Yengishiki

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

The excerpts reproduced here include several examples of the rituals prescribed by the Yengishiki. These rituals reflect Shinto culture and beliefs, and many of them draw on the mythology of Shinto as reflected in the earlier Kojiki. In most cases the rituals take the form of prayers, but in some instances the text describes ritual practices as well.

The Harvest Ritual

It comes as no surprise that a religious ritual in an early culture had to do with the harvest, a time when people thanked the gods for their bounty. The Harvest Ritual was celebrated on the fourth day of the second month of each year at the Office for the Worship of the Shinto gods. Additionally, it was practiced in the provinces by the chiefs of the local administration. It is unknown who specifically the harvest gods were, though several are specified in the Kojiki. In ritual sacrifices, it was common to offer the “first fruits” of the harvest to the gods. Thus, this prayer says that “I will fulfil their praises by presenting the first-fruits in a thousand ears, and in many hundred ears”—“ear” here meaning the grain-bearing tip of the stem of a cereal plant, typically corn or wheat, but in Japan, the rice plant. The reference to “dripping of foam” and “drawing the mud” refers to the process of preparing the soupy soil of rice fields for young plants. The prayer goes on to say that the person will offer clothing, beer, and the fruits of the plain; “bitter herbs” might have included chamomile, peppermint, dandelion, milk thistle, and yarrow, herbs often used in rituals and for medicinal purposes. Further, the reader of the prayer offers a horse for the god to ride on, a cock to tell the time, and a domesticated boar for the god's food. The “grandchild” is the grandchild of Amaterasu, the sun goddess; in time, this word was used to refer to any successor to the throne of Japan.

The Ritual for the Wind-Gods

“The Ritual for the Wind-Gods” is a prayer that addresses crop failure, specifically failure brought about by high winds. “At Tatsuta” is likely a reference to a shrine devoted to Tatsuta-hime, the Shinto goddess of autumn and the harvest. The ritual transmits a legend that purports to account for its origin and for the establishment of the shrine. Centuries earlier, a series of violent storms had devastated the crops. Diviners and others had tried to learn the cause of this disaster, but their efforts were in vain until the Wind-Gods revealed themselves to the emperor in a dream. They made a bargain with him: In the future, they would bless and ripen the crops if he built for them a shrine and made offerings to them.

The Fire Ritual

“The Fire Ritual” draws heavily on the Shinto creation myth contained in the Kojiki. The myth runs as follows: Before creation, chaos existed as a formless oiliness. The first gods and goddesses emerged from this chaos onto the Plain of High Heaven. They were born as eight pairs of men and women who were both mates and siblings. The eighth of these pairs—Izanagi and Izanami—would be the first to have children. Standing on the Floating Bridge of Heaven, they dipped a jeweled spear into the chaos, and when they pulled the spear out, drops fell from it, forming the Japanese island of Onogoro. Izanagi and Izanami descended to Onogoro, where they built a palace and a ceremonial pillar and devised a wedding ritual around the pillar. After they completed the wedding ritual, they produced “children”—a reference to the other islands of Japan and the spirits that ruled them, the kami.

During the wedding ceremony, Izanami, the woman, spoke first, causing the other deities to believe that her union with Izanagi was corrupted, so they ordered that the ceremony be repeated, with Izanagi speaking first. After this second marriage, the couple produced additional gods, including Kagutsuchi, the fire-god. In giving birth to the fire-god, Izanami was severely burned and died. She was sent to Yomi, the underworld or the Nether Regions, where Izanagi located her in a castle she had built for herself. He could not see her, but he could talk to her, and he persuaded her to return with him to the world they had created. Izanami pleaded with Izanagi not to look at her until they returned home, but Izanagi so longed to see her that he succumbed to the temptation to look at her—only to discover that she was a rotting corpse because she had eaten the food of the underworld. She was humiliated, so she dispatched a legion of demons to chase Izanagi.

Izanagi, pursued by the demons and by Izanami herself, fled. When they finally confronted each other at the entrance to the underworld, they agreed to divorce; Izanagi would rule the realm of the living, and Izanami would rule that of the dead. Izanagi returned to earth, where he bathed in a stream and purified himself. Out of his eyes and nose, three major deities emerged: Amaterasu, the sun goddess and ruler of heaven; Tsukiyomi, the moon-god and ruler of night; and Susano-o, the god of violence and ruler of the ocean. Afterward, Izanagi returned to heaven and remained there.

The purpose of many Shinto rituals is to appease or avoid evil spirits. The Fire Ritual fulfills a similar purpose, with offerings that are similar to those made in the Harvest Ritual.

The Ritual for Evil Spirits

Shinto begins with the belief that people are naturally good but that evil spirits cause them to do bad things. Once again, the purpose of many Shinto rituals is to ward off evil spirits and to achieve a state of purification. The Ritual for Evil Spirits is consistent with this view. The ritual again references the creation of the world, as outlined in the discussion of “The Fire Ritual.” It then notes that the gods wanted to subdue the evil spirits of the plain; consequently, they dispatched a succession of heroic gods for that purpose, including Amenohohi, one of the sons of the sun goddess Amaterasu; then Takemikuma; and then Ame-no-waka-hiko. Finally, two gods—Futsunushi and Takema-dzuchi—achieved success. Futsunushi was the kami of swords and lightning and one of Amaterasu’s generals. He has also been characterized as the divine personification of the sacred sword called Futsu-no-Mitama and the ancestral deity of the Fujiwara clan. Futsunushi was accompanied by Takema-dzuchi, and together these two “pillars” descended from the heavens and subdued the evil spirits of the plain. They were able to “soften the gods who were turbulent” and to cause the “Sovereign Grandchild’s augustness to descend from heaven”—again, a reference to any emperor. The ritual then concludes with a sacrificial offering. Again, reference is made to the creation of the world. Reference is also made to “Yamato,” which is simply another term used for Japan at the time. Japan is perceived as a peaceful country, and implicit throughout the description of the country is the Shinto belief in Japan’s superiority to all other lands on earth because it was divinely created. At the ritual's end, a series of offerings is made, including cloth, a mirror, beads, a bow and arrows, a sword, a horse, liquor, grain, herbs, fish, and others. The purpose of the ritual is conveyed in the final word, “tranquil.” By exorcising evil spirits, the nation can find peace and tranquility.

The Road-Gods’ Ritual

In Shinto, kami can represent virtually anything, including all manner of natural phenomena—among them, mountains, forests, the seas, rivers—as well as human-made objects such as roads, bridges, and gates. In this ritual prayer, the priest appeals to the kami that protect the roads. This type of prayer might have been used, for example, when envoys (“servants of the monarch”) were dispatched and had to travel over the roads. The prayer calls on the gods (“You and Maiden of the Many Road-forkings and Come-no-further Gate”) to ward off evil spirits, here conceived as “roughly acting and hating.” These two gods originated from the rock that Izanagi used to block the road when demons were pursuing him. The priest appeals to the road gods to take sacrificial offerings and pile them up as a way of protecting people on the roads.

Rituals to the Sun-Goddess

Historically, the cult of the sun has been dominant in Japanese culture. The name for Japan, “Nippon,” means “source of the sun,” and the Japanese flag consists simply of a white field with a red disk representing the sun. Accordingly, the central deity in Shinto is Amaterasu, called here the “From-Heaven-shining-great deity.” According to Shinto mythology, she was the ruler of the Plain of Heaven and the eldest daughter of Izanagi (although the legends are not always consistent about genealogy). She was so radiant that her parents sent her up a celestial ladder to heaven, where she rules. The mythology also says that her brother, the storm god, ravaged the earth. She retreated to a cave to escape the noise, closing it with a large boulder and thus depriving the world of light. In her absence, evil spirits ruled the earth. The other gods tried to persuade her to come out, but to no avail—that is, until Uzume, the Shinto goddess of joy and happiness, succeeded. The dawn is conceived as a streak of light that escaped when she emerged from the cave. Later, she created rice fields and taught the art of weaving. The Japanese imperial family claimed descent from her.

“Oho-Nakitomi” refers to one of the hereditary families that in ancient times oversaw Shinto ceremonies at court. Again, “Mikado” is a generic term for the emperor. The ritual is a sacrificial one in which offerings are made to the sun goddess, who in turn will provide blessings to the entire extent of the country. “Ise” is the name of a city in Japan that is the site of the Ise Great Shrine to Amaterasu.

The Purification Ritual

The concept of purification is central to Shinto. Shinto is essentially an optimistic religion. It requires no savior or messiah, nor does it require redemption. It does, however, ask people to lead simple, pure lives in accordance with nature—which perhaps explains why modern housing codes in Japan call for the presence of a garden and a window out of which the garden can be seen. Purification rituals are a way to achieve this purity and simplicity by casting out evil.

“The Purification Ritual” lists heavenly offenses and earthly offenses. The heavenly offenses have to do primarily with agriculture and interference with community functions. Among them are breaking down ridges, covering up ditches, releasing irrigation sluices, and flaying animals that are alive. Earthly offenses include such things as leprosy, blights, and disasters caused by thunderstorms; these are termed “earthly” offenses because they could result from a curse and wreak havoc on the entire community. The ritual, then, consists of sweeping away these offenses with a broom made of grass.