Table Of ContentBuddhist Rainmaking in Early Japan: The Dragon King and the Ritual Careers of Esoteric
Monks
Author(s): Brian O. Ruppert
Reviewed work(s):
Source: History of Religions, Vol. 42, No. 2 (Nov., 2002), pp. 143-174
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3176409 .
Accessed: 04/07/2012 15:10
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
.
The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to History
of Religions.
http://www.jstor.org
Brian 0. Ruppert BUDDHIST
RAINMAKING IN EARLY
JAPAN: THE DRAGON
KING AND THE
RITUAL CAREERS OF
ESOTERIC MONKS
Originallyw, hent he Thus-ComeO ne [Buddhac] amet o Wu-ch'ang
to proselytize,t he dragonk ing [there]w as angrya ndm adea great
wind and rain.... The dragonk ing residedi n a pond to the west
of the [body of] water [there].A t the edge of the pond was a
temple with more than fifty monks. Every time the dragonk ing
madew onders,t he king [of the country]o fferedp rayersw ith gold,
jade and othert reasurest, hrowingt hem into the pond;a nd when
washed ashore, the monks took them. The temple relied on the
dragon for [the necessities of life such as] food and clothing.
People of the day called it Dragon King Temple. (YANGH SUAN-
CHIHL, o-yangc h'ieh-lan-ch[i mid-sixthc entury])1
The universal human concern with rain and its dispensation has, we
might say, been intimately connected with the construction of not only a
variety of metaphors of origin and renewal but also the creation of mul-
tifarious religious rituals undertaken for purposes of rainmaking. The
sources of rain were conceived in various ways, most commonly as one
form or another of deity, especially associated with the heavens or with
creation in general. And, as Ann Dunnigan noted, rainmakersw ere most
1 Takakusu Junjir6 and Watanabe Kaigyoku, eds., Taisho shinshu daizokyo (Tokyo:
Taish6 issaikyo kankokai, 1924-32) (hereafter referredt o as T), vol. 51, no. 2092: 1020a.
For another translation, see Yi-t'ung Wang, trans., A Record of Buddhist Monasteries in
Lo-yang (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1984), pp. 230-31.
? 2002 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.
0018-2710/2003/4202-0003$ 10.00
144 Buddhist Rainmaking in Early Japan
commonly shamans, often simultaneously chiefs or rulers who "were
the most important members of the community and exerted enormous
authority over the group."2
A variety of means were used to petition deities for rain. In East Asia,
the ritual methods ran the gamut from benign prayers to coercive tactics.
In his exploration of the Chinese case, Alvin P. Cohen gave attention to
sundry means such as appeals through "sympathetic magic" undertaken
toward dragon images, rain dances by shamans, the ritual exposure of
shamans'b odies or even their self-sacrifice, not to mention coercive meth-
ods sometimes used in which the deity was demoted in rank or otherwise
threatenedw ith violence or destruction.3
Among these objects of rain petition in East Asia, dragons have long
been associated with royal power as well as with the ability to control the
elements. In this context, scholars have been interested in the legends
and ritual practices related to dragons, especially the petitions to dragons
for rain.4 However, their interest in such prayers has usually been lim-
ited-that of Cohen constituting a typical case-to Chinese examples.
Moreover, these studies have virtually ignored Buddhist rainmaking
practices, which is all the more striking given their pronouncedc haracter
in East Asian religious and political history.5
Literarya ccounts depicting the powers of dragon-like creaturesc an be
traced to the Indian subcontinent, where Buddhist scriptures depicted
serpent-deities (nagas) that guarded the Buddha and Buddhist treasures
such as relics (sarira) and sutras.6T hey also, on occasion, depicted ser-
2 Encyclopedia of Religion, s.v. "rain."
3 Alvin P. Cohen, "Coercing the Rain Deities in Ancient China," History of Religions
17, nos. 3-4 (1978): 244-65.
4 Studies of note include M. W. de Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan (Amsterdam:
Johannes Miller, 1913); Robert des Rotours, "Le culte des cinq dragons sous la dynastie
des T'ang (618-907)," in Melanges de sinologie offerts a monsieur Paul Demieville (Paris:
Presses Universitaires de France, 1966), pp. 261-85; and Michael Loewe, "The Cult of the
Dragon and the Invocation for Rain," in Chinese Ideas about Nature and Society: Studies
in Honour ofDerk Bodde, ed. Charles Le Blanc and Susan Blader (Hong Kong: Hong Kong
University Press, 1987), pp. 195-213. For recent Japanese overviews concerning the Chi-
nese dragon, largely from the perspective of the history of art, see Hayashi Minao, Ryi no
hanashi-zuzo kara toku nazo (Tokyo: Chuko shinsho, 1993); and Ikegami Sh6ji, Ryu no
hyakka (Tokyo: Shinchosha, 2000).
5 The only study that includes the Japanese case and concerns Buddhism at any length
is the general survey by M. W. de Visser, which dates to the early twentieth century, pp.
21-25, 113-21, and 152-78. Geoffrey Bornas's Japanese Rainmaking and Other Folk
Practices (London, 1963) provides a general overview of rainmakinga nd a variety of other
rites in Japan. Chou Yi-Liang offered an excellent early study of Chinese esoteric Bud-
dhism in "Tantrismi n China,"H arvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 3-4 (1945): 241-332,
including brief accounts of Buddhist rainmakinga nd passages in Shan-wu-wei's, Vajrabo-
dhi's, and Amoghavajra'sb iographies concerning Chinese Tantric Buddhist rain rites.
6 The best-known narrativec oncerning a naga in early Buddhism was that of the niga
king Mucalinda,w ho protectedt he Buddhaf rom wind and rain for seven days undert he Bo-
dhi tree. Nagas constituted the second of the eight classes of deities and demideities who
History of Religions 145
pent-deities who were antagonistic in character, such as the ndga king
that tried to burn the Buddha, who responded by creating a superior fire
by means of samddhi, subduing the deity and placing him in his begging
bowl.7
Importantf or us, however, is the fact that the serpent-deities of Bud-
dhism could also control the elements. The position of such deities as the
objects of rain prayers was especially pronouncedi n Mahayana,p articu-
larly esoteric Buddhist, traditions.I n East Asia, they took on the guise of
dragons (Ch. lung; J. ryu) whose powers could be appropriatedt o make
rain.
This study, throughf ocusing on the development of Buddhist rainmak-
ing rites in the Heian era (794-1185), analyzes the efforts of esoteric
Buddhist monks to improve their relations with the sovereign and aristo-
crats of the Japanese court through performing rain prayers and produc-
ing literatures attesting to their abilities. As will be shown, these clerics
did so through promoting aristocrats'b elief in the existence and powers
of Buddhist dragon kings, which were especially associated with grot-
toes and ponds. Drawing upon native belief in the powers of dragons as
well as the precedent set by the Buddhist dragon of Mount Muro, they at-
tempted to convince aristocratso f the special relationship of clerics with
these dragon kings and consequent ritual ability to influence the produc-
tion of rain.
High-rankingm onks of the Shingon school of esoteric Buddhism were
particularlys uccessful in their efforts to convince others of their powers.
Their success, as we will see, was won through a threefold strategy that
crystallized between the late ninth and tenth centuries. First, the clerics
produced a narrativet raditiont hat appealed to the ritual prestige of Kukai
(774-835)-particularly the story that he had performed a rain rite on
behalf of the sovereign-to claim that Shingon monks had unique abili-
ties in rain prayer. They promoted a reputed Last Testament( Go-yuigo)
as well as a series of biographies of Kuikaib etween the late ninth and
early twelfth centuries that portrayedt he master as a great rainmaker.
At the same time, these narrativec onstructions also helped the monks
to reinterprett he topos of the capital, Heian-ky6 (Kyoto). In particular,
the stories depicted the dragon king Zennyo as residing in the royal plea-
sure garden Shinzen'en (or Shinsen'en), providing narrativee vidence of
protect Buddhism, and the Lotus Sutra depicts eight ndga kings who protect the faith (T 9,
no. 262: 2a). In Buddhism, it was understood that the ndgas enjoy wealth, and once con-
verted to Buddhism they protected the treasures of the tradition. For a discussion of their
position in Buddhist popular religiosity, see Lowell W. Bloss, "The Buddha and the Naga:
A Study in Buddhist Folk Religiosity," History of Religions 13 (1973): 37-53.
7 For a useful analysis of representationso f ndgas in early Buddhist canonical literature,
see Kumoi Akiyoshi, "Naga ko," Mikkyo bunka 160 (1987): 13-34.
146 Buddhist Rainmaking in Early Japan
his location and support for the claim that the rain prayers of Shingon
monks compelled him to provide rain in time of drought.I n doing so, the
Shingon monks-especially those living in or near the capital-suc-
ceeded in grafting the Buddhist cosmos onto the capital, insofar as they
represented Zennyo Ryiu as the naga king of continental Buddhist lit-
eraturew ho inhabited Anavatapta( J. Anokudatchi) pond in the northern
Himalayas-the water source for the four main rivers of Jambudvipa.8
Finally, the Shingon monks produced a regime of rainmaking ritual
throughu sing the esoteric Rite of the Scriptureo n Rain Prayer (Shougyo
[no] ho) and other esoteric rituals (shuho) on behalf of the government
and powerful aristocrats.T heir possession of rainmakings uitrasa, nd their
presumed knowledge of the rituals described therein, gave them access
to the powers of the dragon king of Shinzen'en that was available to no
other group of clerics.
The late Kuroda Toshio once noted that the medieval discourse pro-
claiming the mutual dependence of the royal law (obo) and Buddhist law
(buppo) was primarilya "catch-phrase"b ehind which "lay the actual sys-
tem and thought that allowed it to have currency."9T his study is thus
offered as part of an effort to give flesh to our understandingo f the con-
nection between Buddhism and power in the early medieval era. We will
see that the relocation of the dragon king of Anavatapta to the royal
pleasure garden, the tracing of Shingon rainmakingt o the ritual ancestor
Kuikai,a nd the production of a ritual regime together helped the Shin-
gon rainmakers, who typically acquired higher status after rain prayers
through appointmentt o the abbacy of the temple Toji in the capital, es-
tablish their lineage in a unique relationship vis-a-vis the family of the
sovereign (tenno) and the powerful aristocratst here.
Indeed, the lineage of rainmaking ascribed to the monks of Shingon
representedt hem as having knowledge of and ritual access to the powers
of the dragon king, and inscribed individual monks as the ritual descen-
dants of Kikai. I engage in a brief analysis of the connection between
their relationship with the dragon king and the establishment of the
careers of Shingon monks as ritual specialists. I show that the monks' rit-
ual accomplishments vis-a-vis the dragon king came to be recognized
through their reception of higher status within the clerical system sanc-
tioned by the government-availing them of a new measure of power
that, to use the terminology of Pierre Bourdieu, might be described as
8 The most importante arly source concerning the nagas of Anavataptap ond in Chinese
Buddhist canonical literaturei s Buddhayasas'st ranslation (early fifth century) of Dirghd-
gama, Ch'ang-a-han ching (T 1, vol. 1, no. 1), pp. 116c-17a.
9 Jacqueline I. Stone, trans., "The Royal Law and the Buddhist Law,"J apanese Journal
of Religious Studies 23, nos. 3-4 (1996): 279.
History of Religions 147
"symbolic capital."10I evaluate the relevance of the analysis to the study
of relations between religious institutions and other sectors of Japanese
society by comparing our results with the insights of Kuroda, whose
views constitute the prevailing theory of power concerning medieval
Japan. Finally, I discuss the similarities and differences between the Jap-
anese Shingon rainmakingc ult and Buddhist rainmakingi n other parts of
Asia as well as the importanceo f the developing rainmakingt raditiont o
the Shingon community itself.
EAST ASIAN LITERATURES: POWERS OF DRAGONS AND METHODS
OF BUDDHIST MONKS
A general process of invitation, offering, and establishment of a relation-
ship of indebtedness with deities occurred in most Buddhist rainmaking
rites described in East Asian literatures.T here were, however, aspects of
ritual practice that were peculiar to the veneration of dragons (nagas), in
part because they were generally viewed with ambivalence. On the one
hand, while Buddhist literaturesu sually portrayedn agas as protective of
the faith, such works sometimes representedt he creatures as antagonists
to be subdued.11T hey were, in other words, in no sense revered in the
manner of Buddhas or bodhisattvas, instead ideally acting to protect
Buddhism and provide material benefits to believers. On the other hand,
they were most often depicted as dragon king deities. As kings, dragons
ideally offered a bond of patronage of the sort granted by human sover-
eigns and were from ancient times "the traditional symbol of Chinese
emperors."12T hus guarding treasures and capable of conferring boons,
they were the objects of a variety of offerings.
As deities, dragons possessed powers of a sort that sovereigns such as
the Chinese or Japanese ruler often lacked-capacities not only to confer
wealth but also to increase or decrease rainfall and harvests. It is well
10 For Bourdieu's classic discussion of the concept of symbolic capital, see his Outline
of a Theory of Practice (Cambridge:C ambridge University Press, 1991), pp. 171-83. For
a more recent discussion, see his Practical Reason (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University
Press, 1998), pp. 102-4.
11 For several renderings of the story of the Buddha subduing the evil dragon by means
of samadhi, as mentioned above, see Tseng-i a-han ching (T 2, no. 125), pp. 619c-20a;
T'ai-tzuj ui-ying pen-chi ching (T 3, no. 185), pp. 480c-81a; Fang-kuang ta-chuang-yen
ching (T 3, no. 187), p. 611b-c; Kuo-chiih sien-tsai yin-kyo ching (T 3, no. 189), p. 646a-b;
and Fo-pen hsing-chi ching (T 3, no. 190), pp. 841b-42b. As was noted, Alvin P. Cohen
has shown that not only the dragon, but also a variety of rain deities were the objects of rit-
ual coercion (see esp. pp. 251-54).
12 Howard J. Wechsler, Offerings of Jade and Silk: Ritual and Symbol in the Legitima-
tion of the T'ang Dynasty (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1985), p. 62. In con-
temporaryJ apan, the association of the dragon king with royal power is suggested by the
name of one of the most illustrious of tournamentsi n Japanese chess (shogi), the Dragon
King Battle (Ryuo Sen).
148 Buddhist Rainmaking in Early Japan
known, of course, that the virtue of the Chinese son of heaven or the Jap-
anese tenno was ideally sufficient to ensure plenitude. In the Chinese
case, the belief that the virtue (te) of the sovereign-expressed in his
enactment of ritual (li)-directly affects the cosmos was related to the
rising belief in portents and the five elements in the late Chou and Han
periods.13( The Japanese case, which is well representedb y a passage in
the chronicle Nihon shoki concerning the female ruler Kogyoku, will be
discussed in detail in the section on early historical Japan.) However, as
will be shown, ongoing droughts and their periodic recurrence brought
situations in which sovereigns themselves often searched for alternative
ritual specialists and powers by which to enrich the realm.
With the exception of a series of Dragon King Sutras and a couple of
sutraso f the Perfection of Wisdomt raditions,a ll the canonical sources on
rain prayer are products of esoteric Buddhism and were thus also trans-
lated between the sixth and eighth centuries-long after a number of
texts native to Chinese Buddhist tradition had depicted Buddhist rain-
making.14G iven such was the case, as well as for purposes of space, I
look instead at Chinese pilgrimage accounts to gain insight as to how
people in East Asia first interpretedt he Buddhist rituals of rainmaking
and then turn briefly to the records of the tantric masters who had the
most immediate influence on the rain rituals of esoteric Buddhists in
Japan. The account by the monk Fa-hsien, who traveled to India and Sri
Lanka from the late fourth to early fifth centuries, provides one of the
earliest descriptions of rainmaking rites and other rites performed by
South Asian Buddhists on behalf of dragons (nagas). Fa-hsien describes,
in reference to the Buddhist community in the Indian kingdom of
Sankasya, the veneration by Buddhists of a dragon in the area of a Bud-
dha hall (vihara) constructed by King Asoka to mark where the Buddha
descended from heaven following preaching for his mother: "There is a
white-eared dragon living there, who acts as the benefactor to the assem-
bly of monks. It makes bountiful harvest and plentiful rain according to
the season so there are no calamities, and the assembly of monks acquire
peace and feel blessed.... The country is producing and its people are
13 Ibid., pp. 25-26.
14 In particular, it was in the context of a number of "ritual" sutras and "nation-pro-
tecting" sutras that rainmaking rites would be produced. These can be grouped into four
sets of sources. First are the three Dragon King Sutras (Ch. Lung-wang ching; T 15, nos.
597-99), of which the Sea Dragon King Sitra (Ch. Hai-lung-wang ching; J. Kairyuokyo,
no. 598), translatedb y Dharmaraksa,w as probably the basis for the earliest Buddhist rain-
making rites in China. Second are the seven Peacock (King) Sutras (Ch. Kung-chiao ching;
J. Kujakukyo;T 19, nos. 982-88), only one of which, translated by Kumarajiva( Kung-
chiao wang-chou ching, T 988, pp. 481-84), dates to a relatively early period of Chinese
Buddhist history. Third are the five Great Cloud Wheel Rain Prayer Sutras (Ch. Ta-yiin-lun
ch'ing-yii ching; J. Daiunrinshougyo; T 19, nos. 989-93), all of which were translatedb e-
tween the sixth and eighth centuries.
History of Religions 149
prospering-and so they are incomparablyh appy."15T he dragon here is
not only representeda s having a capacity to act as patron of the commu-
nity but a responsibility for the wealth of the country, fulfilling a role
similar to that of a very wealthy merchant or king. At the same time,
Fa-hsien treats the dragon with some ambivalence insofar as its role is
primarily as provider for the community rather than the object of great
esteem; the importanceo f the dragon lies precisely in its ability to enrich
the community.
Moreover, Fa-hsien also represents a related yet distinct capacity
unique to the dragon-the ability to produce rain. Fa-hsien is not alone
in crediting the dragon among the creatures of the Buddhist universe
with the productiono f rain; Buddhist literatureso f Asia attributer ainfall
to the powers of the dragon more than those of the human ruler, and
other accounts by Chinese monks likewise describe the dragon as the
producer of rain, provided it receives the proper gifts and, on occasion,
coaxing.16
The travel account of the monk Hsiian-tsang (600-664) repeatedly
describes dragons (nagas) as potential benefactors of the community.
Indeed, at every point, the narrative depicts dragons as controlling the
natural elements, especially rain. One tale Hsiian-tsang tells describes
the conversion of a threateningd ragon into a great patrono f the commu-
nity, represented primarily through its control of rainfall. Hsiian-tsang
tells of a mountain near the royal city Svetavaras, at the summit of which
is a pond: "One who asks for rain or prays for clear weather, accordingly
acquires the fruit of his request."17H siian-tsang explains that the current
dragon king of the pond was in his previous life a novice who killed the
original dragon king there, but following his confession and conversion
was a patron of the Buddhist community.18
15 Kao-seng fa-hsien chiian, T 51, no. 2085, p. 860a; for another translation, see James
Legge, A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms (New York: Dover, 1965), pp. 51-52.
16 One exception, however, to the rule that rulers do not produce rain in Buddhist liter-
atures is the Kurudhamma-jatakaw, hich depicts the king of Kuru as ensuring rain through
his virtue. It should be noted that the king is Sakyamuni in a former birth. See E. B. Cowell
et al., trans., The Jdtaka, or Stories of the Buddha'sF ormer Births, 6 vols. (London: Luzac
& Co., for the Pali Text Society, 1957), vol. 2, book 3, no. 276: 251-60. I later address, in
the section on rainmaking in early Japanese history, representationso f successful prayers
by two female sovereigns for rain; however, in these cases, their success may be related
more to Confucian rather than Buddhist precedents for the influence of the virtue of the
ruler over the elements.
17 T 51, no. 2087, p. 874b; for another translation, see Samuel Beal, Buddhist Records
of the Western World, 2 vols. (London: Kegan Paul, 1906), 1:62-63.
18 The narrative is actually quite long, but we can summarize it as follows. An arhat
was originally the recipient of constant offerings from the dragon king of the lake. The
arhat, through using his mat, traveled to the dragon'sh ome; a novice secretly clung to the
underside of the mat. When they arrived, the dragon king gave food of immortality only to
the arhat, which angered the novice, who then prayed that his own religious merit be used
150 Buddhist Rainmaking in Early Japan
The Indian tantric masters of seventh- and eighth-century China in
fact had the greatest influence on the rainmaking traditions of esoteric
Buddhists in Japan. The scriptures appropriatedb y Shingon monks for
rainmakingw ere virtually all products of their translation, and their rit-
ual capacities had been repeatedly called upon by the T'ang government.
Sung Biography of Eminent Monks (Sung kao-seng chiian) includes de-
pictions of the rainmakingp ractices of the three most influential of these
masters, culminating with those of Amoghavajra( 705-74; Ch. Pu-k'ung)
and Hui-kuo (746-805), who transmittedt he Chen-yen (J. Shingon) teach-
ings and practices of Kfukaii n the early ninth century. Amoghavajra,
when called upon by the emperor, recited esoteric scriptures such as the
Peacock (King) Sutraa nd the Great Cloud WheelR ain Prayer Sutra,w hich
he himself translated,p rayingf or rain with repeateds uccess.19H ui-kuo, in
turn, later performed rainmakingr ites at the request of the emperor, and
with his success was on both occasions showered with gifts and assistant
officiants.20
RAINMAKING IN EARLY JAPAN
Rainmaking was recorded in the earliest historical period in Japan. Re-
lying on the mytho-histories produced by the government in the early
eighth century, we can imagine that the Japanese court sponsored a vari-
ety of rainmakingp ractices and that sovereigns (tenno) themselves may
have often performedt he rites. At the same time, there seem also to have
been local rites practiced in the countryside.
The mytho-history Chronicles of Japan (Nihon shoki) depicts a series
of rites performed at the time of a great drought in 642. Ministers of the
royal court first noted that local rituals had been conducted and that
horses and bulls had been sacrificed to the kami of native shrines. In
other places, frequent changes of the marketplacew ere made, or prayers
were made to river gods. In the wake of these failures, the leader of the
powerful Soga clan proposed that monks chant a Mahayana scripture, at
the time of which they also adorned figures of Buddhas, bodhisattvas,
and the four heavenly kings. A large group of monks recited the Great
Cloud and other suitras,w hile the Soga leader burned incense and uttered
a prayer.S ince the Buddhist practices were also ineffective, the recitation
to kill the dragon king so that he himself could assume the position. The wish of the novice
came true: he died that night, was reborn as a dragon king, and proceeded to kill the other.
Afterward, the new dragon king threatened the Buddhist king Kanigka'se ffort to build a
stupa and Buddha hall in honor of the dead dragon by causing a storm, but through the
power of Kaniska's merit, his opposition was overcome. The new dragon king repented
and supported the king's effort. See T 51, p. 874b-c; and Beal, pp. 63-66.
19 T. 50, no. 2061, p. 71lb.
20 For a biography of Hui-kuo, see Ta-t'ungc h'ing-lung-ssu san-chao kung-feng ta-te
hsing chuang, T 50, no. 2057, pp. 294c-96a. His connection with Kuikaii s noted on p. 295c.
History of Religions 151
was discontinued. Ultimately, however, it was the female tenno Kogyoku
who succeeded through worshiping the four directions.21
The narrative,a s part of the work's effort to legitimate royal rule, high-
lights the glory and power of the actions of the tenno. The sovereign, the
narrative emphasizes, is the most successful of ritual specialists, capa-
ble of channeling the powers of the elements. At the same time, it sug-
gests tensions between more independentp ractices-local use of animal
sacrifice and Buddhist recitation-and the ruler's own ritual activity as
priest of the polity.
Other accounts in the work, however, suggest that by the late seventh
century the Japanese court was convinced to some degree of the ritual
capacities of Buddhist monks. The work describes how the Korean
(Paekchean) monk D6oz prayed for rain with success and was on a later
occasion orderedb y the court to pray for rain-culminating in rainfall.22
Government records and temple narrativeso f the eighth century sug-
gest that rainmaking was increasingly common.23 A ritual program of
governmental offerings to deities in votive prayer for rain clearly coin-
cided with the crystallization of the Ritsuryo state in the period. The
largest number of rainmaking rites recorded in the official history Con-
tinued Chronicles of Japan (Shoku nihongi) between the years 698 and
791 were offerings of cloth, food, and other materials (hobei, twenty-one
times), followed by the offering of a horse to one or more shrines (thir-
teen), and the dispatch of envoys to pray at shrines or natural areas in-
habited by deities (eleven).24 At least six accounts, most of which are
21 Kogyoku 1, Nihon koten bungaku taikei 68 (Tokyo: Iwanami shoten, 1967), pp. 192-
93; W. G. Aston, trans., Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.D. 697
(Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, 1988), 2:175-76. The scripture referred to here, described as
Daiungyo (Great Cloud Satra), is apparentlyo ne of two rainmaking scriptures translated
by Jnanayasas in the late sixth century: Ta-fang-teng ta-yiin ching ch'ing-yii pin-ti liu-
shih-ssu (T 19, no. 992), or Ta-yiinc hing ch'ing-yii pin-ti liu-shih-ssu (T 19, no. 993). As
noted by Nemoto Seiji, the Great Cloud Sitra translatedb y Narendrayasas( T 19, no. 991)
was copied by the Japanese sutra-copying bureau only in the mid-eighth century, making
it unlikely to have been the text depicted here; see his "Nara jidai no bukkyoteki kiu ni
tsuite,"i n Nihon shukyo nofukogoteki kozo, ed. SakuraiT okutaro( Tokyo: Kobundo, 1978),
pp. 224-26. Amoghavajra'st ranslation in the eighth century of the Great Cloud Sutra is
obviously a different text.
22 Nihon shoki, vol. 68 of Nihon koten bungaku taikei, Tenmu 12.8 (683) and Jito 2.7.20
(688), pp. 458-59, 492-93; Aston, pp. 360, 388.
23 Noguchi Takeshi, Sasaki Ryoshin, and Nemoto Seiji have each done research on rain-
making in the early period. See Noguchi, "Rikkokushi shoken no 'kiu/kishiu' kiji,"
Kokugakuin zasshi 87, no. 11 (1986): 216-57; Sasaki, "Kodai ni okeru kiu to bukkyo:
Kyuchu doky6 o megutte,"O tani gakuho 50, no. 2 (1970): 65-88; and Nemoto, "Naraj idai
no bukky6teki kiu ni tsuite," in Tokutaro,e d., pp. 219-38.
24 Less common methods were the use of Buddhist clerics by means of feast or prayer
(3), a general pardon of criminals (2), as well as the ruler's bodily purification and prayer
for rain (1). These calculations were made based on the comprehensive list of quotations
in Noguchi, pp. 217-21; the relevant accounts are Shoku nihongi, vol. 2 in the revised and
enlarged Kokushit aikei series (60 vols.; Tokyo: Yoshikawak obunkan, 1929-67). Hereafter,
Kokushi taikei will be referred to as KST.
