. shugend and its relationship 1001
All the sub-temples were occupied by seisō (“pure priests”),
fully ordained Tendai priests with Shugendō qualifications. Most were
the younger sons of village shugenja who had as youths become the
deshi of a particular sub-temple. They were formally registered as
shugenja in a rite called taigyō and ordained as Tendai shami
(novices), after which they were trained in the principle liturgies,
the Hokke senbō , and the daily services. They then did the
shido keygō at Haguro according to the Hōman-ryū but went
to Kan’eiji in Edo or Mt. Hiei to receive higher transmissions (such
as nyūdan kanjō and kaidan denpō ). They could
only receive the highest priestly ranking by taking part, as could the
village shugenja, in the Hokke sanjūkō , at which time they
received certain secret Shugendō transmissions and could serve as a
protagonist (matsu hijiri ) in the Winter Peak ritual.
Eldest sons of shugenja were similarly registered at birth and were
given the five lay precepts. Their fathers generally instructed them in
sūtra recitation, goma, and other ritual procedures (called kirikami
denpō ). They received their credentials as shugenja upon
taking part in the Autumn Peak (Akinomine ) ritual in their
fifteenth year. This was the only way to gain shugenja qualification.
After this, they were called ubasoku (lay ordained) and put
on the roster for shrine duties; their shugenja ranking depended solely
upon their participation in the Akinomine. This division between tem-
ple shugen-priests and married shugenja in the institutional makeup
of Mt. Haguro is well reflected in the organization of the ritual
calendar.
The conversion of the mountain to Tendai and its incorporation as
a branch temple of Tōeizan did not have much impact on the religious
practices of the married shugenja, but it brought great changes for
the fully ordained priests. The ritual calendar shows a clear division
between ritual performed at the main shrine according to Tendai or
Taimitsu forms by the priests, and those belonging to the Shugendō
tradition, in particular the mountain-based rituals of the Four Peaks,
centering on the shugenja themselves (while they were still an integral
part of temple activity). High-ranking shugenja, as direct retainers of
the bettō (miuchi , onbun ), were required to attend memo-
rial services for personages such as Tenkai, Tendai Daishi, Saichō, and
Tenyū, usually held at the honbō (the bettō temple) rather than at the
main shrine. Ritual performed by shugenja within their lodgings or
halls was considered private, and so was not recorded. The lack of a
written record does not mean, however, that the shugenja did not also