Shinra Myōjin and Buddhist Networks of the East Asian "Mediterranean." by Sujung Kim (review)

Shinra Myōjin is a deity unfamiliar to most Japanese people who are not associated with Tendai's Jimon tradition. Some people might wonder how a myōjin deity is associated with Buddhism because myōjin is an honorific suffix most often added to Shintō deities as shown, for example, in Kanda Myōjin and Kashima Daimyōjin. In some cases, the title of myōjin was granted to prominent individuals after death. The name "Shinra," which refers to the Silla Kingdom (57 BC–935 AD) in the Korean peninsula, is also alien to many Japanese people. This kingdom has traditionally been called "Shiragi" in Japan although the Chinese characters for both are identical. Shinra Myōjin combines a foreign kingdom and a Shintō divinity, but it has nevertheless thrived at Onjōji temple in Ōmi, the headquarters of the Tendai Jimon tradition, as its protector deity.

In this book, Sujung Kim traces the life story of Shinra Myōjin which, she notes, has "no historical connection" (p. 6) with Silla and is "neither a Buddhist deity nor a Shinto kami" (p. 6). Its origin is attributed to Enchin (814–91) who built Onjōji under the guidance of "Shinra Myōjin, whom he had encountered during his return voyage from China" (p. 10). Once the deity was incorporated into the pantheon of the Jimon tradition, its followers exercised their skills of divinity making by mobilizing resources available for their maneuvering and were eventually able to embellish Shinra Myōjin with special religious functions distinct from those of other competing deities. Kim's discussion of the ways in which Shinra Myōjin was made into the protector deity of the Jimon tradition involves a multidisciplinary approach that combines geography, mythology, religious studies, performing arts, iconographical studies, and literature.

"Many facets of Shinra Myōjin" (p. 71), which are featured in Jimon rituals, ceremonial events, literary works, and performing arts, complicate our understanding of this deity's character, which was transformed through history in a tangle of interactions with other deities including Sonjōō, Susanoo, and Gozu Tennō. In discussing the religious elements of Shinra Myōjin, Kim draws on ideas and concepts suggested by Fernand Braudel, William H. McNeil, and Jacques Le Goff, although none of whom, of course, has researched on Japanese religious culture, let alone a deity such as Shinra Myōjin. Inherent in any concept or idea, no matter who suggests it or how it is conceptualized, are certain assumptions and a particular context associated with its creator or its birthplace. One therefore needs to consider the possible limitations of the "alien" concepts applied by Kim and whether there are alternative theoretical insights offered by the work of scholars familiar with Shinra Myōjin, or at least with some aspects of Japanese religions. By drawing on theory detached from any experience of Shinra Myōjin, Kim's work may give the impression that Asia-based scholars usually don't engage in theoretical discussion.

Despite suggesting that there is no particular historical connection between Shinra Myōjin and the Silla Kingdom, Kim goes to great lengths to discuss why the deity carries the name "Shinra" and to trace the movements of people between the Silla Kingdom and the Japanese archipelago with a focus on the Silla immigrants to Ōmi in Japan. When people move from one place to another, they bring with them their culture, customs and manners, and ways in which they run family and society. Nevertheless, it is not clear what role the Silla immigrants played in, or how they were connected to, Enchin's encounter with Shinra Myōjin, which happened on the sea between Japan and China, and not between Japan and Silla. Except for the vague metaphor of "Mediterranean" with which Kim describes the qualitative aspects of the flow of people, ideas, and objects between China, Korea, and Japan in ancient...