A Portrait of Abe No Seimei
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8/10/2019 A Portrait of Abe No Seimei
1/22
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8/10/2019 A Portrait of Abe No Seimei
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Japanese
ournal
f eligious
tudies
0/1:7-97
013
anzannstituteor
eligion
nd ulture
Shigeta
Shinichi
A
Portrait of Abe no Seimei
Abeno Seimei s one of hemost amous
igures
n the
history
f
Onmyd,
with
many
ales ttachedo his
name
hat
ttributeo
him
pecial owers
nd
accomplishments.
his rticleooks t thehistoricalecords
oncerning
be
no Seimei nd tries o reconstructhat an be known
istorically
fhis ife
and actions. herecordshow hatAbe no Seimei id not
reach
rominence
and
high
ank ntilate
n
his
ife,
ell ver
ixty ears
f
ge.
The rticleon-
cludes hat
f
he
nmyji
beno Seimei ad not ived
long
ife,
e
probably
wouldnothave chieved he nusual ame hat
eveloped
n ater
eriods.
keywords:Abe no Seimei henbai demons
onmyji ritsury
ode
shikigami-estivalituals
Shigeta hinichis a
research
ellownthe nstitute
or
he
tudy
f
Japanese
olk
Culture,
anagawaniversity.
77
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During
was
there
one
was
the
of
a
the
nobleman,
time
three
that
outstanding
Abe
Fujiwara
no Seimei
no
calligraphers
Yukinari
rfBf
UT
of
(921-1005)1
his
day.
(972-1027),
We
was
know
active,
from
who
herewas a
nobleman,
ujiwara
o Yukinari
T
(972-1027),
who
was one of he hree
utstandingalligraphers
fhis
day.
We know rom
his
diary,
onki
SSB
Chh
2
[1000].
0.11.),
hat
eimeiwas
regarded
tthe ime
as the preeminentractitionerfOnmyd michi o kesshutsushal/l^tt#).
On the leventh
ay
of he enthmonth f
Chho
2,
thereconstruction
f he
Imperial
alace,
whichhad
previously
een
destroyed
n
a
fire,
as
finally
om-
pleted.
n
that
ay,
mperor
chij
980-1011,
.
986-1011)
moved
rom istem-
porary
esidence
nto he
new
palace
building,
t which ime eimei
performed
the
magical
tep
alledhenbai
KW.
According
o
Yukinari,
hiswas thefirstime
henbaihad been
performed
n such an occasion.
Formerly
hen he
emperor
had entered new
palace,
a ritual ct
involving
he
scattering
f uncooked
grains
frice
angu
ttt)
had been
made,
rite hat ame
under he
purview
f
theOnmyryim'Bureau fYin andYang), hegovernmentfficencharge
of
divination,
alendars,
strology,
nd
time-keeping.
o
in
1000,
Abe no Seimei
not
only
erformed
rite ifferent
rom
recedent,
ut twas done
by
omeone
whowas not n officerf he
Onmyry.
s to
why
hiswas
permitted,
ukinari
wrote,
Itwas because eimeiwas the
preeminent
ractitioner
f
onmy)d
hat
he attended n the
mperor
Gonki,
hh
2.10.11).
The henbai hat
eimei
performed
n that ccasion
was a seriesof
special
steps
used to tread he
ground
ccompanied
y
ncantations.
n
example
f ts
useprior o 1000appears nthediary fTairano Chikanobu (945-1017),
Chikanobu-ky
iy
n an
itemdated Tenen
2
(974).2.9.
A
prominent
nmyji
PHrP
alledKamo no Yasunori
tIS;:
erformed
enbai n behalf fMina-
motono Michisato
il
S who was
eaving
or he
province
f
Sanuki
o which
he had been
appointed
rovisional ssistant overnor.t s
easy
o
magine
hat
thiswas done to ensure
him
afety
n theroad. For
people
ofthe
time,
enbai
*
Editorialote:
his rticle akeseferenceo
large
umberf extualources-
iaries,
compilations,
nd o forthsomewell
nown,
nd thersot. atherhan dd nnotations
explainingach ext,ehave ivennlyheransliterationf he itles,orxampleonkind
Shyki.
1.The haractersfAbes
iven
ame,
f
would
ormally
eread
ccording
o he
apanese
pronunciation
s Haruaki.
owever,
n
Japan,
he amesf
rominent
eople
re
ustomarily
read
ccording
o
he
hinese
ronunciation,
n
his
ase,
Seimei.hereforen
hisrticle
will
employ
he orm
Seimei,
xcept
n few
xceptional
ases.
78
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shigeta: a
portrait of
abe
no seimei
I
79
seems o havebeen a magical evice oguaranteeersonal afety hengoing o
an unknown
lace
or a
place
perceived
s
dangerous.2
Thus,
twas not
trange
hat enbai houldhavebeenused
when he
mperor
was
moving
nto new
palace.
A
new residence
ruly
was an unknown
pace.
In
fact,
he
nobility
fthe imewouldnothave
occupied
newly-built
welling
until
complex
eries frites
ocusing
n thenew
building,
ncluding
he
per-
formance f henbai
by onmyji
had been
undertaken. or
example,
ujiwara
no
Michinaga
notes
n
his
diaryMidkanpakuki
in
an
entry
ated
Kank
2
(ioo5).2.io,
that e had waited orAbe no
Seimei t the
gate
fhis new
residence.t seems hat eimei,who wassupposed operformherites or he
newly-built
ansion,
as
somewhatate
n
arriving.3
Several ales
n
the
wenty-
eventh
ascicle Honch
eikibu)
fthe
Konjaku
monogatari
h
uggest
hat
eople
n
theHeian
period
onsidered ot
ust
new
dwellings
ut
any
kindofhouse as a
potentially
angerous
pace occupied
by
spirits
nd demons. venwhen he
nobility
eganusing
residencefter
period
of
disuse,
hey
wouldhave n
onmyji
erform
enbai efore
ccupying
t
gain.
Fujiwara
o Sanesukes
diary hyki
ives
s another
xample
re-
dating
000. n
985
Sanesukewas
iving
n
a residence
alled
Nij-tei
hat aced
ontoNij ji (avenue).He placed t for time t thedisposaloftheconsort f
Emperor
ny,
mpress
chgu
K
)
Fujiwara
o Nobuko
il
(957-1017).
During
hat
ime,
e ived t another fhis
residences,
nonomiya,
fter
con-
siderable
eriod
of disuse.Before
iving
here
gain,
he had an
onmyji
alled
Agata
Tomohira
M
perform
enbai
preceded
by
the ritual
cattering
f
uncooked ice
angu
.
And after obuko eft he
Nij
residence,
nd
Sanesuke
was about o move
ack
n,
Abeno Seimei
erformed
enbai or im.4
Itwas
n
such n
environmenthat eimei nstituted
he
performance
fhen-
bai
for he
mperor
henhe moved
ntohis
newly-builtalace.
t ater
ecame
customaryor nmyjioperformenbai n all suchoccasions.Abe no Seimei
had
been able to nstitutehisnew
procedure
ecauseofhis renown
mong
his
contemporaries.
A
PersonWho eesDemons
An
important
ourt itual n the
ast
day
ofthe
year
was called tsuina
.
The
prototype
f
hemodern etsubunnd ts
bean-throwing,
twas held
o
expel
ll
demons hat ad
gathered
ithin
apan
o outside
heboundaries fthe and n
2. n n
example
fhenbaifter000,he
nmyji
oremuneoFumitaka
per-
formedt
when
enerals
ppointed
o
put
own he ebellionf
Chiba oTadatsuneefthe
capital
Shyki
Chgen
1028].
.5).
or etailsn
henbaiseeKosaka
993.
3.
For ites
ertaining
o
newly-built
wellings,
ee higeta
004,
79-211;005, 3-98.
4.
Shyki,
anna
985). .7;
ien
987).
.21.
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SHIGETA:
PORTRAITF
ABE
NO EIMEI 8l
is a tale ntheKonjakumonogatarih hat elates hatAbe noSeimeihad been
able to see them ince he was a small child
Konjakumonogatari
h kan
24,
Tale
16).
We also knowfrom he
diary
fthe
mperor
da that n
onmyji
ho
served
mperor
Montoku t the
beginning
f
theHeian
period
was
spoken
f
as a
person
who sees demons
Uda
tenn
goki, anpy
889).1.18.).
n the
Shin-sarugakukiy
the scholar
Fujiwara
no Akihira
JS EW
ir
d. 1066),
a fic-
tional haracteralled Kamo no
Michiyo, nmyd
Master was
presented
s
the deal
of n
onmyji,
fwhom twas
said,
Though
e had received
he
body
ofa human
being,
his
heart/mind
ommunicated
ith he
demons
nd
spirits
[kishin
Thus,
he
fact hat
nmyji
ho communicated ith hedemons nd
spir-
its
n
mind nd sawdemons
were n
charge
f
expelling
emonswouldhave
been
seen
as
completely
atural
y
the
people
ofthetime.And
given
his,
he
great
nfluence xerted
y
Abe no Seimeion theoccasion ofthe tsuina f1001
does not ome s a
surprise
s
he was
so
highly egarded.
Gen
Effectiveness
In themiddle f he eventh onth fKank
1004),
here as
drought.
ccord-
ing
to the nformation
rought y
Fujiwara
o Sanenari (975-1045) o
Fujiwara
o
Michinaga,
heFestival itual f heFive
Dragons gorysai
fS)
performed
y
Abe no
Seimei
had been
effective,
nd Seimeihad been
given
a
gift.
his
ppears
n
Michinagas iary MidkanpakukU
ank
.7.14).
The
gorysai
as a
magical
ite
erformed
yonmyji
o
produce
ain.
ane-
nari comment hat thad been effectivendicates ome
response,
nd Seimei
gift
epresented
reward orhis work.The
entry
n
Michinagasdiary
ellsus
that eimeihad caused
rain
o
fall
uring drought hrough
he
performance
f
the
orysai
and received reward or is uccess. his
uggests
hat
Michinaga,
along
withother
people
during
he Heian
period,
believedthat he
onmyji
Seimei ouldcause
rain
o fall
hroughmagic.
This ncident
ppears
o
have been
recorded
n
Sanenari
diary
s well.
n
Fascicle
9
of he hkimokurokuthere s an item atedKank
1.7.16
hat
tates,
Seimei
eceives reward or he ffectiveness
gen
&]
of heFestival f heFive
Dragons. nfortunately,
he
ntry
tself
as
not urvived
n
the
hyki.
would
like, owever,
o draw ttentiono
gen
f heFestival f heFive
Dragons.
ere
it
ppears
n the
ontext fSeimei
eceiving
reward ecause f he ffectiveness
of
magical
itual e had
performed.
5.
Of
ourse,
ot ll
onmyji
ere o
thought
f
y
ll
people.
or
xample,
n
n
entry
n
the
hyki
ated
anju
1024).
0.
9,
we ee hat obbersnteredhe esidencef n
onmyji
called akaharao
Tsunemori,
nd romn temRan
y
okoto nFascicle
7
f he hki
mokurokuweknowhatn
onmyji
alled nakatomio anemitsusufferedn
ndignity.
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ACTIVITY
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Kh
97).6.23
Selecting
n
uspicious
imend
ay
orhe itual
ignalling
he
Honcheiki
beginning
f
olitical
ctivities
Tenroku972).i2.6 eporto hemperoroncerningelestialberrations Chikanobu-
ky
i
Tenroku
972).i2.6
eport
o he
uthoritiesbout
erforming
he
itef he
our
Chikanobu-
Directionso ontrol
he
revalence
f
pidemics
ky
i
Tenen
973)-i-9
Report
o he
mperor
oncerning
elestial
berrations
Chikanobu-
ky
i
Tenen
973).6.n
Divinationbout
ncanny
henomena
or
he
mperor
ny
Chikanobu-
ky
i
Tenen
973).6.n
Henbai
erformed
n
ccasionf he
mperor
nys
rogress
o he
Chikanobu-
Chkain
ky
i
Tenen
974).6.i2
Riverside
urification
erformed
orhe
mperor
ny
Chikanobu-
ky
i
Tenen
974).i2.3Report
o he
mperoroncerning
elestial
berrations
Chikanobu-
kyi
Eikan
984)7.27
Selectedn
uspicious
ime
nd
ay
orhe
nthronementitual
Shyki
of he
mperor
azan,
ucceeding
he
mperor
ny,
nd
he
ceremony
aming
anehitohinn
later
mperor
chij)
s
Crown
Prince
Kanna
98s).4.i9
Purification
erformed
ecause
ujiwara
anesukes
oncubineas
Shyki
late
iving
irth
Kanna
98s).5.29
Purification
erformed
n he
ompletion
f
mperor
azan's
Shyki
period
f
mourning
Kanna
986).2.i6
Divined
hathe
ppearance
f
snaken
he
uilding
f
he
Honcheiki
Dajkan
as
uspicious
Eien
987).2.i9
Performed
enbain he
ccasionf
mperor
chij
oving
rom
Shyki
the ykashaeII# o heeirydenEien
987).3.2i
Fujiwara
anesukead enbai
erformed
n
eturning
o is
ij Shyki
mansion
fter
n
bsence
Eien
988)7.4
Performedkiki-sai
ritual
o
xpel
llness-causing
emons)
t
he
Shyki
residencef
ujiwara
anesuke
Eien
988).8.7
Selectedn
uspicious
imend
ay
orhe
erformance
f n
so-
Shyki
tericuddhistitual
nd he
eikokuseisaior
he
mperor
chij
Eien
988).8.i8
Wrote
etterf
xplanation
bout
hy
e
id ot
erform
he
Shyki
Keikokuseisaior
he
mperorchij
Eiso
989).i.6
Made
divination
oncerning
he
llnessf he
mperor
chij
Shyki
Eiso
989)..7
Performed
purification
or
hellnessf
he
mperor
chij
Shyki
Eiso
989).2.ii
Orderedo
erform
he
aizanukunai
orhe
mperor
chij
Shyki
Eiso
989).
.16
Performed
enbain he
ccasionf he
mperor
chijs
rogress hyki
to nyji
Shryaku
993)..3
Performed
purification
orhe
llness
f
he
mperor
chij
Shyki
Shryaku
994)-5-7
eported
hat
Ninnkhould
eheldn he
mperial
alace
Honcheiki
Chtoku
995).io.i7
eported
nwhetherr
ot ivination
ad een
erformed
hen
Gonki
report
asmade
oncerning
elestial
berrations
Chtoku
997).
.17
electedn
uspicious
ay
nd imeorhe
mperor
chijs
rogress
onki
to
isit
igashianjin
hismother)
Chtoku
997).6.22
erformedenbain
he ccasionf he
mperor
chijs
rogress
o
Gonki
visit
igashianjin
his
mother)
Chh
999)7.8
Performedenbaihenhe
mperor
chij
oved
romheast
o Gonki
the orthf
isemporaryalace,chijin.Chh999)7.16Madedivination
oncerning
hellnessf
mperor
chij
Gonki
Chh
999)7.16
Selectedn
upicious
ay
o
erform
n
Onmyd
estival
un-
Gonki
specified)
or
mperor
chij
Chh
999).io.i3
Madedivination
bouthe
ecessity
f he
reat
mpress
owa-
Shyki
ger,
he
mperial
rincess
hshi,
oving
esidenceso reatn
illness
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Chh
999).
o.
3
Selected
n
uspicious
ay
nd our
orhe
mperial
rincess
hshi
hyki
tomoveo he esidencef eMasamune.
Chh999).0.9 Reportnmiscellaneousffairsurroundinghemovef hempe- Shyki
rial rincesshshio he esidence
f
eMasamune.
Chh
999).
1.7
Selected
n
uspiciousay
nd ouror
erforming
fire
revention
onki
ritualn he
mperial
alace
Chh
999).
1. Was rderedo
erform
fire
revention
itual
n
he
mperial
Gonki
Palace
Chh
ooo).i.io
Reported
n ome atter
unspecified)
t he esidence
f
ujiwara
Mid-
Michinaga
kanpakuki
Chh
1000).
.28
Selected
n
uspiciousay
nd ourorhenstallations
mpress
fMid-
the
onsortf he
mperorchij,ujiwara
o hshi
kanpakuki
Chh
1000).
.16 Selected
n
uspiciousay
nd ourorhe isit
y
he
mpress
Mid-
ShshioHkin
kanpakuki
Chh1000).. 9 Divinedhetheratsn ujiwaraukinari'suartersn hemperial onkiPalace ereuckyr nluckyign
Chh
iooo).8.i9
elected
he armfulirectionor
onstructing
he
uidonory
Gonki
Chh
1000).
0.11 erformedenbain he ccasion
f he
mperorchij oving
Gonki
fromis
emporaryalace,chijin,
o he
ewly-erectedmperial
Palace
Chh
1001).
. 0 Selectedn
uspiciousay
nd ouror
igashi
anjin,ujiwara
Gonki
Senshi,
o eneratestatuef ud
Chh
i00i).6.20
electedn
uspiciousay
nd ouror
mperial
rince
tsuyasu
Gonki
(first-born
on f
chij)
o at ishorhe
irstime
Chh
1001).2.17*
ivinedhetherr othe
ll
Higashi
anjin,ujiwara
enshi,
Gonki
should oveo he
anj
esidencef
ujiwara
ukinari
Chh
1001).2.23*
eported
nmiscellaneous
atters
oncerning
he uneral
itesf Gonki
Higashianjin,ujiwaraenshi.
Chh
1001).2.29*
erformedhe
suina,
ancelled
n
he
mperial
alaceecausef he
Seiji
ryaku
deathf
enshi,
n
his wn ome
Chh
ioo2).3.i9
eported
n he easonorhencessant
iresn he
mperial
alace Gonki
Chh
ioo2).3.i9
eported
n
he
rigins
f he amesf he
ates
f he
mperial
Gonki
Palace
Chh
1002).1.9
Performedaizanukunai
or
ujiwara
ukinari
Gonki
Chh
ioo3).8.2i
Madedivination
oncerning
hellnessf
mperial
rince
tsuyasu
onki
Kank
1004)..19
Selectedsite
n
Kohata
or
ujiwaraichinaga
o uild
he
mortu-
id-
aryemple)
anmaid
kanpakuki
Kank
1004).
.26 Asked
y
ujiwara
ukinarihether
twas
uspicious
r ot o Gonki
perform
Buddhistiten Kshin
ay
Kank1004).. 8 Divinedhetherhereasnyeathollutiont he esidencef Mid-Fujiwaraichinaga kanpakuki
Kank
i004).6.20
eported
hattwas otuitableor
ujiwaraichinaga
o rect Mid-
Buddhist
tatuen metsumon
inauspicious)
ay
kanpakuki
Kank
1004)7.14
erformedhe ive
ragons
estival
Mid-
kanpakuki
Kank
1004).
.
2
Divined
hetherr othe
mpress
hshi
houldisit
harano
Mid-
Jinja
kanpakuki
Kank
1004).
. 5
Divinedhether
umbling
t nomine
the
rave
f
ujiwara
o Mid-
Kamatari)
as
uspicious
r ot
kanpakuki
Kank
1004).2.3
Performed
n
Onmyd
itual
unspecified)
t he esidence
f Mid-
Fujiwaraichinaga
kanpakuki
Kank1005)..10 Performedritualornewonstructionorujiwaraichinagas id-
new
anjin
kanpakuki
Kank
ioo5).3.8
Performedenbaihenhe
mpress
hshiisitedharano
inja
Shyki
*
The
ear
n oldndicatesn xtra onth
n
heunaralendar.
figure .Abe o eimeisctivities.
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ournal
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A similar toryurvivesnanother ntryntheShykidatedShryaku
(993).2.3.
On
that
day,
Abe no
Seimei
visited
anesuke
t
his home.
Just
rior
to
this,
eimeihad been
promoted
rom heLower o the
Upper
Gradeof the
Senior
ifth
ank nd
he
seems
o havebeen
visiting
anesuke o
nform
im
of
this.
According
o what eimeihimself
aid,
when
Emperor
chij uddenly
ell
ill,
eimei
performed purification
eremony
o treat
he llness. t was because
there
was nstant ffectivenesshat eimei ater eceived heraised
anking
s
a reward. eretoo we find eimei
beinggiven
reward
ecauseof he ffective-
nessofhis
magic Shykuhryaku
.2.3).
Inthe ection n Hateful hings ntheMakurano sshiThePillowBook),
Sei
Shnagon
mentions
Someone as fallen
ll
and a
genza
(exor-
cist)
s
summoned. hus
n
Abe no Seimei
day,
eople
called
genza
were sso-
ciatedwith he
curing
f llness.
Genza
wereBuddhist
riests
who
performed
magical
rites,
uch as esoteric ituals nd
magico-religious rayers kaji
kit
Ptit#),
n
a
variety
f
ituations,
ncluding
he
curing
f
llness.Gen or shi-
rushi
s understood
y
he
people
of heHeian
period ppear
o be
synonymous
withwhatwe
today
all effectiveness.
uddhist
riests
ho
performed
soteric
rites r
kaji
were alled
genza
people
having en)
because here
was an
expecta-
tion hat heir ituals ouldbe effective.
People
had similar
xpectations
f he
ffectivenessf he
magical
ituals
er-
formed
yonmyju
uch s festival ituals nd
purifications
o cure
llness,
nd
for ther
urposes.6
t he ame
time,
hese
nmyji
ouldraise heir
eputation
by
displaying en
that
s,
exhibiting
he
effectivenessf their ituals. he
two
examples
we
have
examined bove are
typical.
he reason
hat he
onmyji
be
no Seimei chieved ame s the
reeminentractitioner
f
Onmyd
was due
in
part
o the
effectivenessf thevariousrituals e
performed.7
igure
1
ists
Seimei activitiess an
onmyji
ased on
contemporary
ources;
hey
how he
diverseypes fmagic hat epracticed.
Abeno Seimei n Old
Age
Though
ts author s unknown nd the
date of ts
compilation
ncertain,
he
Nihon
kiryaku
s
highly
steemed s a basic historical
ourcefor he ime
up
to
themid-Heian
eriod.
n
an
entry
ated
Tengen
978).7.24,
here s a
report
saying
A
thunderbolt
ell,
amaging
heresidence fthe
onmy
akase zumo
Kiyoaki
Izumo
Kiyoaki
has been
widely egarded
s refer-
ring o Abe no Seimei.This s because the characters used to transcribe
thename
may
be
pronounced
ither
Kiyoaki
r
Seimei,
nd recentmono-
6.For heworkf
nmyji
n
reating
llness,
ee higeta
004, 24-78;
005, 9-192.
7.
For
magicalracticeserformed
y nmyju
eeOkada
991;
amashita
996.
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SHIGETA:
PORTRAITF
ABE
NO EIMEI
85
graphsnd articlesoncerningbe no Seimeihavefrequentlydentifiedhe wo
as
being
he ame.
t s
certainly telling
necdote or cholars
nterested
n
the
trope
f Seimei
failures,
peaking
s it does
ofhis
nability
o
prevent
thun-
derbolt
triking
isown
house.
It
may
be,
however,
hat he
person
who
appears
as Izumo
Kiyoaki
n
the
Nihon
kiryaku
s
notAbe no Seimei
t all. We shouldnot
underestimatehefact
that he ext
mploys
Izumo
Kiyoaki,
ot Abe
no Seimei. 8 he
Chikanobu-ky
ki referso Abe no Seimei
s tenmon
akase
(doctor
f
astrology)
or
thefirst ime
n
an
entry
atedTenroku
(972).
2.6,
while he ate Heian
his-
toricalwork, oncheiki ittlE,Chroniclef mperialeigns)mentionsAbe
Ason
Seimei,
enmon
akase Senior ifth
ank,
Upper
Grade
n
an
entry
ated
Kanna
2
(986).
2.16. t
s difficultherefore
o think hathe could have
occupied
the
post
of
onmy
akase
n
978,
nd so it
ppears
o be
pushing hings
oo far
o
identify
be no Seimei
with he zumo
Kiyoaki
mentioned
n
theNihon
iryaku.
Nevertheless,
ome cholars
emain
onvinced,
espite
he
vidence,
hatAbe no
Seimei
nd zumo
Kiyoaki
re he ameman.
Those nterested
n Seimei failureshould
note n
entry
n
the
Shyki
ated
Eien
2
988).8.i8.
ecause f n
astrological
ivinationhat aid
he tarKeikokusei
was not na goodposition s far s Emperorchijwasconcerned, in-
zen
I
theTendai
asu
(head
priest),
asto
perform
n
esoteric
uddhist
ritual nd Seimei a
magical
rite alled the Keikokusei
estival
Keikokuseisai
JIIk)
on that
ay.
However,
eimei
idnot
performny
itual
or he
mperor.
Did
he have reason or ot
doing
o,
or did
something
appen
hat
was
beyond
hiscontrol? r
wasthere ome
deeper
eason?We
ust
do notknow.
owever,
s a
result,
eimei
had to write letter
f
xplanation.
his ailure fSeimei
,
which s
backed
y
historical
vidence,
s the
nly
ne known
t
present.
Ifwe set sidethe
ntry
n theHonch eiki atedKh
4 (97).6.23
hat eals
with the nmyjieimei electingnauspicious ime nddayfor heritualig-
nalling
he
beginning
f
political
ctivities,
he arliest
nd mostreliable ecord
concerning
im
s
in Tairano Chikanobus
diary,
hikanobu-ky
i.
However,
this ecord
nly
asts scant
hree
ears,
rom
72
to
974.
t s thereforeifficult
to attain eliable
nformationbout eimei efore
67.
The ast
ntry oncerning
Seimei
s found
n
the
Shyki
datedKank
2
(ioos).3.8;
after hathe no lon-
ger
ppears
n
therecords fhis
contemporaries.
e
may
havedied around
hat
time.At
any
rate,
we can
only
ollow eimei
trail or round
hirty ears,
rom
967
to
1005.
A genealogy ftheAbefamilyncludedna collection fgenealogiesom-
piled
n thefourteenth
entury
alled he
Sonpibunmyakuays
hat
eimei
died
8. Some ariantsave he
rthography
Izumo o
Kiyoaki/Seimei
but
his oes
notmeant eferso Abe o eimei.
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at the geofeighty-ive. fwe take1005 o be theyear fhisdeath,we can esti-
matehe was born
n
Engi
21
921).
f
o,
Seimeiwas
already
ver
fifty
henhe
firstmade an
appearance
n
the
Chikanobu-ky
i and so he was
already
n old
man.Thismeans hat he
only
ecords
e have
ofSeimei refrom is old
age.
Perhaps
he
only
more-or-lesseliable ecord hat xists or eimei efore his
time s the nformationontained
n
the
onpi unmyaku-
eimeiwas studentf
Kamono
Yasunori, ho,
ccording
o
the
undated
azaifu
mandokoro
hanwas
a doctor f he hree
ways
andhakase
HlWit),
that
s,
of
yin-yang
ivina-
tion,
strology,
nd the alendar Heian ibun
No.
4623).
Minamoto
o
Tsuneyori
SJIH (986-1039),who ived round iftyears fterasunori,ept diary alled
the akeiki
E^ISS.
An
entry
ated
Chgen
1032). .4
says,
In
Japan,
hefoun-
dations f
Onmyd
were aid
by
Yasunori. his ells s that he
onmyji
alled
Kamono Yasunoriwhowas Abe
no
Seimei
teacher as
highly egardedmong
theHeian
nobility
s a
preceptor
f
onmyji.
The Abe
genealogy
n the
Sonpi
bunmyaku
escribes eimei s
originally
graduate
tudent
tokugsh
in
astrology.
his
uggests
hat eimei
may
have tudied nder he tenmon akaseYasunori s an advanced tudent
f hat
subject.
Wehave
lready
een hat eimeiwas
appointed
enmon akase tthe nd
ofTenroku 972), nall ikelihoods the uccessor fYasunori.t s alsothought
that
asunori ransmitted
nowledge
f
yin-yang
ivinationo
Seimei,
s well s
astrology.9
n
entry
atedTenen
(974).5.i4
n the
Chikanobu-ky
irecords hat
whenKamoYasunori limbedMount
Hiei to select
y
divination site or new
hall,
he was attended
y
Seimei.
his s an indication f he loseties hat xisted
between he women s teacher nd student.
The
explanation
n theKamo
genealogy
n the
Sonpibunmyaku
hatKamo
no
Yasunori,
howasboth enmon akase nd reki
akasef
lanned
o eave
nly
he
calendarwithin is own
family
ine nd entrust
strology
o theAbe
family
oes
not
necessarily
ppear
o be based on historicalact. ecause herewas no one n
the
Kamo
familyufficiently
ersed
n
astrology
o succeed
Yasunori,
nd as the
Abe
family
ontinued
o
produce
men
proficient
n
astrology
fter eimei
imself,
the
esult as that
fter
he
leventh
entury system
ad beenformed
here he
Abe were
n
charge
f
strology,
nd theKamo the alendar.
he
explanation
n
the
Sonpibunmyaku
s
a
later
reation nd s unrelatedo Yasunori
imself,
nd
reflectshe ituationhat ad
come bout fter he leventh
entury
etween
he
Abe and Kamofamilies
Shigeta
2004,
261-325;
006,
157-73).
9.
The
Ruijusensh
H#,
collectionf aws
nd rdinances
ompiled
n he ate
eleventh
entury,
ncludesdocumentssued
y
he
ajkan
ated enroku
970).
1.8ell-
ing
s hat eimeison
Yoshimasa,
n
strologyokugsh
was student
f he enmonakase
Kamo o
Yasunori
Ruijusensh,
o.
,
Tenmon
okugsh).
eimeis
amily
inewas ater
n
charge
f
oth ivinationnd
strology.
his as he lavorf branch
rom
asunori
ineage.
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87
POSITION DATE SOURCE
Tenmon
okugsh Sonpiunmyaku
Onmyji
Kh
967)
Honch
eikih
967)
.23
Onmy
onno
hzoku
Sonpiunmyaku
Tenmonakase Tenroku
972)
2
Chikanobu-ky
iTenroku
972).i2.6
(former
enmonakase
Shryaku
994)
Honch
eikiy
hryaku
994) .7
Shukei
onnosuke
Chtoku
997)
maseibun-sh
997)
o.
ge
Bicchnosuke Chtoku
997)
maseibun-shChtoku
997)
o.
ge
(rank
ithout
osition)
Chho
1001)
2*
Seiji
ryaku
No.
9
Sakyonnodaibu Chho1002)1 Gonki,hho1002)1.28
Kokusinett
Sonpiunmyaku
Daizenaibu
Sonpiunmyaku
*
The
ear
n oldndicatesn xtra onthn
heunaralendar.
figure .Abe o eimeicareers n
official.
Abeno
Seimei s a
Middle-Ranking
ureaucrat
Accordingo anentryntheGonki atedChh2 (1000). 0.21, be no Seimei
that
ay
acted as
deputy
or heShikibu
aifu
nfcfcfi
Ceremonial
Commis-
sioner)
t a
ceremonyjoi
H)
conferring
romotions
n bureaucrats
erving
thecourt.The Ceremonial ommissioner as the
econd-highest
osition
n
theShikibush
oii
(Ministry
f
Ceremonies),
he
government
epartment
that ealtwith
ersonnel
matters elated o the
bureaucracy.
ecause thecom-
missionerouldnotfor omereason ttend he
eremony,
eimei ookhis
place.
This of coursehad no relation o his activities s an
onmyji.
t the same
time,
eimeiwas
in
a
position
o
deputize
or
he
CeremonialCommissioner.
Though egend
nd lore do not make tclearwhether Seimei was humanor
not,
his historical
ersonage
Haruaki )
was
n
fact
middle-ranking
ureau-
cratwho served hecourt:
n
other
words,
e was an
ordinary
member f
the
Heian
nobility.10
s can be seen from
igure
2,
Seimeidid not
pass
through
ife
as
ust
n
onmyji.
In
the rticle
n
the
eiji
yryaku
oncerning
hetsuina f1001
uoted
bove,
Seimei
s
described s Abeno Ason
Seimei,
Junior
ourth
ank,
ower
Grade,
10.Mostnmyjihose amesppearnrecordsefty heHeian obility,ncludinghose
lower-
anking
fficialsho
everanked
igher
han eniorixth
ank,
ower
rade,
erell
government
fficialsith
anknd
osition
official
nmyji
A
not nconsiderable
ropor-
tion f
hem
ad
he ank f
Junior
ifth
ank,
ower
rade,
hich eant
hey
eremembers
of he
obility
nd
middle-ranking
ureaucrats.or list f official
nmyji
of hemid-Heian
period,
ee higeta
004, 27-83;
006,
28-44.
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without fficialosition. hismeans hat he A- f heFourth ank mentioned
in the
Gonki n Chh
2.8.19
s
having
een asked
byFujiwara
o Yukinari
o
perform
ivinationwas
probably
eimei.
According
o the
Sonpi bunmyaku
Junior
ourth
Rank,
Lower
Grade,
was thefinal
anking
hat eimei
received.
The
fact hat eimeiwas
possibly
ithout fficial
osition
whenhe
deputized
or
the
Ceremonial ommissionerits
n
wellwith he
ntry
n
the
eijiyryaku.
As an
official,
eimei
would,
under he
ritsury
ode,
havereceived
salary
from hecourt.
A
document rom he Bureauof Taxation
Shuzeiry
5I?)
concerning
axes ells s that n Chh
4
(ioo2).4.i5,
Abe no Ason
Seimeiwas
anofficialf heJuniorourth ank, owerGrade, arningn income f bout
361
koku ofrice
per
year
Heian bun no.
1161).
n
themid-Heian
eriod,
ti-
pends
roku
i)
were
paid
from he
government
n
theform f
rice,
nd the
amount o be
paid
was
scrupulously
etermined
y
rank.
ncidentally,
mong
theTaxation ureau
documentss one datedChh
4.4.10
oncerning
eimei
son Yoshihira
1?,
who received n income f
bout
215
koku frice s an offi-
cial of he
Junior
ifth
ank,
owerGrade.
Under he
ritsury
ode,
officials
ere,
n
addition o the bove
tipend,
iven
rice andcalled den
EH
rank
ice
fields),
iffering
n
amount
ccording
o their
rank.Anofficialf heJuniorourth ank, owerGrade, eceivedwentyhTO*
(about
fifty
cres)
nd one of he
Junior
ifth
ank,
ower
Grade,
eceived
ight
ch
about
wenty
cres).
ncome rom he rank ields mounted o
around
80
koku
n
Seimei case and to around
52
oku n
Yoshihiracase.11
n
addition,
n
official
osition
lso accrued
salary
n
theform f hikibunden
t
h
EH
office
ice
fields).
s tenmon akase Seimeiwouldhavereceived our
h
about
en
cres),
and whenhe was
Saky
o
gontayu
(provisional
enior ssistant in-
ister,
astern
apital)
e
probably
eceivedwo h
about
ive
cres).
There were also semiannual
presents
kiroku
ti)
to all rankholders
n
theform fcloth ndagriculturalmplements.ut evenconsidering nly he
main ncome ources or fficials roku nd
iden),
eimeiwouldhavereceived
an annual
salary
f around
741
kokuwhenhe was of the
Junior
ourth
Rank,
Lower
Grade,
nd
around
67
kokuwhenhe was of he
Junior
ifth
ank,
ower
Grade.12
n
entry
n the
Shyki
ated
Shryaku
99o).ii.2
reveals hat
uji-
waraSanesuke old his
Nij
residence or ive housand oku and
according
o
11.
be
1993)
ttempts
o onverthe
tipend
f
igh-ranking
fficialsf
he eniorecond
Ranknto
en.
he
onversionf
he
ncome
romhe rank
ields
ade
ere
mploys
is rial
calculation.
12.
f
weuseAbe's
1993)
rial
alculation,
eimei'sncome ould ave een round
19,000,000
en
henf he
unior
ourth
ank,
ower
rade,
nd round
,500,000
en
hen
of he
Junior
ifth
ank,
ower
rade.
sing
he ame
onversion,
ncomeromis official
rice ields ould ave een
round
,000,000
en
when ewas enmon
akasend round
1,000,000
en
hen ewas
aky
o
gontayu.
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theGonkU htoku (998).10. 9,thatwhen residence hatwouldafterwards
be used as a
temporary
alace
for
mperor
chij
was
sold,
t made
eight
hou-
sand
koku. fwe consider hat hesewere hekind f
prices
aid
formansions f
the
high
nobility,
e cannot
ay
hat
eimei
incomewas
scanty.13
However,
y
hemid-Heian
eriod,
when he
itsuryystem
adbecomemore
relaxed,
middle-ranking
fficials ithweaker
ositions
id not
necessarily
eceive
the
tipends
hatwere aid downfor hem.One of hereasons
hat
many
f hem
attached hemselveso
powerful
enior fficialsnd the
highnobility
s house-
men kenin
^)
was to use the
good
officesf
hese
gates
f
power
o secure
their ncome.TheShykiinan entry atedKannin3 (1019). .5, ellsus that
Seimei son
Yoshimasa
pf
was a houseman f
Fujiwara
no
Sanesuke,
nd
Seimeihimself
may
havebeen a houseman
f
Fujiwara
no
Michinaga.
Until
1005,
Michinaga
ardly
sed
any nmyji
ther han eimei.
The
Highest-
anked erson
fOnmyd
In
the ollection
f
prose
nd verse exts alled
Chya
unsai
Collected
ecords
of court and
country),
ompiled
n
1116
y Miyoshi
no
Tameyasu
H
(1049-1139),
here
s a document atedChtoku
995).
.1 ncluded
s an exam-
pleofa reportnforminghecourt f themonthly orkingonditions foffi-
cials attached
o theKurdo-dokoro
Scfl,
hichfunctioned
s an
Imperial
secretariat.t tellsus that
during
he
reign
f
Emperor chij,
Abe
no
Seimei
was
appointed
Kurdo-dokoro
nmyji?
ecretarial
nmyji
or he
emperor
(Chya
unsai
,
Chgige
Kurdo-dokoro
esso ).
On
thenineteenth
ay
ofthe econdmonth
fEien 1
987),
Emperor
chij,
whohad succeeded
o the hrone
n
the ixthmonth
f he
previous
ear,
moved
his
leeping
uarters
rom he
Gykasha,
here e had ived s Crown
rince,
o
the
Seiryden,
nd Seimei
performed
enbai
Shyki). ubsequently,
ention
is foundnvarious ecords fSeimei carryingut divinationndmagical ites
for
chij.
Thiswas because Seimei
was theKurdo-dokoro
nmyji
or
chij.
We sawabovehowSeimei eceived
promotion
s
a
result f
particularly
ffec-
tive
purification
itehe
performed
or
chij
whenhe
suddenly
ook ll. As the
Kurdo-dokoro
nmyji
e would havebeen
expected
o
carry
ut
divination
and
magical
iteswhen he
mperor
ecame ick.
When
magical
iteswere o be
performed
or he
mperor,
r when
he eft he
palace,
t was
extremely
mportant
hat he
day
and timebe
carefully
elected
to avoid
nauspicious
ays
and hours.This would also have been the task
of
theKurdo-dokoronmyji. igure 1shows number foccasionson which
13.
rom
n
ntry
n he
hyki
ated annin
1018).
.
6,
weknowhatn
onmyji
alled
KoremuneoFumitakauilt
privatetemple.
ven
umitaka,
hose inal
anking
as
rob-
ably
eniorifth
ank,
ower
rade,
ad ufficienteansodo o.
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ournal
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Seimei, s IchijsKurdo-dokoronmyjiselected uspicious ays nd times
for
he
mperor.
twas Seimeihimself ho selected hedatefor he
performance
of the KeikokuseiFestival f
988,
and he laterwrote letter f
explanation
explaining
hy
e did not ttend
Shyki
Eien 2
[988].
.7).
Furthermention s made oftheKurdo-dokoro
nmyji
n
the
Chyki
the
diary
f
Fujiwara
o Munetada
H
(1062-1141),
boutwhom t
ays,
Hewas
a manwho erved n theKurdo-dokorond was of he
highest
ank
Chyki
Daiji
4
[1129].
.8).
Thus
by
Munetadas
ime,
he
highest-anking nmyji
as the
Kurdo-dokoro
nmyji.
be no Seimeiwas the
highest-
anking
nmyji
fhis
own timewhenhe waspromotedoSeniorFifth ank,UpperGrade,n993. 4
This
uggests
hat
lready y
hemid-Heian
eriod,
he
ystem
r custom
xisted
whereby
he
highest-ranking
nmyji
as attached
o
the
Kurdo-dokoro.
There s another ocument
n
the
Chya unsai
hatwe
must onsider ere.
It s dated
Chji
2
(1105).
.21 nd is a
request
or he
promotion
f an
onmyji
calledKamo no Narihira. s a
precedent
or he
xtraordinary
romotion
f n
onmyoji,
tcites he ase of the
econd-highest
anked
erson
f
Onmyd
who
was
given xtraordinary
romotion
Chya
gunsai
15,
Rekid Rekid
oshaku
shs ).Concerning
his
person,
here s an note attached
written bout the
onmyji
be Yoshimasa: Chtoku
(998)4,
awarded
enior ifth
ank,
ower
Grade;
f he
highest
ank t that imewas
Yoshihira son. Yoshihira
as Abe
no
Yoshihira,
ho
was,
ike
Yoshimasa,
son ofSeimei.15
According
o an
entry
n
the
hyki
atedChwa
5 1016).
.8,
Abe no Yoshi-
hirahad on that
ay
been awarded he
Junior
ourth
ank,
ower
Grade.Prob-
ably
ven
n
1015
whenhe was of heSenior ifth
ank,
Upper
Grade,
oshihira
wasthe
highest-ranking
nmyji.
ince
Fujiwara
o Sanesuke ad commentedn
Yoshihirahat there
s
not
one
among
he
practitioners
f
Onmyd onmyka
who cancomparewith im, t s clear hat e was an excellentnmyju hodid
not hame henameof
his father
n
anyway.
Abe no
Yoshimasa,
howas raised
from
unior
ifth
ank,
Lower
Grade,
o SeniorFifth
ank,
Lower
Grade,
was
the
econd-highest
anked
nmyji.
he
expression
ound n
the
Chya unsai
concerning
the
econd-highest
anked
erson
f
Onmyd may
e
thought
o
meanthe
econd-highest
anked
nmyji.
f
this s
so,
the
onmyji
f he
high-
estrank was also at thetime alled the
highest-
anked
erson
f
Onmyd.
At
the ime f
Emperor
chij,
he
person
who
occupied
his
position
was none
other hanAbe no Seimei.
14.
he ocument
n
he
hya
unsai
ave
eimeiranksSeniorixth
ank,
pper
rade.
Thiss
probably
n rrorn he
art
f hewriternd hould ot
ose problem.
15.
or he
elationship
etweenoshimasand
oshihira,
ee higeta
004, 27-60;
006,
86-102.
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91
Onmyd
Whenthe onsort fCrown
Prince
Atsunaga
later
mperor
o-Suzaku),
uji-
warano
Michinagas aughter
oshiko,
ied
n
1025,
n
onmyji
alledNakahara
no Tsunemori
performed
rite alled tama
yobai
calling
ack
the
pirit.
his eems o havebeen a form f
magic
o summon he
pirit
f he
deceased ack nto he
body,
nd
appears
o havebeena rite hatwas
n
demand.
However,
everal
ays
ater,
sunemori as
punished
y high-ranking
eople
ofthe
Way.
he reasonwas that t was unusualfor
nmyji
o
performspirit
calling.
his ncidentwas
reported
n
an
entry
n
the Sakeiki ated
Manju
2
(1025). .23.Those high-rankingeopleoftheWay whopunished sunemori
were
ndoubtedly
eniormembers
f
Onmyd,
n
other
words,
he
highest
nd
second-highest
anked
nmyji.
s the ncidenthows
s,
hese
eople
ontrolled
the ctivitiesf
onmyji
n
general.
tthat
ime,
he
xpression
Onmyd
id
nothave he
meaning
tdoes
today,
hat
s,
a
systematization
f
particular
deas
and
practices.
ather,
tmeant n
organization
f
people
of he ame
profession,
onmyji
whowere nder he ontrol f
high-ranking
eople
of he
Way. 16
Nevertheless,
t s
ikely
hat his ontrol
nly
xisted etween
he
higher
nd
lowerranks
f
onmyji
ho were hemselves
fficials.17
nmyji
with fficial
status ike Abe no Seimei could be calledkanjinonmyjilffiPofficial
onmyji)
ut his oes not
mean hat ll
onmyji
t the imewere fficials.
here
were lso
onmyji
nown s hshi
nmyji
(priest
nmyji
,
whohad
the
ppearance
fBuddhist
riests
nd
were
without fficial
tatus,
nd
presum-
ably
he ontrol f he
Onmyd
id not xtend o them.
Entries
n
the
Shyki
ated Chwa
3
(1014).
1.
,
Chwa
4 (1115). .13,
nd
Chwa
4.8.2
showthat
Fujiwara
no Sanesuke
had a man called Ken Hshi
fifc,
ho must
havebeen a hshi
nmyji
perform
divination
ogether
with eimei son Yoshihira.
written
eposition
oncerning
certain urse
incident ontainednvolume
eventy
f he
Seiji
yryaku
entions hat round
Kank
5 (1008),
a hshi
nmyji
alled Dman
ilS
was a habitual isitor o
a
noblewoman,
akashina o Mitsuko. ei
Shnagons
Makurano sshi in the
section
Things
hat re
distressing
o
see,
mentions hshi
nmyji
n
connec-
tion
with
is
performing
purification
earing
paper ap.
t
appears
hey
were
well-known
igures
n
their
ociety.
Since
the
nobility,
rom round the middle
of Heian
period,
had a
great
abhorrence or
pilling
umanblood
they
id
not
attempt
cts ofviolence o
16. or he
meaning
f
Onmyd
nHeian
imes,
eeYamashita
996.
17.
ccording
o n
ntry
n
he
hyki
ated
hgen
1031)..29,
akaharao
Tsunemori,
who ad
erformed
he
spirit
alling
itual,
as hat
ay ppointed
o he fficef
(third
secretary)
n he
nmyry.
ewas ower-
anking
fficialho ad
uccessively
ccupiedosi-
tions
n
he
nmyry
f
nmyjionmy
o
oku
clerk),
nd
nmy
o
third
ecretary).
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ournal
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eliminate oliticalrivals, ut rathermployed urses.As a result,herewere
many
ncidents
nvolving
urseswithin ristocratic
ociety
n
Seimei
time,
nd
in
a
majority
f ases he urses
were
laced
by
hshi
nmyji.
he
Nihon
iryaku
in
an itemdated
Kank 6
(ioo9).2.5,
mentions he
onmy
shiGennen
who cursed he
empress,
s well s
the
newly-born
econd son of
the
emperor
and theGreat
Minister f he
Left,
nd the
Hyakurenshy
history
ompiled
n
the
hirteenth
entury,
n an item ated
Chtoku
995).
.
10,
peaks
f
a hshi
onmyji
ho
placed
curse n the
GreatMinister f he
Right.
ccording
o the
ShyukiChgen
3
[1030].
.4),
thehshi
nmyji
amed
Ken who
frequented
Fujiwara oSanesukes esidence asapprehendednsuspicionf aying curse
on
the
daughter
f
Fujiwara
o
Michinaga.Again,
n
the
previously-
entioned
deposition
n
the
Seijiyryaku
oncerning
curse
ncident,
he
frequenting
f
the
residence fTakashina o Mitsuko
y
hshi
nmyji
as related o
thefact
that he used a hshi
nmyji
alled Enn
Rib
to
put
a
curseon
Fujiwara
no
Michinaga
nd
others.
man,
another shi
nmyji
ho was
also a
frequent
visitor o
Mitsuko,
might
lso havebeen
nvolved
n
the
ncident.18
In
contrast o such hshi
onmyji
however,
s
far s we
know from he
records vailable t
present,
fficial
nmyji
ikeSeimei
did not
ay
urses. rom
descriptionsftheir ctivitieshey ather rotectedeoplefromurses, s can
be seen n the
Makurano shi
Things
hat
ive
good feeling :
A
well-spoken
onmyji erforming
urifications
f urses n the
dry
iverbed.
It s also
possible
hat ecause
curse-laying
as
performed
y
hshi
nmyji
official
nmyji
ad no role o
play.Considering
hat he
forementioneden
had a student alled
Goch
&,
and Enn had a
student alled
Myen
'P,
hshi
nmyji
ho could enact urses
may
have
carefully
rained heir
ucces-
sors.Even
f
hiswere
notthe
case,
official
nmyji
under trict
upervision
f
their
uperiors,
ould not have been
permitted
o have
any
connection
with
criminal cts uch s
curses.
Shikigami
Perhaps
ne
of he
spects
f he
magic mployed yonmyji
n
theHeian
period
that nterests odern
eople
the
most s theartof
nvoking hikigami
tt
to
do their
idding.Onmyji
who
appear
n
tales and
legends
ll
possess
these
shikigami
which
may
e
spirits
r
demons,
hat
hey
re bleto command
reely;
on
occasion
hey
lso
lay
downcurses
using
hem. he
onmyji
be no Seimei
whoappearsnthis ontextsaccomplishedtcontrollinghikigami.is famen
18. t s
nteresting
hat hshi
nmyji
alled man
ctually
xistedt he ime eimei as
active,
inceore nd
egends
hat ere
o
merge
atereaturen
nmyji
alled man
or ma)
as
Seimei
ong-standingnemy.
n
hese
tories,
mans n
nmyji
ho
laces
urses.
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abe
no seimei
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93
this espectmust avebeenwidely nown, or is use of hikigamis mentioned
not
only
n tales n the
Konjakumonogatari
h and
Uji
shi
monogatari
but
also for nstance
n thechronicle f
Emperor
azan
in
the
Okagami.
n
reality,
though,
here s no mention
n
thehistorical
ecord fAbe no Seimei
mploying
shikigami
and
virtually
oneeven
of
hikigami
hemselves.
In the deal
portrait
f the
onmyji
amo no
Michiyo
drawn
by
Fujiwara
no Akihira
n
the
Shin-sarugakuki
e is
described s
commandinghikigami?
Though
hisKamo s a fictional
haracter,
his
description
tronglyuggests
hat
the
people
of
the ime onsidered hat
nmyji
ould command
hikigami.
he
Shkimokurokuontains heheading,It s said that shikigamis the ause of
theMinister f heLefts
roubles,
nder hedateChh
2.5.9
Shy
mokuroku
20,
Gonayamu
oto ).
According
o
this,
t
appears
hat t the
ime,
he llness
oftheGreatMinister
fthe
Left,
ujiwara
no
Michinaga,
was
thought
o have
been caused
by hikigami.
Today
hedetails f his ncident re unknown s
the
diary ntry
tselfs
ost,
and we haveno
knowledge
fwho
may
have controlled he
hikigami.
esides
this,
here reno other
ecords hatmention
hikigami.
here s
only deity
alled
Shiki o kami mentioned
n theMakurano shi
When
first
egan
o
wait n
the mpress ) ho s saidto be ableto udgewhetherhingsre rue r false.
Perhaps
we can make the
following onjecture.
We see
in
the
Makura no
sshi hat n
onmyji
as
accompanied
y
kowarawabe
hit
(small
child
or
youth),
who was
very
wellversed
n
ritual
nowledge.19
e know oo that he
hshi
nmyji
nn,
who was mentioned
n
the
Seijiyryaku
s
being
ccused
of he rime f
aying
curse,
was
accompanied
y
the
dji
t
(youth)
Mono-
nobe no Itomaru. hus t seems o havebeen a custom fthe
timefor
nmyji
to be attended
y
young
oys,
nd
people
may
have ooked n them s
shikigami
commanded
y
he
onmyji.
tale n the
Konjakumonogatari
hconfirms
y
supposition;
t describes ow a hshi
nmyji
alledChitokuwas
accompanied
by
wo
hikigami
n
the
form f
boys Konjakumonogatari
h kan
24,
Tale
16).
Taizan
Fukun ai
One
magical
ite hatwas
acquired
y
thehistorical be no Seimeiwas Taizan
Fukun ai
(Festival
ituals fTaizan
Fukun).
hiswas an invocationf
TaizanFukun nd other eities ssociatedwith heRealm f heDead
to ncrease
the
petitioner
allotted
ifetime,
o
bring
him riches nd
honors,
nd to avert
calamityndmisfortune.twas also called hichikensh ai (Festival
rituals f he even
fferings
nd a
letter f
upplication).
heritual
ained
n
pop-
19.
According
o heMakura o
shi,
owarawabearriedut ll hemiscellaneousuties
whenhe
nmyji
as
erforming
n xorcismr ome therite.
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ularityrom hereign fEmperorchij ndeventuallyecame ne of hemost
characteristicf hose
erformed
yonmyji.
t
firsttwas used
among
he ourt
nobility,
ut
during
heKamakura
eriod
t
spread
o the
warrior lass.Conse-
quently
t
anbe assumed hatAbeno Seimei ad the
ntentionf
popularizing
t.
The earliestmention
n
the historical
ecord f Taizan Fukun ai
(under
the name of Shichiken
sh
sai)
is
in
the
diary
f
Fujiwara
no
Saneyori
Teishin ki
in
an
entry
ated
Engi
19 9i9).5.28.
hefirstime t
ppears
n
the
orthography
aizan
Fukun ai is
n
the
ShykU
iso
1
989).
.11. t had been
performed
or
mperor
chij;
ccording
o the
Shyki
a rite alled
Daiyakusai
ftJE to ward ff alamitynd diseasehadbeen ntended or heprevious ay,
but he
Taizan ukun ai was
performed
n this
ay
nstead. heritualist as
Abe
no
Seimei.
After
89,
the
Taizan
Fukun ai
was
frequently
erformed.
n
entry
ated
Chh
4 (1002).
1.9
n
theGonki
ives
n
example
f
Fujiwara
o Yukinari
av-
ing
Abe no
Seimei
perform
tfor
im,
while ntriesn
the
Shyki
atedKank
2
(1005).
.18 nd
Chwa
2
(1011). .25
uggest
hat
ujiwara
no Sanesukehad it
performed
yonmyjivery ear
n the
econdmonth. nd
according
o a doc-
ument atedKank
7 (1010). 0.30,
round his ime he
Taizan
Fukun
ai was
one of the
customary
ituals arried ut
by onmyji
tcourtfor he
emperor
(Heian
ibun
no.
458).
As is clearfrom he
gap
between
erformances
f more hanhalf
century
between
19
nd
989,
twas
rarely
erformed
n
the ime f
chijs
predecessors,
the
emperors
azan and
Eny.According
o
Hayami
1975),
n
the
mid-Heian
period
eliefs
oncerning
heRealm f he
Dead,
such s
Taizan
Fukun,
nmaten
RUSK,
and
Jiz
J&j
were
not
particularlylourishing.
f
that
s
so,
t s not ur-
prising
o find hat he
Taizan ukun ai was not
popular
efore he
ime f
chij.
Thefact hat heritual ained npopularityromchijsreignmaybe attrib-
uted o Abe no
Seimei
energetic
ponsorship
f t.For
example,
ccording
o
an article n the
Gonki
ated
Chh
4 (ioo2).ii.28,
early
hat
morning
ukinari
had
presented
fferings
nd
petitioned
aizan Fukun
for
ong
ife. eimeihad
recommended e do this.We should ememberoo that t
was Seimeiwho sub-
stitutedhe
Taizan
Fukun ai for he
Daiyakusai.
It
thus
appears
thatSeimei
encouraged
people
to have the
Taizan
Fukun
sai,
with ts focuson
worldly
enefits,
arried ut and indeed
tried o widen
its
performance.
t
may
eema little eckless o attributeo a
single nmyji
he
popularityf thecomparativelyargephenomenonhat heTaizanFukun ai
became,
but
udging
rom he
degree
f
Seimei
social
nfluence,
s seen from
the
xample
f he suina f
1001,
his s not uch n
unwarrantable
upposition.
This social
clout
may
well have been wielded s a
result f his
position
s the
senior
igure
f
Onmyd.
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20/22
shigeta:
a
portrait of abe
no seimei
I
95
ConditionsfRisingoHighRank
We
have
lready
eenthat he
onmyji
ith
he
highest
ank
had the
position
f
Kurdo-dokoro
nmyju
nd the
econd-highest
anking nmyji
ad a simi-
lar
ppointment.
he Kurdo-dokoroocument f
995
thatwe examined bove
gives
henameof
Kamo
no
Mitsuyoshi
s the
Kurdo-dokoro
nmyji.20
Kamono
Mitsuyoshi
as a student fSeimei
teacher,
amono
Yasunori,
nd
appears
n
theGonki
Kank
[1011].
.9)
as
an
accomplished
nmyji Mitsuyoshi
knows ivination
nside
ut;
he
should
be called a
god.
However,
s
surviving
accounts
how,
Mitsuyoshi
id not
perform
ivination nd rituals or
mperor
Ichij nywhere
n the ame scale as Seimei. t was
only
ftereimeisdeath n
1005,
when
Mitsuyoshi
ecame he enior
nmyju
hat isactivitiesn this rea
stand ut.21
In
all
likelihood,
he
highest-ranked
erson
of
Onmyd
fundamen-
tally
had
the
position
f
Kurdo-dokoro
nmyji.
he
second-highest
anked
onmyjimay
have
deputized
s Kurdo-dokoro
nmyji
orhis
superior
nly
when
omething
revented
he
uperior
rom
erforming
is task.
f
this s
so,
theKurdo-dokoro
nmyji
who had a virtual
monopoly
n divinations
nd
rituals onnected ith he
mperor,
ouldhave
had
a
far
reater pportunity
o
attain markedevel ffame nd
reputation
hanhis
deputy
r other
nmyji
f
lower ank.As we have
lready
een,
onmyji
fthetimewere
pparently
ble
to boost their
ecognition
s
onmyji y
the
efficacygen
of
their ituals.
uch
recognition
ouldhavebeen all
the
greater
f hat
fficacy
ad been
displayed
in
rituals
erformed
or he
mperor.
t wouldhavebeen the ame
n
the ase of
appraisal
hrough
ivination.
The
onmyji
ho
received
xtraordinaryecognition
t thetimewere
only
thosewho stood
as
the
highest-ranked
erson
of
Onmyd.
More
precisely,
itwasonlywhen personhad attained hisposition hathe received enown.
For
example,
Kamo
no
Mitsuyoshi
was
praised
with
he words
Mitsuyoshi
knowsdivination
nside
out;
he should be
called
a
deity
nly
fter eimeis
death.
Again,
twas
only
he
yearfollowing itsuyoshi
death hat twas said
aboutAbe no Yoshihira hat therewas no one who could
compare
with
him,
at a timewhenYoshihira imself ad become the
highest-ranked
erson
of
Onmyd.
20.
n n
ntry
n
heGonkiated htoku
998). .27,
heresmentionf Kamo oAson
Mitsuyoshi,eniorifthank,owerrade,rovisionalirector,ureauf he alace itchen.Thusn
95,
eimei,
ho ad een aisedo eniorifth
ank,
pper
raden
93,
ould ave
been he umberne
erson
f
Onmyd,
nd
Mitsuyoshi
umber
wo.
he
Kurdo-dokoro
documentf
95
ives itsuyoshi
ranks Senior
ixth,
pper
rade,
ut his houlde een
as n rrorn he
art
f he
hya
unsai.
21.
or
Mitsuyoshi
activitiess n
onmyji
seeYamashita
996.
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21/22
96
I
Japanese
ournal
f
Religious
tudies
40/1(2013)
Thus t eems hat or fficialnmyjif he ime,heposition f he highest-
ranked
erson
f
Onmyd
was not heresult f dvancement
n
society
ut
condition or t.
n this
ense,
Abe no Seimei rise
n
status ame
extremely
ate.
Figure
1
hows hat n the
wenty-seventhay
f he eventh
month fEikan
2
(984),
Seimei elected
he
day
for he nthronementitual f
Emperor
azan,
who ucceeded
mperor
ny.
We can thereforeurmise
hat
eimeihad
by
his
timebeen
working
s an
onmyji
n theKurdo-dokoro.
owever,
eimeihad
selected he
day ogether
ith n
onmyji
alled Fumino
Michimitsu,
nd fur-
thermore,
ichimitsu as of
higher
ank hanSeimei.This
uggests
hat ur-
ingthereigns fEny ndKazan,Seimeiwasappointed s the econd-highest
ranking nmyji
f heKurdo-dokoro.
It was around
86,
when
chij
came
to the
throne,
hat
Michimitsus ame
disappears
from he record nd we can assume Seimei
became
the
highest-
ranked
igure
f
Onmyd.Having
been born
n
921,
he would
already
have
been well
over
ixty ears
f
ge.
No
great
mportance
as been attached o this
fact,
ut
Abe
no Seimei
did not
possess
the
necessary
ondition or dvance-
ment ntil
e had entered ld
age.
His fame
ertainly
ame ate
n
ife.
During
he
Chh
era
999-1004),
whenSeimeiwas described s the
pre-
eminent ractitionerfOnmyd nd amaster fOnmyd, e had risen
to
the
Junior
ourth
Rank,
Lower
Grade,
but he was
already ged eighty.
is
teacher amo no Yasunori ad achieved
he amerank n his
fifties,
nd hisson
Yoshihira
n
his sixties. t s
apparent
rom
his
hat eimei
had not advanced
smoothly
n
his career.
ndeed,
f
he had not
had such a
long
ife,
e
might
ot
havewon
thefame hat as allowedhis name o becomeknown o us.
REFERENCES
Abe
Takeshi
O
S
1993
Heiankizoku
ojitsuz Tokyo:
kyd
huppan.
HayamiTasuku
lzK m
1975
Heian kizoku
hakai o
Bukky Tokyo:
oshikawa
Kbunkan.
Kosaka
Shinji
hS-
1993
Onmyd
o henbai
itsuite
In
Murayama,
ol.
,
117-47.
MurayamaShichi etal., ds.
1991-1993
Onmyd
sho
4
vols.
Tokyo:
Meicho
huppan.
Okada
Shji
KEHffiW]
1991
Onmyd
saishi no seiritsu o tenkai
SIISI.
In
Murayama ol.
1,
53-95.
okyo:
Meicho
huppan.
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http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp -
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22/22
SHIGETA:
PORTRAITF
ABE
NO EIMEI
9J
Shigeta Shinichi
2004
Onmyji
o
kizoku
hakai
swS
Tokyo:
oshikawa bunkan.
2005
teian
kizoku
o
onmyji
t
f
Hf.
okyo:
oshikawa bunkan.
2006
Abeno
Seimei
Hp
Tokyo:
oshikawa bunkan.
Yamashita Katsuaki
ilTSW
1996
Heianjidai
no
shky
unka o
Onmyd
Tokyo:
wata hoin.
[translated
y
Gaynor
ekimori]