Regional Power and Religion in the Muromachi Period-the case of the Ouchi Domain

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

From the end of the Heian to the early Muromachi period, the Ouchi were divided into two powerful clans. Both were internally united by their belief in the protector god of the clan, Myoken. To become the legitimate clan, the Ouchi-no-suke side set up Koryuji temple, and Yoshihiro appeased the power of the Southern Court, creating a legend of the clan founder, and gained great power. If we look at the separate development of belief in Myoken based on research progress on the beliefs of the Chiba clan and on Daoist images, unrestricted by the developed clan founder legends, we can see that the Myoken that the Ouchi served was a Daoist deity, but, unlike the Chiba, they did not venerate imagery, and we can conclude there was a trend to secret ritual, as seen in Koryuji The Ouchi used the power of religionists in controlling their domain, and we know that Jishu sect temples filled important roles in traffic and distribution, and from the examples of Chofu and Akamaga-seki, it is clear that they used a form of artful control over and above that of regional self-government associations that used festivals to strengthen clan bonds. We can infer that the Ouchi built up a different form of domain lord power and regional relations than areas where the Ikko-Ikki revolts took place (Kansai, Hokuriku). The relationship between Muromachi religion and society was diverse, but while in each province local people were bonded in self-government through festivals, we believe that the form of regional political development differs according to whether artful control like that of the Ouchi was used or not. Finally, we can know that the Ouchi in the Edo period attracted people's attention through individualistic activities and clan founder legends, and left many memories in literature and plays.