GONGEN

A general term for syncretic deities who are protectors of mountains or important areas. There are a number of such gongen, the title usually preceded by the locale name. The one exception is the deification of Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616), founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa dynasty, often simply called “Gongen-sama” (Sir Gongen).

Gongen are expressions of the honji-suijaku concept, by which Shintπ deities and Buddhist ones were seen as the same. Thus the local deities of mountains at specific localities in Japan were “Buddhiscized” and received the title gongen. In formal terms they are the avatars of named boddhisattvas.

SEE ALSO:

• Japanese Mythology

REFERENCES:

• Grapard, Allan. 1992. The Protocol of the Gods: A Study of the Kasuga Cult in Japanese History. Berkeley: University of California Press.

SOURCE:

Handbook of Japanese Mythology written by Michael Ashkenazi – Copyright © 2003 by Michael Ashkenazi

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