Reading the Miraculous Powers of Japanese Poetry: Spells, Truth Acts, and a Medieval Buddhist Poetics of the Supernatural

The supernatural powers of Japanese poetry are widely documented in the literature of Heian and medieval Japan. Twentieth-century scholars have tended to follow Orikuchi Shinobu in interpreting and discussing miraculous verses in terms of ancient (arguably pre-Buddhist and pre-historical) beliefs in...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kimbrough, R. Keller 1968- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Nanzan Institute [2005]
In: Japanese journal of religious studies
Year: 2005, Volume: 32, Issue: 1, Pages: 1-33
Further subjects:B Rainmaking rituals
B Medieval poetry
B Buddhism
B Deities
B Religious Studies
B Priests
B Anthologies
B Poetry
B Drought
B Syllables
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
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Summary:The supernatural powers of Japanese poetry are widely documented in the literature of Heian and medieval Japan. Twentieth-century scholars have tended to follow Orikuchi Shinobu in interpreting and discussing miraculous verses in terms of ancient (arguably pre-Buddhist and pre-historical) beliefs in kotodama 言霊, "the magic spirit power of special words"' In this paper, I argue for the application of a more contemporaneous hermeneutical approach to the miraculous poem-stories of late-Heian and medieval Japan: thirteenthcentury Japanese "dharani theory," according to which Japanese poetry is capable of supernatural effects because, as the dharani of Japan, it contains "reason" or "truth" (kotowari) in a semantic superabundance. In the first section of this article I discuss "dharani theory" as it is articulated in a number of Kamakura-and Muromachi-period sources; in the second, I apply that theory to several Heian and medieval rainmaking poem-tales; and in the third, I argue for a possible connection between the magico-religious technology of Indian "Truth Acts" (saccakiriyā, satyakriyā), imported to Japan in various sutras and sutra commentaries, and some of the miraculous poems of the lateHeian and medieval periods.
Contains:Enthalten in: Japanese journal of religious studies