The Making of an Esoteric Deity: Sannō Discourse in the Keiran shūyōshū

Abstract

This study explores depictions of Sannō in the Keiran shūyōshū, a collection of orally transmitted teachings on Mt. Hiei compiled in the early fourteenth century. Originally a conglomeration of protective kami, Sannō rose in prominence to become the primary deity of the mountain and, by extension, the divine representation of the Tendai teachings. Based on the medieval hermeneutic of source-trace, Sannō was posited as the embodiment of Tendai esoteric doctrine. This article demonstrates that the Sannō deity of Mt. Hiei, as constructed in the Keiran, represents a concerted effort among Tendai scholastics in medieval Japan to specify an orthodox esoteric Buddhist tradition by associating the fundamental doctrines of their school and consolidating competing interpretations into the guise of a singular deity.