Strange Creators of Outer World/Introduction of Previous Works/Ten Desires/Fragment of Phantasy

幻想のもと①

Fragment of Phantasy

Fragment of Phantasy 1
東方Projectにちりばめられた、様々な幻想の欠片を覗き見るコラム。
今回のコラムも、それぞれ関連性の深いものになっている。
まずは「幻想入り」した歴史の偉人について。

文/塩田信之

A column dedicated to examining various legends scattered throughout the Touhou Project.

Each of the columns in this issue are also closely related to one another.
To start off, let's talk about a great historical figure that became a Fragment of Phantasy.

Writer: Nobuyuki Shioda

古代日本の英雄・聖徳太子 Prince Shoutoku, a hero of ancient Japan
聖徳太子といえば、昔は「日本人なら誰でも知っている歴史上の人物」などと表現されることが多かったものですが、最近はそんな地位も揺らいできているようです。しかしそれも無理からぬこと。1958年から80年代の中ごろまで日本の最高額紙幣である1万円札に聖徳太子(とされた)肖像がプリントされ、値段やお札を数える時にも「聖徳太子1枚」などといっていたものが、1984年11月から福沢諭吉の新札に変わってしまったのですから、すっかり「過去の人」になってしまったわけです。もちろん、聖徳太子が活躍したとされる時代は6世紀末から7世紀の四半世紀にも満たないころまで。1500年以上も昔の話ですから、過去も過去。昔話などの「むかしむかし」や「大昔」という表現でも全然足りない「古代」のことです。現存する日本最古の正史とされる『日本書紀』が編纂されるおよそ1000年ほど前にはすでに亡くなっていたとされる人物です。 In the past, Prince Shoutoku was described as being "a historical figure known to every Japanese person", but that status seems to have been wavering in recent times. That's not too surprising, however.

From 1958 to the mid-1980s, Prince Shoutoku's portrait was printed on 10,000 yen bills, the most valuable banknote in Japan, and people used to refer to them as "Prince Shoutoku sheets" when counting prices and bills. However, come November 1984, and these bills have since been made into banknotes of Yukichi Fukuzawa, leaving Shoutoku a figure of the past.

Of course, Shoutoku was said to have been active from the end of the 6th century to less than a quarter of a century ago in the 7th century (that is, 1,500 years ago), so the past is in the past. This period was in such a distant past that the phrases "once upon a time" or "long ago" aren't enough to describe it, and Shoutoku was said to have died about 1,000 years before the compilation of the Nihon Shoki, the oldest existing authentic record of Japan's history.

聖徳太子の伝説の多くは、『日本書紀』に書かれています。太子の母親が出産予定日に宮中を見回っていて、厩の戸に当たった拍子に産まれたことから「厩戸皇子」と名付けられたことや、産まれてすぐに言葉を話した天才だということまで国の「正史」に記されているのですから驚きです。というのも、叔母にあたる推古天皇(日本でもっとも古い女性天皇)が即位して4か月ほどで、二十歳そこそこの太子に国政すべてをゆだねたと記されていて、推古天皇の記録はその多くが聖徳太子の記録ともいえます。成人して政治に参加するようになると、一度に十人から話を聞いてすべて理解したとか、仏教や儒教を中国から来たえらい人に学んだとあって、その優れた能力を讃えるため「上宮厩戸豊聡耳太子(かみつみやの うまやとの とよとみみの ひつぎのみこ)」と呼ばれたと賛辞が続きます。 Many legends surrounding Prince Shoutoku are documented in the Nihon Shoki. Surprisingly, the country's "authorized history" mentions that, while she was patrolling the imperial court, the prince's mother had given birth to him in the spur of the moment once she made contact with a stable door, and he was named "Prince Umayato" because of that. It also mentioned that he was a genius who was able to speak immediately after his birth. This is because after around four months on the throne, his aunt Empress Suiko (the oldest female emperor in Japan) entrusted the prince, who was only 20 years old or so, with the country's entire administration.

Once he became of age and began to take part in politics, he was called "Kamitsumiya no Umayato no Toyotomimi no Hitsugi no Miko" in order to praise his outstanding abilities, referring to the fact that he was able to listen to and understand ten conversations at once, and that he had learned Buddhism and Confucianism from a celebrated personage from China.

四天王寺をはじめとする寺院の建立、今の朝鮮半島にあった国・新羅への出兵、冠位十二階や憲法十七条の制定、そして小野妹子を含む遣隋使の派遣と聖徳太子の目覚ましい活躍が綴られていくことになるわけですが、そのあたりは学校の歴史の授業でも習ったという方も多いと思います。飛鳥時代と呼ばれる古代日本(まだ日本ではなく「倭」と呼ばれていましたが)が大国・中国と張り合える国家となるために必要な土台造りの多くが、聖徳太子の業績であったと「正史」に記されているわけです。まさに、日本という国の成り立ちに欠かせない最大級の功労者ですから、日本で一番高額な紙幣の「顔」になるのも納得できるというものです。 The story goes on to describe Prince Shoutoku's remarkable activities, including the construction of such Buddhist temples as Shitennou Temple, his military expedition of Silla (now known as the Korean Peninsula), establishing the Twelve Level Cap-and-Rank System and the Seventeen-Article Constitution, and deploying Japanese envoys such as Ono no Imoko to Sui Dynasty China.

This "authorized history" writes that much of Prince Shoutoku's work was necessary for building the foundation of the Asuka period, a time when Ancient Japan could become a nation that could compete with the great nation of China (though it was still called "Wa" as opposed to "Nihon"). Since he was one of the biggest contributors to establishing Japan as a nation, it's understandable that he would be the "face" of Japan's most expensive banknote.

本当は聖徳太子なんていなかった!? There wasn't actually a Prince Shoutoku?!
そんな聖徳太子の知名度が下がっているとは、どういうことなんでしょう? もちろん、お札が変わってすでに25年近く経過しているため、単純に身近に感じる機会が大幅に減っているのは確かです。が、それだけではありません。今や聖徳太子の実在すら疑われている状況で、近年は特に「不在説」の勢いが増しています。一昨年文部科学省が公表した最新の中学日本史教科書では「聖徳太子」とこれまで書かれていた部分が、すべて「厩戸王(聖徳太子)」に変わることになりました。これは近年の考古学的成果によって、それまで聖徳太子の業績と考えられてきたことの多くが太子ひとりだけでなく、天皇や当時有力な豪族だった蘇我氏らによる共同作業で整備されたことがわかってきたためで、『日本書紀』にある聖徳太子の記録についても大幅な脚色が加えられたことは間違いないと考えられるようになったからです。「厩戸王」と呼ばれた人物は実際にいて、太子が行ったとされる業績の一部に関わっていたと思われますが、後の時代に誇張されて「聖徳太子」のイメージが作られていった、というのが現在の教科書が教える「定説」となります。 So what does this mean? Could it be that Prince Shoutoku's fame is declining? Of course, since the bank notes had already been changed for almost 25 years, the opportunity to simply become familiar with them has been greatly reduced. Not only that, but now Prince Shoutoku's very existence is being doubted, and the "absence theory" has been gaining momentum, especially in recent years. Two years ago, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) announced that all references to "Prince Shoutoku" in newly-published junior high Japanese history textbooks would be changed to "King Umayato (aka Prince Shoutoku)".

This is because recent archaeological findings have revealed that many of what had once been considered Prince Shoutoku's achievements were not accomplished by just Shoutoku, but were the result of collaborative efforts on the part of the Emperor and the Soga clan, a powerful and influential clan at the time, and the records of Prince Shoutoku in the Nihon Shoki are now considered to have been greatly embellished. The current textbooks teach the "established theory" that there was actually a man called "King Umayato", who may have been involved in some of Shoutoku's supposed accomplishments, but that his image was exaggerated in later periods to create the image of "Prince Shoutoku".

とはいえ、「聖徳太子不在説」という考え方は別段新しいものではありません。だいたい国の「正史」とされる歴史書に、産まれてすぐ話すことができたとか常人にはできない住人の話を聞き分けたみたいなエピソードが含まれていることも作為的に見えます。遣隋使については中国側の歴史書(『隋書』等)にも記録が残されているのですが、日本側の記録とは合致しない記述ばかりで、聖徳太子の名は出てきません。もともと『日本書紀』には『古事記』との不整合などからも当時の政体の意向による意図的な歴史改変が認められるとして、古くから疑問が持たれていました。 Nevertheless, the idea behind the "Prince Shoutoku Absence Theory" is not new. It also seems contrived that history books—which are usually considered the authorized history of a country—include anecdotes of things that no run-of-the-mill person is able to do, such as being able to speak soon after birth, or being able to hear and understand the conversations of the country's inhabitants. Although there are records of Japanese envoys travelling to the Sui Dynasty in Chinese historical books (such as in the Book of Sui), the descriptions do not match the records compiled on the Japanese side, and Prince Shoutoku's name makes no appearance. The Nihon Shoki has long been questioned for its inconsistencies with the Kojiki, as well as for intentionally altering history at the behest of the political regime of the time.
そんな経緯があって、「聖徳太子が実在したか否か」や、その業績については長い間論争の的でした。考古学的な新たな発見がある度にそうした論争は再燃されるのですが、現在に至っても結論は出ていません。 Because of this, the question of whether or not Prince Shoutoku and his achievements actually existed have long been the subject of controversy. Each new archaeological discovery rekindles this debate, and to this day, no conclusions have been reached.
神格化されてゆく聖徳太子 Prince Shoutoku's deification
『日本書紀』における記述からは、死後100年が経過して聖徳太子が神格化(仏教的に表現するなら「聖(ひじり)化」)されている状況が窺えます。「憲法十七条」で「篤く三宝を敬え」と「仏・法・僧」を挙げ、四天王寺や斑鳩寺等を擁立して仏教の流布に貢献した「日本仏教の父」聖徳太子ですから、そんな扱いもわからなくはないのですが、そうした風潮はその後エスカレートしていき、「聖徳太子信仰」と呼ばれるようになります。787年の『日本靈異記』をはじめとする「仏教説話集」で度々取り上げられ、数々の奇跡によって彩られていき、しまいには「6世紀中国の高名な僧・慧思の生まれ変わり」だとか、「救世観世音大菩薩の化身」とまでいわれるようになりました。他にも、皇子という立場も共通する「仏陀」ことゴータマ・シッダールタの生まれ変わりにされたり、「厩で産まれた」ことからイエス・キリストと重ねる見方もありますが、その辺りまでくると「聖徳太子はユダヤ教徒の失われた10支族の末裔だった」みたいなトンデモ系史観に近づいていくことになるので注意が必要です。 From the descriptions in the Nihon Shoki, we can see that Prince Shoutoku had been deified (or "sanctified" in Buddhist terms) 100 years after his death. Prince Shoutoku was known as the "father of Japanese Buddhism" and contributed to the spread of Buddhism by listing "venerable respect for the Three Treasures (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha)" in his Seventeen-Article Constitution, and by establishing such temples as the Shitennou and Ikarugadera temples, so it is not surprising that he was treated in this way. However, this trend later escalated and became known as the "belief in Prince Shoutoku".

He was often mentioned in Buddhist story compilations, including the Nihon Ryouiki of Year 787, and was colored by numerous miracles, and was even said to be "the reincarnation of the famous 6th century Chinese monk Huisi" or "the avatar of the great Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara". Some people believe that Prince Shoutoku was the reincarnation of the Buddha himself, Siddhattha Gotama—who also shared the same position as the prince—or that he was born in a stable, thus overlapping with Jesus Christ. However, one should be careful at that point, because this would lead you to such preposterous historical views as "Prince Shoutoku was descended from the Ten Lost Tribes of Judaism".

ともあれ、聖徳太子については確たる証拠がほとんど存在しないため、憶測や想像によってさまざまな聖徳太子像が作られました。もちろん、「不在説」の場合も『日本書紀』などを深読みしていった結果、本当は蘇我馬子が天皇だったが、その歴史を消すために太子の存在が作られ馬子の業績を太子のものとして正史に記録したといった見方もあったりしていろいろな憶測が渦巻いているという点は変わりません。それだけ想像力を掻き立てる魅力的な存在であることは間違いないわけです。 Anyway, since there is little concrete evidence based around Prince Shoutoku, various images of him have been created based on conjecture and imagination. Of course, even with the absence theory, there is still speculation that it was actually Soga no Umako who was the emperor, based on in-depth readings of sources like the Nihon Shoki, and that the Prince's existence was created to erase that via recording Umako's achievements as those of the Prince's. There is no doubt that Prince Shoutoku is a fascinating figure who stirs the imagination.
幻想郷へとやってきた聖徳太子 Prince Shoutoku's arrival in Gensokyo
それだけ様々な説が考えられてきた聖徳太子ですから、現世で存在を否定されることが増えていき、幻想郷で「豊聡耳神子」として復活したという設定も、見方によっては奇抜というほどでもないかもしれません。実際、仏教は尊重していても神道やその他の宗教を否定していたわけではなく、「太子は本当に仏教徒だったのか」といった論争もあります。『日本書紀』にも、太子は「慧慈」という高句麗の僧に仏教を学んだと書かれていますが、同時に「覚哿博士」から仏教以外の教典も学んだとあります。やはり『日本書紀』にも書かれている太子のエピソードに、道端に倒れている人物を見かけて食事と衣服を与えたという出来事がありますが、大雑把にまとめると倒れていた人物は実は仙人(真人)で太子を聖人だと称賛してくれるというお話しです。道教の考え方が色濃く表れたエピソードで、太子が道教も学んでいたことを示唆しているとも考えられます。 Since Prince Shoutoku was the subject of so many theories, more and more people have been doubting his existence in modern times, so depending on your point of view, him resurrecting in Gensokyo as "Toyosatomimi no Miko" may not be all that far-fetched. As a matter of fact, though he did respect Buddhism, he also didn't deny other religions such as Shintoism, leading to controversies over whether or not the Prince was truly Buddhist. It's written in the Nihon Shoki that Shoutoku had studied Buddhism with a Goguryeo monk named Eji, but he also studied non-Buddhist scriptures with Kakuka.

If I recall correctly, there was a chapter in the Nihon Shoki where Shoutoku saw a man lying on the roadside and gave him some food and clothes, but in short, the man was actually a hermit (Shinjin) who had praised Shoutoku as a saint. The story strongly expresses Taoist ideologies, and may suggest that Shoutoku was also a student of Taoism.

豊聡耳神子とともにいる物部布都と蘇我屠自古も、幻想郷に復活した太子と同時代の人間ということになるわけですが、神子と太子ほどにはモデルとなった人物と直接的繋がりはなさそうです。聖徳太子がいたころの日本は中国や朝鮮半島から伝わってきた仏教が勢力を増していましたが、日本に古くからあった神道と勢力争いをしていたころでもあります。豪族たちもどちらを支持するかで派閥を作り対立していました。仏教派を代表していたのが蘇我氏で、神道派の物部氏とは激しく対立していました。そんな対立構造も布都と屠自古の関係に影響していたことは間違いありません。太子の活躍した時代はすでに蘇我氏と仏教が優位に立っていたようですが、用明天皇没後の継承争いに乗じた蘇我派と物部派の抗争が起こり、蘇我馬子が物部守屋を倒しました。その戦いに、まだ13歳ほどだったと考えられる太子も参加していました。特に戦果を挙げたとはされていませんが、自身の手で四天王の木像を作り、戦勝祈願を行ったとあります。それが後の四天王寺建立へと繋がるわけで、太子の祈りが戦いを勝利に導いたともとれる流れですから物部氏からは仇敵とみられる立場となります。 Mononobe no Futo and Soga no Tojiko are contemporaries of the Crown Prince who had also resurrected in Gensokyo alongside Toyosatomimi no Miko, but they don't have as direct of a connection to their models as Miko does with Shoutoku. During Shoutoku's time, Buddhism, having been introduced from China and the Korean peninsula, was gaining power within Japan, but at that time, it was also in a power struggle with Shintoism, which had existed in Japan since ancient times. The feudal clans had formed factions and were at odds with one another over which side to support. The Soga clan represented the Buddhist faction, and was in a fierce conflict with the Mononobe clan, who represented the Shinto faction. Such a confrontational structure definitely also had an impact on the relationship between Futo and Tojiko.

The Soga clan and Buddhism were already dominant during the Crown Prince's active period, but after the death of Emperor Yomei, a war broke out between the Soga and Mononobe factions, ending with Soga no Umako defeating Mononobe no Moriya. Participating in that battle was the Crown Prince himself, who was thought to have only been 13 at the time. It was said that he made wooden statues of the Four Heavenly Kings with his own hands and prayed for victory in battle, although he wasn't said to have achieved any particular victory in the war. This led to the construction of the Shitennou Temple, and since it could be said that the Crown Prince's prayers led to victory in the battle, the Mononobe clan saw him as an enemy.

布都といえば、タケミカヅチ神が持つ剣「フツノミタマ」あるいはフツヌシ神を連想する方も多いでしょう。両者は同一とされることもありますが、物部の氏神社とされる石上神宮は剣をご神体とし、そこに宿る神霊「布都御霊(フツノミタマ)大神」を祭神としています。またタケミカヅチといえば「国譲り」神話で抵抗したタケミナカタと戦った神でもあります。敗北したタケミナカタが諏訪の地へ逃れ、そこで古くから信仰されてきたミシャグジ神と戦った後諏訪大社の祭神となったわけです。諏訪には物部の子孫がいたとされ、守屋神社があったり諏訪大社の神長官の家系が「守矢」の姓を名乗っていたことも興味深い符合です。 Many people associate Futo with "Futsunomitama no Tsurugi", or simply "Futsunomitama", which is the sword held by the god Takemikazuchi. Though they're considered to be one in the same, the "Iwamikuni Ichinomiya Mononobe Shrine", considered to be the Mononobe Clan's own shrine, has a sword as its go-shintai, with a divine spirit known as Futsunomitama Okami residing in that sword. Takemikazuchi is also the deity who fought against Takeminakata, who had opposed him in the "Kuni-Yuzuri" myth. After Takeminakata was defeated, he fled to Suwa, where he fought against Mishaguji, a god who had been worshipped for centuries, and became the patron deity of the Suwa Grand Shrine.
『日本書紀』には名が記されていませんが、物部守屋には妹がいて、一説にはその名を「布都」としています。守屋の妹は蘇我馬子の妻となり、息子蝦夷(エミシ)や娘刀自古を産んだと『日本書紀』にありますから、両家の対立で間に立つつらい立場だったと思われますが、対立を激化させた恐ろしい女性だったという見方もあります。ところで、屠自古の名前の由来となった刀自古は、聖徳太子の妻として有名です。太子と刀自古の間には息子山背が生まれましたが、太子の死後蝦夷の子入鹿と対立し、自殺に追い込まれ聖徳太子の家系も途絶えたとされています。なかなか複雑な人間模様があったことになりますが、そもそも太子が本当にいなかったのならどんな人間関係だったのか、関係する他の人々にも実際の歴史とは変えられていたり、太子とともに創られた架空の人物が含まれていたりするのか気になります。 Though her name was not mentioned in the Nihon Shoki, Mononobe no Moriya had a younger sister, who was given the name "Futo" in one theory. According to the Nihon Shoki, Moriya's sister became the wife of Soga no Umako and bore a son named "Emishi" and a daughter named "Iratsume". It would seem that Iratsume was in a difficult position standing in the midst of a conflict between her two families, though some people also believe that she was a formidable woman who had only intensified said conflict. Speaking of which, Iratsume, from who Tojiko had gotten her name, is said to be the wife of Prince Shoutoku. However, after the Crown Prince's death, Iratsume had been forced to commit suicide after getting into a conflict with Emishi's son, Iruka, leading the Shoutoku lineage to die out.

It's interesting to wonder what kind of relationships existed between them if Prince Shoutoku really wasn't around in the first place, if the other people involved had been changed from actual history, or if there were fictional characters created along with Shoutoku.

Notes