DŌKYŌ

Dōkyō (Yuge zenji, d. 772) was a powerful monk of the Hossō (Yogācāra) school who attempted to establish a Buddhist theocracy in Japan. Dōkyō is said to have spent several years performing austerities on the Katsuragi mountain range, an early seat of what would later be known as mountain religion (ShugendŌ). The earliest record of his presence in Buddhist circles of the Nara capital is dated 749, when he participated in a sūtra copying ceremony.

Royal instability led to a growth in the power of Buddhist institutions and monks through the mid-eighth century. Emperor Shōmu (r. 724–749) and his consort Kōmyō established Tōdaiji, which still stands today as a massive symbol of court patronage of Buddhism. When her father retired, Empress Kōken (Ae no Himemiko, 719–770) ascended the throne in 749 and attended the massive inauguration of Tōdaiji. Buddhist cultural and political power seemed to rule, and it is almost a foregone conclusion that Dōkyō witnessed these events.

Empress Kōken, however, was not married, and the absence of a male heir is probably what caused her to abdicate in 758 in favor of the imperial prince Ōi, who ascended the throne under the name Junnin. Three years later, the retired empress fell ill and Dōkyō performed rites for her recovery, marking the second time Dōkyō's name appears in historical records. He would have engaged in "secret rites of heavenly constellations" (sukuyō hihō), about which there are no details, although it is clear that the aristocracy's interest in this aspect of esoteric Buddhism began to rise around that time. His ministrations were deemed successful, and the retired empress came to regard Dōkyō as her personal healer (zenji), as well as her spiritual adviser, and she increasingly relied on him for political direction. Rumors began to spread, however, that her relationship with Dōkyō was inappropriate. When Emperor Junnin remonstrated her, it is said that the retired empress took umbrage and granted ever more support to Dōkyō. At the same time she began to plot to remove Junnin from the throne. In 763 she appointed Dōkyō to the position of monarchal vice-rector (shōsōzu), a decision that caused deep resentment on the part of the chancellor at the time, Fujiwara no Nakamaro (706–764). Nakamaro attempted to place a favorite as the next in line to the throne, but he was thwarted by Dōkyō, who had him exiled. Nakamaro was assassinated in 764. Empress Kōken immediately appointed Dōkyō to the new position of Buddhist minister of state (daijin zenji), and she deposed Junnin, who was exiled to Awaji Island and assassinated the following year. In late 763 the empress reascended the throne, this time under the name Shōtoku, and she gave Dōkyō ever more power.

In 765 she appointed Dōkyō to the highest office, naming him Buddhist chancellor of state (dajōdaijin zenji), and in 766 she appointed him to a new position that must have ruffled many a feather: Buddhist hegemon (hō-ō) or dharma king. The following year, offices for this new position were created, and Dōkyō was granted military powers. Soon court members were required to pay respects to him on the first day of the year, when—for the first time in history—the government performed Buddhist rites of penance within the compounds of the imperial palace. In 768 it was revealed that the main deity of the Usa shrine in Kyushu (Yahata, also known as Hachiman) had uttered an oracle saying that Dōkyō should be the next emperor. Shocked by this claim, courtiers who were faithful to the imperial lineage sent a trusted member, Wake no Kiyomaro (733–799), to Usa to confirm the oracle. Even though Kiyomaro would have been promised riches by Dōkyō if the outcome was in his favor, Kiyomaro is said to have received there an oracle to the effect that Dōkyō was an impostor.

A few months after the "revelation," Empress Shōtoku passed away, and, in a series of political moves that are not altogether clear, the Fujiwara house reasserted its dominance in the political world and over the Hossō monks. Dōkyō was exiled to northeastern Japan, where he died in 772 in what some say must have been an ignominious fashion. He was stripped of all titles that had been granted by his paramour, the only woman to have served twice as empress. The Hachiman deity was then given the title of Great Bodhisattva, and became the object of a long-lasting cult.

See also:Hōryūji and Tōdaiji; Yogācāra School

Bibliography

Bender, Ross. "The Hachiman Cult and the Dōkyō Incident." Monumenta Nipponica (Tokyo) 34, no. 2 (1979): 125–153.

Weinstein, Stanley. "Aristocratic Buddhism." In The Cambridge History of Japan, Vol. 2: Heian Japan, ed. Donald H. Shively and William H. McCullough. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Allan G. Grapard