were then called zuyo, literally image style, and they were handed down through the teacher to pupil links within temples.29 The tradition was sustained by monk painters who had the privileged access to study these original manuscripts, and consequently the conservative tendency prevailed. The historical development of a lineage of ebusshi (monk painter) in the Tendai tradition, or the actual circumstance of artistic production at MtHiei are not clear, as no textual reference to artistic studio system or a teacher- pupil relationship has been found. However, Hirata Yutaka, one of the few scholars who focused his attention on the achievement of medieval monk painters,
acknowledges a group of paintings which share the stylistic similarities, and calls the group the ’Tendai lineage’.30
ii) The Nezu version - the Sanno zushi
Another early image of the Sanno honji-butsu is found in an unusual form of zushi (portable shrine) in the Nezu Institute of Art, Tokyo (fig.49). The wooden panel,
measuring 97 x 57.8 cm., has two side panels attached with hinges which open from the centre like doors. The back of the panels is lined with a green silk. The zushi in such a simple construction and the relatively large size is extremely rare, and no other example of Hie-Sanno mandara, or Shinto-Buddhist painting in similar format is known. Eleven Buddhist images, painted on silk, are glued on to the central panel, and the door panels each have three images in vertical arrangement. All seventeen images are accompanied by rectangular cartouches inscribed with both Buddhist and Shrine names, and although some cartouches are damaged and the inscription is not legible, all images can be identified easily from the iconography.
29 Hirata Yutaka, ”Eyd to Kamigata” K K 1015, 1978, PP.5-10.
30 Hirata Yutaka, 'Ebusshi no keifu’ Kamakura kaiga, Shibundo, 1983, p.87.
The central image, Shaka is surrounded by six other deities of the Upper Seven Shrines in a circular arrangement. Three deities from the Middle Seven Shrines
(Nyoirin Kannon, Kokuzo Bosatsu, and Monju Bosatsu) and one from the Lower Seven Shrines (Seishi Bosatsu) are placed in the four comers of the central panel. The unusual choice of Seishi Bosatsu in the top left as the honji of the Kehi Shrine instead of Sho Kannon indicates that the system of the twenty-one shrine and the pairing of honji-
butsu were not yet established completely at this stage, another reason for this zushi to
be dated to the early Kamakura period apart from the stylistic ground. It was not until the late Kamakura period that the combination of the buddhas and kami became more consistent, although a variation of combination for the lesser shrines remained in the later mandara too.
The traditional Tendai attendant deities, Fudo on the right and Bishamon-ten on the left, are placed in the lower sections of the side panels. The right panel also has Daiitoku and Ryuju Bosatsu, and the left panel has Goin and Kichij o-ten. All eleven images in the central panel and two images in the middle row on the doors are seated on lotus pedestals, and double halo of small and large circles appear behind their body. They are placed on platforms similar to lacquered raiban which were used in temples for the head priest to sit on during ceremonies. All figures, except the fierce deities with flaming aureoles, are placed in front of three fold screens which are more often
associated with images of kami rather than Buddhist images.
According to Mizuno Keisaburo, the bottom half of the central panel has been touched up sometime to hide the damage, but the overall painting style is delicate and
of high quality.31 The glowing complexion of deities is achieved by the technique of
urahaku, applying a gold leaf from the back of the silk. The colours are generally well
preserved and the generous use of kirigane decoration for the detail of robes and jewellery create a fine, bright painting style in the tradition of the Shingon-in Mandala
o f the Two Worlds. The similarities in halos which are delineated by a flaming edge in gold also suggest the hand of a Buddhist painter who was familiar with the Esoteric Buddhist iconography. The geometric patterns of kirigane on the background are executed precisely too, and Mizuno suggests the date in the first half of the Kamakura period, which makes this zushi one of the earliest extant examples of the Hie-Sanno
mandara, comtemporary to the Enryaku-ji example.
The unusual feature of this zushi is the figure of Goin in the top left who is depicted as a karasu tengu, legendary superhuman creatures with beak and wings who were believed to roam the remote mountains. According to the Hie-Sanno Gongen chishinki, Goin was a monk of the Western Pagoda on MtHiei who served the Sanno Gongen, and he is
regarded as the founder of the Juge house whose family members served the shrine as the hereditary priests.32 The story of Goin is also mentioned in the following passages from the volume three of the Hie-Sanno rishoki in relation to Emperor Gosanjo:
Emperor Gosanjo-in was the second son of Emperor Gosuzaku-in, and his mother was Yomeimon-in, a daughter of Emperor Sanjo- in. On the twenty-sixth day in the first year of Kantoku era [1044], he became the crown prince at the age of twelve, but his brother Goreizei-in occupied the throne for twenty-three years, and the crown prince remained in insecure position. He instructed Abbot Meikai to deliver a vow (ganmon) to the Ni-no-miya Shrine. Meanwhile the Jishu Gongen [the Avatar of the proprietor, Ni-no- miya] summoned Goin and instructed him to receive the crown prince’s vow from the Abbot. — Goin met the Abbot at a place
31 Mizuno Keisaburo, "Sanno Mandara" Kokka 857, 1963, pp.21-2. 32 ST. J.29. Hiyoshi, p.595.
called Kakinomoto, and announced that he was sent by the Jishu Gongen to receive the crown prince's vow .33
In the next section of the story, Goin receives an oracle from the Ni-no-miya, and finds a skull buried in the mountain behind the shrine. The skull is supposed to be that of the crown prince's previous life, and Goin consecrate and reburies it. Soon after the event, the crown prince was enthroned as Emperor Gosanjo, and the first imperial visit to Hie took place in 1071.
The episode demonstrates how historical facts were elaborated and interpreted as Sanno's act in medieval minds. It also indicates the influence and power the shrine priests or mediums could exert on important decisions of government or even on life of individuals. Goin was deified after his death, and was enshrined next to the Daigyoji Shrine within the walls of the Ni-no-miya enclosure. His ability to communicate with Sanno Gongen must have been exaggerated over the years to create his legendary image as a tengu. Only one other mandara, an example from the Muromachi period, with the image of Goin exists, and added to its unique format, the Nezu zushi is noted for its rarity. It has been suggested that it was commissioned by the Juge family for their private worship.34
The schematic arrangement of Buddhist deities on the plain or simple background as the Enryaku-ji mandara and the Nezu zushi was probably the prototype of all Hie- Sanno mandara. Only these two can be dated to the first half of the Kamakura period from their stylistic ground. Considering the strong Tendai Buddhist initiative for the
33 ST. I 29, Hiyoshi, pp.664-5.
34 Shigetomi Shigeko, Nachi no taki - Kumano no shizen to shinko no zdkei, Nezu Institute o f Art (ed.) 1991, p.113.
development o f the Hie-Sanno cult, and the Buddhist perspective supported by the
honji-suijaku theoiy, it was logical that the paintings of the kami of Hie were created in
their Buddhist form at first, using the available iconography.
iii) The Koln version
A mandara with seven Buddhist deities on a plain background in the collection of Museum fur Ostasiatische Kunst, Koln, is known as another example of Sanno
honjibutsu mandara (hereafter Koln mandara){J\g. 50).35 The silk painting measures
78.2 x 38.2 cm., mounted as a hanging scroll, and is dated to the fourteenth centuiy.36 Seven Buddhist deities are depicted in symmetrical arrangement on a plain, dark background in a similar fashion to the Emyaku-ji mandara. The silk background has considerably darkened with age. The Buddha in the centre is Shaka who is flanked by Yakushi on the right and Amida on the left. The three buddhas correspond to the honji-
butsu of Ni-no-miya, Omiya and Shoshinshi respectively, the Sanno sansei of the Hie
Shrine. The bodhisattva with a golden crown and jewellery in the top left is probably Fugen, and the bodhisattva on the right with a figure of Buddha on his crown, holding a lotus bud in his left hand is Sho Kannon. These five figures of buddhas and
bodhisattvas are all facing the front, and seated on colourful, multi-layered hexagonal pedestals. The two standing figures at the lower comers, Jizo (fig. 50a) on the left and Fud5 on the right, are turning slightly inward, and an incense burner and a pair of vases are placed on a small offering table covered with a red cloth in the centre.
35 Rerun toyo bijutsukan - Catalogue o f Japanese Art in Foreign Collection, The Japan Society for the Conservation o f Cultural Property, 1999, p. 18.
36 This painting was bought by the founder of the Museum fur Ostasiatische Kunst, Koln, Adolf