Hata no Kawakatsu

Hata no Kawakatsu (秦河勝, alternatively read as Hada no Kōkatsu), or Hata no Miyatsuko no Kawakatsu (秦造河勝), was a semi-legendary statesman active during the Asuka period in Japan. He is recorded as serving under Empress Suiko and Empress Kōgyoku in the Nihon Shoki, and appears as a noteworthy figure in narratives surrounding Prince Shōtoku.

Later legends present Kawakatsu as the reincarnation of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, in addition to being the ancestor of the Hata clan and the founder of sarugaku. He is also credited with the construction of Kōryū-ji in Kyoto, and is enshrined as the deity Ōsake Daimyōjin (大避大明神) at the in Akō.

Family

Kawakatsu belonged to the Hata clan, an immigrant group that settled in Japan during the fourth and fifth centuries. They were particularly influential within the of what is now Kyoto, and played a significant part in the formation of Japan's political and religious institutions. Furthermore, the Hata were renowned for being skilled weavers, brewers and construction workers, credited with the introduction of technologies such as sericulture.

Various origins have been attributed to the Hata clan over time, with the Nihon Shoki recording that Yuzuki no Kimi, alongside 120 members of his clan (i.e. the Hata), settled in Japan from Baekje during the reign of Emperor Ōjin. Alternatively, the Shinsen Shōjiroku states that the Hata were descended from Emperor Qin Shi Huang, linking the name Hata (秦) to the Qin dynasty (秦). Despite this, it is agreed by most modern scholars that the Hata clan was of Korean origin, having arrived in Japan from Silla.

Although little is known concerning Kawakatsu's direct family, the noh playwright Zeami Motokiyo claimed to be a distant descendant of his, even referring to himself as Hata no Motokiyo (秦元清). In his work the Fūshikaden (風姿花伝; "Transmission of the Flower Through Forms"), Zeami goes on to assert that the leaders of the can trace their ancestry back to Hata no Ujiyasu (秦氏安), a descendant of Kawakatsu, who inherited the art of sarugaku and performed alongside his brother-in-law Ki no Gonnokami (紀権守). Together the two are also credited with establishing the three performances of (式三番; "The Three Ceremonies").

Much like Zeami, the musicians of Shitennō-ji likewise claimed to be descendants of Kawakatsu, and by extension Qin Shi Huang.

Career

Nihon Shoki Kōryū-ji, a Shingon temple in the district of (Ukyō ward, Kyoto).

The Nihon Shoki makes only sparse references to Hata no Kawakatsu, providing no record of his birth or death, but acknowledges him as a high-ranking courtier (大夫, taifu) who served Empress Suiko and Empress Kōgyoku. He is first mentioned in the eleventh year of Empress Suiko's reign (603 CE) as founding a temple called Hachioka-dera (蜂岡寺), after receiving a statue of the Buddha as a gift from Prince Shōtoku.

In the eighteenth year of Empress Suiko's reign (610 CE), Kawakatsu was tasked with escorting a group of envoys from Silla, aided by another servant named Haji no Muraji Usagi (土師連菟). Together with Hashihito no Muraji Shiofuta (間人連臨蓋) and Abe no Omi Ōko (阿閉臣大籠) accompanying a group from Mimana, the envoys were brought before the south gate of the imperial court. (流行神, hayarigami), named Tokoyo-no-Kami (常世の神; "God of the Everlasting World"), in the third year of Empress Kōgyoku's reign (644 CE).

The building was later converted into a temple and given to Kawakatsu, in addition to 30 chō (町; approx. 0.99 hectares) of rice fields in front of the temple and 60 chō of mountains and fields behind the temple.

According to another biography produced in 1666, Prince Shōtoku's horse, the (甲斐の黒駒, Kai no Kurokoma), was chosen from among a thousand horses that were gathered as a gift from Hata no Kawakatsu.

Legends

Fūshikaden While Hata no Kawakatsu was merely presented as a courtly figure in the Nihon Shoki, the Kōryū-ji traditions asserted his identity as the semi-divine reincarnation of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. This is reflected in the Fūshikaden (風姿花伝), a treatise on noh drama written in the early fifteenth century by Zeami Motokiyo, which provides a legendary account of Kawakatsu's life, alongside other narratives concerning the origins and transmission of sarugaku. According to the Fūshikaden, Kawakatsu not only served under the emperors Kinmei, Bidatsu, Yōmei and Sushun, in addition to Empress Suiko and Prince Shōtoku, but was also the supernatural progenitor of the Hata clan.

The (右近橘) located outside the Hall for State Ceremonies (紫宸殿, Shishinden) at the Kyoto Imperial Palace. According to the (江談抄), the site was said to have formerly been the residence of Hata no Kawakatsu.

Following this, the Fūshikaden also credits Kawakatsu and Prince Shōtoku with the founding of sarugaku:

Once, during a time of great disturbances in the country, Prince Jōgū put his trust in the ancient examples from the Age of the Gods and from the Land of the Buddha, and commanded this Kōkatsu to perform sixty-six pieces of role-play, while he himself carved sixty-six masks for Kōkatsu to wear. Kōkatsu performed the pieces at the Hall for State Ceremonies (紫宸殿, Shishinden) in the Tachibana Palace. The country was soon brought under control and peace again reigned. Prince Jōgū handed down these performances for the sake of later generations. (...) The performance was thus given the name sarugaku (申楽).

Ikishima

A local legend from Sakoshi speaks of how Kawakatsu arrived at the bay by boat in 644, fleeing prosecution from the Soga clan. After his death, the Ōsake Shrine was subsequently built to appease Kawakatsu's spirit, with the nearby island of , which belongs to the precincts of the Ōsake Shrine, claimed to be his final resting place.

The otabisho of the on the island of in (Akō). An alleged "Grave of Hata no Kawakatsu" (秦河勝の墓) is also located on the island.

Shōyoshō

In a legend from the Shōyoshō (聖誉鈔), a Muromachi period work on Prince Shōtoku, Kawakatsu is noted as one of the two sons of . The account describes Sake no Kimi (酒公) as a great-grandson of the first Chinese emperor (i.e. Qin Shi Huang), who received his name because he grew up in a jar (酒瓶, sakebin). Having fled China, Sake no Kimi arrived in Japan at Naniwa Bay in Settsu where he was awarded the name Hada (秦) by Empress Suiko. He is then said to have begot two sons, with the older, Toshiyuki, being ennobled, and the younger, Kōkatsu, becoming a servant.

Hata no Sake no Kimi is himself an important figure in the Hata clan's history, recognized in the Nihon Shoki as being made chief of the Hata in the fifteenth year of Emperor Yūryaku's reign (471 CE). Under Sake no Kimi's leadership the silk produced by the Hata workmen piled up so high that he was given the title of Uzumasa (禹豆麻佐, This appears to correspond with another report in the Nihon Shoki, that in the year 623 a Buddha statue, presented by envoys from Silla and Mimana, was installed at the Hata Temple in Kadono (葛野秦寺, Kadono no Hata-dera). Furthermore, the Jōgū Shōtoku Hōō Teisetsu (上宮聖徳法王帝説; "Imperial Record of Prince Shōtoku, Dharma King of the Upper Palace") lists Kōryū-ji as one of the seven temples built by Prince Shōtoku himself.

Ōsake Jinja Kawakatsu is enshrined as Ōsake Daimyōjin (大避大明神), also called Ōsake-no-Ōkami (大避大神), at the (大避神社) in Akō, he additionally serves as the central deity of the shrine's autumn festival, the "Sakoshi Boat Festival" (坂越の船祭り, Sakoshi no Funamatsuri). According to the historical documents of the shrine, the festival was traditionally held on the 12th of September (based on the lunar calendar), the date Kawakatsu was believed to have drifted ashore the nearby island of , however the festival is now held on the second weekend of October.

An (大酒神社) is also present in Kyoto, formerly belonging to the precincts of Kōryū-ji before it was relocated during the Meiji Restoration. Although it does not enshrine Kawakatsu, instead venerating Emperor Qin Shi Huang, Yuzuki no Kimi and , it is said that the shrine was initially established by one King Kōman (功満王), a supposed descendant of Qin Shi Huang and ancestor of the Hata clan, to worship the deity Ōsake Myōjin (大酒明神). Additionally, the Engishiki records the shrine's name as Ōsake Jinja (大辟神社), with the enshrined deity being referred to as Ōsake-no-Kami (大辟神).

The Japanese scholar Peter Yoshiro Saeki, in his work Uzumasa wo Ronzu (太秦を論ず; "Discussing the Hata"), argued that Ōsake (大酒 or 大辟) was derived from the Chinese name for King David (大闢, Dàpì), citing this, among other things, as proof that the Hata were of Jewish descent. This is widely dismissed as ahistorical in modern scholarship however, as Dàpì (大闢) is only used to render the name David in modern Chinese (while Duōhuì (多恵) was used historically), and the case for Jewish ancestry among the Hata lacks any significant textual or DNA evidence to support it.

Meishukushū

Zeami Motokiyo's successor and son-in-law, Konparu Zenchiku, also viewed Kawakatsu as an important figure in his conception of the deity Okina, as developed in his incomplete work the Meishukushū (明宿集; "Collected Writings Illuminating the Indwelling Deity"). The text serves chiefly as an explication of the nature and significance of Okina (翁; "Old Man"), a name referring to the central role played in , interpreted by Zenchiku as a primordial deity who was the source of all the gods and buddhas. The Meishukushū identifies numerous figures as manifestations of Okina, such as Sumiyoshi Daimyōjin and Ariwara no Narihira, but places particular emphasis on Shukujin (宿神; meaning "astral deity" or "god of destiny"); a god worshiped among outcast groups; inhabitants of the shuku (宿; "relay station"), presented in the Meishukushū as a clan deity of the .

According to Zenchiku, Okina came into being at the creation of the world to protect the imperial throne and aid the Japanese people. Kawakatsu in-turn served as one of the many incarnations of Okina, and performed Okina-sarugaku (翁猿楽) at the command of Prince Shōtoku with the intention of establishing peace in the realm. As a result, Zenchiku assigned spiritual significance to Kawakatsu's actions, stating of his involvement in the Battle of Shigisan:

Additionally, the Konparu lineage claimed descent from Kawakatsu, citing as proof their inheritance of three treasures that had supposedly been handed down from Kawakatsu himself: A demon mask carved by Prince Shōtoku, a painting of Okina as performed by Kawakatsu (though formerly described by Zeami as a portrait of ), and one of the Buddha's relics. In the Meishukushū, this mask was further explained by Zenchiku as representing the dual-nature of Shukujin, who manifests as both the benevolent deity of song and dance, Okina, and the "raging spirit" (荒神, kōjin) of Hata no Kawakatsu.

An Edo period illustration of the "Ox Festival" (牛祭, Ushi-matsuri) held at Kōryū-ji, centered on the deity Matarajin.

Though never explicitly mentioned in the Meishukushū, it has been suggested by Hattori Yukio that Zenchiku implicitly equated the Tendai deity Matarajin with his notion of Shukujin. Matarajin was chiefly enshrined at the backdoor (後戸, ushirodo) of temples, where sarugaku performances took place, and so merged with the figure of Okina as a protector of the performing arts. Hattori thus argued that the original function of sarugaku was to entertain and placate Matarajin, whose violent disposition was projected on to the stories surrounding Kawakatsu. A connection between the two figures is further evidenced by Matarajin's role in the annual "Ox Festival" (牛祭, Ushi-matsuri) held at Kōryū-ji, wherein a priest wearing a white mask (supposedly representing Matarajin), flanked by four monks dressed as demons (symbolizing the Four Heavenly Kings), rides a black ox while reciting saimon (祭文; "ritual text") aimed at eliminating disease. Moreover, it has been proposed that Matarajin was a deity worshiped by Korean immigrants such as the Hata clan, and that Matarajin's identification with Okina was facilitated by his association with such groups.