706 elizabeth tinsley
Kūkai’s Religio-political Career
Kūkai’s thought was explicated in a number of major written works
produced at Takaosanji (later renamed Jingōji), a Heiankyō temple
where Kūkai was sent by Emperor Saga in 809 and was based until
- In addition to organizing his monastic order at Takaosanji, he
began a career of administrating various other temples and officiat-
ing at performances of esoteric ceremonies for the court. Soon after
his appointment to Takaosanji, he requested permission to perform
a ceremony to benefit the state (Henjo hakki seireishū
4: KZ 8: 53–54). It was a time of upheaval and bloodshed in the
wake of a usurpation attempt by the retired emperor Heizei. Saga’s
patronage was extremely advantageous to Kūkai, but it was also, it
seems, a distraction from his religious practice. In his correspondence
with Saga, with whom a close relationship had developed built upon
shared interests in Chinese culture, calligraphy and poetry (see Henjo
hakki seireishū 3, 4: KZ 8: 39–75), indications of a frustrated longing
for seclusion to practice are perceivable. However, Kūkai’s activities
and alliances with the court and clergy from this time onwards are
evidence of his skills of cooperation and reconciliation with authority
which were crucial for the establishing of Shingon. Saga appointed
him administrator (bettō) of Tōdaiji temple, the headquarters of Nara
Buddhism, in Kōnin 1 (810) (the veracity of this claim has been ques-
tioned, Fujii 2008, 44), and of Otokunidera the following year.
Six years later, Kūkai submitted a request to be granted land for a
monastery, Kongōbuji , at Mount Kōya in the pres-
ent Wakayama prefecture. He saw Kōya as a place of peaceful retreat
and consecrated the land, invoking the protection of the mountain
deities in 819 (Nicoloff 2007, Gardiner 2001, Matsunaga 1984). The
issues surrounding the “opening” of the mountain—its utilization as
a site for Buddhist practice—especially those concerned with moun-
tain deities and spiritual practices, and the residents of the area, were
elaborated in the legends of the origins of Kongōbuji, as found for
example, in the Kongōbuji konryū shugyō engi
(968), thought to be the earliest origin tale of Kongōbuji. (On the
merging of mountain ascetic and “Shinto” practices with Shingon at
Mount Kōya and their literary expressions see Gorai 1976, Hinoni-
shi 2004). The project was beset with financial obstacles and required
years of visits from the capital for the supervision of its construction.
Kūkai died before it was completed.