일본 중세 比叡山 天台의 神佛習合 담론과 山王信仰의 수용

Abstract

This article explores medieval Tendai Buddhist discourse on the amalgamation of kami and buddhas (shinbutsu shūgō 神佛習合), particularly as represented in Keiran shūyōshū (渓嵐拾葉集), a fourteenth century encyclopedic Japanese Tendai text, which presents the highest knowledge of medieval Tendai/Taimitsu (台密) scholasticism on Mt. Hiei. The article particularly focuses on Tendai’s incorporation of the Sannō deity, the supreme divinity venerated in the Great Hie Shrine on Mt. Hiei, into the Tendai Buddhist pantheon by the honji suijaku (本地垂迹) scheme, the main “combinatory” logic that associates kami and buddhas. This study begins with delineating a brief history of the traditional Sannō worship on Mt. Hiei and then moves to examining its integration into the Tendai teachings. This historical sketch reveals the crucial influence of medieval Tendai teachings in the formation and development of Kami- Buddha discourse based on the honji suijaku structure as the combinatory framework for Kami-Buddha relations. Discussing the details of the honji suijaku scheme—its origins, Tendai’s formulation and development of the theory, and its significances, this article introduces the tradition of “chroniclers” (kike 記家), a unique feature that represents Tendai’s scholastic culture on medieval Mt. Hiei. Specifically, vital contributions of the chroniclers in developing and disseminating discourses on Kami-Buddha relationships are discussed. Keiran shūyōshū (Keiran) is introduced as the pinnacle of high medieval Tendai scholasticism, as well as being the most comprehensive work by a Tendai chronicler, Kōshū (光宗). Thus the article proceeds to examine the Kami section (shinmeibu 神明部) in Keiran in particular, where Keiran’s discussions of kami is concentrated. It illustrates nondual hon(本)-jaku(迹) relationships between Śākyamuni, the most respected buddha in Tendai/Hiei tradition, and Sannō; and consequently examines how these divinities are explained and reinterpreted from Tendai’s esoteric Buddhist perspective. Their view is shown to pivot on the notion of nonduality and the Middle Path. We will see “nonduality” is key to the medieval Tendai discourse on kami and the web of hon-jaku relationships recorded in Keiran. What calls for our special attention is that Keiran’s in-depth discussions illuminate veneration of the supreme deity of Mt. Hiei, i.e., Sannō, as the embodiment of an all-encompassing Tendai doctrinal teachings, and the principle of nonduality in particular. Moreover, as the manifestation of Śākyamuni, Sannō is interpreted as the true origin of all kami. The rationale for this view is found in Sannō’s salient role as a symbol of the Middle Path in which the three natures of reality are simultaneously encompassed. After all, Sannō is exalted in Keiran as the deity of the nondual Middle Path, all through Keiran’s explanations of Sannō based on the Tendai doctrine and practice, which is exemplified by the esoteric reading of doctrinal meanings contained in Sannō’s characters themselves. Integrating all these doctrinalized interpretations of Sannō in Keiran, we learn that Sannō in essence represents the embodiment of Tendai teachings. All in all, it can be concluded that the concept of Sannō plays the role of a type of medieval Tendai’s heuristic device in order to demand our comprehension of divinities and ultimate truth, in addition to provoking our own enlightenment.