Saionji Kinhira
This last gentleman was Saionji Kinhira (1264-1315). The point is not quite self-evident because two men were minister of the left during Engyo 2.3. Takatsukasa Fuyuhira resigned the post on Engyo 2.3.14, while Kinhira replaced him on 3.19. However, according to Kugyo bunin for Tokuji 3 (Engyo l), Fuyuhira had already been appointed regent (sessho), and also head of the Fujiwara clan, on Engyo l.11.11. His relinquishing the post of minister of the left on Engyo 2.3.14 was simply the "second announcment" (dainido hyoji) of this step. Wada Eisho (1917) proved the case by citing Kanmon gyoki for Eikyo 10.2.27 (1438), which mentions that the Genki was commissioned by "Chikunai no Sadaijjn," together with the Tensho-era (1573-92) Eishun o-kikigaki (by Eishun, d. 1596, the author of Tamon'in nikki), which names the man who commissioned it as "Chikurin'in no Sadaijin Kinhira." Chikunai.ahd Chikurin'in are both known as names for Kinhira. As Miya Tsugio suggested (1983:19), the "Chikurin-den" of Genki 1.3 may intentionally allude to him.
How did Kinhira come to conceive so ambitious an offering to the Kasuga deity? He wrote in his preface: "Unable to restrain my zeal to honor the Deity, I have gathered this collection together to the best of my ability, so as to increase the faith of all men." One need not disbelieve his sentiments to look for something more precise. Koresawa (1963:16) suggested that Kinhira was directly inspired by the prodigy of the spirit fires on Kagen 2.9.28 (1304), as related in Genki 20.1. The alarming oracle of 1306, mentioned in Sakakiba no nikki (ch. 8) but apparently not recorded anywhere, might also have played a part. Most writers have speculated that the conception of the project had to do with Kinhira's political fortunes. The following account of these fortunes relies principally on Kondo Kihaku (1952, 1958), Nagashima Fukutaro (1963), and Miya Tsugio (1983).
The Saionji house had prospered ever since the time of its founder Kintsune (1171-1234), the second son of Fujiwara no Sanemune. Having married the niece of Minamoto no Yoritomo, Kintsutne had close ties to Kamakura. After a brief eclipse at the time of the Jokyu Rebellion he rose to be chancellor, and he also functioned as kanto moshitsugi, the court official in charge of liaison with Kamakura. Kintsune's son Saneuji (1194-1269) became still more powerful, serving like his father as chancellor and kanto moshitsugi. After 1246 the latter office belonged permanently to the Saionji house.
Since the Saionji were a cadet Fujiwara line, a Saionji could not become regent or head the Fujiwara clan. That remained the privilege of the "five regent houses" (go-sekke), which arose during the thirteenth century from splits in the Fujiwara "northern house" (hokke): the Konoe, Kujo, Ichijo, Nijo, and Takatsukasa. Mototada and his sons who wrote out the Genki text were of course Takatsukasa, and by the time the Genki was dedicated it was Mototada's eldest son, Fuyuhira, who bore both the above titles. However, the Saionji achieved something just as impressive. Thanks to Saneuji, they captured from the regents the right to supply imperial consorts. Saneuji's daughter became Go-Saga's empress, and the mother of Go-Fukakusa and Kameyama.
Kinhira therefore had every reason to be proud of his line, and to value his own position as the senior Saionji. His younger sister by the same mother became the consort of Emperor Fushimi, and another was loved by Retired Emperor Kameyama. Kinhira himself rose quickly, as might be expected, and was named minister of the right in Einin 7 (1299). Then trouble came. In Kagen 3.int12 (1305) Kinhira was punished by Retired Emperor Go-Uda, who confiscated his two proprietary provinces, dismissed him as head of the left imperial stables, and had him confined to his home. Go-Uda's reasons are unclear, but they may have had to do with his displeasure over attempts to make Tsuneakira, Kinhira's grandson, crown prince.
Kinhira must have felt this affront deeply. He was apparently moved to address himseif to Kasuga, because on Kagen 4.2.8 (1306) he completed a copy of the Fukuu-kenjaku shinju shingyo (Taisho 20/ 402, no. 1094), which is now in the Tokyo National Museum (Kondo 1952). The copy is in gold on dark blue paper. Fukuu-kenjaku (Skt. Amoghapasa) is a major honji for the Kasuga deity, and the sutra in question often appears in the diaries of Fujiwara courtiers.
Twelve days later Kinhira was pardoned, thanks to the intervention of Kamakura. Perhaps he took it that his devotion to the Kasuga deity had "worked." At any rate, on Tokuji 2.1.16 (1307), he began a seven-day retreat at the shrine. He probably prayed that his daughter Neishi, who had been Go-Fushimi's consort since the frst month of the previous year, should bear a son, and that in this and other ways the fortunes of the Saionji house should be fully restored. And perhaps this is when he conceived the Genki, which was dedicated only two years later. One can understand in this way his statement in the Genki preface, "After I conceived this gesture of devotion, great good fortune blessed my house."
For good fortune did come his way. First, in Engyo 2.1 (1309), Neishi was awarded the title (ingo) Kogimon'in and named "titular mother" (junbo) of Hanazono, who had just become emperor on Engyo 1.ll.16 (1308). Then in Engyo 2.2 his son Sanehira (1290- 1326) was appointed provisional middle counselor. The following month Kinhira himself was named minister of the left, as already noted. He resigned on Engyo 2.6.15, apparently feeling no need to press the point further. Yoshida Kenko wrote in Tsurezuregusa 83 (Keene 1967:70):
Nothing stood in the way of the lay priest of Chikurin'in and minister of the left rising to be prime minister [i.e., chancellor, dajo-daijin], but he said, "I doubt that being prime minister will make much difference. I'll stop at minister of the left."
However, these things did not happen before another round of difficulties, one discussed particularly by Nagashima (1963). Kinhira, like his forebears, was kanto- moshitugi . Late in Tokuji 2 (1307) there erupted one of Kofukuji's many quarrels with Kamakura. Caught between Kofukuji and Kamakura, Kinhira aroused the temple's hostility. The affair was not settled until Engyo 1.7 (1308). Nagashima (1963:22) suggested that Kinhira may have commissioned the Genki as a gesture of thanks, and consequently that work on the Genki may not have begun until after that date. Whether this is plausible or not depends on one's understanding of how long it would have taken to complete the Genki . Kondo Kihaku maintained in several articles that two years would have been only barely enough.
One can imagine too that the idea of honoring the Kasuga deity in this manner might have been in the air at che time. Kinhira could have sought the deity's favor in other ways, some of them even more expensive, as many Fujiwara had done before him. It was not yet wholly clear that the days of Fujiwara glory were over. The clan had reason to feel like affirming the vitality of their ancient role. Moreover, the Mongol threat had heightened court interest in Kasuga as in other important shrines; and the teachings of great monks like Gedatsu and Myoe Shonin had given a new intensity to Kasuga faith. The overall message of the Genki--that the full Teaching is present at Kasuga--is a stirring one, of much broader significance than the political fortunes of a man, a family, or even the Fujiwara nobility as a whole. There is no need to deny Kinhira and his collaborators the imagination to be inspired by such thoughts.
Cercainly, Kinhira may have known about other recent, ambitious picture-scroll projects. Ippen Shonin eden had been completed in 1299, and Sanno reigenki, a set of nine scrolls celebrating the miracles of the deity of Mt. Hiei, had been completed ca. 1288 (Nakano 1975:42). Given the vigorous rivalry (quite visible in the Genki) between Kasuga-Kofukuji and Mt. Hiei, Kinhira may have felt it was high time to go Hiei one better in honor of Kasuga. Moreover, the Genki may not have been his only gift to Nara. Nagashima Fukutaro (1977) argued that the twelve-scroll Genjo Sanzo e, a beautifully iilustrated life of the great Chinese pilgrim and translator Hsuan-tsang (600-64), was painted by Takakane on Kinhira's order, and presented by Kinhira to Kofukuji when he offered the Genki to Kasuga.