Dōkyō

Dōkyō ( Japanese 道 鏡 ; * around 700 ; † 772 ) was a Buddhist monk with political ambitions in the Japanese Nara period .

Background and first fame

The Yuge no Dōkyō ( 弓 削 道 鏡 ) originating from the Yuge-no-Muraji clan (a lower aristocratic branch of the Mononobe family ) began studying Buddhism under the Hossō master Gien ( 義 淵 ; 644-728) and later switched (to 748) for Todai-ji under robes (689-773). But Dōkyō is said to have turned his back on urban Nara Buddhism and retired to the Katsuragi Mountains ( 葛 城 山 ) to practice secret rituals of esoteric Buddhism . During this time he gained the reputation of having acquired magical powers and was soon considered a famous healer.

Dōkyō at court

The imperial court, who was then very interested in the supposed magical powers of Buddhism, became aware of Dōkyō and so he was appointed to the court for the first time in 752 at the behest of the Kōken - tennō . Back in Heijō-kyō he got a job at Tōdai-ji as a "healing master" ( 看病 禅師 , kambyō zenji ).

Dōkyō soon began to influence politics at court through his close relationship with the devout Buddhist Kōken-tennō. As early as 754, he advised the Kōken-tennō to use only Buddhists as ministers. The real power at court at that time was still held by the wife of the late Shōmu-tennō, the widow Kōmyō -kōtaigō ( 光明 皇太后 ; 701–760) and her nephew Fujiwara no Nakamaro ( 藤原 仲 麻 呂 ; 706–764) .

In 758 Kōken abdicated in favor of Prince Ōi, whom Nakamaro had given his daughter to wife and who now ascended the throne as Junnin . In 761, Kōmyō died.

In 761 Kōken fell seriously ill in the Hora Palace in Ōmi , in 762 Dōkyō is said to have healed them using astrological rites. This brought Dōkyō the highest privileges with Kōken, whose private rooms he was henceforth free to visit. It is believed that Kōken and Dōkyō have had an erotic relationship with each other since that time. After her recovery, Kōken moved back to Heijō-kyō and took over political affairs there again. Junnin did not abdicate yet, but was ordained as a monk and retired to a monastery, where from then on he was only supposed to perform ceremonial functions.

763 Dōkyō was appointed to Shōsōzu ( 小僧 都 ; roughly: "little head") of the Sōgō ( 僧 綱 ), an authority of Buddhist monks at court, which represented official Buddhism and regulated it at the same time. He took over the post of priest Jikun, a favorite of Nakamaro.

In 764, Kōken decided to openly take political power back in hand by deposed Junnin and only granted him ritual functions. Cornered, Fujiwara no Nakamaro responded with a rebellion against Kōken, which was put down in late 764. After Nakamaro's death, Junnin was exiled to Awaji and Kōken ascended the throne for the second time, this time under the name Shōtoku-tennō. She left no doubt about her Buddhist outlook: shortly after taking office, she had a million tiny, clay stupas ( 百万 塔 , hyakumantō ) made , wrapped in strips of paper printed with magical prayer formulas ( 陀羅尼 , darani ) and distributed in the country's monasteries ( a project that devoured vast amounts of money and could only be completed in the year of her death).

765 Dōkyō was promoted from the office of Daijin zenji ( 大臣 禅師 ; about: "Priestly Minister"), who had only recently taken up position, to Dajō daijin zenji ( ji 政 大臣 禅師 ; about: "Priestly Grand Minister"). Dajō daijin was an office previously reserved for members of the imperial family. Dōkyō's rise in the courtly hierarchy finally reached its peak in 766, when he was appointed Hō-ō ( 法王 ; " Dharma King / Master") by Shōtoku .

In this elevated position, Dōkyō determined government policy. So he filled the Sōgō with his own students, gave high government posts to relatives of his clan, caused high expenditures for building and repairing temples (especially the Kokubun-ji ) and ensured a rapidly increasing number of ordinations. He also restricted the rights to property for the Uji and expanded them for some temples.

Ambitions to the throne

In 769 Dōkyō and Shōtoku announced in the capital Heijō-kyō , an oracle ( 託 宣 , takusen ) in Usa Hachiman-gū (main shrine of the god Hachiman in Usa on Kyūshū ) had prophesied that the country would enjoy peace if Dōkyō became Tennō . This oracle was brought by the Vice-Governor of Bizen Province , Nakatomi Suge no Asomaro ( 中 臣 習 宜 阿 曾 麻 呂 ). Shōtoku commissioned the high-ranking court official Wake no Kiyomaro ( 和 気 清 麻 呂 ; 733-99) to visit the Usa Hachiman-gū and to confirm the oracle. However, Kiyomaro returned to the capital with the tradition of an oracle to the contrary: subject and ruler had been different from the beginning of the state, the throne could only be awarded based on descent from the Tennō dynasty.

Dōkyō was enraged by this thwarting of his plans, had Kiyomaro banished to Ōsumi and his older sister Hōkin, a Buddhist nun who personally brought the oracle Shōtoku, put back into the laity and banished to Higo . These punishments were to be of no avail: When Shōtoku died in 770, Dōkyō himself was immediately exiled to Shimotsuke by the Fujiwara at court , where he died almost two years later and was buried under usual rites.

Aftermath and ratings

Historical sources , such as the Rikkokushi Shoku Nihongi , which were edited during Dōkyō's lifetime (and which were already edited during Dōkyō's lifetime) , describe Dōkyō as extremely ungracious: his miracle activities (which were part of his duties at court) are dismissed as a hoax and he and his followers practice the accused of left-handed tantrism (this is a swipe at Dōkyō's materialistic way of life). Later portrayals usually characterize him as a seducer, usurper and subversive.

On the other hand, Hachiman , who played a much stronger role in the Tennō cult since then, and Wake no Kiyomaro, who z. B. was depicted on the 10 yen banknotes during the Shōwa period .

The events around Dōkyō's work were still many years after his failed attempt to become Tennō, the occasion for various political developments. The earliest reactions include the Kōnin- tennō following the Shōtoku , who rehabilitated Wake no Kiyomaro, reinstated the priests removed from the Sōgō by Dōkyōs, and tried to bring contemporary Buddhism under the absolute control of the state.

Also the decision of the Kammu- tennō to give up Heijō-kyō (and thus the seat of the still influential Buddhist establishment) as the capital and to move the court first to Nagaoka-kyō , then to Heian-kyō , is likely due to the experience of the power of the Buddhism at that time had been initiated.

After all, it is also very likely that it was these events that prompted later generations of the Tennō dynasty to forbid women, with a few exceptions, from acceding to the throne. The next (and for the time being also last) women on the throne were Meishō (r. 1629-1643) and Go-Sakuramachi (r. 1762-1771).

literature

• Ross Bender: "The Hachiman Cult and the Dokyo Incident", in: Monumenta Nipponica , Vol. 34, No. 2. (Summer, 1979), pp. 125-153. ( Digitized on Ross Bender's website )
• Daigan Lee Matsunaga and Alicia Orloff Matsunaga: Foundation of Japanese Buddhism; Vol. I; The aristocratic age . Buddhist Books International, Los Angeles and Tokyo 1974. ISBN 0-914910-25-6 . Pages 125-9.