Source: Iyanaga 1994

• Texts: T1287; 大黑天神法
• People: Anonymous (Japan) (author)

In two studies, Inayanga made an extensive study of the Daikoku tenjin hō T. XXI 1287. Traditionally, this text used to be attributed to a certain Chinese monk named 神愷 (Ch. Shenkai, Jp. Jingai) of Jiaxiang si 嘉祥寺 (Jp. Kashōji) of the Tang. Thus, Bhussho kaisetsu daijiten 佛書解説大辭典, vol. 7, p. 244c-d, states that this is a composition by Shenkai of the Tang period (Tōdai Jingai ki 唐代神愷記). However, a simple examination of the text shows that it is a Japanese compilation. First, this text has never been incorporated in the various Chinese Canons. It is also not recorded in Annen’s 安然 catalogue of the imported esoteric texts by eight Japanese monks of the Heian era (compiled in 902, T. LV 2176). The Taishō Canon edition is based on two manuscripts preserved in two temples and a printed edition: the base text, the longest one, used in this edition, is the printed edition dated from 1802 preserved in Hase-dera 長谷寺, which itself was based on a manuscript tradition copied in 1764, in 1506 and in 1173: we will call it Text C (“gen” 原 in the Taishō edition). Another manuscript used for collation, of middle length, is dated from 1135, and is preserved in Kōzanji 高山寺 (called here Text B [manuscript “otsu” 乙 in the Taishō edition]). The shortest and oldest text is preserved in a manuscript dated from 1080, also preserved in Kōzanji (Text A [manuscript “kō” 甲 in the Taishō edition]). In all the three recensions, the title, “Ritual of the Deity Mahākāla,” is followed by a byline indicating its author as “Jingai / Shenkai of Kashōji / Jiaxiangsu” (嘉祥寺神愷記).

Why was this text considered to have been composed in Tang China? First, from the first manuscript tradition dating back to 1080 (Text A), a passage was interpolated to make it appear to be a text written under the Tang. According to the first and second manuscripts, this passage reads: “I have long heard that in Indian custom, and according to the old customs of our country of Tang, there is no temple in which this deity [that i.e. Mahākāla] is installed that is not prospering (余久 [or “之” according to Text A] 聞天竺土風並吾唐 [“當” instead of “唐” according to Text C] 朝古風。諸寺安此天莫非豐饒 [T. 1287 355c5-6 and n. 33 and 34]).” In another, earlier passage, it is the third, latest edition, which contains a variant amounting the same thing: “In the Five [regions of] India and our country (of Tang), every temple has [this deity] installed” (五天竺並吾〔吾＋（唐）イ＜原＞, （當）＜甲＞＜乙＞〕朝諸伽藍等皆所安置也 [T. 1287 355a12-13 and n. 7]). Whichever variant we take, it is clear that in these two passages, “our country”, contrasted with India, is meant to be understood as “China.”

Second, it was known that a famous temple named Jiaxiangsi 嘉祥寺 existed in south-east China (in 浙江省紹興府会稽), where lived such important masters as Huijiao 慧皎 (fl. 519-544), the author of the Biography of Eminent Monks (高僧傳, T. L 2059), or Jizang 吉藏 (549-623), the founder of the Madhyamaka school in China [Mochizuki bukkyō daijiten, vol. 1, p. 428c]. As the deity dealt with in this text is a Tantric deity, it was natural to believe that it dated from the Tang period, and was authored by a Chinese monk of the name Shenkai 神愷 who had lived in that temple. However, in fact, there existed a temple named Kashōji (same characters) in the south of Kyōto, founded in the Kashō 嘉祥 era (848-851), just after the death of emperor Ninmyō 仁明天皇 (810-850, r. 833-850). It was located near the place of the emperor's tomb (near the current Zenpukuji 善福寺 in Fukakusa Kawara-machi 深草瓦町). This was a Shingon temple founded by Shinga 眞雅 (801-879), a direct disciple of Kūkai 空海 (774-835) [Nihon rekishi chimei taikei 日本歴史地名大系, Tōkyō, Heibonsha, in the database JapanKnowledge, s.v. Kashōji-ato 嘉祥寺跡, https://japanknowledge.com/psnl/display/?lid=30020270000147800, last accessed October 25, 2018]. Later, it was affiliated to Ninnaji 仁和寺, another important Shingon temple of Kyōto, and even later, it belonged to Tendai school [Mochizuki bukkyō daijiten, vol. 1, 428c-429a]. Jingai, otherwise unknown, was certainly a monk who resided in this temple.

Almost the entire text of T1287 comprises citations of and allusions to other older texts related to Mahākāla. The sources of all these passages are identified and references given in a table in Iyanaga (1994): 890. Most of the sources are of Chinese origin, but some are Japanese. The latest (used at T1287 [XXI] 356c16-357c4) is a text written by the Tendai master Kōgei 皇慶 (977-1049), Tani no ki 谷記 quoted in the Asaba-shō 阿娑縛抄 (T3190 [CLXV, TZ. IX] 524c17-20, 525a17-c7). This citation is found only in Texts B and C. Two other important sources quoted are the Yōson dōjō-kan 要尊道場觀 (T2468 [LXXVIII] 63b13-17 = T1287 [XXI] 355b21-25; b21-22 = 355b28-c2; b19, b12 ≒ 355c10-11; b20-22 = 356c9-10), and the Ishiyama shichi-shū 石山七集 (T2924 [TZ. I] 187c26-188a1 ≒ T1287 [XXI] 355c12-16; 181a13-15 = 356a16-18; 187c26 = 356b16-17), both written by Shunnyū 淳祐 (890-953) of Ishiyama-dera 石山寺. These quotations or absence thereof may help delimit the period in which the text of the first manuscript (Text A) was written, corresponding roughly to the date of the death of Shunnyū, 953, and that of the death of Kōgei, 1049. The text of the second manuscript (Text B) may have subsequently been composed between 1049 and the date of its copy, 1135. The text of the third manuscript (Text C) was certainly written between 1135 and 1173.

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passim (1994), 384-389 (2002)