From the Monstrous to the God-Like:
The Pacification of Vengeful Spirits
in Early-Medieval Japanese Handscrolls
Sara L. Sumpter
Abstract
In the thirteenth-century handscroll set Kitano Tenjin Engi emaki (The Illustrated
Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine), the story’s climactic scenes are expressed
via startlingly garish depictions of intense violence. The scrolls depict the life,
death, and posthumous revenge of the ninth-century courtier Sugawara no
Michizane (845-903), and in their most iconic illustration a bright red, muscular,
animal-faced demon—a manifestation of Michizane’s wrath—flies over a scene of
utter chaos, dispensing retribution from a swirl of roiling black clouds. The
demonic Michizane is roasting his former rivals with piercing bolts of lightning,
and they are shown dead or dying, some of them still on fire. Despite this startling
representation of such a monstrous act, the end of the tale depicts the
transformation of Michizane into a patron deity through the placatory acts of the
people he has terrorized.
This narrative development reflects the distinctive Japanese conceptualization of
monstrous creatures, which operates under the assumption that ‘monsters’ can
sometimes be made into ‘gods’ through human agency. The spirits that animate
these beings are neutral and liminal—at once the subject of mankind’s whims and
the judge of our behavior—and consequently they cannot always be considered
‘monsters’ in the traditional sense. In this paper I argue that the depiction of the
transformation of such spirits from dangerous to benevolent characters is integral
to the act of placation that took place with the creation of the handscrolls. Rather
than being a mere metaphor for placation, the painted representation of such spirits
is itself a pacifying act. Through a careful examination of this handscroll and
analysis of the early Japanese religious practice of spirit pacification, my
investigation will shed light on the uniquely mutable character of such ‘monster’
in early medieval Japan.
Key Words: Sugawara no Michizane, Kitano Tenjin Engi emaki, Japanese
handscrolls, spirit pacification beliefs, vengeful spirits, monsters, medieval Japan,
Heian period, Kamakura period.
*****
From the Monstrous to the God-Like
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When contemplating things of a monstrous nature, it is often tempting to
assume an inherent, characterizing evil that can be cleanly juxtaposed against an
angelic goodness. The Japanese conceptualization adheres to a far more fluid
perception that admits no simple binary but instead operates under the assumption
that ‘monster’ can be made into ‘gods’ through human agency. Equally possible
is the ability of ‘gods’ to become ‘monsters’ through human inaction. The spirits
that animate these beings are therefore neutral and liminal – at once the subject of
mankind’s whims and the judge of our behavior – and consequently cannot always
be considered ‘monsters’ in the traditional sense.
One of the best examples of this phenomenon is the process of legend-building
that surrounded the ninth-century courtier Sugawara no Michizane (845-903) from
the time of his death in the early-tenth century until the production of a set of
handscrolls illustrating his story in the thirteenth century. During the roughly threehundred-year period in between, Michizane ran the gamut from vicious,
retribution-seeking vengeful spirit to benevolent patron deity and back again. This
perception of his character as a constantly changeable thing and the subsequent
processes by which he shifted back and forth between seemingly polar opposite
roles is indicative of the general view of ‘gods’ and ‘monsters’ during the early
medieval period.1
Sugawara no Michizane’s liminality is plainly represented in the handscroll set
that illustrates the story of his life, downfall, death, posthumous revenge against
those who conspired against him, and development into a kindly deity who assists
the downtrodden. Despite appearing midway through the tale in the form of a
monstrous thunder god, who dispenses fiery, bloody retribution, it is ultimately
averred that Michizane’s angry spirit – having been appeased by the rituals
undertaken on his behalf – transforms into a heavenly entity that afterwards works
for the good of pure-minded petitioners. In a replication of the legendary acts of the
man and his spirit, the Michizane in the illustrated story shifts from monstrous to
god-like with equal fluidity.
In this paper, I argue that the depiction, typified by the Michizane example, of
such liminal spirits as transitioning from dangerous to benevolent characters is
integral to the act of placation that took place with the creation of the handscrolls.
Rather than being a mere metaphor for placation, the painted representation of such
spirits is itself a pacifying act. I will begin with a brief account of Michizane’s life
and death within the context of Heian period spirit pacification practices, then I
will examine the thirteenth-century handscroll set, Kitano Tenjin Engi emaki (The
Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine) and suggest a reason for its having
been produced some three-hundred years after Michizane’s death.
Sugawara no Michizane was born into a family of low-ranking aristocrats. Both
his father and grandfather had achieved relative success as scholars, and Michizane
initially followed in their footsteps. 2 He entered the court university at eighteen
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and progressed speedily, ultimately taking up a post as professor at the university
before moving on to a variety of bureaucratic positions within the court
government. Near the end of his bureaucratic career, he rose through the ranks to
achieve an astonishing level of power. In 899, he was appointed to the post of
Minister of the Right, the third highest position at court, at the age of fifty-four.
Michizane’s considerable elevation of status was mainly due to the patronage
of the retired Emperor Uda (867-931; r. 887-897), who saw in the modest politician
the means to maintain a balance of power at court, and it was not without danger.
Rivals of Michizane’s, who resented the role he played in court politics, conspired
to have him removed. In 901, the anti-Michizane faction, led by Minister of the
Left Fujiwara no Tokihira (871-909), managed to convince the ruling emperor,
Daigo (885-930; r. 897-930), that Michizane was planning to force him to abdicate
in favor of the crown prince. Branded a traitor and would-be usurper, Michizane
was exiled to Dazaifu on Kyushu and died there two years later in disgrace.
In the years after Michizane’s death, ominous events began to occur in the
capital city of Heian-kyô (present-day Kyoto). Fires, floods, and epidemics
bombarded the city, and one-by-one the men who had been involved in the plot to
disgrace Michizane died – of illness or by accident – and their descendants began
to die as well. Tokihira died in 909 of disease at age thirty-nine, and his nephew,
the crown prince and a son of Emperor Daigo, died in 923 at age twenty-one.
Tokihira’s grandson, afterwards named crown prince, died in 925 at only five years
old. In 930, Emperor Daigo himself fell ill and passed away after lightning struck
the palace and set it afire, killing four courtiers – among them conspirators against
Michizane – in the process.3
The fearful court, familiar with the machinations of pestilence deities and
vengeful spirits, began to suspect that Michizane’s wrath lay behind the ongoing
difficulties, and they set about pacifying his spirit through means developed in the
preceding centuries. The process by which spirit pacification beliefs evolved is
difficult to trace, as much of the development took place before the advent of
writing in Japan. However, we do know that spirit pacification rites, known as
goryô e (ceremonies for the august spirits), most likely derived from early cultic
activities – probably imported from the continent – that were centered on
pestilence deities and related to the prevention and cessation of plagues and natural
disasters.4
The supposed earliest occurrence of a goryô e, which took place in 863, is
recorded in the Nihon sandai jitsuroku (An Authentic Account of Three
Generations in Japan). In this ceremony, members of the court attempted to placate
the vengeful spirits of six men and women who had died in the midst of political
intrigue and who were believed to be responsible for an epidemic that was
devastating the countryside. This ceremony was not the first religious rite to be
undertaken in an attempt to end the epidemic; in fact the court had already tried a
combination of unsuccessful rituals, Buddhist and otherwise, to end the plague. 5
From the Monstrous to the God-Like
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This proliferation of spiritual practices indicates not just the degree to which
Japanese of this period believed themselves capable of influencing the behavior of
god-like monstrous beings but also their willingness to try anything when faced
with challenges from the volatile unknown.
Once the reoccurring fires, floods, and epidemics were attributed to Michizane,
the court hastily set about placating him. After the death of the first crown prince in
923, Michizane was posthumously pardoned, reinstated, and promoted to a higher
rank. These attempts at pacification, however, were not sufficient, and problems
persisted. In 941, a Buddhist priest named Nichizô claimed to have interacted with
Michizane’s spirit while in a trance state. In his report to the court, Nichizô alleged
that he had met Michizane in one of the heavenly realms. There, Michizane
explained that he still bore great anger towards those who had wronged him and
that he would punish them unless he was made a Buddha.6
One year after Nichizô’s report to the court, a woman named Tajihi no Ayako
received an oracle from Michizane stating his desire to be venerated at Kitano, at
that time a meadow-land just outside the precincts of the capital.7 The court
fulfilled Michizane’s request in 947, founding a shrine for him at Kitano that
would be extensively expanded in 959. From that point on, court patronage of the
site continued with a fair degree of regularity. In 976, the Sugawara clan was
awarded control Kitano Shrine in what was likely a further act of placation. By the
late 980s, scholars were visiting Kitano to make offerings to Michizane as a god of
literature – Michizane had been a noted poet in his day – and the shrine was added
to a list of nineteen government-sanctioned Shinto shrines. Ultimately, Michizane
was offered additional posthumous promotions and raised to the position of Grand
Minister. In 1004, Emperor Ichijô (980-1011; r. 986-1011) himself made a
pilgrimage to Kitano. Thus, by the start of the eleventh century, the spirit of
Michizane – once a monstrous force to be contended with – had been placated and
thus converted into a benevolent patron deity.
Michizane’s continued position as a patron deity in the eleventh century is
reasonably well catalogued. Literary collections from this period often contained
introductory prefaces and dedicated poems that attested to Michizane’s erudition in
life and status as the patron deity Tenjin (lit. heavenly deity) in the afterlife. Ôe no
Masafusa (1041-1111), one of the most noted and powerful scholars of his time,
was a particular proponent of this new cult of Tenjin – writing several poems about
and prayers in praise of Michizane.8 Masafusa’s poems provide a valuable insight
into worship of Michizane in the eleventh century; in particular, they demonstrate
that while the events of the tenth century were somewhat remembered, the
perception of Michizane’s role in them had become diluted by this point. Now a
god of literature and scholarly pursuits, Michizane’s earlier penchant for murder
and mayhem were effectively forgotten. This turnabout leads us to a necessary
question. Given Michizane’s obvious development into a patron deity of
bureaucrats and scholars in the tenth and eleventh centuries, why then does he
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appear in monstrous form in a set of handscrolls that were painted in the thirteenth
century?
The answer may lie in the socio-political situation of the period in which the
handscroll set was produced. The end of the Heian era was a particularly fraught
time period. Beginning in the mid-1100s, a series of political disturbances and
uprisings, battles over imperial succession and disputes between rival military
clans, began to eat away at the fabric of the society. The precarious political
atmosphere devolved completely in 1180 with the beginning of a prolonged
conflict that would come to be known as the Gempei War. Though the war, which
was more properly a series of skirmishes between warring military families, did not
impact every corner of the Heian state, it did wreak havoc in the capital and its
surrounding environs, and in its aftermath the imperial court found itself
effectively out of power.9
As we have seen, spirit pacification practices were often undertaken in response
to situations that threatened the stability of the state – most often epidemics or
natural calamities. Given this underlying perception of cause and effect, it is not
unreasonable to suppose that the Japanese of this period believed supernatural
forces to be a factor in the growing lack of socio-political stability and that they
would have attempted to pacify the spirits, once allies of the court, now perceived
to be displeased. The act of producing the Kitano Tenjin Engi emaki – hereafter
referred to as the Tenjin scrolls – which concern the life and death of a figure that
previously had been transformed into a patron of the courtier class through
placatory rituals, seems likely to be a prime example of such pacification attempts.
Sets of the Tenjin scrolls began to be produced in the late-twelfth or earlythirteenth century and are thought to have been based on a late-twelfth-century
text. Production continued through the nineteenth century, and today there are
some thirty extant examples.10 Complete handscroll sets break Michizane’s story
down into three chronological sections comprised of thirty-one episodes: the first
thirteen episodes relate his life, achievements, downfall, and death; the middle nine
episodes concern the revenge exacted by his angry spirit; the final nine episodes
illustrate the steps taken to placate him and his subsequent conversion into a
benevolent deity that protects those who worship him.
The depiction of Michizane in the middle portion of the tale is particularly
gruesome. He appears in a variety of guises: as a ghost, as a thunder god, and as
pair of snakes invading the body of rival on his deathbed. In each of the cases, his
malevolent intent is specifically alluded to in the accompanying images. As a
ghost, Michizane engages in an aggressive magical competition with a Buddhist
priest. As a thunder god, he attacks the palace and courtiers within it – setting both
wooden structure and human bodies aflame with bolts of lightning. As a pair of
snakes, he emerges from the ears of a sickened rival to insist upon the cessation of
prayers that might otherwise save the man’s life. His various machinations are both
From the Monstrous to the God-Like
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relentless and terrifying. Nevertheless, in the end, Michizane is shown to have
converted. The building of the Kitano Shrine leads to his transformation into a
compassionate higher power that protects the weak and abused as well as the
erudite and enterprising.
Scholars have long considered the possibility that certain handscroll sets were
produced in order to placate specific people believed to have become restless
spirits. Said production is thought to have operated in much the same way that
Buddhist sutras were sometimes produced to generate merit for oneself or one’s
loved ones.11 However, such a process does not explain the appearance of
graphically violent imagery in the Tenjin scrolls. If the purpose of these handscrolls
was merely to appease the spirit of Sugawara no Michizane there would likely have
been no need to recall the ugliness of past legends.
By contrast, if the handscroll sets themselves represent a tangible performance
of the placation process, the violent imagery they contain seems to have more
relevance. Perusal of the entire handscroll set takes the viewer through roughly
one-hundred-and-fifty years of Michizane’s various existences. He is born, excels,
is betrayed, dies, returns to punish his enemies, and at last is made content through
the placatory actions of the court. The illustration of the actual acts of placation
undertaken by the court in the tenth century is significant, as is the further
illustration the eventual result of those acts. Taken together, they represent a
symbolic repeating of a performance that could not be made again in reality. In the
thirteenth century, the Kitano Shrine could not be built for Michizane again in fact,
but it could be built for him again in fiction. In the Tenjin scrolls we see a
reenactment whereby the volatile spirit of Michizane is once more made quiescent.
In this paper, we have explored the spiritual culture of Heian period Japan and
specifically considered how the inherent liminality of monstrous spirits impacted
upon the development and modification of legends surrounding the courtier
Sugawara no Michizane. In keeping with prevailing beliefs about the fundamental
nature of spirits, the perception of Michizane’s character shifted regularly in
response to socio-political changes over the course of three centuries and resulted
in repeated and varied pacification attempts. While Michizane was viewed as a
kindly patron of literature during the eleventh and early-twelfth centuries, when the
court was in a period of relative stability, his temperament changed as more and
more chaos engulfed the capital and the courtiers who had once put their faith in
him.
This paper represents only a single case study, and many fascinating questions
about the role of handscroll production in early medieval spirit pacification
practices remain. Do other handscrolls from this period reveal similar trends of
spiritual behavior? And if so, how might we best make use of these historical
documents to reconstruct socio-religious practice in this period? Furthermore, how
does Buddhist demonology, often a major subject in Japanese painting of the early
Sara L. Sumpter
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medieval period, impact the development of these beliefs about ‘monsters’?
Nevertheless, even from this brief examination, it is clear that early-medieval
Japanese perceptions of the ‘monsters’ surrounding them were exceedingly
complicated and far more intertwined with daily life than may previously have
been suspected.
Notes
1
For the purposes of this paper, the early medieval period is considered to cover the end of Heian (794-1185) period and the
beginning of the Kamakura (1185-1333) period; roughly the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
2
The details of Michizane’s life, death, and deification have been extensively researched by Robert Borgen. Unless
otherwise noted, subsequent statements about Michizane’s life should be regarded as deriving from his study. Please see
Sugawara no Michizane and the Early Heian Court (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1994).
3
Accounts of these calamities can be found in Borgen, Sugawara no Michizane, 307-336, and in the writings of Herbert
Plutschow. See ‘Fujiwara Politics and Religion – Goryô Cult and the Kitano Tenjin Engi and Kitano Tenjin Engi Emaki,’ in
Florilegium Japonicum: Studies Presented to Olof G. Lidin on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday (Copenhagen: Akademisk
Forlag, 1996), 215-228; and ‘Tragic Victims in Japanese Religion, Politics, and the Arts,’ Anthropoetics 6, no. 2 (Fall
2000/Winter 2001): http://www.anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap0602/japan.htm.
4
The development of spirit pacification practices is discussed at length in Neil McMullin, ‘On Placating the Gods and
Pacifying the Populace: The Case of the Gion Goryô Cult,’ History of Religions 27, no. 3 (Feb 1988): 270-293. A more
general discussion of religious practices in Heian period Japan can be found in Donald H Shively and William H.
McCullough, ‘Religious Practices,’ The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 2: Heian Japan (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1999), 517-575.
5
Cited in Kuroda Toshio, ‘The World of Spirit Pacification: Issues of State and Religion,’ trans. Allan Grapard, Japanese
Journal of Religious Studies 23, 3-4 (1996): 323-325.
6
Nichizô’s account of his travels in the afterworld is translated in Carmen Blacker, The Catalpa Bow: A Study of
Shamanistic Practices in Japan, 2nd edition, (London/Boston: G. Allen & Unwin, 1986), 191, 194-196.
7
The records related to the oracle received by Tajihi no Ayako have not been translated into English, they can nevertheless
be found in the original Japanese. See Kitano, ed. Makabe Toshinobu, vol. 11 of Shintô taikei: jinja hen (Tokyo: Shintô
Taikei Hensankai, 1978), 8-10; 30-32; 87; 603-605.
8
An in-depth exploration of Masafusa’s adoption of Tenjin worship and the reasons behind it can be found in Robert
Borgen, ‘Ôe no Masafusa and the Spirit of Michizane,’ Monumenta Nipponica 50, no. 3 (Autumn 1995): 357-384.
9
Much has been written on the Gempei War. See in particular G. Cameron Hurst III, Insei: Abdicated Sovereigns in the
Politics of Late Heian Japan, 1086-1185 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1976), and Jeffrey Mass, Yoritomo and
the Founding of the First Bakufu: The Origins of Dual Government in Japan (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999).
10
The earliest extant example is the Jôkyû version, so named because it is believed to have been produced during the Jôkyû
era (1219-1221), but it is generally not considered to be the first version of the handscroll set as it is incomplete. For a
complete discussion of the scrolls’ genealogical relationship to one another, see Murase Miyeko, ‘The Tenjin Engi Scrolls
—A Study of Their Genealogical Relationship,’ PhD Dissertation, Columbia University, 1962.
11
Kevin Gray Carr, ‘Introduction to “Explaining the ‘Mystery’ of Ban Dainagon ekotoba” by Matsuo Kenji,’ Japanese
Journal of Religious Studies 28, no. 1-2 (2001): 103-106; Matsuo Kenji, ‘Explaining the “Mystery” of Ban Dainagon
ekotoba,’ trans. Kevin Gray Carr, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 28, no.1-2 (2001): 107-131; Herbert Plutschow,
Chaos and Cosmos: Ritual in Early and Medieval Japanese Literature (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1990).
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Mass, Jeffrey. Yoritomo and the Founding of the First Bakufu: The Origins of Dual Government in Japan. Stanford:
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Matsuo Kenji. ‘Explaining the “Mystery” of Ban Dainagon ekotoba.’ Translated by Kevin Gray Carr. In Japanese Journal
of Religious Studies vol. 28, no. 1-2 (2001), 106-131.
McMullin, Neil. ‘On Placating the Gods and Pacifying the Populace: The Case of the Gion “Goryô” Cult.’ In History of
Religions vol. 27, no. 3 (Feb 1988), 270-293.
Murase Miyeko. ‘The Tenjin Engi Scrolls—A Study of Their Genealogical Relationship.’ PhD Dissertation, Columbia
University, 1962.
Plutschow, Herbert. Chaos and Cosmos: Ritual in Early and Medieval Japanese Literature. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1990.
–––. ‘Fujiwara Politics and Religion – Goryô Cult and the Kitano Tenjin Engi and Kitano Tenjin Engi Emaki.’ In
Florilegium Japonicum: Studies Presented to Olof G. Lidin on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday. Copenhagen: Akademisk
Forlag, 1996, 215-228.
–––. ‘Tragic Victims in Japanese Religion, Politics, and the Arts.’ In Anthropoetics vol. 6, no. 2 (Fall 2000/Winter 2001),
http://www.anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap0602/japan.htm. Accessed January 25, 2008.
Shively, Donald H. and William H. McCullough. “Religious Practices.” In The Cambridge History of Japan Volume 2:
Heian Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999, 517-575.
Sara L. Sumpter is a PhD student in the Department of the History of Art & Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh.
Her research explores the impact of socio-political strife on the development of Japanese horror iconography through Heian
and Kamakura period handscrolls.