Gozu-Tennō

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Gion Daimyōjin = Gozu-Tennō alias Susanoo (from: Butsuzō zu'i , 1783)
Somin Shōrai talisman of the Gion shrine in Kobe

Gozu-Tennō ( Japanese. 牛頭 天王 ; lit. "Beef-headed Sky King") alias Gion-Tenjin ( Japanese. 祇 園 天神 ) is a Japanese deity with an eclectic background (see Shinbutsu-Shūgō ), which is in the Yasaka shrine (formerly Gion shrine ) is venerated in Kyōto and other shrines such as the Tsushima Shrine (Aichi Prefecture), numerous Yakumo, Susanoo and Tennō shrines.

In Indian Buddhism, this deity once protected the famous Jetavana monastery (Japanese: Gionshōja , 祇 精 ​​舎 ) under the name Gosirsa Devaraja . In China , elements of Daoism , Yin and Yang concepts and esoteric Buddhism ( Vajrayana ) were mixed in .

In Japan this image was further influenced by esoteric cosmology ( onmyōdō , 陰陽 道 ). In addition, it came in the popular Somin-Shōrai legends to equate with the deity Mutō ( Mutōshin , Mutō-no-kami , 武 塔 damit ) and thus to be included in the complex of ideas of the emergence and defense of epidemic diseases. A number of “ox-head” mountains and islands in Korea suggest that Korean ideas were also incorporated. Equating with the Shinto deity Susanoo or the "Medicine Buddha" ( Bhaisajyaguru , Japanese Yakushi nyorai ) was no less eclectic .

Since the 9th century, the Gion Goryō-e ( 祇 園 御 霊 会 ) has been celebrated in Kyōto during the seventh month , a festival which initially aims to appease the souls of the untimely and therefore potentially vengeful deceased, but later more and more about the Defense against epidemic diseases went. Here Gozu-Tennō changed from the bringer of the epidemics to the protective deity against them. Closely related to this are the ideas of Gozu-Tennō as the deity of justice and truth. With the spread of the Gion festivals he occasionally took on local features as a regional protective deity ( chinju no kami , 鎮守 神 ).

In the context of the cult, amulets such as the “treasure seal of the ox king” ( Goōhōin , 牛 王宝 印 ) and the Soｍin Shōrai talisman ( Somin Shōrai gofu , 蘇 民 将来 護符 ) were created.

literature

  • Kawamura, Minato: Gozu Tennō and Legends of Somin Shōrai . Sakuhinsha, 2007 ( 川村 湊 『牛頭 天王 と 蘇 民 将来 伝 説 ー 消 さ れ た た 異 神 た ち』 作品 社 )
  • Saitō, Hideki: Onmyōdō no kamigami . Bukkyōdaigaku tsūshinkyōikubu, 2007 ( 斎 藤 英 喜 『陰陽 道 の 神 々』 佛教 大学 通信 教育部. 佛教 大学 鷹 陵 文化 叢書, 17 )
  • Sano, Kenji: Gozu-Tennō . In: Sakurai Tokutarō: Minkan shinkō jiten . Tōkyōdō Shuppan, 19080 ( 佐野賢 治 「牛頭 天王」. 桜 井 徳 太郎 編 『民間 信仰 辞典』 東京 堂 出版 )

Web links

  • Gion Gozu-Tennō no engi (Japanese manuscript on the genesis of Gion Gozu-Tennō in the collection of Kyoto University)

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ More on this in Saitō, 2007
  2. ↑ According to legend, Somin Shōrai, a poor man, took in a traveler who had previously been turned away by a rich man. In gratitude, the traveler showed him that it was the deity Mutō, how to make a talisman to ward off epidemics.
  3. ↑ In this form Gozu-Tennō joins the group of epidemic deities (Japanese yakubyōgami or ekibyōjin , 疫病 神 ) who invade the country again and again from outside and bring ruin