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ABSTRACT
China’s Wutai mountains make scattered appearances in classical Japanese literature, but mostly outside the conventional literary mainstream. In courtly literature, Wutai is mentioned occasionally in works both in the vernacular and in classical Chinese. Medieval war tales too allude to events at Wutai, occasionally in tangential episodes added to late versions of the texts. In collections of popular didactic anecdotes one can find, for example, miraculous stories concerning Japanese pilgrims who visited Wutai. Popular song collections also include lyrics mentioning Wutai, often in lists of noteworthy mountains. Poems in Chinese by medieval Zen monks mention Wutai, some of them paying homage to Mañjuśrī, others more directly tied to Zen lore. Finally, Wutai is mentioned in noh plays, most notably in a play about a Japanese pilgrim that features a lively dance. The dance later evolved into a genre of kabuki plays. Classical Japanese literature was strongly influenced by Buddhist ideas and Wutai was well known for its association with Mañjuśrī and as a pilgrimage destination. Although one finds references to Wutai throughout classical Japanese literature, it is not as conspicuous as one might expect.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. Dai Nihon Komonjo, Hennen Monjo 7: 486–491. After a longer version was composed in 1060, this text came to be known as “The Old Account of the Clear Cool Mountains” (Gu Qingliangshan zhuan 古清涼山傳). Note that this article uses the name that appears in the original text, transliterating the more standard name “Wutai,” or “Five Terraces,” but translating the alternate name “Qingliang,” or “Clear Cool.” Since in fact both names refer to a cluster of mountains, the plural will be used. When a text’s title is familiar in English, its translation will appear first (followed by transliteration and characters); that order reversed for less familiar texts.
2. The oldest one I have found is Kokubun Taikan 國文大觀, begun in 1903. Although the title does not use the word “classical” 古典, its contents correspond to what is found later collections that are so labeled.
3. The first two databases mentioned are not freely open to the public. The first (http://base1.nijl.ac.jp/~nkbthdb/) requires special permission; the second (http://japanknowledge.com/) is commercial and has a user fee. The third collection can be searched on the Hathi Trust website (https://www.hathitrust.org/) but the version on Japan Knowledge is more convenient. The new Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei, available for purchase as a searchable e-book, can be found in some libraries.
4. Eiga Monogatari 2: 278; McCullough & McCullough, A Tale of Flowering Fortunes 2: 555; Oyler, “Vernacular histories,” 193–197.
5. Tsutsumi Chūnagon, 503; for an English translation, see Backus, The Riverside Counsellor’s Stories, 207–227.
6. Ii, Haha no shū, 164, 350. For an English translation, see Mintzer, “Jōjin Azari no haha shū”, 141–142, 211–212; or, in French, La mère du révénd Jōjin, 49–50, 131–132.
7. For Shakkyōka, see Morrell’s pioneering “Buddhist Poetry,” and the more recent Miller, Wind from Vulture Peak.
8. For biographical information, see Brown & Ishida, Future and the Past, 402–419.
9. Shūgyoku shū, 363–364. I have followed the orthography in this annotated edition, which uses more Chinese characters than the standard Shinpen Kokka Taikan 新編国歌大観 edition, in which these poems can be found as numbers 2687–2689. Note that in this article, renditions of Buddhist terms generally follow the practice of the original texts. If the original was a transliteration from Sanskrit, its translation will use Romanized Sanskrit; if the original was a translation, the term is put into English, hence both Vulture Peak and Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa are used, depending on the language of the original, even though they are the same mountain.
10. The earliest version of these poems is in Sanbō Ekotoba 三寶畫詞, compiled in 984 (Kamens, The Three Jewels, 198–199); Shūi Waka shū no. 1348 and 1349, p. 396, where a note states that versions of the story can be found also in Fukuro Zōshi 袋草紙 (ca. 1157), Korai Fūteishō 古來風體抄 (ca. 1200), Tamekane Kyō Waka Shō 爲兼卿和歌抄 (ca. 1285–1287), Kojidan 古事談 (ca. 1215), Shasekishū 沙石集 (1283), Genpei Jōsuiki 源平盛衰記 (second half of 14th cent.), and Taiheiki 太平記 (ca. 1350). I have found additional versions in Daianji Bodai Denraiki 大安寺菩提傳來記, quoted in Tōdaiji Yōroku, 54–56; Kyōkunshō 教訓抄 (in Hayashiya, Kodai Chūsei), 78; and Shijū Hyakuinnen Shū, 187. Some give alternate poems. In English, see Miller, Wind from Vulture Peak, 134–135; Cranston, A Waka Anthology, 434, and Augustine, Buddhist Hagiography, 107–108.
11. Shin Kokin Wakashū, 506–507. Commentators differ in their readings of Saigyō’s poem. The translation here, freer than most in this essay, follows the interpretation in the edition cited.
12. Saigyō Monogatari, 403–404. A complete translation of this version of the tale can be found in McKinney, “A Study of Saigyō monogatari;” see pp. 232–234 for this episode. For a study of the tale and translation of an earlier version that does not mention Wutai, see Heldt, “Saigyō’s Traveling Tale.”
13. Wakan Rōseishū. 318. For a complete translation of this anthology, plus useful critical essays, see Rimer and Chaves, Poems to Sing; this passage is translated on p. 182. No attempt will be made to romanise this or any other text written in Chinese by a Japanese author, as the question of how they were read is beyond the scope of this article.
14. For Chōnen, see Wang, “Chōnen’s Pilgrimage”, 63–97; Kimiya, Nissō Sō Chōnen; and Hao, Diaoran.
15. Steininger, Chinese Literary Forms, 79–124, 181–185.
16. Wetzler, “Yoshishige no Yasutane” is a good introduction to Yasutane (and the only one in English).
17. Denecke, “Literary Essence”, 188–192.
18. Honchō Monzui, 278–279; for a dated but still useful annotated edition, see Kakimura, Honchō Monzui, 2: 252–254.
19. Honchō Monzui item 411. Ōsone et al. eds., 361–362; Kakimura, Honchō Monzui 2: 913–923. For a detailed analysis, see Yoshihara, “Yoshishige no Yasutane,” 23–58.
20. Honchō Reisō item 148, in Kawaguchi & Honchō Reisō wo Yomu Kai, Honchō Reisō Kanchū, 369–371.
21. Honchō Reisō item 149, in Kawaguchi & Honchō Reisō wo Yomu Kai, Honchō Reisō, 371–373. The third couplet in the poem contains allusions to texts in Wenxuan that my translation glosses over.
22. Yamanaka, Midō Kanpakuki, 198–210. In other editions of the diary, see the entries for the 23rd, 26th, and 29th days of intercalary ninth month in the first year of the Kankō 寛弘 era.
23. Honchō Ichinin Isshu, 147–148.
24. The original text has “四杲聖人”, presumably a copyist’s error for “四果聖人”.
25. Chōya Gunsai, 461–462. In making this translation, I consulted Mintzer’s translation (“Jōjin Azari,” 45–48) and the Japanese translation by Ii (Jōjin no Nissō, 16-18). For a complete translation of the document and a full account of Jōjin’s visit to Wutai, see my “A Japanese Pilgrim’s Visit to Wutai in the Winter of 1072”.
26. Steininger, Chinese Literary Forms, 91–123.
27. Honma, Honchō Mudaishi 3: 64–66.
28. Ibid, 379–381.
29. The now-preferred version can be searched at: http://www.j-texts.com/chusei/gun/heiji.html. A partial translation by Edwin O. Reischauer, with a useful, albeit now dated, introduction and only a summary of the passage mentioning Wutai appears in Reischauer & Yamagiwa, Translations, 271-351. For more recent scholarship, see Oyler, “The Rise of Medieval Warrior Tales,” 287–294.
30. Heike Monogatari 1: 19; McCullough, Tale of the Heike, 23.
31. Heike Monogatari 1: 163–168; McCullough, Tale of the Heike, 87–88
32. Heike Monogatari 1: 300–307; McCullough, Tale of the Heike, 146–149.
33. Tominaga cites Emperor Wu’s chronicle (武宗紀) in the Tangshu 唐書 and Fozu Tongji 佛祖統記 as sources for Wutai’s resistance to the Tang army (Heike Zenchūshaku 1: 588–589).
34. Heike Monogatari 2: 509–515; McCullough, Tale of the Heike, 430–435.
35. Genpei 1: 399. Ishidōji is located about fifty kilometres east of Kyoto. “Masuiji” is presumably Zuiganji 随願寺, a monastery on Mount Masui 増位 outside the modern city of Himeji and nowhere near a seashore
36. Genpei 2: 25–29.
37. Ibid, 68–69.
38. Ibid, 217–225.
39. Heike 1: 335–341. McCullough, Tale of the Heike, 160–163.
40. Genpei 2: 90–98.
41. Ibid 4: 34–39.
42. Ibid, 176–181.
43. Ibid, 195–200.
44. Sakaida, Setsuwa Bungaku Sakuin.
45. Nihon Ryōiki, 39–46; for an English translation, see Miraculous Stories, 111–115.
46. Dai Nihon Koku Hokke Kyō Genki. Original versions in Chinese, p. 520, translated in Japanese and annotated, pp. 73–74; in English, Dykstra, Miraculous Tales of the Lotus Sutra 45–46; also in Konjaku Monogatari 35: 327–329.
47. Dai Nihon Koku Hokke Kyō Genki. Original versions in Chinese, p. 554; translated in Japanese and annotated, 172–174; in English, Dykstra, Miraculous Tales of the Lotus Sutra, 114–115; also in Konjaku Monogatari 35: 341–343.
48. Konjaku Monogatari 35: 56–58. Also see above, note 10.
49. Konjaku Monogatari 36: 385–386; Shijū Hyakuinnen, 186.
50. Konjaku Monogatari 35: 74; Shijū Hyakuinnen, 192; Nihon Ōjō Gokuraku Ki, 19; Dai Nihon Koku Hokke Kyō Genki, 59.
51. Konjaku Monogatari 35: 81.
52. Kankyo no Tomo, 359.
53. Zoku Honchō Ōjō Den, 242.
54. Zoku Honchō Ōjō Den, 246.
55. He died at Hangzhou according to Zoku Honchō Ōjō Den, 248; at Wutai according to Jikkinshō, 438 (which also ascribes the poem to Yasutane) and Kokon Chomonjū, 175; or an unspecified location according to Hosshinshū, 99.
56. Konjaku Monogatari 36: 437–438.
57. Shijū Hyakuinnen, 171.
58. Shijū Hyakuinnen, 173–174.
59. Uji Shūi, 428–431; for an English translation, see Mills, A Collection of Tales from Uji, 397–399.
60. Jikkinshō, 332–333.
61. Kim, Songs to Make the Dust Dance. Also see Nakahara, A Translation of Ryōjinhishō. Background on Ryōjin Hishō is taken from these sources; translations that follow are my own.
62. Ryōjin Hishō, 235 (poem no. 196).
63. Ryōjin Hishō, 193 (poem no. 36). The passage from Xindiguan Jing to which the lyric alludes is found in Ueda, Ryōjin Hishō, 52. The original fifth and sixth lines are Jippō Nyorai shohō no shi 十方如来諸法の師, which annotators agree is probably a copyist’s error for the text translated here, a phrase from the original sutra.
64. Ryōjin Hishō, 237 (poem no. 205).
65. Ryōjin Hishō, 240 (poem no. 217).
66. Ryōjin Hishō, 277 (poem no. 344).
67. Ryōjin Hishō, 277 (poem no. 45).
68. Kim, Songs to Make the Dust Dance, 3.
69. Enkyokushū, 96–98.
70. Enkyokushū, 105–106.
71. Gozan Bungaku Zenshū.
72. Pollack, Zen Poems, 19. Ury (Poems of the Five Mountains) is also a valuable source.
74. Gozan Bungaku Zenshū 3: 2643–2644, 2678, 26845,
75. Gozan Bungaku Zenshū 1: 73–74
76. Ichiki, Baika Mujinzō 3: 4–5.
77. Gozan Bungaku Zenshū 2: 1044. Chinese characters not available in unicode are represented by 
.
78. See Arntzen, Ikkyū; and Sanford, Zen-Man.
79. Three editions were consulted, each with different and useful annotation: Yanagida, Ikkyū, 27–28, 453; Ichikawa et al., Myōan Eisai, Ikkyū Sōjun, 286–287, 420–421; and Hirano, Kyōunshū 1: 39–41.
80. Imaizumi, Ikkyū Oshō Nenpu, 92, 143; Sanford, Zen-Man Ikkyū, 92 translates this text, but offers an alternate interpretation.
81. The original passage is quoted in Ichikawa, et al., Myōan Eisai, Ikkyū Sōjun, 421; in English, see Cleary, The Blue Cliff Record, 420.
82. Yōkyokushū 1: 176. Mae Smethurst’s translation of the play is in Oyler & Watson (eds.), Like Clouds or Mists, 135–142.
83. Ōgishō, 343–344; for a discussion of this legend, see Teshima, Heian Jidai no Taigai Kankei, 314–320.
84. Yōkyokushū 2: 388; the play is translated in Shimazaki and Comee, Supernatural Beings, 47–81. Also see Hare, “The Emperor’s Noh Clothes,” 411–425.
85. Kasuga Ryūjin, 510; Morrell, “Passage to India Denied,” introduces the story of Myōe’s plan to visit India and translates the play. His argument that the play is by Zeami is no longer accepted.
86. For details on “Stone Bridge” and “Stone Bridge pieces,” see my article, Borgen, “Stone Bridge,” 639–644 (in which I argue that Jakushō did not go to Wutai, which I now believe to be incorrect); I have translated the noh play as “Stone Bridge (Shakkyō),” 105–116.