954 cynthea j. bogel
Benevolent Kings Sūtra, Amoghavajra’s Ninnō nenju giki (
Ritual Commentary [Vidhi] on the Recitation and Contempla-
tion of the Benevolent Kings [Sūtra]).^19
A document dated 845 from the Ministry of Public Affairs
(Minbushō) responds to a request by Jichie, stating that the ministry
acts on behalf of the “imperially sanctioned various precious statues
of the Shingon sect... .”^20 These ninth-century sources confirm that the
Lecture Hall icons occupied a significant place in the ritual and visual
economy of the capital and were associated with the esoteric Shin-
gon teachings. Other clues to reception can be garnered from histori-
cal sources. An 847 record for a “dharma transmission rite” (
denpō-e) identifies the statue group for the first time as a karma
mandala:
They are the Five Buddhas, Five Great Bodhisattvas, Five Angry Ones
(Gofun’nu), Bonten, Taishakuten, and the Four Deva [Guardian] Kings
(Shitennō), etc., from within the Vajrayāna teachings. The katsuma (i.e.,
karma mandala) statues were respectfully constructed as a vow for the
health of our sovereign when he was unwell. After the statues were com-
pleted, prayers for the nation were frequently recited and chanted before
the statues, and the sūtras of the Secret Vehicle (i.e., mikkyō) were expli-
cated and chanted. Although the honorable images were completed and
the shogon 21 ceremony was carried out the year previous [846], due
to a pressing matter^22 the Denpō-e was not conducted at that time.^23(^19) Ninnō nenju giki, T. 994.19:513–19.
(^20) The Minbushō responds to Jichie’s request to sell the Shugei’in (Shugeishuchi’in)
school founded by Kūkai. Dated Jōwa 12 (845).9.10, Tōbōki 6, Hōbō-ge, ZZGR 12: 121,
quoted in NCKSS-jys 1: 64 (shiryō 15). This document specifies that the yield of the
rice fields be donated to the Tōji temple, assuring that “the sūtras, vinayas, śāstras,
and commentaries of the [texts of the] imperially sponsored Shingon sect may be
propagated for eternity.”
(^21) The Japanese Buddhist term shōgon, comprising the characters for “majestic” or
“to revere” and “adornment,” may be understood as “pious adornment” or “decora-
tive manifestation of sacrality.” Shōgon derives from the Chinese zhuangyan, which
encompasses two related but distinct concepts in ancient Indian philosophy, alamkāra
and vyūhā. Alamkāra refers to the manifestation of the divine or sacred in the earthly,
material world. Vyūhā, which means “array” or to “complete and make perfect,” often
refers to sanctification. Both alamkāra and vyūhā are used throughout the sūtras.
An array of glorious attributes, vyūhā, describes the bodhisattva Gadgadasvara (Fine
Sound) in Chapter 24 of Kumārajīva’s version of the Lotus Sūtra. For a discussion of
the term, see Mochizuki Shinkō, et al. 1974, 9: 673.
(^22) It is unclear to what the phrase “pressing matter” here refers.
(^23) The text is informally known as the Tōji denpō-e hyōhaku, in Tōbōki 6, Hōbō-ge,
ZZGR, 12: 122a and reproduced in NCKSS-jys 1: 65 (shiryō 16).