著者

広畑 輔雄

出版者

日本文化人類学会

雑誌

民族學研究 (ISSN:24240508)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.40, no.3, pp.191-204, 1975-12-31 (Released:2018-03-27)

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The god Takami-musubi (皇高産霊), the Founder of the Imperial Family, in Japanese mythology seems to be equal to the god Tien-ti (天帝) . Tai-i (太一) or Tien-Huang-ta-ti (天皇大帝) in Chinese mythology. It appears that the myth of Tenno (天皇) , the monarch of Japan, being the descendant of Takami-musubi, was created for the purpose of making him equal with Huang-ti (皇帝) , the monarch of China. If Tenno is the descendant of Tien-ti or Tien-Huang-ta-ti, it follows that he has the right to worship the god Takami-musubi. And by that, he can also have the same privilege of worshiping the heavens as Huang-ti has. Thus, it shows that Tenno had the highest status because his ancestor was the highest god in the heavens. It is my opinion that the god of the Founder of the Imperial Family was created for such a purpose. In considering the reason why Amaterasu was made the Founder of the Imperial Family, we should do so on the basis of the relationship between Takami-musubi and Amaterasu, because Amaterasu was made the Founder of the Imperial Family later than Takami-musubi. Since Takami-musubi was originally made the ancestor god, it can be thought that Amaterasu, the Sun-goddess, was combined with Takami-musubi to become the joint-Founder of the Imperial Family. We can find proof of this in the fact that the Grand Shrines of Ise (伊勢神宮) have an indication of being combined with Tai-i of China. It seems to me that in the Imperial Court of Japan, the religious observation of the Sun-goddess had been performed before the Sun-goddess was made the Founder of the Imperial Family. There is a legend that Ame-no-hiboko (天之日矛) , the prince of Hsin-luo (新羅), came to Japan with a treasure, and that it was made a sacred treasure of the Isonokami Shrine (石上神宮). By examining this legend, I am of the opinion that it was the legend which reflected that the religious observation of the Sun-god had been transmitted from the royal family of Korea. After that the Sun-goddess was elevated to a higher status under the influence of Chinese thought, and finally reached the status of the Founder of the Imperial Family by being combined with the god Tai-i.