Sexual emptiness

Japanese: 性空 - しょうくう

Year of death: 10 March 1007 (31 March 1007)
Year of birth: Unknown Monk from the mid-Heian period. Son of Tachibana Zenne. Famous for being the founder of Shoshazan Engyo-ji, a Tendai sect temple in Himeji City. He first practiced asceticism in mountains such as Mount Kirishima in Hyuga (Miyazaki Prefecture) and Mount Sefuri in Chikuzen (Fukuoka Prefecture), but later moved to Shoshazan. In 985 (Kanwa 1), with the help of the provincial governor Fujiwara Suetaka, he built the Hokkedo temple, and the following year, when Emperor Kazan visited the mountain, he applied to make it his temple, and in 987 (Eien 1), he was granted permission and Engyo-ji was founded here. Emperor Kazan continued to visit the mountain and form a bond with the temple, but others such as Prince Kohira, Minamoto Shin, Jakushin (Keijiya Yasutane), Jakusho (Oe Sadamoto), Izumi Shikibu, and Fujiwara Sanesuke also visited seeking ties with the temple, attracting great interest from aristocratic society. In March of the fourth year of the Choho era (1002), Emperor Kazan climbed the mountain for the second time to make a connection with the deity, and during that time he directly questioned Shoku about his conduct and recorded it. This is the "Biography of Shoku Shonin," and is included in the "Gunsho Ruiju" as a valuable record from his lifetime. <References> Hirabayashi Moritoku, "Emperor Kazan and Shonin Shonin" ("Historical Study of Saints and Stories")

(Ohara Jin)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：寛弘4.3.10(1007.3.31)
生年：生年不詳
平安中期の僧。橘善根の子。姫路市の天台宗寺院,書写山円教寺の開基として有名。はじめ日向(宮崎県)霧島山や筑前(福岡県)背振山などの山岳で修行したが,のちに書写山に移り住んだ。寛和1(985)年,国司藤原季孝の助力を得て法華堂を建立し,翌年,来山した花山法皇に御願寺となさんことを申請し,永延1(987)年,許されてここに円教寺が開創された。花山法皇はこののちも来山し結縁したが,このほかにも具平親王,源信,寂心(慶慈保胤),寂照(大江定基),和泉式部,藤原実資などの人々が結縁を求めて訪れ,貴族社会の大きな関心を集めた。長保4(1002)年3月,花山法皇は2度目の結縁のため登山し,そのとき,直接に性空の行状を問いこれを記録した。これが『性空上人伝』であり,生存中の貴重な記録として『群書類従』に収められている。<参考文献>平林盛得「花山法皇と性空上人」(『聖と説話の史的研究』)

(小原仁)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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