Episode 98: The Legend of Shotoku Taishi
14th century image of Shotoku Taishi at age 16, praying for the recovery of his father, Tachibana no Tohoyi, from illness. Photo by author, taken at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
This episode we start to look at Shōtoku Taishi, the Crown Prince of Great Virtue. He is a legendary figure, and his story is probably an amalgamation of several stories put together. That said, determining the story of the real prince, vice the legend, is a task that can cause any scholar pause. Here we’ll mainly look at the narrative surrounding him and try to get a sense of these stories.
Timeline of Shōtoku Taishi’s Life
574 - Born
593 - Umayado was made Crown Prince [Taishi]
593 - Umayado's father, Tachibana no Toyohi, was removed and re-interred in the tomb of Shinaga, in Kawachi
593 - Building of Shitennouji started
594 - Kashikiya Hime instructed Umayado and Umako to promote Buddhism
595 - Hye-cha (Eiji) arrives from Goguryeo and becomes Umayado's teacher
596 - Hōkōji is "finished"
601 - Umayado begins construction of the Ikaruga Palace
603, 2/4 - Kashikiya Hime consults with Umako and Umayado on what to do after the death of Prince Kume, who was going to lead an expedition to "free" Nimna
603, 11/1 - Umayado has a Buddhsit image and offers it to Hata no Miyatsuko no Kawakatsu to worship. Kawakatsu founds Kōryūji in Yamashiro
603, 11th month - Umayado gets permission to commission shields, quivers, and banners as temple offerings
604 - Umayado establishes the cap ranks and the 17 Article Constitution
605, 4/1 - Kashikiya Hime had Umayado, Umako, and all of the the ministers take a vow and then commissioned an embroidered and a copper (bronze?) image of the Buddha [which was placed in Asukadera]
605, 7/1 - Umayado commands all of the ministers to wear the "Hirahi" outer garment
605, 10th month - Umayado took up residence at Ikaruga
606, 7th month - Kashikiya Hime asked Umayado to lecture on the "Shōman" sutra, which he did over 3 days. Later in that same year he lectured on the Lotus Sutra, and received 100 cho of rice paddies to support a temple on his property at Ikaruga—aka Hōryūji
607, 2/15 - Umayado and all of the ministers were ordered to worship the kami of Heaven and Earth
613 - Umayado writes the Gangōji Garan Engi
613 - Umayado journeys to Katawoka and encounters a starving man
620 - Umayado writes the "Kūjiki" (supposedly)
621 - Umayado dies, he is buried in the Shinaga Misasagi (with his father)
624 - Inabe Tachibana no Iratsume commissioned a member of the Hata to make a tapestry (Tenjūkoku Mandala) in honor of her husband
The main image hall and pagoda of Hōryūji, the temple built on the site of Shōtoku Taishi’s Ikaruga Palace. Back in its day, the temple would have likely been painted bright red, white, and green. Photo by author.
One of the two Miroku, or Maitreya, statues at Kōryūji, in modern Kyōto. A National Treasure, thought to be the statue given by Shōtoku Taishi to Hata no Kawakatsu. Public domain photo from Wikimedia Commons.
Tenjūkoku mandala, housed in Chūgūji. It shows the Pure Land where Shōtoku Taishi went when he passed away. It is unclear which Pure Land, however (there are various ones described in different sutras).
References
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Deal, William E. and Ruppert, Brian. (2015). A Cultural History of Japanese Buddhism. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies. ISBN: 978-1-405-16700-0.
Kazuhiko, Y., 吉田一彦, & Swanson, P. L. (2015). The Credibility of the Gangōji engi. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 42(1), 89–107. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43551912
McCallum, Donald F. (2009). The Four Great Temples: Buddhist Archaeology, Architecture, and Icons of Seventh-Century Japan. ISBN 978-0-8248-3114-1
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Deal, William (1999). Hagiography and History: The Image of Prince Shōtoku. Religions of Japan in practice. Princeton University Press. ISBN0691057893
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