Prince Shotoku faith

Japanese: 太子信仰 - たいししんこう

This refers to various beliefs about Prince Shotoku. Prince Shotoku's virtues were legendary from an early period, and he was revered in various ways throughout the ages. The Nihon Shoki already contains the tale of "He listened to the complaints of ten people at once" and the tale of Kataoka Yugyo, which show that he was different from ordinary people, but in the Nara period, biographies were already published that viewed Prince Shotoku as a bodhisattva. Later, the belief that Prince Shotoku is the Kannon of Salvation was established through the works "Prince Shotoku's Calendar" and "Jōgū Prince Shotoku's Biography: Hokketsu-ki." In the Heian period, along with the spread of Pure Land Buddhism, the belief that Prince Shotoku was the first person to go to paradise arose.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

聖徳太子に対する種々な信仰をさす。聖徳太子の威徳については早くから伝説化され，各時代，さまざまな形であがめられた。すでに《日本書紀》のなかに〈一に十人の訴を聞きたまひて〉とか，片岡遊行の説話があり，常人と異なることが記されているが，奈良時代にすでに，聖徳太子を菩薩とみる伝記が出た。その後《聖徳太子伝暦》や《上宮聖徳太子伝補闕記》によって聖徳太子＝救世観音とみる信仰が定着した。また平安時代に入ると，浄土教の布教とともに聖徳太子を極楽に往生した往生人の第一人者とする信仰が起こった。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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