Secular
Authority and the Sacred Arts in Momoyama
Andrew M. Watsky (
Society for the Study of Japanese
Religions
AAS Annual Meeting,
Please Note: This draft is not for quotation or citation without author’s permission.
The role of religion in
The Toyotomi, more than any other warrior family, manipulated this transformation, first under Hideyoshi and then, after Hideyoshi’s death, under his son and heir Hideyori. With increasing intensity, they laid claim to the sacred as an instrument of political success and as a source of identity. They asserted this most concretely through their massive sponsorship of religious architecture, much of it decorated by the most famous artists of the day, and in doing so virtually rebuilt the architectural framework of Japan’s sacred realm. Some of the most famous religious buildings of even ancient times—the seventh-century Hôryûji, for example—exist today, arguably, because of Toyotomi attentions. In this essay, I shall concentrate on the phase of Toyotomi activity after Hideyoshi’s death, to examine how the evidence of architecture—actual architecture, paintings of architecture, and documents related to architecture—reveals a history that is most often undervalued, if not disregarded.
Traditionally,
the post-Hideyoshi period has been characterized
as one of rapid Tokugawa ascent and corresponding Toyotomi
decline. A more accurate description
sees the Tokugawa domination as an incremental triumph only achieved slowly
over the course of some fifteen years, during which time the Toyotomi remained a considerable force. [1] Many contestants at the time well understood
that Toyotomi strength was lessened but not eliminated:
in 1601, for example, the Tokugawa supporter Date Masamune (1567-1636) counseled, “If you treat
Although the child heir Hideyori was, initially, only a figurehead for the Toyotomi cause, behind him stood his forceful mother Yododono (d. 1615), who emerges in diaries and letters as a figure who wielded substantial power and who orchestrated many of the Toyotomi actions.
Almost immediately
after Hideyoshi’s death, the Toyotomi embarked on massive sponsorship of the sacred realm,
in the hope that, by engaging accepted religious practice, they could tap
the authority that the sacred was widely believed to hold and make it the
foundation for political resurrection. In
Among the many activities at the Toyokuni Shrine, one event stands out. On Hideyoshi’s seventh death anniversary, in the eighth month of 1604, a week-long festival was held, the Toyokuni Special Festival. The Toyotomi’s largest public display in the post-Hideyoshi period, it glorified the deified Hideyoshi and, by association, his survivors. Virtually all diaries of the period contain accounts of this Festival. The Toyotomi themselves commissioned a pair of folding-screen paintings depicting two days of the festival, seen here right and left, and donated them to the Toyokuni Shrine in 1606, where they were set up to be viewed.[4] The audience for such a painting likely comprised the unending stream of shrine visitors and so it disseminated the Toyotomi’s reading of the event.
Each screen is devoted to one day’s events, one to the great procession and performances of the fourteenth, the other to the frenetic dancing of the fifteenth, and each is given its compositional structure by the architectural complexes where the events were staged, respectively the Toyokuni Shine and the Great Buddha Hall. Holding the festivities at both temple and shrine displayed the Toyotomi’s syncretic embrace of the sacred, a conception rehearsed, with emphasis, by pairing the two complexes on these screens. The screens portray a population joined in mass veneration at a series of magnificent buildings that together form a religious epicenter.
The right-hand
screen captures the fourteenth at its peak: a crowd fills the precinct, its
numbers ever swelled by the lengthy procession still entering at the outermost
gate. The painter has depicted all
in rich detail, including elaborate viewing booths set against the walls,
fitted with polychrome wall paintings; each accommodates well-dressed men,
women, and children. The painting thus
stresses the Toyotomi’s wish to incorporate
The painting’s composition is tipped forward and seen from above, permitting a privileged view of the vast shrine grounds (so extensive, the artist suggests, they could not be contained within the screen’s six panels). Overlooking all, at the top center of the painting, is the majestic principal building of the Toyokuni Shrine, pictured on an angle that allows its full grandeur to be appreciated; it consists of two linked structures on axis, creating a doubled and therefore amplified presence. In stark contrast to the commotion elsewhere in the painting, this area is tranquil and solemn: many figures face the shrine in silent contemplation, awed by the magnificence of the grand structure and by Toyokuni Daimyôjin, the august sacred presence within.
The activities of the next day, the fifteenth, took place at the Great Buddha Hall, on the left-hand screen. The centrality of the Great Buddha Hall, as depicted here, is one indication of the importance for the Toyotomi of its repair, for it had been greatly damaged by earthquake in 1596. We don’t have time to consider the complexity of this renewal; suffice it to say that it occupied the Toyotomi until their demise in 1615.
The
architecture determines the painting’s composition: the massive hall—largest
building in all
In front of
its perimeter walls, the townspeople’s celebratory dance is underway, viewed by
privileged spectators in elaborately embellished booths. Two groups perform simultaneously, while
three others watch and wait their turn.
In the center of each circle of dancers, ecstatic disorder reigns:
diversely garbed figures gyrate in abandon; according to Gien’s
diary, “they [were dressed as] the Shitennô, . . . or
as Daikoku, Ebisu, or the Kôya saint Oi. They took all possible forms . . . It is difficult to describe in words.” The painting confirms his account, capturing
the astonishingly varied dancers. In the
painting, the performers confine themselves within boundaries imposed by the Toyotomi’s great Buddhist precincts, a dutifulness
witnessed by
How are we to interpret the 1604 festival and its remembrances? The similarities among the written accounts indicate, presumably, a reality observed. The screens, commissioned by the Toyotomi, a reality desired. The writings confirm a decidedly positive reception: the comments are attentive, respectful, and awestruck. The screens mine the potential of painting to selectively distill, modify, and picture any situation according to the desire of its patron. There is, notably, remarkable agreement between the writers’ perceptions and the patrons’ painted portrayal: this religious festival was well executed and wildly popular. And so the Toyotomi’s objectives were met: to surpass any other public demonstration of its time; to elevate the still-living Toyotomi by virtue of their place in the lineage of a god; and, ultimately, to create a positive impression of Toyotomi suitability to rule.
Although
Like other local rulers, the Toyotomi
were active in their own domain; daimyo throughout
Less expected of a ruler with only local ambition were
projects executed outside his own domain, and in this regard no one in the
post-Hideyoshi period was more active than the Toyotomi. They
sponsored projects at temples and shrines in
Some were
linked to Hideyoshi.
At Yoshino, for example, deep in the mountains outside
We have
seen that the Toyotomi rebuilt Hideyoshi’s
most important creation, the Great Buddha Hall, and they also reconstructed
the Kitano Shrine, where Hideyoshi had held his
famed colossal tea gathering in 1587.[9] The Toyotomi sponsored
work at many other significant
Gien, Daigoji’s head priest and therefore intensely interested in these proceedings, recorded in his diary the text he wrote for the Golden Hall’s munafuda, or commemorative ridgepole placard, which I will briefly paraphrase.[10] The text states that reconstruction was initially commanded by Hideyoshi, referred to by an imperial title—and who is therefore a legitimated ruler—but lay dormant until the next similarly legitimated magnate appeared, Hideyori, who released funds, and empowered those at his behest to realize the holy work with due efficiency. For such beneficence to the sacred realm, this “warrior house will last eternally.”
The circumstances within which this encomium appeared—and all evidence suggests these texts were well circulated—would have permitted the reception that the Toyotomi intended. The recent historical context appeared hopeful for the Toyotomi: in the first years of the seventeenth century, the cult of Hideyoshi was a potent dynamic; as his son and designated heir, Hideyori was seen by many as the rightful and still conceivable successor to his authority.
Several years after completing the Golden Hall, in 1606, Hideyori again turned his attention to Daigoji and sponsored the reconstruction of several other structures there, including the Mieidô, Godaidô, and Nyoirindô in the upper precincts on top of Daigo mountain, which had burned the previous year.[11]
Outside the Home Domain: Expanding Hideyoshi’s Legacy
The Toyotomi campaign transcended
the parameters of domainal responsibility and family
precedent. It ranged widely, seeking
sites of consequence within
In
Hôryûji Gakumonji, in Heiguri County of Yamato Province, is the first temple of the Buddhist law and a holy site for the protection of the nation. Now, more than one thousand years since it was founded by Shôtoku Taishi, Toyotomi Ason Udaijin Hideyori Kô [gave the order] Katagiri Higashi Ichinokami to rebuild and repair all of the buildings within the four sides of the temple precincts with a succession of chief priests. This is because [this project] well matches the year of future repairs recorded [predicted] by Daishô [Shôtoku Taishi], and recalls the poetic description of [Shôtoku Taishi’s] follower. Without doubt, [Hideyori] should be respected, he should be revered.[13]
Thus, the entire Hôryûji complex
is presented as a place of unsurpassed historical importance, a fountainhead of
Japanese Buddhism, linked to Prince Shôtoku
(574-622), the first major imperial patron of Buddhism in
In this regard it is important to emphasize that Hideyori most often engaged in the restoration of religious buildings—rather than in the construction of new ones—repairing and therefore preserving old buildings whose places in the sacro-historical record were deeply embedded and widely recognized as important to the preservation of Japan. Such repair bolstered the ancient structures with new components, and thereby literally—as well as figuratively—linked the ancient with the present, that is, with the Toyotomi.
One of the
most spectacular refurbishings of the Toyotomi program occurred on Chikubushima,
a sacred island in the far northern end of
The Toyotomi hoped the Momoyama audience would appreciate all of these projects in the impressive terms in which they were proclaimed. Each project was commemorated in a ridgepole placard, some long and detailed, even more so than the examples cited above, others much shorter but never omitting the vital information that the patron was Hideyori. From the placards themselves, conversations about them, and reports of them, the Toyotomi gloss on these sacred activities reached its intended audience.
Diaries
also tell us that the intent of Hideyori’s works
was discussed. One writer, for example,
saw Toyotomi sponsorship of religious construction projects as
one part of the family’s broad range of sacred work, motivated not only by
family interests, but often by the benefit of
In 1607, the same writer expanded upon this hypothesis:
From this time, Hideyori Kô of
The boy Hideyori was nominally the
sponsor of Toyotomi religious construction, but Yododono was the true principal. Her motive was to realize, with the help of
sacred powers, a wish manifested in repeated auspicious dreams. Considering the nature and documentary record
of Toyotomi activities we’ve examined, such dreams
were surely the restoration of Toyotomi political
dominance. This account is not the
opinion of a lone onlooker, moreover, but of a rumor he had heard. Throughout
Finally,
the significance of Toyotomi religious activity as a
symbol of Toyotomi power was not lost on the
Tokugawa. One gauge of their awareness
is the rapidity with which the Tokugawa dismantled the Toyokuni
Shrine after the fall of
NOTES
[1] Fujino Tamotsu, for
example, describes a three-step process to Tokugawa hegemony, marked by
the Battle of Sekigahara, the Osaka Campaigns,
and finally the creation of the countrywide bakuhan administrative establishment that characterized the
Tokugawa regime; see Fujino Tamotsu, Shintei bakuhan taisei shi no kenkyû (Tokyo:
Yoshikawa Kôbunkan, 1975), pp. 201-208.
[2] Cited in Asao
Naohiro, “Bakuhansei to tennô,” in Kinsei, vol. 3 of Taikei Nihon kokka shi, ed. Hara Hidesaburô,
Minegishi Sumio, Sasaki Junnosuke,
and Nakamura Masanori (Tokyo: Tôkyô Daigaku Shuppankai, 1975), p. 211.
[3] Much of the documentary
evidence surrounding Hideyoshi’s apotheosis and
the creation of his shrine is presented in Miyachi
Naokazu, “Hôtaikô to Toyokuni
Daimyôjin,” in Jingi to kokushi (Tokyo: Kokin
Shoin, 1926), pp. 310-382, and two recent Japanese
articles re-engage it: Miki Seiichirô, “Hôkokusha no zôei ni kansuru ichikôsatsu,”
Nagoya Daigaku Bungakubu
kenkyû ronshû 98,
Shigaku 33 (1987),
pp. 195-209, and Nishiyama Masaru, “Toyotomi ‘shiso’
shinwa no fûkei,” Shisô, no. 829 (1993),
pp. 83-100. See also Kawauchi Masayoshi, “Hôkokusha no seiritsu
katei ni tsuite: Hideyoshi shinkakuka o megutte,” Hisutoria, no. 164 (1999), pp. 56-70; Tsuda Saburô, Hideyoshi, hideo densetsu no
nazo: Hiyoshimaru kara Hôtaikô e, Chûkô bunko, no. 800 (Tokyo: Chûô
Kôronsha, 1997), pp. 13-32; and, for a useful
chronology of events relating to the Toyokuni
Shrine, Tsuda, Hideyoshi, hideo densetsu no kiseki: Shirarezaru uramenshi, pp. 200-234.
For a recent, detailed discussion of human deification in this period,
including Hideyoshi’s case, see W.J. Boot, “The
Death of a Shogun: Deification in Early Modern Japan,” in Shinto in History: Ways of the Kami, ed. John Breen and Mark Teeuwen (
[4] Shunkyûki, ed. Kamata Jun’ichi, 5 vols., Shiryô sanshû, kokiroku hen (Tokyo: Zoku Gunsho Ruijû Kanseikai,
1970-1983). For this citation, see
vol. 2, p. 248 (1606 [Keichô 11].8.18). Bonshun indicates
that Katagiri Katsumoto, Hideyori’s
chief administrator, made the donation.
In 1612, Bonshun notes a new pair of screen
paintings in the lower chamber of the shrine, although he does not indicate
what they depict; cited in Dai Nihon shiryô, ed. Tôkyô Daigaku (Tokyo: Tôkyô Daigaku, 1901-):
pt.
12, vol. 9, p. 679 (1612 [Keichô 17].4.16); Dai Nihon shiryô is hereafter
referred to as DNS,
[5] Gien Jugô nikki, ed. Iyanaga Teizô, 3 vols., Shiryô sanshû, kokiroku hen (Tokyo: Zoku Gunsho Ruijû Kanseikai,
1976-); hereafter GJN. For this citation, see vol. 3, p. 240 (1604
[Keichô 9].8.14).
[6] The Toyotomi’s post-Hideyoshi sponsorship
of religious construction has attracted notable scholarly interest.
The most recent—and most comprehensive—effort to quantify and analyze
this campaign, incorporating informative chronological and geographical
charts, is Kimura Nobuko, “Toyotomi Hideyori no jisha zôei ni
tsuite,” Nihon
kenchiku gakkai keikakukei ronbunshû, no. 499
(1997), pp. 171-177. Among the earlier
essays are: Kawakatsu Masatarô,
“Hideyori no shaji kenchiku
saikô,” Shiseki to bijutsu, no. 71 (1936), pp. 589-600; Moku Masao, “Katagiri Katsumoto to Keichô
no shûri,” Gekkan bunkazai, no. 151 (1976), pp. 4-15; and Fujii Naomasa, “Toyotomi Hideyori no shaji zôei to sono ikô,”
Ôtemae Joshi Daigaku ronshû, no. 17 (1983), pp.
48-72.
[7] The prevalence
of such construction is affirmed by the numerous placards that remain from
this period throughout Japan; see, for example, the many examples included
in National Museum of Japanese History, ed., Hibunken shiryô no kisoteki kenkyû (munafuda)” hôkokusho: Shaji no kokuhô, jûbun kenzôbutsu
nado: Munafuda meibun shûsei, 6 vols. (Sakura:
National
Museum of Japanese History, 1993-1997).
[8] See Yoshino Chô Shi Henshû Iinkai, ed. Yoshino Chô shi,
2 vols. (Nara: Yoshino Machiyakuba, 1972) and,
for Mikumari Jinja, Sakurai Toshio,
“Yoshino Mikumari Jinja
Honden,” in Shaden 3, vol. 3 of Nihon
kenchiku shi kiso shiryô shûsei, ed. Ôta Hirotarô, pp. 48-55 (Tokyo:
Chûô Kôron Bijutsu
Shuppan, 1981).
[9] For the period
textual evidence of Hideyori’s patronage, which
includes a placard and inscribed gibôshu and mirror,
see Kawakatsu Masatarô
and Sasaki Rizô, Kyôto komei shuki (Kyoto: Suzukake Shuppanbu, 1941), pp. 334-337;
for only the placard, see National Museum of Japanese History, ed., “Hibunken shiryô no kisoteki kenkyû (munafuda)” hôkokusho, Kinki hen 1, p. 140.
[10] See GJN, vol. 2, pp. 159-161 (1600 [Keichô 5].4.18). The
placard is transcribed in National Museum of Japanese History, ed., “Hibunken
shiryô no kisoteki kenkyû (munafuda)” hôkokusho, Kinki
hen 1, p. 187.
[11] For the documentary
evidence surrounding this aspect of Hideyori’s
Daigoji project, especially Gien’s
careful diary notations, see DNS,
pt. 12, vol. 4, pp. 216-229.
[12] For a review
of the dates of the various stages of the Hôryûji
project and of the types of evidence that have been uncovered, see Moku, “Katagiri Katsumoto to Keichô no shûri,” pp. 10-13.
[13] The text of the
placard is transcribed in Sawamura Masashi, “Hôryûji
Tôin Denpôdô,” in Butsudô 1, vol. 4 of Nihon kenchiku shi kiso
shiryô shûsei, ed. Ôta
Hirotarô (Tokyo: Chûô
Kôron Bijutsu Shuppan,
1981), p. 50.
[14] Tôdaiki, in vol. 2 of
Shiseki zassan, ed.
Hayakawa Junsaburô (Tokyo: Kokusho
Kankôkai, 1911), p. 83 (1604 [Keichô
9].5.3).
[15] Tôdaiki, p. 109 (1607 [Keichô 12].9.10).
This passage is cited in Fujii, “Toyotomi Hideyori no shaji zôei to sono ikô,”
p. 56.