue. It seems that Kisen Hoshi lived in Daigo, Yamashina, before coming to Uji-yama.
Among Kukai's disciples was Shinnyo. Before becoming a monk, he was known as Imperial Prince Takaoka. He was the third son of Emperor Heizei and was the Crown Prince, but he was deposed following the 'Kusuko Incident'.
In the second year of Jowa [835], he built two temples, Chosho and Futai, and in March of that year, he performed the 77th memorial service for Kukai along with Shinzen, Shinzei, Shinsho, and Shinga. Furthermore, the following year, when Shinzei and Shinzen were to travel to Tang China, he entrusted them with a letter for the monk Yiming at Qinglong Temple in Tang. In the fifth month of the second year of Saiko, the head of the Great Buddha at Todai-ji Temple in Nara fell off, and Shinnyo was appointed as the supervisor for its restoration.
In his later years (the fourth year of Jogan [862]), Shinnyo traveled to Tang China with his disciples. He further aimed to reach Tenjiku (India), but died of illness in Luoyue (present-day Singapore). He is the only person who was once a Crown Prince and died in a foreign land, other than this Imperial Prince Shinnyo. Incidentally, Shinnyo's son was granted the surname Ariwara, and Ariwara no Narihira and Yukihira are his nephews.
Since this Shinnyo was also known as the Yamashina Zenji Imperial Prince, it seems he lived in the Daigo-Yamashina area. As mentioned above, Shinnyo and Shinzei had a deep relationship. It would not be strange for Shinzei to seek a place of seclusion in Daigo, where Shinnyo was.
Furthermore, perhaps Shinzei withdrew to Uji, far from the capital, and was called 'Ki-sen' (the Ki Hermit) because of his hermit-like lifestyle. It is thought that Kisen is a refined version of Ki-sen.
Although Shinzei moved to Eigen-ji Temple after it was completed, he died in the second month of the second year of Jogan [860]. The time he spent at Eigen-ji Temple was surprisingly short.
[Kisen in the Tachibana Clan Genealogy]
Kisen's name appears in the Tachibana clan genealogy contained in the 'Gunsho Ruiju Keizu-bu Shu'.
The Tachibana clan were descendants of Emperor Bidatsu and were a different clan from the Ki clan. Tachibana no Naramaro was a person of the Nara period who served Empress Koken.
Empress Koken favored Fujiwara no Nakamaro (Emi no Oshikatsu, grandson of Fujiwara no Fuhito). Because Koken was an empress regnant, she was not permitted to marry. Naturally, she could not bear children, so a succession problem arose. The previous emperor, Emperor Shomu, anticipating this, left a will stating that Prince Funado should be made Koken's successor. Empress Koken agreed at first, but as soon as Emperor Shomu passed away, she deposed the Crown Prince. The person who was made Crown Prince in place of Prince Funado was a man named Prince Oi. Prince Oi was a guest of Nakamaro. In other words, he was a freeloader. Therefore, Prince Oi was at Nakamaro's beck and call.
Under these circumstances, the relationship between Empress Koken and Nakamaro became increasingly intimate and scandalous. Tachibana no Naramaro felt a sense of crisis about this. Therefore, he planned to execute Nakamaro, restore Prince Funado as Crown Prince, and ask Empress Koken to abdicate. However, Nakamaro, who sensed this early on, instead captured Naramaro as a traitor. Thus, the 'Naramaro Incident' ended in failure, and the Tachibana clan, which had once been a force rivaling the Fujiwara clan, also began to decline.
Among Naramaro's grandchildren were Kachiko, who became the Empress of Emperor Saga, and Hayanari, one of the 'Three Brushes' (Sanpitsu) who also became an envoy to Tang China and later fell from power in the 'Jowa Incident'. Kachiko and Hayanari were cousins, but in the 'Jowa Incident', one side settled the incident with the Fujiwara clan after receiving a false accusation from Imperial Prince Abo, while the other was considered the mastermind of the coup, exiled to Izu, and later haunted the capital as a vengeful spirit.
For some reason, Kisen is mixed into that Tachibana clan genealogy. The genealogy mentioned above shows considerable disorder. First, it lists Hayanari as Naramaro's child, but Hayanari was the child of Iri-i and is Naramaro's grandson. Furthermore, it is strange to list Kisen as the second child. The second child is Kiyotomo. On what grounds was Kisen listed as Naramaro's child, and furthermore, as the second child?
Perhaps this is because there were people who felt that Kisen was not just a hermit monk. I believe that adding Kisen to the Tachibana clan, which was falling into ruin for the sake of the Fujiwara clan during the 'Naramaro Incident' and the 'Jowa Incident', must have had some meaning.
For the time being, I will provide a general genealogy of the Tachibana clan.
