Shinra Myōjin () is a Buddhist god associated with the Jimon branch of Tendai, a school of Japanese Buddhism that is chiefly worshiped in Onjō-ji. He is a god that was introduced to Japan from Korea (Silla) by incoming immigrants.
Historically, he was portrayed as a deity who arrived in Japan from Silla in order to protect Buddhist monks. He was later revised as a Japanese deity who went and subjugated Silla due to a negative shift in the perception of the kingdom within Japan. Domestically, he was regarded as a symbol of Jimon and its institutions, but also as a protector of sea routes and as a mountain deity. He also developed associations with waka poetry and with pestilence.
In art form, he is typically depicted as an elderly man dressed in the clothes in line with Tang-era officials with Buddhist elements, and historically, developed connections with a number of other figures, including Susanoo, Matarajin, and Mañjuśrī.
Background
Narratives Early sources portray Shinra Myōjin as a Korean deity who arrived in Japan to protect Tendai monks and their monasteries. According to Sujung Kim, the oldest reference to him in such context occurs in a narrative from Onjōji ryūge-e engi (園城寺龍華会縁起) from 1062. According to the story, during the Tendai patriarch and Buddhist monk, Enchin's travel back to Japan from his five-year stay in China in 858, he encountered a mighty storm in the Korea Strait, a sea passage infamous for strong currents and difficult maritime navigation. Sensing that he was in a life-threatening situation, Enchin began to pray for safety, which prompted Shinra Myōjin to appear in front of him as an old man on a boat. It is said that the Korean god introduced himself to Enchin as a deity from Silla who protects anyone of the Buddhist faith "until Buddha Maitreya returned to this world." After Enchin safely returned to Japan thanks to Shinra Myōjin's intervention, he began to worship the deity out of gratitude and reverence.
A later variant from the Taiheiki has him encounter both Shinra Myōjin and Fudō Myōō (Acala). Similar narratives regarding two other deities of similar character, Matarajin and Sekizan Myōjin, are also observed. The general consensus is that the initial story surrounding Shinra Myōjin and Enchin served as their foundation. In another instance, Enchin is said to have visited a shrine on Mount Song and during a massive storm, he encountered a supernatural being with a head of an old man and a snake's body, identified as a manifestation of Shinra Myōjin.
Name The name "Shinra Myōjin" can be translated as the "Shining deity of Silla". Silla was a historical kingdom on the Korean Peninsula which existed between 57 BCE and 935. The kingdom of Silla (新羅) can be read as "Shiragi; Shiraki; Shinra" and the term myōjin, meaning "bright deity", designates the class of Japanese deities. It is possible that the name was originally a generic designation, "Silla deity", and only later developed into a proper name.
Origin Based on his name and origin story, Shinra Myōjin is said to be of Korean origin, despite not appearing in any historical Korean sources.
Less popular theories include the possibility of Shinra Myōjin being the deification of Chang Pogo or a god originating from China rather than Korea, due to him being referred to as "king of Mount Song", though the story variant was added much later. Others include him being a Korean god that used China as an intermediary in his transmission to Japan or that the historical Ōmi Province in Japan was his actual "birthplace". However, scholars such as Sujung Kim state that it is difficult to strictly describe him as a Japanese god or a Korean god due to the lack of information in Korea, but shows clear Korean elements found in Japan. She posits that Shinra Myōjin may be something in between.
Influence Surviving sources from Enchin's times, including his fragmentary journal and an iconographic scroll he brought from China (Gobu shinkan), do not mention Shinra Myōjin. It is most likely that the narrative about their encounter only developed in the late 10th or 11th century. According to Sujung Kim, its precise origin and early development are difficult to study, but it might have reflected a pre-existing folkloric motif. Christine Guth suggests that it might have initially been a way to consecrate the role sailors from Silla played in Enchin's journey.
After the Mongol invasions of Japan, a belief that Shinra Myōjin was a Japanese kami who conquered Silla developed, as documented in Onjō-ji denki. It states that he "became a king of Silla in order to wield Japanese power all over the world", an argument that was commonly found in theories such as Nissen dōsoron. Bernard Faure argues that the change in the characterization of Shinra Myōjin in both Onjōji denki and another source documenting this tradition, Hachiman gudōkin, can be characterized as a display of "anti-Korean prejudice", comparable to hostile attitudes also present in the narrative of Empress Jingū. Sujung Kim connects the change to the development of the notion of transmission of Buddhism from India through China to Japan, originally developed in the Kamakura period, which marginalized the role of Korea in the process. She also notes that while anti-Korean, or specifically anti-Silla, such sentiment was already present in Japan in the ninth century as a result of the conquest of its traditional ally Paekche in 660, piracy, epidemics brought from the peninsula and other factors; it later encompassed the Mongol invasions, which utilized the Korean navy, as the Goryeo dynasty, while it did not initiate the conflict, was among the vassals of the Mongols that helped invade Japan. She suggests that due to the fear stemmed from these events, a need to redefine Shinra Myōjin as a naturalized deity dedicated to protecting Japan from foreign invaders emerged.
Shinra Myōjin is associated with the Jimon branch of Tendai. Historically he effectively functioned as a symbol of its institutions, in addition to being its paramount deity. He is regarded as a gohōjin, "protector of Buddhist dharma". Such figures function as protectors of Buddhist temples and teachings. He cannot be easily classified as a member of one of the two categories resulting from the distinction between kami and Buddhist figures made within honji suijaku. On occasion he was described as a Daoist immortal (神仙, shinsen). In modern scholarship, he is considered one of the examples of so-called "eccentric gods" (異神, ishin), deities associated with medieval form of Japanese esoteric Buddhism.
In engi stories, Shinra Myōjin's primary role is that of a protector of people partaking in sea journeys. Christine Guth suggests that his role as a protective deity of sailors might reflect his original character. However, despite being a protector of sea routes, he is chiefly worshiped inland. With time, he developed into a mountain god as well. He is the protective deity of Mount Nagara (長等), located close to Onjō-ji. He is considered the surrounding area's genius loci called jinushi. These two roles are closely connected: it has been noted that a close functional connection between sea and mountain deities is well attested through Japanese history, and prayers made to mountain deities to guarantee safe passage through the sea are well documented in Tendai tradition.
In the eleventh century, Shinra Myōjin developed the role of a deity of waka poetry in the Jimon tradition. In this capacity, he was known as the "Poetic Immortal of Mii-dera" (三井の歌仙, Mii no Kasen). This development reflected a broader pattern of incorporating waka into esoteric Buddhism due to its growing role in courtly life. The poems were understood in this context as a Japanese counterpart of dharani. Jimon monks believed that Shinra Myōjin could bestow inspiration upon them, and some of them, for example Gyōson, were known for both their poetry and their devotion to this deity.
Shinra Myōjin is also regarded as a deity of pestilence. Historical sources indicate that he was believed to both cause epidemics and cure illnesses. In has been noted that in a number of accounts, he displays the traits of a tatarigami (祟り神), a deity capable of bestowing both blessings and curses. According to Jimon denki horoku, in 1184 during an epidemic prayers to Shinra Myōjin were performed in the imperial court. Bernard Faure argues that the aspect of his character related to pestilence developed early on. However, Sujung Kim concludes that it was derived from a link between Silla and epidemics in Japanese imagination, which is not yet documented in Heian sources, and only became a common view in the thirteenth century.
Iconography Shinra Myōjin is typically depicted as an old man dressed in three-pronged Chinese headwear and a red robe, holding a pilgrim's staff and a scroll. His hair is usually white. However, a scroll showing him with dark hair is known from the collection of the Ōtsu City Museum of History. According to Mark Teeuwen, despite his Korean origin, his appearance is "distinctly un-Korean", emphasizing on the Japanese contemporary view on Buddhism and its "alien" and "exotic" nature (coming from India) that was difficult for locals to relate at the time. Teeuwen posits that the Japanese way of depicting Buddhist gods as foreign was their way "to redefine the local in a roundabout manner". Similarly, Sujung Kim describes him as typically having the appearance of a Tang period official, and remarks his iconography shows less variety than those of other similar deities, such as Sekizan Myōjin. It may have been in part based on Taisho Rōnin (大聖老人; also Saishō Rōnin, 最勝老人), a figure belonging to the Mañjuśrī Pentad. His name designates him as a manifestation of Mañjuśri as an old man, as it is a combination of two signs from the full Chinese name of Mañjuśri (大聖文殊師利, Dasheng Wenshu Shili) and the term laoren, "old man", pronounced in Japanese as rōnin; therefore, his iconography might have been adopted for Shinra Myōjin to give him more legitimacy as a Buddhist figure.
While depictions of Shinra Myōjin are relatively rare, a well known statue representing him is kept in Mii-dera, where it is enshrined in the Shinra Zenshindō (新羅善神捨堂). It is hidden due to it being one of the so-called "secret buddhas" (秘仏, hibutsu), statues which cannot be in public view by the powers attributed to them. It is generally agreed upon that it was originally carved no later than in the 12th century, but the precise date is a still debated with the year 1052 been also proposed. It is the oldest surviving depiction of a gohōjin, and has been designated as one of the National Treasures. It can be considered a typical example of a Heian statue utilizing the single wood block technique (ichiboku-zukuri). The face is exaggerated, with the eyes in particular being disproportionately large and slanted in a manner meant to mimic the Chinese numeral 八 (8). However, at the same time with the exception of unnaturally big headwear, the clothing is portrayed in a naturalistic manner, and follows the style typical for the eighth and ninth centuries. Christine Guth notes that the facial features of the statue might be comical to modern audiences, but most likely originally were a way to designate the "otherness" of the depicted deity and his transcendent powers. This artistic convention was widespread in East Asia especially in the late first millennium, and the individual elements of the statue's face and clothing can be compared to Chinese depictions of foreign disciples of the historical Buddha meant to highlight the universality of his teachings and masks used in Bugaku drama. A depiction of a Daoist sage in the Sangoku soshi ei scroll dated to 1150 is considered another close parallel.