In a broad sense, is an honorific for a spirit, especially one that causes hauntings, and the term is used as a synonym for . In a narrower sense, it refers to a person who was a noble or accomplished person in his or her lifetime, but who lost a political power struggle or died prematurely from an epidemic or other disease, becoming an that brings pestilence or famine and is later enshrined as a in

Shinto shrines A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

. For example, the " Sandai Jitsuroku" (a historical Japanese document) mentions that six Shinto shrines were dedicated to the worship of , which were the spirits of those who died from non-natural causes. Later on, two more shrines were added, bringing the total to eight. refers to the belief that the of people who have died unfortunate deaths cause hauntings and disasters, and the belief that they are enshrined as to appease them.

Description

The name consists of two

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

, 御 (go) meaning honorable and 霊 (ryō) meaning soul or spirit. The belief that the spirits of those who died with resentment or anger after being treated unfairly caused hauntings existed before the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the capita ...

(710–794). However, from the Nara to the

Heian period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

s (794–1185), the belief arose that the spirits of those who died after being defeated in a power struggle among the nobility caused plagues and natural disasters, and

were built to appease their spirits and enshrine them as . The first example is

Prince Sawara (circa 750 – November 8, 785) was the fifth son of Prince Shirakabe (later Emperor Kōnin), by Takano no Niigasa. Biography In 781 he was named heir-presumptive after his elder brother succeeded the abdicated Emperor Kōnin as the Emperor ...

, who was stripped of his position as crown prince and exiled to Awaji Island to die in 785. After his death, a plague epidemic broke out in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, which people feared was caused by his spirit. So the Kamigoryo Shrine ( ja) was built in Kyoto in 794 to appease his spirit, and he was enshrined as a . An example of a is the

Shinto kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, beings and the qualities that th ...

known as Tenjin:

Government official
Sugawara no Michizane , or , was a scholar, poet, and politician of the Heian period of Japan. He is regarded as an excellent poet, particularly in '' waka'' and '' kanshi'' poetry, and is today revered in Shinto as the god of learning, . In the famed poem anthology ' ...
was killed in a plot by a rival member of the
Fujiwara clan The was a powerful family of imperial regents in Japan, descending from the Nakatomi clan and, as legend held, through them their ancestral god Ame-no-Koyane. The Fujiwara prospered since ancient times and dominated the imperial court until th ...
. In the years after his death, the capital city was struck by heavy rain and lightning, and his chief Fujiwara adversary and
Emperor Daigo was the 60th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 醍醐天皇 (60)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Daigo's reign spanned the years from 897 through 930. He is named after his place of burial. Gen ...
's crown prince died, while fires caused by lightning and floods destroyed many residences. The court drew the conclusion that the disturbances were caused by Michizane's . In order to placate him, the emperor restored all his offices, burned the official order of exile, and he was promoted to Senior Second Rank. Even this wasn't enough, and 70 years later he was elevated to the post of
Daijō-daijin The was the head of the during and after the Nara period and briefly under the Meiji Constitution. It was equivalent to the Chinese , or Grand Preceptor. History Emperor Tenji's favorite son, Prince Ōtomo, was the first to have been acco ...
, and he was deified as Tenjin-sama, which means "heavenly deity". He became the patron god of calligraphy, of poetry and of those who suffer injustice. A shrine was established at Kitano. With the support of the government, it was immediately raised to the first rank of official shrines.Morris, 54.

Notes

References

* Iwasaka, Michiko and

Toelken, Barre John Barre Toelken (; June 15, 1935November 9, 2018) was an award-winning American folklorist, noted for his study of Native American material and oral traditions. Early life and education Barre Toelken was born in Enfield, Massachusetts, to ...

. ''Ghosts and the Japanese: Cultural Experiences in Japanese Death Legends'', Utah State University Press, 1994.

External links

The image of the Goryō for Japanese families

Goryo Shinko - The Religion of Ghosts
- An article about the Heian period Goryo religion at hyakumonogatari.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Goryo Japanese ghosts Japanese folk religion Shinto Onmyōdō * Goryō faith

Description

See also

Notes

References

External links