Buddhist priest and one of Japan’s 3 Great Villains
Perhaps you’ve read my series on Japan’s Three Great Vengeful Ghosts — Taira no Masakado, Emperor Sutoku, and my favorite, Sugawara no Michizane. Knowing how much Japan loves threes — Three Great Castles, Three Holy Mountains, Three Famous Gardens — it is not surprising that Japan also has Three Great Villains.
Today, we will see how the monk Dōkyō, 道鏡, who lived more than a millennium before his Russian counterpart, earned his place among the villainous three.
Great Villain #1 — the Buddhist Priest Dōkyō
Records of Dōkyō’s early years are sketchy.
We know he was born into a low-level aristocratic family in what is now Kochi Prefecture on the island of Shikoku. He became a Buddhist priest and studied under Gien, a senior priest of Hossō Buddhism. He studied Sanskrit, something only the most educated knew.
Dōkyō went on to practice a type of shamanistic Buddhism on Mount Katsuragi, where the founder of Shugendō, En no Gyōja, also stayed. Through meditation and mountain aestheticism, Dōkyō is said to have mastered control of nature and gained powers of supernatural healing. He studied esoteric sutras dealing with astrology and magical spells.
The first mention of Dōkyō in historical records is in 748 when he served Rōben, the founding priest of the great Tōdaiji temple in Nara.
Before long, Dōkyō was engaged as the priest of the Imperial Court. His reputation as a healer gave him entry into the court of the retired Empress Kōken who had fallen ill.
Dōkyō used his magical arts to heal her. He became Kōken’s trusted confidant, and, according to some accounts, her lover. The Shoku Nihongi, an 8th-century history, describes Dōkyō as receiving the “affection” of the empress, leaving future scholars to speculate.
Kōken’s questionable relationship with the priest raised eyebrows in the court and earned her an admonishment from Emperor Junnin. Rather than restraining her, his words only served to anger her.
Though retired, the powerful Kōken decreed that Emperor Junnin would deal only with ceremonial matters, while she would handle affairs of state, and judgment concerning all rewards and punishments.
After reigning for just six years, Junnin was forced to abdicate. Kōken, now a Buddhist nun, retook the imperial throne as Empress Shōtoku. She proclaimed that an ordained Buddhist empress must have an ordained Buddhist Chief Minister. Dōkyō filled that spot, giving him unprecedented political power.
One year later, Empress Shōtoku named Dōkyō Daijō-daijin, Chancellor of the Realm, the highest political position in the land in which he presided over the Great Council of State.
State-sponsored Buddhism spreads
Shōtoku’s father, the great Emperor Shōmu, had promoted Buddhism throughout the land. He ordered the building of the Great Buddha and Tōdaiji temple in Nara to huge international fanfare, and he established state-sponsored temples and nunneries in each province for the protection of the country.
Dōkyō, together with Empress Shōtoku, accelerated this state-sponsored Buddhism. The empress went on pilgrimages to the great temples in the Nara area, bestowing lavish donations upon them, and granting court ranks to those involved in the building of new temples.
With such incentives, temples proliferated.
Dōkyō promoted members of his clan to important court positions, his brother Kiyohito advancing as far as Dainagon, Major Counselor of the First Rank. He granted land to the great Usa Shinto Shrine in northern Kyushu, and work on building a Buddhist temple on the shrine grounds commenced. The next year, his brother Kiyohito was named Governor General of Dazaifu, the administrative capital in northern Kyushu.
A sign from the gods?
Then, a strange omen occurred. A bone of the Buddha miraculously appeared out of the Bishamon statue at the Sumidera Temple in northeastern Nara. The empress delightedly proclaimed,
The sacred bone of the Buddha which has now been manifested… is brighter and more beautiful of color than ever we have seen; the mind cannot encompass its splendor… It has been due to acts of leadership and guidance… performed by our Chief Minister and Master, who stands at the head of all priests, that this rare and holy sign has been vouchsafed us…. We bestow on our teacher, the Chief Minister, the title of King of the Law.”
Empress shōtoku
According to the empress’s decree, Dōkyō was named Hō-ō, 法王, the ultimate Dharma King, providing him with the same clothing, food, and palanquin as an emperor. He was also granted military power.
For the first time in history, Buddhist rites of penance were performed at the imperial palace on the first day of the year. On the same day, courtiers were required to pay respects to the exalted Dōkyō.
Only one powerful position remained out of his grasp, and Dōkyō was determined to get it.
Years later, it was discovered that the “miraculous bone omen” had been manufactured by a priest friend of Dōkyō’s.
More omens
Five-colored clouds were sighted above Ise, where the Grand Shrine of Amaterasu the Sun Goddess is located. Amaterasu is one of the most revered Shinto kami and the ancestor of all Japanese emperors.
The beautiful clouds were interpreted as a sign of favor to Dōkyō. So portentous were they, that the era name was changed to Jingō Keiun (Divine Protection, Auspicious Clouds). These clouds were followed by other omens, likely due to Dōkyō appointing a relative to the Bureau of Yin-Yang that was in charge of reporting omens.
From Dōkyō’s nephew’s province, various auspicious animals were presented at Nara: a white-tailed gray horse, white pheasants, tortoises, and ravens.
Then came the greatest sign of all. According to the Shoku Nihongi, a pronouncement arrived from Hachiman, the kami deified at the great Usa Shrine in Kyushu:
Let Dōkyō be made emperor and there shall be great peace in the land.”
Dōkyō was overjoyed. Finally, his longed-for goal would be reached!
The courtiers were not so pleased. They sent the faithful Wake no Kiyomaro to seek confirmation from the nun Hōkin, a trustworthy oracle at the Usa Shrine.
Before Kiyomaro left Nara, Dōkyō met with him and promised, “The god has no doubt requested a messenger in order to announce my election to the throne. If this is accomplished, I will bestow government rank and office upon you.”
Unaffected by Dōkyō’s words, Kiyomaro came back with the following epic pronouncement:
Since the establishment of our state, the distinction between lord and subject has been fixed. Never has there been an occasion when a subject was made lord. The throne of Heavenly Sun succession shall be given to one of the imperial lineage; wicked persons should immediately be swept away.”
As recorded in the Shoku Nihongi
Dōkyō was enraged. He maneuvered to have Kiyomaro banished to Osumi in southern Kyushu, but not before having him severely beaten and his hamstrings severed. The oracle Hōkin was defrocked and exiled to what is now Kumamoto Prefecture.
Betraying his petty and spiteful nature, Dōkyō changed Kiyomaro’s name from 清麻呂, “Pure Maro” to 汚麻呂, Kitanamaro, “Dirty Maro.” This was a particular dig because purity is closely associated with morality in Japanese religious tradition. Then he sent an assassin to kill Kiyomaro en route to Kyushu. This attempt was foiled by a sudden storm.
Had omens finally turned against the conniving Dōkyō?
The villain’s fall
Upon Shōtoku’s death, Emperor Kōnin, the 62-year-old grandson of Emperor Tenji, acceded to the throne. He stripped Dōkyō of all titles and banished him to what is now Tochigi Prefecture, where he died two years later and was buried in a commoner’s grave.
Kiyomaro was recalled to Nara from exile, granted the governorship of two provinces, and elevated to Junior Minister of State. He then launched an investigation into the oracles at Usa Shrine. Several frauds were discovered, and the head priest resigned in disgrace.
Kiyomaro continued in the Nara government and helped direct the construction of the new capital of Heian-Kyo (Kyoto) during the reign of Emperor Kanmu. The move to Heian-Kyo in 794 was crucial in distancing the imperial court from the influence of the powerful Buddhist hierarchy in Nara.
Today, Wake no Kiyomaro is revered as the Shinto Deity, Goō Daimyōjin, Great Protector of the Emperor, and countless shrines across the country are dedicated to him.
Dōkyō, on the other hand, has gone down in infamy as the conniving man who sought to break the sacred imperial line and steal the throne for himself.
References:
Bender, Ross. The Hachiman Cult and the Dōkyō Incident, Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 34, No. 2, Summer, 1979, kotobank.jp, encyclopedia.com
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