. the tji lecture hall statue mandala 953
Ministry of the Imperial Household dated 844.^15 It gives the court’s
resolution to a petition from Jichie requesting clothing and food for
acolytes serving at a one hundred and six-day offerings service (kuyō
) at the Lecture Hall. In the document, the statues are referred
to as the “imperially sanctioned Shingon statues newly constructed”
and the hall as the “newly built Shingon hall.”^16 They are described as
“three groups in a row”: “at the altar center, Five Buddhas; to the left,
Five Bosatsu; and to the right side, Five Angry Honorable [Ones] (Go
fun’nu son ).”^17 The rest of the statues are not mentioned.
The term used for the right-side group today, “Five Great Myōō,” was
not yet in circulation. “Five Angry [Honorable] Ones” indicates famil-
iarity with terminology in rituals of Amoghavajra’s “translation” of the
Benevolent Kings Sūtra (Ninnōkyō ), newly imported by Kūkai.
The sūtra uses the term inu ( , “terrible,” “fierce”); however, a rit-
ual text for the sūtra uses the term fun’nu (“honorable”), which
is also used in the 844 document.^18 The text is a ritual text for the
(^15) Document dated Jōwa 11 (844).6.16, Dajōkanpu kunaishō, Tōbōki 1, Buppō-jō,
ZZGR 12: 17b, quoted in NCKSS-jys 1: 64 (shiryō 14).
(^16) The wide chronological gaps between documents and statements, such as “newly
constructed” statues or hall in 844, in reference to a hall that was finished before 835,
suggests that governmental attention to the project was lacking, as do petitions for
financial assistance.
(^17) There is some ambiguity as to the naming of the groups. “At the altar center,
Five Buddhas” could be interpreted as, “at the center, Womb [mandala]
Five Buddhas”; and “to the right side, Five Angry Ones” could be inter-
preted as “to the right, Directional Five Angry Ones.” Dajōkanpu Kunaishō, Tōbōki
1, Buppō-jō 18 , ZZGR 12: 17b.
The full title is the Sūtra of Perfect Wisdom for Benevolent Kings Who Wish to
Protect Their States (Renwang hu guo banrou boluomiduo, commonly abbreviated to
Renwang jing; Jpn. Ninnōkyō or Ninnō hannyakyō). Amoghavajra’s translation, with
extensive notations (by an unknown hand), is T. 246.8:834c–845a. An earlier recen-
sion of the Benevolent Kings Sūtra is T. 245, Kumārajīva, fifth century. For the English
translation of the title, I use Benevolent Kings Sūtra, but recognize Charles Orzech’s
considerable contributions to study of the sūtra and his translation, “Humane Kings.”
See Orzech 1996c, 372–80 (portions of section 5 and all of section 8 of the sūtra),
and a full translation in Orzech 1998. Ryūichi Abé uses “Virtuous Kings.” There are
four ritual commentaries (vidhi, gui-i, giki) on the sūtra, three of which are attributed
to Amoghavajra (but were probably produced by his disciples). Of greatest impor-
tance in Japan is the Renwang niansong yigui, on the Recitation and Contemplation
of the Benevolent Kings [Sūtra] (Shinyaku ninnōgokoku hannya kyō darani nenju
giki, commonly referred to as the Ninnō nenju giki), T. 994.19: 513–19, noted here.
Others are T. 995.19: 519–22 (Methods for Chanting the Benevolent Kings Sūtra); T.
996.19:522–25 (Commentary of the Dharanī of the Benevolent Kings Sūtra); and one by
Amoghavajra’s disciple Liangbi (discussed later in this chapter), T. 1709.33: 429–523
(Commentary on the Benevolent Kings Sūtra).