Warrior Monks, Japanese/Sôhei
The sôhei (monk-warriors) have come to represent the immense secular
power that Buddhist temples possessed in Japan more than anything else.
Although the term itself does not appear in Japanese sources until A.D 1715
(imported from Korea), more than a century after armed monks and their
followers had ceased to play any significant role, it has been used to denote
a wide range of religious military forces in the pre-1600 era. Today, ac-
counts of monks who engaged in warfare are muffled by and intertwined
with literary and artistic representations, making it difficult to discern their
origins, role, and changing character in Japanese history.
Taken in its broadest meaning, the sôhei may include not only armed
monks but also various servants fighting in the name and under the pro-
tection of powerful Buddhist monasteries and affiliated shrines. As such,
they appeared as early as the eighth century, when the imperial court sent
out forces to combat “barbarians” in the eastern part of Japan. Young
monks from central Japan reportedly aided the government troops, al-
though it is unclear whether they actually carried any arms of their own.
Chronicles and diaries subsequently indicate that there were sporadic inci-
dents of violence involving monks and their followers in the ninth and early
tenth centuries. It should be noted, however, that many of the instigators
were not ordained monks but rather local strongmen, who used the cloak
of monk robes to escape taxation and to appropriate land for themselves.
It is not until the late tenth century, amidst increasing competition for
private estates and power in the capital region, that we find armed men reg-
ularly employed in the service of Buddhist temples. One of the earliest and
most reliable documentary evidences dates to 970, when Head Abbot Ryô-
gen of the monastic complex of Enryakuji, located on Mt. Hiei just north-
east of Kyoto, issued a set of rules, including prohibitions of carrying arms
within the temple compound, in order to restrict the activities of rowdy el-
ements of the clergy. Ryôgen’s edicts notwithstanding, armed clerics be-
came increasingly involved in disputes with governors and warrior retain-
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