In Her Likeness: Female Divinity and Leadership at Medieval Chūgūji

Abstract

Shinnyo sanro example to discover the death date of Hashihito (Shayoshi, the Taishi mandara kdshiki (1275), the Chugtiji engi (12747), and the thirteenth-century Shotoku Taishi denki.) In the Ganmon, Shinnyo also relates the now familiar narrative of her "dis- covery" of the Tenjukoku mandala following a dream in which it was revealed to her that Hashihito's death date would be revealed on the mandala ----------------------------- By this time Shotoku belief was, of course, quite widespread and was especially popular among the court elite. That Chfgfji nar- ratives deliver dreams and divine messages through the figure of Shotoku (here I refer to the dream-visions of Shinnyo and Soji) should hardly surprise us; Shdtoku was also delivering doctrine-legitimating dreams to other, contempora- neous Buddhist figures (like Shinran, for example)