天神信仰
菅原道真(845-904)が大宰府で追放され亡くなりましたが、その霊は今も生き続けています。道真は死後、天神として神格化され、学問・文化・芸術の神として信仰されています。道真は死後、とりわけ一般の人々を中心に多くの信徒を集めました。多くの門徒は口伝で教えを受けており、彼の姿を表した彫刻や絵巻物、絵画が天神信仰をさらに広めました。
天神としての道真の描写は非常に様々です。学者の座にあった道真の容姿に近いものや、死後に起こった天災はおそらく彼の神霊である天神の仕業であるという初期の考えからか、激しい表情を浮かべたものもあります。他の姿は当時の流行様式に合わせて改変されています。禅が広まり始めると道真の像も変化しました。道真が中国の伝統的な頭巾とローブを身にまとい、咲いている梅の枝をつかむ様子が描かれたものもあります。
天神信仰は何世紀にもわたって増え続け、現在、日本には12,000を優に超える天神の総本宮があります。
Faith in Tenjin
Sugawara Michizane (845–903) died in exile in Dazaifu, but his spirit lives on. After his death, Michizane was deified under the name Tenjin, and was worshipped as the deity of learning, culture, and the arts. Michizane amassed a considerable following after his death, especially among the ordinary people, who learned about him through scrolls, paintings, and sculptures.
Depictions of Michizane as Tenjin vary considerably. Some images remain close to the physical appearance of the historical figure seated in a scholarly position, while others cast Michizane with a fierce countenance, perhaps due to the initial notion that Tenjin, his deified spirit, was responsible for the natural disasters that occurred after his death. Other images were adapted to follow the prevailing styles of the time. As the concept of Zen became more widely known, images of Michizane changed accordingly. One illustration emerged of Michizane wearing a traditional Chinese headdress and robes and holding the blossoming branch of a plum tree.
Followers of the shrines dedicated to Tenjin have grown in number over the centuries, and Dazaifu Tenmangu stands at the head of over 12,000 Tenjin shrines in Japan.
