Merofu Kannon and Her Veneration in Zen and Imperial Circles in Seventeenth-Century Japan

Abstract

Merofu Kannon (Ch. Malangfu Guanyin) had a significant following and was the inspiration for numerous poems and religious pictures in China and Japan. This article (1) explores the historical background and origins of Merofu ("the wife of Master Ma")-a potent symbol of female lay piety who became regarded as a manifestation of Kannon; (2) provides translations and analyses of some poems by Chan and Zen priests referring to her; (3) focuses on the worship of Merofu Kannon in the circle of Emperor Gomizuno-o and Empress Tofukumon'in. The impetus for this article were the delicately crafted oshie images of this deity made by Tofukumon'in and her step-daughter Shozan Gen'yo (founder of Rinkyuji Imperial Convent) which I discovered at temples in Kyoto and Shiga prefecture. All seem to be based on the same Chinese prototype. The second half of the article provides descriptions of the five oshie Merofu Kannon known to me and documentation concerning the circumstances of their creation and donation. Through these images, I try to illuminate the meaning of Merofu Kannon in imperial circles in seventeenth-century Japan. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Headnote

Merofu Kannon (Ch. Malangfu Guanyin) had a significant following and was the inspiration for numerous poems and religious pictures in China and Japan. This article (1) explores the historical background and origins of Merofu ("the wife of Master Ma")-a potent symbol of female lay piety who became regarded as a manifestation of Kannon; (2) provides translations and analyses of some poems by Chan and Zen priests referring to her; (3) focuses on the worship of Merofu Kannon in the circle of Emperor Gomizuno-o and Empress Tofukumon'in. The impetus for this article were the delicately crafted oshie images of this deity made by Tofukumon'in and her step-daughter Shozan Gen'yo (founder of Rinkyuji Imperial Convent) which I discovered at temples in Kyoto and Shiga prefecture. All seem to be based on the same Chinese prototype. The second half of the article provides descriptions of the five oshie Merofu Kannon known to me and documentation concerning the circumstances of their creation and donation. Through these images, I try to illuminate the meaning of Merofu Kannon in imperial circles in seventeenth-century Japan.

KEYWORDS: Merofu Kannon - oshie - Isshi Bunshu - Tofukumon'in - Lotus Sutra

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.)

ALTHOUGH most Buddhist practitioners and scholars today are unfamiliar with Merofu Kannon ... (Ch. Malangfu Guanyin), in earlier centuries she had a significant following and was the inspiration for numerous poems and religious paintings in China and Japan. Chün-fang Yü examines Buddhist chronicles and does a thorough analysis of Malangfu Guanyin and the related form Yulan Guanyin ... (Jp. Gyoran Kannon) in China in her publications dealing with feminine images of Guanyin (Yü 1990, 66-71; 1994, 166-67; and 2001, 186-7, 419-21.). In contrast, there is virtually nothing written in English about Merofu ("the wife of Master Ma"). I began to investigate the history and iconography of this deity after seeing the depictions of Merofu Kannon made by Empress Tofukumon'in ... (1607-1678) and Princess- Abbess Mitsuko Naishinno ... (1634-1727, better known by her Buddhist name, Shozan Gen'yo ...). This article will explore the origins of Merofu Kannon, and then focus specifically on the delicately crafted oshie ... images of this deity made by two imperial women in Japan's early modern era.1

Oshie are images made of a combination of painting and pieces of woven fabric, paper, and thread glued onto paper, silk, or wood backgrounds. The origins of this craft are not fully documented, but in Japan the practice of making pictures from cutting and pasting paper and cloth is thought to date back at least to the Muromachi period (Kuwahara 1996, 2).2 Originally the term oshie was used to describe paintings or prints pasted onto folding screens or fusuma, and what we now consider oshie were called ishoe (... or ...; clothing picture) or sensaizo ... (cut-out image).3

The technique involves first cutting out forms in stiff paper and covering them with cloth, carefully folding over the edges so stray threads do not show. The cloth-covered cut-outs were then arranged and glued onto a paper or silk background to form images. It is believed that this craft began among the women of Kyoto's aristocratic classes, and gradually spread to daimyo households and eventually throughout the populace. Sometimes oshie pictures-usually secular subjects-were glued onto wooden plaques and donated to shrines and temples with prayers for good fortune, and so forth. Called oshie ema ..., these votive pictures form a special genre in Japanese religious art.

The Merofu Kannon oshie images by Tofukumon'in and Shozan Gen'yo differ from oshie ema in that they were actually objects of worship and housed in lacquered wooden zushi ... (portable shrines). The images are not three-dimensional, that is, padded with cotton like the battledores and other oshie pictures seen today, but rather the fabric-covered forms were pasted flat onto a background so that they resemble paintings. It is unusual for paintings and especially oshie to be enshrined in zushi. Four of these Merofu Kannon images are in the collections of Zen temples (Eigenji ..., Enjuji ..., Enshoji ..., and Shomyoji ...) and one in a Tendai temple (Jissoin ...). All seem to be based on the same Chinese prototype, which I will discuss later. Why was this particular form of Kannon singled out for representation, and what was its meaning and significance for the women who created them and the temples in which they are enshrined? Why were these images all rendered in oshie rather than painted? I will try to answer these questions below, as I attempt to reconstruct the provenance and historical context of these elegant Merofu Kannon images.

Origins of Merofu Kannon

The legend surrounding Merofu can be traced back to Tang-Dynasty China. According to Buddhist chronicles of the Song Dynasty,4 there was a Buddhist laywoman of great beauty living in Jinshatan ... (Golden Sand Shoal) in Western Shanxi ..., who, in 809 (according to another account, the date was 817) promised to marry any man who could memorize the Kannon Sutra ... (the "Fumon" ... chapter of the Lotus Sutra ...) in one night. By the next morning, twenty men could recite the scripture. Since she could marry only one of them, the young woman tried to narrow down the field by asking them to memorize the Diamond Sutra .... Half of the men completed this task, at which point the woman said she would marry the one who could memorize the entire Lotus Sutra within three days. The only man who passed this test was Master Ma. However, the young woman became ill on the wedding day and died. Her body rapidly putrefied and she was quickly buried. A few days later, an elderly monk (in some accounts a foreign, that is, Indian, monk) stopped by Ma's house and inquired about the health of his new wife. Upon being informed of her death, he asked to be taken to her burial place. After opening the casket, they found the bones of her skeleton linked by a gold chain. Since bones linked by a golden chain were regarded as a sign of a holy person, the monk declared that the young woman was a manifestation of a great sage who had appeared to help the people in this region overcome their evil karma. After washing the bones, he carried them on his staff and flew away. Other accounts of this story have minor variations; for example, in one version, in the coffin they discovered two bones that had changed into gold, and the bones then flew away.

IYANAGA Nobumi has pointed out (2002, 472-73) that the "liberation from the corpse" finale and bones-changed-to-gold/chained bones motif are Daoist elements; the monk with staff who ascended to the heavens also recalls a Daoist sage.5 However, in later versions of the tale the woman came to be identified as a manifestation of Kannon or Fugen ..., and her miraculous appearance inspired many people of the Shanxi region to convert to Buddhism. The dating of this linkage of Merofu with Kannon is difficult to pinpoint, but a perusal of extant texts and poems suggests it had occurred by the twelfth century. In addition to Merofu Kannon, she is sometimes referred to as the "Bodhisattva with Chained Bones" ....

The legend of Merofu Kannon became interwoven with Gyoran ... (Fishbasket) Kannon (Ch. Yulan Guanyin), who assumed the form of a beautiful woman fishseller and likewise vowed to marry any man who could memorize the above-mentioned sutras.6 Poems written about Gyoran Kannon often make reference to her fishy smell, which is thought to symbolize her womanhood/sexuality (see Yü 2001, 420). Yet like Merofu, she remained undefiled, even at death, when her corpse was transformed into golden bones. A third woman sometimes linked with these two, known as the "Woman of Yanzhou" ... (presentday Shanxi province), was a prostitute who had sex with any man who asked. Afterward the men were freed from their sexual desires, so her "promiscuity" was later heralded as a bodhisattva act of compassion. She was buried unceremoniously after her death at age twenty-four, but later a foreign monk came to pay respects at her roadside grave. He asserted that she had been a bodhisattva, whereupon the local villagers opened her grave and found her bones linked by a chain. Sawada Mizuho believes that the Woman of Yanzhou was the prototype for this element in the legend of Merofu/Gyoran Kannon related above.7

Merofu Kannon and Gyoran Kannon became two of the most celebrated feminine forms of Kannon in China. They were not only popular among the common people, but also with Chan monks and literati (bunjin ...).

Merofu in Chan/Zen Rhetoric and Poetry

Documents and extant works reveal that Merofu often appears as a subject in the poems and paintings by Chan priests of the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties. 8 Two examples from the Jianghu fengyueji ... (Jp. Koko fugetsu shu), a compilation of Chan verses published in the fourteenth century, are translated, with explication, below.

Merofu

Chanting the Lotus [Sutra], her saliva emits a fragrance;

How can this sutra compare in profundity to her compassion?

Boxing in dreams and closing off the sky, as if the heavens had been wiped clean,

How many people have been snagged on this crescent moon?9

The "crescent moon" in the last line is a metaphor for Merofu's beautiful face, which allegedly attracted many men. "Hooked" by her good looks and wanting vainly to marry her was like trying to box up dreams or close off the sky-in other words, taking illusions for reality. Dreams, of course, have no substance. Likewise, the sky has no visible traces. By appearing real, Merofu was able to lead people to enlightenment. Her beauty was thus an expedient or skillful means (hoben ...) of Kannon to save sentient beings. When Merofu suddenly died and rotted away, Master Ma and others were torn by grief and thus emptied of attachment to material things and their hearts were washed clean. The phrase "as if the heavens had been wiped clean" alludes to this enlightened state.10

Merofu

Charming and modest, she deftly combs her beautiful black hair;

Her heart is like the bitter Golden Thread herb, her mouth like honeyed sweets.

Unabated for a thousand years, the water at Golden Sand Shoal,

Tinkling like jade pebbles, even now makes the sounds of sutra chanting.11

This poem again refers to Merofu as a beautiful woman who guides men to enlightenment. Encouraging men to read sutras by promising she would marry them, her honeyed words were sweeter than candy. Merofu's real intent, however, was to draw them into the Buddha way, and thus her heart or inner mind "like the bitter Golden Thread herb." By inciting people in Golden Sand Shoal to memorize sutras, she helped to establish Buddhism as a viable religious practice. The reference to "the sounds of sutra chanting" continuing without cease alludes to Kannon's never-ending merits and compassion.12

Merofu even appears in a koan ... in which the Chan master Fengxue Yanzhao ... (887-973) was asked by a monk, "What is the pure Dharmabody?" 13 He answered, "Master Ma's wife of Golden Sand Shoal." Here the Chan master is equating the body of a woman and her impure corpse with the nonmaterial, pure Dharma-body. Chan masters frequently employ such paradoxical responses as a means to prod students into overcoming duality. Phrases similar to "Master Ma's wife of Golden Sand Shoal" ... appear in many Chan poems.14 An example below is by Huang Tingjian ... (1045-1105), a Song literatus who was also famous as a Chan layman. He adopted this phrase as the final line in the first of his "Six Eulogies for Guanshiyin" ....15

By the seaside, jutting up alone: The cliff of Potala!

There an ordinary sentient being reached perfect enlightenment,

With 84,000 purified dharma-eyes,

Perceiving the Lotus-Treasury Sea in the midst of all this dusty toil,

And with 84,000 mudra-displaying hands,

Reaching out to guide those mired in passion to reach the Other Shore.

Nirvana and Samsara: do not see them as two!

-Thus is she called, "Bestower of Fearlessness." [abayadana]

The Eight Winds of Passion blow everywhere old age, illness, death,

So not one sentient being obtains stability and peace.

But when the flower of the mind illuminates all ten directions, void,

Then will appear the compassionate eyes of Guanshiyin!

And should you wish in truth to see Guanshiyin:

Along the Golden Sand Shoal, there-the Wife of Master Ma!

(Translation by Jonathan Chaves)

Since many Song and Yuan paintings of Merofu bear inscriptions by Chan priests, she had obviously become a firmly established theme in Chan discourse. 16 An example is the anonymous Yuan-Dynasty Merofu Kannon in the collection of the Maeda Ikutokukai (figure 1) inscribed with verses by the priests Yongfu ... and Shiyue ... (dates unknown).17 Merofu is depicted as a lovely, gentle woman who looks intently at the sutra (presumably the Kannon Sutra) she is holding. The sutra scroll is an important element in the iconography of this deity. Around Merofu's neck hangs a rosary. Directly above her head is a small circle containing an image of Kannon, symbolizing that she is a manifestation of the benevolent bodhisattva. Originally donated to the Daitokuji ... subtemple, Sunshoan ..., on behalf of the nun Eishin Zenjo ...,18 The painting has been designated as an Important Cultural Property. The gender connection between the subject matter and the person to whom the scroll was dedicated should not be ignored. However, Merofu Kannon was not worshiped exclusively by women.

The Popularization of Merofu Kannon and Gyoran Kannon in Japan

Merofu Kannon, and her related form Gyoran Kannon, were popularized in China through such compilations as Zhou Kefu's ... Guanshiyin jingzhou chiyan ji ... [Record of manifestations (resulting) from recitation of the Guanshiyin sutra and mantras, 1659] and Hongzan's ... Guanyin cilin ji ... [Compassionate grove of Guanyin, 1668] (Yü 2001, 185-6.). She even appeared in novels and plays. In Japan, interest in Merofu Kannon and Gyoran Kannon at first was limited primarily to Zen circles, literati, and the court-people conversant in Chinese literature. However, from the seventeenth century on, Gyoran Kannon seems to have been worshiped on a more popular level. The impetus for this seems to have come from China, which witnessed the spread of popular Kannon cults.

Examples are two temples constructed in the early Edo period that have a Chinese Gyoran Kannon enshrined as the main image: Gyoranji ... in the Mita ... area of Edo, and Ryogen'in ... in Nagasaki. Gyoranji traces its origins back to Gyoran'in ..., a temple constructed in Nakatsu ... in Buzen ... Prefecture in Kyushu by Hoyo Shonin ... to house a wood image of Merofu brought to Nagasaki from China by salt merchants who were allegedly descendants of the Ma family. The image was moved to the Mita area of Edo in 1630 and a small structure built to house it. Later, in 1652, Hoyo Shonin's pupil Shoyo Shonin ... had a Kannondo constructed and founded the temple Gyoranji.19 Ryogen'in ... is an Obaku ... Zen temple in Nagasaki founded by Tetsugan Dokaku ... in 1660; a Kannondo was constructed in 1667 with the help of a Chinese merchant to house an image of Gyoran Kannon imported from China. In both cases, the images were worshiped by people from all walks of life who believed that Kannon would provide protection from accidents at sea, safety during childbirth, well-being for one's family, success in business, and so forth (see Mitazan Gyoranji, 5).

Merofu Kannon in Japanese Zen Circles and Isshi Bunshu

Although their legends were intertwined, Merofu Kannon never gained as broad a base of worship as Gyoran Kannon in Japan, and it is rare for Merofu Kannon to be the main image in a temple. But she was certainly a well known deity among Zen prelates and in elite literary circles in the early Edo period. In the San Kannon Daishi kada shu ..., a compilation of poems related to Kannon sponsored by the Princess-Abbess Shozan Gen'yo, among the approximately one hundred and sixty poems, the majority of which do not specify a particular form of Kannon, there are sixteen poems about Merofu Kannon, and twenty-one about Gyoran Kannon.

One Japanese Zen priest who showed a special interest in Merofu Kannon was Isshi Bunshu ... (1608-1646). Born into the aristocratic Iwakura family, Isshi studied Rinzai Zen first at Shokokuji ..., then at Daitokuji under Takuan Soho ... (1573-1645). He became a favorite of Emperor Gomizunoo ... and Empress Tofukumon'in, who turned to him for Zen instruction. Emperor Gomizuno-o built two temples for Isshi, Reigen'an ...in the Nishigamo district of Kyoto and Hojoji ... in Tanba ..., and eventually persuaded him to take over the distinguished Eigenji ... in Omi ... Prefecture, where Isshi was designated as "restorer" (chuko ...). Emperor Gomizuno-o's eldest daughter, Umenomiya ... (1619-1697), took the tonsure from Isshi in 1640, at which time she was given the Buddhist name Daitsu Bunchi .... She remained a devoted pupil until Isshi's death from tuberculosis.

Eijima Fukutaro speculates that the following poem and appended explanatory text about Merofu Kannon (figure 2) were written by Isshi as an instruction in response to a query by Emperor Gomizuno-o, who shared the text with Empress Tofukumon'in and Bunchi.20 Or it may have been aimed specifically at Tofukumon'in. A nearly identical version of the poem appears in Isshi's collected sayings, Butcho Kokushi goroku ....21

Merofu

When she opens her fragrant mouth, the entire Lotus [Sutra] is unfurled.

Expedient means that are perceived [by sentient beings] cannot after all equal those unperceived.

Her lovely shadow has manifested at the Golden Sand Shoal;

Who knew it was originally the moon sailing in the sky?

The first line of the verse alludes to the woman taking the Lotus Sutra in her hand and chanting it. The second line refers collectively to perceived and unperceived hoben (expedient means) of buddhas and bodhisattvas. In perceived hoben the buddha or bodhisattva reveals himself visibly to preach the dharma and lead sentient beings to salvation. In unperceived hoben they assume various transformations, at times manifesting as a non-Buddhist, at times as a court official, at times as a woman, and so forth. Unperceived hoben thus refers to those instances when a buddha or bodhisattva leads beings to salvation without their knowing he is a buddha or bodhisattva. Since that is so, the words "cannot after all equal" allude to the benefits wrought in the [sentient being's] mind by unperceived hoben which are more profound even than those wrought by perceived hoben.

As for the third and fourth lines, the third-Her lovely shadow has manifested at the Golden Sand Shoal-likens to a shadow the vestigial form of the beautiful woman that Kannon manifested at that particular time and place.

In the fourth line, my intent is to compare the bright moon in the heavens to the Buddha-body in its original (=untransformed) state.

We must truly pity those deluded beings who, seeing for the time being only the form of the beautiful woman, were unaware that it was actually a manifestation of the Bodhisattva Kannon who was preaching to them.

(translation by Norman Waddell)

It seems as though Isshi was familiar with the poem by Priest Siming Deben (Jp. Shimei Tokuhon ...) cited earlier from the Jianghu fengyueji. The first and fourth lines in particular in Isshi's verse comprise similar Chinese characters and symbolism.

The Spread of Worship of Merofu Kannon in the Circle of Emperor Gomizuno-o and Empress Tofukumon'in

The above poem with explanation by Isshi is evidence that Merofu Kannon was a subject of interest among some Zen priests in the early Edo period, who used this bodhisattva manifestation for teaching purposes. Merofu's lay origins made her the perfect exemplar for the men and women in Emperor Gomizuno-o's circle who earnestly embraced the Buddhist faith. Part of the attraction may have stemmed from Merofu's Chinese origins. Other evidence of Merofu's popularity among literary-minded people is the image of Merofu Kannon (figure 3) at Shisendo ..., the retreat built by Ichikawa Jozan ... (1583-1672), a recluse steeped in the study of Chinese literature. Dressed in Chinese robes, Merofu holds a sutra scroll close to her chest. The facial features of the statue, made of cast iron, reflect its Ming/Qing origins. There are no records of when this image entered the Shisendo, but the links with Chinese poetry and Zen Buddhism seem to point to Jozan's taste, leading me to speculate that it was he who acquired the image. Merofu continued to be a subject of interest in Zen circles, for later, Hakuin Ekaku ... (1685-1768) included an account of Merofu Kannon in his Keiso dokuzui .... Hakuin basically repeats the story of her origins recounted at the beginning of this article, and ends by saying, "The Bodhisattva Kannon by skillful means manifests himself to people in thirty-two different forms. In this case he manifested himself in the form of a young woman."22

Japanese court women, in particular, found Merofu an inspiring role model. In addition to being an archetype of female lay practice, she was linked with the Lotus Sutra, which was a favorite of women because of the parables and stories illustrating that females can attain buddhahood. Faith in this deity empowered women, showing them that they could serve as exemplars as well as men. To be compared to Merofu was a form of praise, because as an attractive, literate laywoman manifestation of Kannon, she was a symbol of wisdom and liberation. For example, an inscription written in 1720 on a chinso ... painting of Abbess Daiki Songo ... (1674-1719),23 one of Emperor Gomizuno-o's granddaughters, includes the following line:

Like the youthful wife Merofu,

benevolence manifests itself

at the Golden Sand Shoal in the East.

Images of Merofu Kannon by Imperial Women

According to the Lotus Sutra, the making and dedicating of Buddhist images was a meritorious act to show devotion and gratitude, prompting devotees to commission and/or create paintings and sculptures, and to embroider images with their own hands. Creative endeavors by women fueled by Buddhist piety were highly praised, as suggested by the following poem by Su Shi ... (Su Dongpo ..., 1037-1101).24

The Lady of Jingan County, Née Xu, Has Embroidered a Guanyin: A Eulogy

This descendent of a family from Great Peak

Settled here in Jingan County.

Studying the Way, seeking Mind,

With clarity she contemplated,

Contemplated Guanshiyin,

Austerely-never losing the image.

And after doing this three years,

The Dharmas of her mind perfected,

Of Hearing, Meditating, Practice.

The Monarch, like the sun, appeared!

In mind she recognized the visage,

But could not find the words to speak.

Channeling through Six Modes of Consciousness,

She found a way to pass it on.

Her hand then passed it to the needle,

The needle passed it to the thread:

And how much more than just a needle!

The skillfulness incalculable!

Perhaps the needle was a Buddha,

Buddhas number in the millions!

For if it was not itself a Buddha,

How could this image have materialized?

And who now merges both of these [the artist and the needle?]

Into the Gateway Never Dual?

Hands together, reverently praising

Is this Old Man of the Eastern Slope. (Translation by Jonathan Chaves)

Representations of Merofu Kannon by women are comparatively rare. To date I have seen only five images of Merofu purported to have been made by a woman: four by Empress Tofukumon'in and one by Abbess Gen'yo. The choice of oshie as the media was probably initiated by Tofukumon'in, who is known to have excelled in this craft. In addition to the Merofu images discussed here, various oshie attributed to Empress Tofukumon'in are known; the subjects-mostly secular-include famous poets and scenes from noh drama. Several are in the collections of temples or shrines.25 Among her oshie the only other religious subject I have seen is Toto Tenjin ... (Tenjin who went over to China), a patron deity of scholarship and literature.

Yamakawa Aki ..., Associate Curator of Costumes and Textiles at the Kyoto National Museum, has pointed out that the brocade fabrics used in Tofukumon'in's Merofu images resemble meibutsugire ... used for the covers or pouches for precious tea ceremony utensils. In other words, rather than pieces of her own robes, she used "special" fabrics prized for their beauty and rarity. Meibutsugire were also utilized in the mounting of hanging scrolls. The superb artistry of Tofukumon'in's oshie was recognized by aesthetes; upon seeing her Ono no Komachi ..., the tea master Sen Sotan ... (1578-1658) asked the Daitokuji priest Ten'yu ... to write an inscription and had them mounted together as a single scroll-evidence that her oshie were considered on the same level as paintings (Genhaku Sotan monjo ... 177; quoted in Kagotani 1985, 89).

I can only speculate that Tofukumon' in's step-daughter was so impressed with the Empress's Merofu Kannon oshie images that she tried her hand at this medium, too. Compared to paintings, oshie have a threedimensional, tactile quality, and the fabrics impart a luxurious touch which further emphasized the beauty of Merofu. Tofukumon'in was not known as a painter-she was apparently more comfortable with expressing herself in the medium of oshie. Tofukumon'in clearly established the "standard" for the depiction of Merofu Kannon in seventeenth-century aristocratic circles, which was copied by women in her arena. The five versions presently known to me are discussed in detail below.

Eigenji Version

Perhaps the best known of Tofukumon'in's Merofu images is the one she presented to Eigenji ... (figure 4) in Shiga Prefecture. After Isshi Bunshu became abbot of Eigenji in 1643, Tofukumon'in donated twenty-eight kanme (pounds) of silver for the rebuilding of the Hojo ... in 1646, ten taels of gold for a memorial service honoring the three hundredth anniversary of its founding in 1655, and thirty taels of gold to purchase a complete set of the Buddhist scriptures (Daizo-kyo, ...) from China in 1672.26 According to the document "Merofu Kannon gofukukan" ... preserved at Eigenji, which is a letter from one of her attendants to Isshi's successor, Tofukumon'in had promised Isshi that she would make and donate an image of Merofu Kannon to Eigenji.27 However, Isshi died in the third month of 1646 before the pledge was fulfilled. The undated letter states that Tofukumon'in is honoring her vow by donating an image. According to the Zuiseki rekidai zakki ... (vol. 7) published in 1847, the donation was made in the eighth month of 1646 (Shigaken Kyoiku Iinkai Jimukyoku Bunkazai Hogoka 1998, 574). However, the "Butcho Kokushi nenpu" ... (1698) included in Isshi's collected sayings (Joe Myoko Butcho Kokushi goroku ..., T no. 2565, vol. 81: 188.) records that Tofukumon'in donated an image of Merofu that she had "embroidered" in 1645, which would have been while Isshi was still alive. The nenpu goes on to describe the image as "fine and delicate, its benevolent form otherworldly." Presumably this is the oshie image in figure 4. The discrepancy in dates is puzzling, but the text of the letter from Tofukumon'in's attendant supplies convincing evidence that the donation was made after Isshi's death.

The Eigenji Merofu image is housed in a black lacquered shrine whose interior is covered with gold leaf and also painted. On the back of the shrine is the following inscription written by Isshi's successor Josetsu Bungan ... (1601-1671), which is dated approximately ten years after the image was donated to Eigenji.

Image of Merofu made of gold brocade by an imperial princess in the palace of the Keicho emperor [Gomizuno-o]. When my former teacher Isshi became abbot at this temple, instructions had been made to donate it. Because of that, [her] instructions were unfailingly carried out, and the pledged donation will become a spiritual treasure for successive generations at this temple.

Third year of Meireki [1657], tenth month, on an auspicious day

Respectfully written by Josetsu Bungan of Zuiseki-zan Eigenji

...

The robes of Merofu are composed of pieces of five different kinds of brocade fabric, the largest segment with a rivershell pattern. Plain weave silk was used for the face, hands, and feet as well as the scroll (Kannon Sutra) she holds and for the edges of her white under-robe. The defining contour lines as well as facial features are drawn in ink. According to temple tradition, Tofukumon'in cut some of her own hair and attached it to the figure; however, recent analysis by Hanafusa Miki ... reveals that the coiffure is comprised of black thread coated with lacquer or nikawa. The figure stands approximately 49.5 cm. high. It is mounted on silk background with painted gold clouds, and attached to a metalwork lotus pedestal and an openwork mandorla (almond-shaped aureole of light) with flamelike swirls, which measures 81.5 x 32.5 cm.

Enshoji Version

Tofukumon'in presented an almost identical oshie Merofu Kannon (figure 5) to the princess-nun Daitsu Bunchi ..., founder of Enshoji ... in Nara. The only difference is in the choice of fabrics (four kinds) for Merofu's clothing, although the dark blue brocade forming the belt is the same fabric as that in the lower hem of the Eigenji Merofu Kannon. The head, hands, and feet are of paper, and the scroll held in her hands is made of silk. The hair of Merofu appears to be black thread, although some of the fringes of the hairline around her face are painted in ink. The figure was mounted on a gold-paper-covered wooden panel, which has a silk border frame. It is housed in a black lacquer shrine with gold leaf ornamenting the inside of the doors.

Tofukumon'in was an important patron for Enshoji. In addition to persuading her half brother Tokugawa Iemitsu to grant the temple land, she herself provided funding for the initial construction of buildings. She also made donations of Buddhist paintings commissioned from professional artists.28 The fact that this image of Merofu Kannon was one Tofukumon'in created herself made it a "special" donation. Since the founder of Enshoji, Bunchi, was a pupil of Isshi, one cannot help but suppose that the connection with Isshi and his promotion of this deity discussed above was a factor in Tofukumon'in's donation of a Merofu Kannon to Enshoji.

Bunchi had the Merofu Kannon installed in a shrine in 1691 and asked her half brother, Shinkei Shinno ... (1649-1706), of Ichijoin ... at Kofukuji ..., to add an inscription. By this time, Tofukumon'in had died, but presumably she had presented it to Bunchi while she was still alive. The dedicatory inscription reads from left to right. Shinkei wrote out the Chinese verse by Siming Deben cited earlier, and then recorded that the Merofu Kannon was made by Tofukumon'in, and that in the autumn of 1691, Bunchi asked him to inscribe a verse.

Unfortunately, according to my informants at Enshoji, at present there is no known record of where this Merofu image was originally placed nor of any rituals connected with it.

Enjuji Version

A third Merofu Kannon image attributed to Tofukumon'in (FIGURE 6) is in the collection of Enjuji, a Rinzai Zen temple belonging to the Eigenji school, located in Hikone ... city in Shiga Prefecture. This temple also has a connection with Isshi, for the chief priest during Tofukumon'in's lifetime, Sesshin Shozen ... (1630-1705), trained under Isshi and later became the eighty-seventh abbot of Eigenji. However, this Merofu Kannon does not seem to have been a direct gift from Tofukumon'in to Enjuji, but rather, according to the Merofu enki ...29 (1725) in the temple's collection, it was originally owned by the once wealthy merchant Takuma Jizaemon ... living in Hirose village ... in the Funakyo district ... of Tanba, whose descendents had squandered the family fortune and were forced to sell off all of their possessions. Jizaemon's aunt purportedly received this image when she served as an attendant to Tofukumon'in during the Kan'ei era. The Merofu enki describes it as being almost identical to the Merofu Kannon which Tofukumon'in donated to Eigenji. The Enjuji image was purchased from the Takuma family by a Mr. Okada, who, in turn, fell on hard times and needed to sell things quickly. The author of the Merofu enki, chief priest of Enjuji, Ikei Saido ... (d. 1753), heard about the image from Mr. Okada, and upon seeing it, bought it on the spot. By then it had passed through many hands and had not been well cared for, so he had it cleaned and restored. When the priest's granddaughter died, it was donated to Enjuji as an offering for her happiness in the next world.

The version of the Merofu enki currently owned by the temple is a 1819 transcription of the original 1725 document made by the chief priest at that time, Taisu Kyo .... The first section, part of which was summarized above, is followed by a passage written in a different hand, stating that Tofukumon'in made two images of Merofu, one of which was presented to Eigenji, and the other to Priest Sesshin ... of Enjuji. This addendum is neither dated or signed; I believe that it was appended later in an attempt to strengthen the attribution to Tofukumon'in.

The image is housed in a black lacquer shrine, and stands 52.6 cm. high. While clearly based upon the same model, the Enjuji version displays some significant differences from the Eigenji and the Enshoji Merofu Kannon images. The fabrics used are rather plain in comparison, and the yellow undergarment is painted, rather than made of fabric. Moreover, the form of the figure varies slightly; the head is smaller and the neck is more slender, the face lacks the two lines between nose and mouth, and the curve of the left sleeve does not billow outward, but follows the vertical line of the body. The rough-weave silk background is also uncharacteristic of Tofukumon'in's oshie. Rather than mounting the image on a lotus pedestal, surrounded by a mandorla of billowing flames as in the Eigenji version, the lotus pedestal and clouds, as well as a canopy above Merofu Kannon's head, have been painted on the background. How much of the original may have been altered in the eighteenth-century restoration (and possibly later ones) is an important question. However, given the present differences and the fact that the authenticity cannot be confirmed by existing documents, it seems likely that the Enjuji version was modeled upon the famous Eigenji version, and thus should be considered as belonging to the Tofukumon'in tradition, but perhaps not created by Tofukumon'in herself.

Jissoin Version

A fourth Merofu Kannon by Empress Tofukumon'in (FIGURE 7) has recently come to light at Jissoin ... in Iwakura. It has long been thought to be a portrait of Sanmi no Tsubone ... (1583-1658), who was first married to Ashikaga Yoshihiro ... (1572-1605) and after his death became a wife of Emperor Goyozei ... (1571-1617). Sanmi no Tsubone bore three sons, one of whom became abbot of Jissoin. The Jissoin oshie is nearly identical to the images by Tofukumon'in discussed above, and an examination of old temple records clarified its identity as a Merofu Kannon from the hand of Empress Tofukumon'in.30 It was given to Sanmi no Tsubone by Tofukumon'in and until the late nineteenth century, was preserved at the temple she founded in Iwakura-Shokoji .... (Shokoji was abandoned during the turmoil at the end of the Edo period, and its images and records were transferred to Jissoin.) The image's "reidentification" as Sanmi no Tsubone was probably the result of fading memories and deaths of informed people, lack of written records, and discontinuation of rituals that maintained the identity of Merofu.31

The Jissoin Merofu Kannon is pasted onto a plain-weave silk background, which is attached to a wooden panel (61.1 x 28.5 cm.) housed in a black lacquer shrine similar to the previous examples. There is a loop attached to the top of the panel, and inside the shrine, a hook from which to hang it, so it originally must have been suspended. Five different brocade fabrics were used to form Merofu's robes, and plain weave silk for the white under-robe and the scroll she is holding. Three of the fabrics are the same fabrics used in the Eigenji Merofu Kannon, one of which is the dark blue brocade also appearing in the Enshoji image. The head, neck, chest, hands, and feet, as well as lotus petals, were made from cut pieces of paper. Merofu's features were deftly painted with ink, and black thread, possibly coated with something like nikawa or lacquer, was glued to the head to form the coiffure. The lotus pedestal on which Merofu stands is similar to the Enjuji version, lending support to the former's attribution to Tofukumon'in. However, there are no clouds in the Jissoin version, which has the added decoration of trinkets dangling from the tips of the flower petals. The border of gold peonies on a green background resembles brocade fabric, but actually consists of pigments painted directly on the silk background.

At some point, presumably after Sanmi no Tsubone's death, a sculpture of her was carved and donated to Shokoji, presumably as a way of memorializing her as the temple's founder (figure 8). According to temple lore, the sculpture was modeled after the oshie image by Tofukumon'in. The costume, coiffure, and pose are certainly similar, and although one of the statue's arms is broken off, it appears that the figure once held a scroll. The sculpture was placed inside the shrine with the oshie Merofu Kannon, which by 1720 had become identified as Sanmi no Tsubone. According to the inscription on the back of the sculpture, it was donated by Princess Sannomiya ... (1625-1675), a daughter of Tofukumon'in and Gomizuno-o who had a palace in Iwakura. Since Sannomiya was surely aware of the identity of the oshie by her mother, I wonder if she came up with the idea of depicting Sanmi no Tsubone in the guise of Merofu, equating Sanmi with Merofu because of her devotion to the Lotus Sutra. (Sanmi no Tsubone was an adherent of the Nichiren sect of Buddhism which focused worship on this sutra.) There are examples of other portraits which were intentionally "overlaid" on Buddhist images to show their identification/deification, for example Takeda Shingen ... (1521-1573) as Fudo Myoo and Arakawa Akiuji ... (fl. fifteenth century) as Vimalakirti (LEVINE 2005, 65). In any case, the Merofu Kannon presented by Empress Tofukumon'in to Sanmi no Tsubone testifies to the bond shared by these two imperial women devotees of Buddhism-a bond posthumously strengthened by the creation of a sculptural portrait of Sanmi no Tsubone based on the oshie Merofu Kannon.

Shomyoji Version

There is one more oshie Merofu Kannon image (figure 9), probably modeled after one of Tofukumon'in's, which was made by Princess Abbess Shozan Gen'yo ..., the eighth daughter of Emperor Gomizuno-o. Her mother was Hoshunmon'in ..., but she was adopted by Tofukumon'in at the age of five. Gen'yo was a devout Buddhist from her youth and she never married, receiving the bodhisattva precepts at the age of thirty-two (1665). After her father's death in 1680, she took formal vows and had her residence at Shugakuin ... transformed into the temple Rinkyuji .... Abbess Gen'yo was an avid painter of Buddhist imagery, especially Kannon, and also produced miniature statues of Kannon fashioned from powdered incense (Fister 2003, plates 4, 5, and 6). This is the only oshie I have seen by Gen'yo, but I suspect she may have done others, since it was a popular activity among court women.

At first glance the image resembles a hanging scroll painting. Above Gen'yo has inscribed a poem from the Shasekishu ... (1283) titled "Kiyomizu [Kannon] no goei" ... (nkbt 85: 223-24). Based on a similar poem in the Shinkokinshu,32 it is a prayer to Kannon, which does not name Merofu. Sashimogusa or mugwort, here representative of wild grasses or weeds, is a metaphor for all sentient beings.

We earnestly look to you

for salvation while

we are living in this world-

the mugwort of

Shimejigahara.33

tada tanome/Shimejigahara no/sashimogusa

ware yo no naka ni/aramu kagiri wa

...

The robes of the Shomyoji Merofu Kannon were made with two different brocade fabrics: one for the main robe and one for the sash. In terms of the choice of fabrics, Abbess Gen'yo's version is more modest than Empress Tofukumon'in's. The head, hands, and feet of Merofu were drawn on silk, which was cut out and pasted on the paper. Unlike the previous examples, the hair has been rendered with brushlines rather than black thread. This is not surprising, since Gen'yo's forte was painting.

The image (102.8×38.9 cm) is mounted in a plain wooden shrine. On the interior of one of the doors is pasted a piece of paper reading "Merofu Kannon image made and inscribed by Akenomiya" .... (Akenomiya ... was Abbess Gen'yo's childhood given name). The image was donated by Gen'yo to the Obaku temple Shomyoji ... in Shiga Prefecture, a temple which had been restored by Emperor Gomizuno-o. The priest Isshi Bunshu discussed above was also involved in the restoration of Shomyoji, and Gomizuno-o hoped to appoint him as "restorer," but Isshi died before the rebuilding was completed. Following in her father's footsteps, Abbess Gen'yo became an important patron of Shomyoji. This is one of many works that she donated over the years. Since her step-mother had donated an image to Eigenji on Priest Isshi's behalf, it is possible that Isshi may have been in Abbess Gen'yo's mind when she presented this image to Shomyoji. In 1718 she presented a complete transcription of the Lotus Sutra to Shomyoji and had it enshrined in a stone pagoda. Her donation of this Merofu Kannon, who symbolizes the promotion and efficacy of the Lotus Sutra, may also be linked to this endeavor.

Chinese Prototype for Merofu Kannon Images by Empress Tofukumon'in and Abbess Gen'yo

The figure type seen in all of the above examples appears to be based on a Chinese model. While the exact prototype for Empress Tofukumon'in's images cannot be confirmed, there is a compositionally identical Southern Song/Yuan painting of Merofu Kannon published as being in the collection of Nakamura Katsugoro ... (figure 10). The hanging scroll is done with ink on paper, with dimensions of 64.4×25.3 cm. It has an inscription by priest Zhuoweng Ruyan ... (1151-1225).34 The seal in the lower right, reading "Doyu" ... is a seal of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu ... (1358-1408) indicating that the scroll was once in his collection. Many paintings from the Ashikaga shogunal collection made their way into Tokugawa family collections,35 so it is conceivable that Tofukumon'in may have had access to this particular painting.

A quick comparison reveals that the oshie images discussed above all follow the basic composition of the Chinese painting. The pose, including the tilt of the head, coiffure, positioning of hands, scroll, and feet, is nearly identical, along with the outer contours of the garments. Using fabrics to replicate the robes, Empress Tofukumon'in has elaborated a little, making the hemline more curved, and extending and broadening the sash. The major difference compositionally between the colorful oshie and austere sumie painting lies in the shape of the face and facial features. The faces of the Japanese images more closely resemble Japanese paintings of beauties than the Chinese model.

Empress Tofukumon'in surely had ample opportunities to view Chinese paintings, and it is likely that she made or had a drawing made of one she admired. Or her inspiration may have been a Japanese painting of Merofu modeled after a Chinese example. In any case, the ultimate prototype for the oshie images by Empress Tofukumon'in and Abbess Genyo can be traced back to Song/Yuan China, the period when Merofu rose to popularity in Chan and literati circles.

Conclusion

Questions still remain concerning the significance and ritual usage of Merofu images at the Japanese temples in which they were enshrined. I wondered initially if these oshie images were linked to the practice of donating oshie ema to temples and shrines. But I have not found any documentation of specific prayers or petitions connected with the oshie Merofu images discussed above. Rather, it seems that they were donated by Empress Tofukumon'in and Abbess Gen'yo, active patrons of temples as well as devotees, with the idea that Merofu was a deity who should be venerated, presumably in connection with the Kannon Sutra. Merofu symbolized the virtue and efficacy of reciting the sutras in general, and as a hoben of Kannon Bodhisattva, her image was also used to illuminate aspects of Buddhist doctrine, especially the goal of extinguishing passions and desires. Women were often associated negatively with sexuality, but by encouraging men to focus on sutras, Merofu led them toward the path of detachment and inner peace, in the end, herself remaining undefiled.

Were Japanese imperial women thinking about a rotting corpse when they made the Merofu Kannon images discussed above? Probably not. I think rather that they were attracted to the theme of beautiful, literate laywoman as bodhisattva. The Merofu images seen here are remarkable for their ordinariness, even worldliness-no auxiliary arms or heads and usually not even a halo. She was a potent symbol of female lay piety, illustrating that buddhahood was accessible without first having to be "reborn" as a man, as in the case of the Dragon King's daughter. Merofu was also a symbol of the all-encompassing compassion and powers of Kannon, who could assume numerous identities in response to the varied situations and needs of devotees. These aspects of Merofu's persona resonated particularly with women and undoubtedly underlay interest in and advocacy of Merofu Kannon in imperial circles in seventeenth and eighteenth century Japan.

Sidebar

* Editors' Note: The figures included in this article can be viewed in color at the JJRS homepage, http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/jjrs/jjrsMain.htm.

Footnote

1. A shorter article focusing on this topic has been published previously in Japanese (Fister 2005). This article in English includes new research and expands upon the earlier Japanese version.

2. A thorough study of oshie needs to be done, for there is no history of oshie in either Japanese or English.

3.The term ishoe ... appears in Saikaku's Futokoro suzuri ... (1687), and also the oshie book published in Kyoto in 1739, Hana musubi nishikie awase .... See Yoshida et al. 1976, 150. The term sensaizo ... appears in the temple inventory of Jissoin ..., included in vol. 62 of the Kyoto-fu jishiko.

4. Zuxiu ..., Longxing biannian tonglun ..., vol. 22 (1164); Zhiban ..., Fozu tongji ..., T no. 2035 (1269); and Zongxiao ..., ed., Fahuajing xianyinglu ..., vol. 2. Later versions of the story can be found in Juean ..., Shishi jigu lue ..., T no. 2037 (ca. 1374); Liaoyuan ..., Fahua lingyan zhuan ..., vol. 2 (1650); Zhou Kefu ..., comp., Guanyin jing zhiyanji ..., vol. 1 (1659). Yü 1990, 67.

5. I am grateful to Elizabeth Kenney for pointing out this connection, and for her thorough, critical reading of this article and helpful comments and suggestions.

6. Although the content of the legends overlap, the two women appear as separate divinities within the thirty-three forms of Kannon designated in the Kamakura period.

7. The story of the "Woman of Yanzhou" appears in Li Fuyan's ... Xuxuan guailu .... See Sawada 1975, 145-47.

8. SAWADA (1975, 148-51) notes twenty-two examples of poems about Gyoran Kannon or Merofu recorded in the collected sayings of Zen monks.

9. By Siming Deben .... For the original Chinese text, see YOSHIZAWA 2003, 124.

10. The explanation of this poem is based on YOSHIZAWA 2003, 126-27.

11. By Shugu Fanci .... For the original Chinese text, see YOSHIZAWA 2003, 430.

12. The explanation of this poem is based on Yoshizawa 2003, 430-31.

13. ...(...). This koan appears in Jingde chuantenglu ... (Jp. Keitoku dento roku), vol. 13 (ca. eleventh century); Wudeng huiyuan ... (Jp. Goto egen), vol. 11 (1253); Tiansheng guangdenglu ... (Jp. Tensho koto roku), vol. 15 (1036), and so forth.

14. It is unclear whether the poems were inspired by the koan, or whether the response in the koan was influenced by references to Merofu in contemporary poetry.

15. I am grateful to Jonathan Chaves for locating and translating this poem for me. The Chinese source is Shanguji ..., in Siku quanshu ..., 14/13a. This poem is also included in volume 1 of the San Kannon Daishi kada shu ... (ed. Saiun Doto ...) published in Japan through the sponsorship of Princess-Abbess Gen'yo (see page 424).

16. For example, see plates 52, 53, 93, and 94 in KAWAKAMI et al. 1975.

17. The characters for the two inscriptions are: ... and ....

18. This information comes from the box inscription; see TOKYO KOKURITSU HAKUBUTSUKAN 1962, 5.

19. Information from Gyoran Kanzeon Bosatsu goengi .... See Mitazan Gyoranji, 4.

20. EIJIMA 1992, 200-1. Also Eijima 1994, 362. This document is presently in the collection of the Zen Bunka Kenkyujo at Hanazono University in Kyoto.

21. The characters in the Hanazono version are as follows: .... The poem, as it appears in volume 3 of the Joe Myoko Butcho Kokushi goroku ..., contains two different characters, in lines 1 and 4, which read: ... and ..., respectively; t 2565, 81: 161.

22. From a translation by Norman Waddell. I am grateful to him for providing the original Hakuin text as well as an English translation. He also kindly read through an early draft of this article and made many useful suggestions.

23. Collection of Koshoin Imperial Convent ..., Kyoto.

24. From Dongpo qiji ... in Sibu beiyao ... (Houji ..., 20/5b-6a; and 6a). I am again indebted to Jonathan Chaves for introducing me to this poem and for providing an English translation.

25. Koshoji ... in Uji; Shogoin ... in Kyoto; Sada Tenmangu ... in Osaka. There is also one example in the Omotesenke ... collection. For some illustrations, see Takeda 1980, plates 94-96.

26. "Eigenji nenpu" ... in Shiga-ken Kyoiku Iinkai Jimukyoku Bunkazai Hogoka 1998, 574-75.

27. For the text of the letter, see SHIGA-KEN KYOIKU IINKAI JIMUKYOKU BUNKAZAI HOGOKA 1998, 453-54.

28. For example, an Amida triad raigo painting and nehan-zu by Tosa Mitsuoki ....

29. I am grateful to the current chief priest of Enjuji, Yokoi Daiyu ..., for providing me with this document.

30. The earliest record of this image is the Kita Iwakura Shokoji jumotsu shodogucho ... (1687). It appears in a list of objects in the Buddha hall as: .... However, in a later record dated 1720 (Hoenzan Shokoji ki ..., Record of Hoenzan Shokoji), Tofukumon'in's Merofu Kannon had become reidentified as Sanmi no Tsubone. See FISTER 2007.

31. Greg LEVINE (2005) discusses the issue of reidentification of images in a chapter titled "The Frailty of Likeness."

32. Shinkokinwakashu ...; skt 1, No. 1916/1917. The poem reads: ....

33. The place name Shimejigahara appears often in ancient waka, and was reputed to be a site rich in the herb plants moxa and mugwort.

34. The inscription reads: ....

35. GUTH 1989, 49. I am grateful to Patricia Graham for calling my attention to this reference.

References

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