Mongaku (文覚) was a Japanese

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

and

Shingon Buddhist Shingon monks at Mount Koya is one of the major schools of Buddhism in Japan and one of the few surviving Vajrayana lineages in East Asia, originally spread from India to China through traveling monks such as Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra. Kn ...

priest of the late Heian and early

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

. He was a close associate of

shogun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

Minamoto no Yoritomo was the founder and the first shogun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1192 until 1199.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Minamoto no Yoriie" in . He was the husband of Hōjō Masako who acted as regent (''shikken'') after his ...

, having contributed to the declaration of the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira and Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yoritomo, who appointed himself ...

Myōe (February 21, 1173 – February 11, 1232) was a Japanese Buddhist monk active during the Kamakura period who also went by the name ''Kōben'' ( ja, 高弁). He was a contemporary of Jōkei and Hōnen. Biography Myōe was born in what is n ...

was the disciple of his disciple Jōkaku. His secular name, before

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

, was Endō Moritō. He is also known as Mongaku Shōnin.

Life

Mongaku doing penace at the Nachi waterfall

Mongaku was born the son of Endō Mochitō, a samurai in the Watanabe faction of the Settsu Genji clan (a branch of the

Minamoto clan was one of the surnames bestowed by the Emperors of Japan upon members of the imperial family who were excluded from the line of succession and demoted into the ranks of the nobility from 1192 to 1333. The practice was most prevalent during the ...

). He initially served in the Imperial Palace Guards of the North Side. He fell in love with Kesa, the wife of Minamoto no Wataru, but killed her by accident. Out of repentance, he then ordinated as a priest, visiting sacred places across the country. Mongaku moved to live at Jingo-ji temple in 1168, and participated in its restoration work motivated by his reverence towards

Kūkai Kūkai (; 27 July 774 – 22 April 835Kūkai was born in 774, the 5th year of the Hōki era; his exact date of birth was designated as the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the Japanese lunar calendar, some 400 years later, by the Shingon sec ...

. In 1173, he requested a manorial temple estate for Jingo-ji from Cloistered

Emperor Go-Shirakawa was the 77th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. His de jure reign spanned the years from 1155 through 1158, though arguably he effectively maintained imperial power for almost thirty-seven years through the ''ins ...

, resulting in Mongaku being exiled to

Izu Province was a province of Japan in the area of Shizuoka Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Izu''" in . Izu bordered on Sagami and Suruga Provinces. Its abbreviated form name was . The mainland portion of Izu Province, comprising the ...

. During his exile in Izu, he met the future shogun

. In 1178, he was allowed to return to

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

. His respect for the Cloistered Emperor was never lost even after his exile, and in 1180, he urged Yoritomo to make a call to arms and declare

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

against the

Taira clan The Taira was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian, Kamakura and Muromachi Periods of Japanese history – the others being the Fujiwara, the Tachibana, and the Minamoto. The clan is divided ...

, whom the Cloistered Emperor had ordered to be destroyed. According to ''Gyokuyō'', Yoritomo sent Mongaku to

Kiso Yoshinaka , , or Lord Kiso was a general from the late Heian period of Japanese history. A member of the Minamoto clan, Minamoto no Yoritomo was his cousin and rival during the Genpei War between the Minamoto and the Taira clans. Yoshinaka was born in Musas ...

to accuse him of negligence in the punitive expedition against the Taira clan and of being reckless in Kyoto. After the destruction of the Taira clan and the establishment of the

Kamakura Shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Y ...

, Mongaku was a highly trusted associate of Yoritomo. After his successful role in the declaration of war against the Taira clan, Mongaku's request was finally heard, and the Cloistered Emperor gave the Kaseda Manor in

Kii Province , or , was a province of Japan in the part of Honshū that is today Wakayama Prefecture, as well as the southern part of Mie Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Kii''" in . Kii bordered Ise, Izumi, Kawachi, Shima, and Yamato Pro ...

to Jingo-ji in 1183. After this, the temple received further estates from both Yoritomo and the Cloistered Emperor. By 1190, the temple buildings were almost completely restored. After the restoration of Jingo-ji, he also restored Tō-ji temple, also out of reverence towards Kūkai, and in 1189, Harima Province was designated a ''zōkoku'' (a province to bear the expenses of a construction of a shrine or temple). In 1197, the restoration was complete. Mongaku lost his benefactors when the Cloistered Emperor died in 1192 and Yoritomo died in 1199. After the two died, Minister of the Interior

Minamoto no Michichika was a Japanese noble and statesman of the late Heian period and early Kamakura period. Serving in the courts of seven different emperors, he brought the Murakami Genji to the peak of their success. He is also commonly known as , and in Sōtō Z ...

exiled Mongaku to

Sado Province was a province of Japan until 1871; since then, it has been a part of Niigata Prefecture. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "''Sado''" in . It was sometimes called or . It lies on the eponymous Sado Island, off the coast of Niigata Prefectur ...

for

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

against the government for his alleged involvement in the Sansaemon incident. He was allowed to return to Kyoto in 1202, but was exiled to Tsushima Province the following year by Emperor Emeritus Go-Toba; Mongaku died in exile in Tsushima.

Sansaemon Incident Mastermind Theory

Megumi Sogabe believes that Mongaku was the mastermind of Prince Morisada's conspiracy, known as the Sansaemon incident. She argues that this is indicated by the facts that: the two exiles were connected based on the description in

The Tale of the Heike is an epic poetry, epic account compiled prior to 1330 of the struggle between the Taira clan and Minamoto clan for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180–1185). Heike () refers to the Taira (), ''hei'' being ...

stating that the exile to Tsushima was caused by a dispute over the return of the estates of Jingo-ji, which were confiscated by the Emperor Emeritus Go-Toba after the incident; his punishment was heavier than that of his relatives in the court; the estates of Jingo-ji were immediately returned after the death of Emperor Emeritus Go-Toba.

Personality

In '' Gukanshō'', Mongaku is described as a reckless, uneducated man of action, who spoke ill of others and revered

Tengu are a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion (Shinto). They are considered a type of ''yōkai'' (supernatural beings) or Shinto ''kami'' (gods). The ''Tengu'' were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey and a ...

. It also states that Mongaku and Yoritomo were close friends who spent four years all day together. According to ''Seiashō'', there were rumors that Mongaku hated

Saigyō was a famous Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Biography Born in Kyoto to a noble family, he lived during the traumatic transition of power between the old court nobles and the new samurai warriors. After the start of ...

, a monk of the same period.{{Cite book , url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/2567710 , title=Seiashō , publisher=Honya Seibee , others=Ton'a , year=1686 , at=巻六

References

Heian period Buddhists Kamakura period Buddhists