Usa Hachiman-gū

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Entrance to the Inner Shrine Area (Nanchū rōmon)
Access to the main shrine complex (Saidaimon)

The Usa Hachiman-gū ( Japanese 宇佐 八 幡 宮 ), or Hachiman Shrine of Usa, is the oldest main shrine of the Hachiman cult , which is widespread throughout Japan today. The shrine is also known as Usa-jingū ( 宇佐 神宮 ). Its original name reading or the name of the area around the shrine was probably formerly Yahata (pure Japanese reading of 八 幡 ). The shrine is located in the Usa parish of Ōita prefecture in the northeast of the island of Kyushu.

The origins of the shrine probably go back to the 7th century, but reliable statements are only possible from the 8th century. According to a shrine chronicle (the Hachiman Usagū gotakusenshū 八 幡 宇佐 宮 御 託 宣 集 ; 14th century) it has been in its current location since the year 725, at the foot of the mountain Ogura 小 椋 in the then province of Buzen (today Ōita ). The main deities venerated in the Usa Hachiman-gū are Ōjin -tennō, Himekami and Jingū -kōgō.

Deities

The deities ( kami ) worshiped in the Usa shrine may have originated from the sound gods ( ujigami ) of three noble families who also worked as priests at the shrine itself. These included the Ōga ( 大 神 ) family, who probably had Korean roots, but first settled in the Yamato basin in central Japan and only later came to northern Kyūshū. It is now believed that it was the Ōga priests who established a connection between Hachiman and the genealogy of the Tennō family at the beginning of the eighth century by identifying Hachiman as the incarnation of the legendary emperor Ōjin. Therefore the mother of the Ōjin, Jingū-kōgō, is worshiped as a shrine deity. The third main deity, Himekami (or Hime no Ōkami, literally “divine princess” or “divine bride”) cannot be directly traced back to the imperial genealogy as recorded in Kojiki or Nihon shoki . While the three main deities are worshiped together in the main hall ( honden ), the shrine complex also includes various side shrines that are consecrated to other kami . Such a multiple combination of deities is not uncommon in Japanese Shinto shrines . Hachiman is regarded as the representative deity of the entire shrine complex, while the other kami represent his followers, as it were.

Oracle tradition

In the USA there was probably a strong oracle tradition even before the Nara period , with female priestesses apparently playing an important role as media of the deity. So it was the priestess Ōga Morime who, in the name of Hachiman, proclaimed the deity's wish to act as the protective deity of the Great Buddha in the then capital Heijō-kyō ( Nara ). In 749 Morime accompanied a litter of gods with a "branch spirit" ( bunrei ) of the Hachiman to the capital, where it was showered with honors and thus became a central figure in the course of the establishment of the first branch shrine of the Usa Hachiman-gū. Also later, for example in the so-called Dōkyō affair, the oracles ( 託 宣 , takusen ) of Hachiman of Usa played an eminently important role, especially politically.

Connection with Buddhism

As early as 737, soon after the shrine was built at its present location, a Buddhist temple of Miroku Bosatsu (Bodhisattva Maitreya ) was built inside the shrine , which was located here until the Meiji period . As a result, the Usa Shrine is considered to be one of the first "temple-shrine complexes" ( 神宮 寺 , jingūji ), in which Buddhist and " Shinto " rituals are almost inextricably linked. One of the most important shrine festivals in Usa, which has also been adopted by many other Hachiman shrines, is the hōjō-e ( 放生 会 ), actually a Buddhist ceremony, at the core of which is the release of captive animals. In USA the hōjō-e is combined with dramatic-theatrical elements from the local kagura tradition, so it is a syncretistic rite typical of the entire Hachiman cult (cf. Shinbutsu-Shūgō ).

architecture

The main building of the Usa Shrine is a peculiar twin building, the construction of which is known as hachiman zukuri ( 八 幡 造 ; "Hachiman style"). He can also be found in other important Hachiman shrines such as the Iwashimizu Hachiman-gū . In this case, the so-called ceremonial hall ( haiden ) is merged with the main hall ( honden ) in such a way that the eaves of the two touch each other and use a common rain gutter.

The main building is one of the national treasures of Japan .

See also

literature

  • Nakano Hatayoshi (ed.) (2002), Hachiman shinkō jiten (Lexicon of the Hachiman Faith), Tōkyō: Ebisu Kōshō.

Web links

Coordinates: 33 ° 31 ′ 34.4 "  N , 131 ° 22 ′ 29.2"  E