. Legends about Prince Shotoku .
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Shotoku Taishi and Daruma
聖徳太子とだるま
Shootoku Daishi and Daruma
Imperial Prince Shotoku, 574-622
How Shootoku Taishi, the Prince Imperial, met a dying beggar:
When Shootoku Taishi walked along the village of Kataoka 片岡, he met a poor man and gave him a purple cloth. But the man died the next day. When they opened his grave, there was no body found, just the purple cloth folded nicely.
"This must have been Daruma, the Founder of Zen" was the verdict of Shootoku Taishi. So "It takes a holy man to recognize another holy man!"
Quoted from here:
Daruma with one Sandal 隻履達磨 Sekiri Daruma .
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According to a later Japanese tradition, Bodhidharma did not return to India but traveled on to Japan. This version, propagated by the Tendai school, associates Bodhidharma with Shootoku Taishi, who came himself to be considered an avatar of the Tiantai master Nanyue Huisi (517-77). We are told that Shootoku Taishi one day met a starving beggar at the foot of Mt. Kataoka (in Nara Prefecture) and exchanged a poem with him. The strange literate beggar was first identified as an immortal in the Nihon shoki. His further identification with Bodhidharma rested upon another widespread legend, according to which Huisi had once been Bodhidharma’s disciple.
When the two first met on Mount Tiantai, Bodhidharma predicted that they would both meet again in a next life in Japan. This legend grew with the cult of Shootoku Taishi in the medieval period, and there is still a Daruma Temple at Kataoka, not far from Horyuuji — a monastery associated with Shootoku Taishi.
Daruma, Smallpox and the color Red, the Double Life of a Patriarch
Bernard Faure
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Nihon Shoki
Translation by W.G.Aston
Chapter 22
Year 613, 12th month, 1st day
The Prince Imperial (Shootoku Taishi) took a journey to Katawoka (Kataoka). Now a starving man was lying by the roadside. He asked his name, but there was no answer. The Prince Imperial, seeing this, gave him to eat and to drink, and taking off his own raiment, clothed with it the starving man, saying to him: "Lie in peace".
Then he made a song, saying:
Alas! For
The wayfarer lying
And hungered for rice
On the hill of Katawoka
(The sunshiny)
Art thou become
Parentless?
Hast thou no lord
Flourishing as a bamboo?
Alas ! For
The wayfarer lying
And hungered for rice !
2nd day
The Prince Imperial sent a messenger to see the starving man. The messenger returned and said: "The starving man is already dead."
Hereupon the Prince Imperial was greatly grieved and accordingly caused him to be buried at that place, a mound erected and firmly closed.
Many days after, the Prince Imperial called for his personal attendants and said to them: "The staraving man who was lying on a former day on the roadside was no ordinary man. He must have been an upright man."
A messenger was sent to see. On his return he reported that when he went to the mound and made inspection, the heaped-up earth had not been disturbed, but on opening the tomb and looking in, there was no corpse. It was empty and there was nothing but the garment folded up and laid on the coffin.
Thereupon the Prince Imperial sent the messenger back a second time to fetch the garment, which he continued to wear as before.
The people of that time wondered much at this, and said:
"How true it is that a sage knoweth a sage."
and they stood more and more in awe of him.
Reference
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達磨寺 Darumadera, Temple in Oji, Kataoka
奈良県北葛城郡王寺町本町2-1-40
飢人伝説（きじんでんせつ）
gijin densetsu Legend of the Hungry Beggar
に基づいて開かれた達磨寺は、達磨大師の墓と伝えられる古墳の上に本堂が築かれています。鎌倉～室町時代には興福寺や東大寺の僧兵に放火されたりしましたが、室町幕府の将軍、足利義満・義持・義教らの支援を得て再興されました。平成１６年４月には、老朽化に伴って再建された新本堂が完成しています。
寺内には、重要文化財として木造達磨坐像・木造聖徳太子坐像・達磨寺中興記石幢があり、奈良県指定文化財として方丈があります。毎年４月１１日には、達磨会式が行われています。
© www.town.oji.nara.jp
This temple has been erected in the 13th century, in honor of the legend of Shotoku meeting Daruma. Nearby is the temple Hoko-Ji (Hookoo ji) 放光寺, which Shotoku had erected in his lifetime. Katakoa Shrine 片岡神社 is also nearby.
Every April on the 11th there is a memorial service for Daruma Daishi 達磨会式.
In the temple garden is a memorial stone with respect to the meeting of the two.
「達磨寺中興記石幢」
It was errected in 1448 with the wish to resurrect this temple to new life.
The Daruma statue was constructed in 1430, with the help of the Muromachi bakufu government. The "grave of Daruma" is worshipped in this temple compound.
The temple also has an old painting of the Nirvana Scene of Shakyamuni Buddha, which you can find on the source LINK.
source : mahoroba.lib.nara
Two Scrolls inside the Temple
Shotoku and Daruma
© PHOTO : www9.ocn.ne.jp/~oji-syo
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Daruma statue at the temple in Kataoka
Nara National Museum, Exhibition in 2003
Darumadera is located in Ôjichô, adjacent to Ikarugachô, in the middle west area of Nara Prefecture. When Crown Prince Shôtoku, who is called Shôtoku Taishi in Japanese, left his palace at Ikaruga-no-Miya for Kataoka (located within Ôjichô) he encountered a starving man beside the road. The man turned out to be an incarnation of the great saint Bodhidharma, who is known as Daruma-Daishi in Japanese.
It is said that the remains of this incarnation of Daruma Daishi were interred in the mound of the tumulus found beneath the main hall of Darumadera.
Given this legend as background, statues of Shôtoku Taishi and Daruma Daishi became the main worship objects of Darumadera.
The temple also possesses a Thousand-armed Avalokitesvara, Senju Kannon, which once placed in the temple's guest hall, and Buddhist paintings, such as an image of the Buddha's Nirvana, Jpns., Butsunehan-zu.
The temple also houses various artifacts recovered from archaeological excavations conducted in recent years. As the main hall of the temple has recently been rebuilt, the three statues of Daruma Daishi, Shôtoku Taishi, and Senju Kannon have been entrusted to Nara National Museum, allowing the museum to devise this special exhibition during which all the works of art of Darumadera can be viewed at once.
source : Nara National Museum
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Darumaji Temple, Ōji Town, Nara Prefecture
Excarvation report
Darumaji is a temple whose maintaining a tradition of being founded on the legendary story of Prince Shōtoku and a starving man at Mt. Kataoka; the temple’s main hall stands above the tomb (kofun) said to be the starving man’s grave.
In an excavation of lower strata conducted in conjunction with repairs to the main hall, a small stone chamber was detected with a stone stupa deposited in upright position. A square hole had been carved into the body of the stupa, in which a haji ware lidded vessel had been placed, within which a quartz crystal reliquary in the shape of a Five Elements Stupa was found, in which a relic had been placed.
A stone stupa, ordinarily erected above ground, being deposited in an underground stone chamber in upright fashion, is exceedingly rare.From a typological examination of the artifacts, including the stone stupa, and the results of investigations in the vicinity of the main hall, the deposit is inferred to have been made around the mid 13th century.
As the grave (kofun) of the starving man, held to have been an incarnation of Bodhidharma, was repaired at about the same time that Darumaji was founded, it is thought that the stone stupa was deposited in connection with the repair of the tomb. These artifacts and features may be evaluated as showing a new facet of Buddhist relic belief that was popular nationwide in the Medieval period.
Look at more photos here too.
source : archaeology.jp . Okajima Eishō, Yamada Takafumi
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More Japanese reference: 達磨寺 片岡
Daruma Mound / Kofun
Click here for more photos of the area !
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Read the details of this
First Great Patron of Buddhism in Japan
Shōtoku Taishi (Shoutoku)
by Mark Schumacher
quote
Prince Shōtoku (聖徳太子, Shōtoku Taishi)
February 7, 572 – April 8, 622)
also known as Prince Umayado (厩戸皇子, Umayado no ōji) or Prince Kamitsumiya (上宮皇子, Kamitsumiya no ōji), was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko.
© More in the WIKIPEDIA !
Crown Prince Shoutoku has another name: Umayado that means
"a prince born in a stable".
The situation of the birth of Shoutoku remind us of the one of Jesus Christ.
Hata Kawakatsu founded Kooryuji Temple at Uzumasa, Kyoto in 603 and became the most influential brain of Crown Prince Shoutoku. the regent of Emperess Suiko.
source : gensei/ten
. The Hata Clan 秦氏 Hata Uji .
and the Korean and Christian connection
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quote
Prince Shōtoku and the Ninja
Did you know that Prince Shōtoku, known as a great reformer of ancient Japan, used ninja? Some speculate that it was his ninja that gave the prince the reputation of being 'super human' or magic. The prince appointed Ôtomo Hosohito to the office / role of 'Shinōbi (志能備・志能便)'.
Does this make Ôtomo the head of state intelligence, or an actual ninja? Let's look into it. Incidentally, it's sort of funny that his name, Ôtomo Hosohito (大伴細人), is similar to 'saisaku (細作)', an old name for spies... in fact, one might say that it's even slightly suspicious...
*Kanji is ateji / man'yōgana and is not necessarily indicative of meaning.
Well, who was Ôtomo Hosohito? He is mentioned in relation to Shōtoku-taishi in the Ninjutsu Ōgiden, a late Edo period document. For context, Shōtoku-taishi lived during the 6th century (Asuka period) and the Ninjutsu Ōgiden (忍術應義伝) was written around 1800, though it naturally claims to be considerably older.
Now, stop me if you've heard this one before, but the legend goes that Ôtomo Hosohito was taught ninjutsu by a mysterious old man who also passed onto him secret scrolls. It is said that Ôtomo Hosohito is the true founder of the Kōka ninja. Hosohito met Shōtoku-taishi when the prince fled to Kōka after losing a battle to Mononobe Moriya. Hosohito tied Shōtoku-taishi's horse to cedar tree and disguised him by using a ninjutsu technique so that Moriya's men rode on by without detecting him. Apparently the site of this miracle is called Basugi (馬杉, 'Horse Cedar') to this day.
Thereafter the prince asked Hosohito to spy on the Mononobe Clan and obtain information. Hosohito also tried to lure Mononobe Moriya to Kōka. Eventually Moriya was defeated at Mount Shigi in nearby Nara, and thereafter Shōtoku-taishi gave Hosohito the title of 'Shinobi', which meant 'one proficient in obtaining information'. Hosohito was the eyes and ears of Prince Shōtoku.
The Sōga Clan's victory over the heretical Mononobe Clan is credited to spying. In the parlance of the time then Shinobi meant 'spy' and the state used these spies to gather information on political rivals and the Imperial Court. Prince Shōtoku is said to have been well informed thanks to his shinobi. The prince himself is said to have superhuman abilities, being able to hold up to ten different conversations simultaneously and respond in kind to each.
Shōtoku-taishi is also said to have recruited a man named Hata Kawakatsu, an ancestor of the Hattori Clan, and so perhaps Iga ninjutsu also can be traced back to the Asuka period too? The Hata are said to have used their commercial activities as a front for information-gathering, and apparently Shōtoku-taishi had the Hattori Clan gather information in Iga and Ise.
So is any of this true? Or is it Edo period fantasy?
The academic consensus is that these stories are not to be accepted as fact, as they originate in Edo period ninjutsu scrolls which sought to establish ancient origins for their schools or documents. In another document, the Iga Mondō Ninjutsu Kazamurai no Makoto (which I'll just casually translate as 'Ninjutsu - True Stories of the Iga warriors'), for example, ninjutsu can be traced back to Emperor Jimmu, Japan's (legendary) first Emperor (traditionally dated to ruling from -660BC). The Ninjutsu Ōgiden's story is very creative, but it cannot be corroborated with any prior documents and originates there, making it very unlikely to be anything other than invention.
Spies were probably used in ancient Japan, and it's possible that Prince Shōtoku had even gained know-how from Sun Tzu's Art of War, given his thirst for knowledge from the continent, but that's as far as we can reasonably go with this; Ninja Snopes rates this one as 'mostly false'. I wrote this after seeing the Ninjutsu Ōgiden's contents presented as fact in a small museum.
. Adam Robert Turner .
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Daruma Temples in Japan . Darumaji, Daruma-Ji . Darumadera
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guchikiki Taishi - Taishi listening to your complaints
ぐち聞き太子
川越八幡宮 八幡神社
埼玉県川越市南通町19-1 － Saitama Hachiman Jinja
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Exhibition Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, May 2008
"Prince Shotoku:
Treasures from the Kawachi Santaishi"
at the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art presents treasures drawn from Eifuku-ji, Yachu-ji and Taiseishogun-ji temples in Osaka Prefecture, which are all connected to Prince Shotoku (574-622). A regent and politician in the Asuka Period (late sixth to early eighth centuries), Prince Shotoku authored in 604 the Seventeen Article Constitution, a Confucianism-based document that is considered to be the first statutory law in Japan. Deeply admired by many followers, his connection to the three Osaka Prefecture temples has made them a popular destination since around the Nara Period (710-784). "Pictorial Biography of Prince Shotoku," a set of seven paintings illustrating important events in the life of Prince Shotoku, was created sometime during the 14th to 16th centuries.
This exhibition celebrates the completion of the set's restoration at Eifuku-ji, with colors that return to their original state fromalmost 500 years ago.
© Japan Times
聖徳太子 ゆかりの名宝
河内三太子 叡福寺・野中寺・大聖勝軍寺
© PHOTO : taishi.exh.jp
. Haiku and Temple Horyu-Ji 法隆寺
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Shotoku Taishi figure 聖徳太子の尊像
from Temple Hokke-Ji 法華寺
This was an amulet, sold at the temple, but is not produced lately any more.
. Folk Toys from Nara .
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.................... H A I K U
.Tennooji shoojin ku 天王寺生身供 (てんのうじしょうじんく)
Birthday Ritual
shari dashi 舎利出し（しゃりだし）"showing of the sacred bones" .
Shitenno-ji, Osaka 四天王寺
kigo for the New Year
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Shooryoo-E 聖霊会 Memorial Ceremonies for Shotoku Taishi
Taishi Memorial Service, Taishi E .. 太子会 (たいしえ)
kigo for mid-spring
陰暦二月二十二日 22nd day of the 2nd lunar month
Now celebrated in March at temple Kooryuuji 広隆寺 Koryu-Ji in Kyoto.
float for Taishi, taishi yama 太子山（たいしやま)
kigo for late summer
This is a float in rememberance of Shotoku Taishi, the founder of the temple Shitenno-Ji. To get the wood for the construction, Shotoku went to the nearby forest by himself to search, pray and purify the trees before they where felled.
This float is used during the great Gion Festival (Gion-E 祗園会), another kigo for late summer. This is a famous festival of Kyoto City and will be described elsewhere.
© PHOTO gionfest.htm
External LINK
Kyoto Gion Festival
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Prinz Shootoku, Prinz Shotoku
(Shootoku Taishi)
Er wird als eine Inkarnation von Kannon Bosatsu angesehen. Im Inneren seiner Statue findet sich manchmal eine kleine Kannon-Statue so plaziert, daß der Kopf sich in Höhe des Mundes von Prinz Shootoku befindet.
Dadurch wird zum Ausdruck gebracht, daß seine Worte direkt die Worte der Gottheit sind.
.Buddhastatuen ... Who is Who
Ein Wegweiser zur Ikonografie
von japanischen Buddhastatuen
Gabi Greve, 1994
- ###shotokutaishi ##shootokutaishi #shotokudaishi -
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. Legends about Prince Shotoku .
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