Monk-soldier

The warrior monks were a group of monks from temples who took up arms. They were also called priest warriors, and the power of the warrior monks was so great that Emperor Shirakawa at the end of the Heian period said, "The water of the Kamo River, the dice of a game of Sugoroku, and mountain priests are those who do not follow my heart." The warrior monks' power was so great that they were able to overwhelm even the samurai such as the Taira clan through their organization, which was further strengthened by the alliance of temples.

The appearance of monks who took up arms and fought in battles is said to have been seen in China in the mid-5th century. In Japan during the Heian period, with the collapse of the Ritsuryo system, temples needed to defend their expanding temple estates, so in times of emergency, temple assemblies were held to organize military units. Temples known for the strength of their warrior monks include the four great temples of Kofuku, Todai, Enryaku, and Onjo, as well as the various mountains such as Mount Koya, Mount Kinpu, Kumano, Mount Tonomine, Mount Hakusan, and Mount Hiko, as well as the temples of Daigo, Kurama, Negoro, Mount Harima-Daisen, and Mount Hoki. The warrior monks of Kofuku-ji Temple in particular were called Nara-hoshi, those of Enryaku-ji Temple were called Yama-hoshi, and those of Onjo-ji Temple were called Tera-hoshi.

When we think about its origin, in temples with many congregations, when the congregations made a unified resolution, they were united as one great force, and any uncontractual actions by the members of the temple were strictly admonished. In the case of Todaiji Temple, there were some differences of opinion between the members of both temples (Hokke-do and Chumon-do), and in the case of Kofukuji Temple, there were some differences of opinion between the members of the Eastern and Western Golden Halls, but before the portable shrine and sacred tree movements under the guidance of the scholars, such issues were set aside as minor matters, and it was natural that a great unity would be formed before a major event involving the temple family. When we develop the theory of warrior monks, we should place emphasis on the collective leadership of these scholars. And when these scholars united with the scholars of other temples (Todaiji Temple, Kofukuji Temple, Onjoji Temple, etc.), they became a military force that surpassed the Genji and Heike clans. Even in temples, the children of good families who were related to the nobility by blood and the powerful scholar monks maintained their superiority within the temple, and since they were in a different class in terms of official rank and economy from the two hall monks of the Ritsu sect, it is hard to imagine that the hall monks' collective leadership would increase simply by weakening the scholar monks in temples where such a social system had become customary. Therefore, it is appropriate to divide the warrior monks into two groups: the scholar/dou monk group and the villagers/manors (jinin) group. The group that controlled both groups was the scholar monk group, which was mainly comprised of the middle class that held the central position in the temple, and it is likely that the movements of this middle class formed and guided the warrior monks group. The process of transforming these monks into a military organization involved changing the guard duties for festivals such as the annual Tegaie ceremony, that is, the regular guard duties, to temporary guard duties in emergencies, carrying swords and sticks, and the scholars wearing kato (wrapping their heads in white five-stripe robes) and carrying naginata (halberds), and thus establishing and developing as a military force. The scholar meetings also became strategy meetings, and then moved on to military action, such as the mikoshi doza. The temples' and shrines' methods of gathering people to attend Buddhist ceremonies and festivals quickly became the basis for military forces.

Even though the collective leadership of the scholars was established and well planned, the warrior monks were still prone to have mixed elements in their organizational content, and in order to counter this weakness, it was necessary to plan the movement of sacred trees and portable shrines that borrowed the power of the gods. Furthermore, even in this case, mob mentality was always present, and it is clear from various current cases that it was difficult for scholars to establish leadership over the lower classes. This is how the concept of bad monks, or warrior monks, as created by the Imperial Court and the nobles was created, and it is by no means appropriate to discuss warrior monks only based on the diaries of the nobles. In general, the emergence of warrior monks is based on their collective leadership, that is, the development of the assembly system within the temples. As the collective leadership of scholars in temple society became lacking, it is believed that the powerful military power pushed by the temple monks and the people of the temple estates developed in the late Heian period, and the warrior monks became evil.

[Teikai Hiraoka]

"Studies on the History of Japanese Temples" by Teikai Hiraoka (1981, Yoshikawa Kobunkan) "History of Japanese Buddhism" by Zennosuke Tsuji (3 volumes, 1960-61, Iwanami Shoten) "Warrior Monks" by Takanobu Katsuno (1955, Shibundo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

僧兵とは、寺院僧徒が集団をなして武器をとった姿である。また法師(ほっし)武者ともよばれ、平安末期に白河(しらかわ)法皇が「賀茂(かも)川の水、双六(すごろく)の賽(さい)、山法師、是(これ)ぞ朕(ちん)が心に随(したが)わぬ者」と述べるほど、僧兵の勢力は強大であり、その組織はさらに寺院連合によって、平家などの武士をも圧倒するほどであった。

　兵器をとって闘争に従う僧侶(そうりょ)の出現は、5世紀中ごろの中国にみられるという。わが国では平安時代になって、律令(りつりょう)制の崩壊によって、増大した寺領荘園(しょうえん)を各寺院が自衛する必要が生じたので、非常の場合、寺院集会(しゅうえ)を催して軍団を組織したのである。僧兵の勢力の強大をもって知られた寺院は、興福(こうふく)・東大・延暦(えんりゃく)・園城(おんじょう)の四大寺のほか、高野山(こうやさん)・金峯山(きんぶせん)・熊野(くまの)・多武峰(とうのみね)・白山(はくさん)・彦山(ひこさん)などの諸山のほか、醍醐(だいご)・鞍馬(くらま)・根来(ねごろ)・播磨大山(はりまだいせん)・伯耆(ほうき)大山の諸寺などである。とくに興福寺の僧兵は奈良法師、延暦寺は山法師、園城寺は寺法師とよばれた。

　その発生を考えてみると、多くの集会をもつ寺院においては、その集会が統制ある議決をなしたとき、それは一大勢力として団結されるものであり、堂衆(どうしゅ)らの違約的な行動は厳重に戒められたのである。東大寺の場合は両堂衆（法華(ほっけ)堂衆・中門堂衆）、興福寺では東金堂衆・西金堂衆の間に多少の違論はあっても学侶(がくりょ)の指導のもとになされる神輿(しんよ)動座や神木動座の前には、かかる問題は小事として排除され、寺家一大事の前には一大合同がなされるのが当然であって、われわれが僧兵論を展開するとき、これら学侶の集団指導性に重点を置くべきである。そしてこの学侶らが他寺の学侶（東大寺、興福寺、園城寺など）と共同戦線をもつとき、源氏・平氏をもしのぐ軍事力となる。寺院でも、貴族と血縁的関係のある良家の子弟と、強力な発言力をもつ学侶は寺内に優位を保って、律宗分といわれる両堂衆とは官位的にも経済的にも階層を異にするのであるから、かかる社会制度が慣習化している寺院では、単なる学侶の弱体化によって堂衆の集団指導性が寺院内で増大するとは考えがたい。そこで、僧兵集団を二つに分類し、学侶・堂衆集団と、郷民・荘民（神人(じにん)）集団とに分けるのが至当と考えるものである。そして両者を統率しているのがやはり学侶集団であり、その学侶集団は主として寺院の中堅を握る中﨟(ちゅうろう)層にあり、この中堅層の動きが僧兵集団を形成指導していたのであろう。この僧兵という軍団組織への改変の手続は、恒例の手掻会(てがいえ)などの祭礼に対する番役、すなわち恒例夫役(ぶやく)を非常のときには臨時夫役に切り替え、刀杖(とうじょう)を持ち、学侶は裹頭(かとう)（白五条袈裟(けさ)で頭部を包む）して薙刀(なぎなた)を持つことによって、そのまま軍団として成立展開するのであって、学侶集会はそのまま作戦集会ともなり、ついで神輿動座という軍事行動に移っていったのである。法会と祭礼に動かす人々を集める寺社の方法は、すぐにそれが兵力の母体ともなるのである。

　このように学侶の集団指導性が確立され、十分に計画が練られても、その組織内容において、やはり僧兵軍団は混成的な要素をもちやすいのであって、この弱点を抑えるためにも神威を借る神木・神輿の動座を図らねばならなかった。さらにこの場合においても群衆心理はつきまとうものであるから、末端に対する学侶の指導性は確立しがたいことは、現在のいろいろな事例をみても明らかである。宮中や公家(くげ)よりする、悪僧すなわち僧兵という概念はこうしてできあがったのであって、いままでの公卿(くぎょう)の日記のみで僧兵を論ずることは、けっして適正ではない。また一般的には僧兵の発生は、その集団的指導力、すなわち寺院内の集会制度の発達に基づくものである。そして学侶の寺院社会における集団指導性の欠如を伴うにつれ、平安後期になってより堂衆、寺領荘民に押された強大なる武力が発達して、僧兵は悪徒化したと考えられている。

［平岡定海］

『平岡定海著『日本寺院史の研究』（1981・吉川弘文館）』▽『辻善之助著『日本仏教史』全三巻（1960～61・岩波書店）』▽『勝野隆信著『僧兵』（1955・至文堂）』

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