Agenda

Guest lecturer: Livia Kohn, Boston University

The lecture will be held in English with an introduction from Lorenzo Sgrevi, Student Association GESSHIN and Silvia Rivadossi, Ca' Foscari University of Venice. 

Registration up until May 16th at 8.00 P.M. through this LINK
The link to access the Zoom meeting will be send the day before the conference starting from 8:00 P.M. (GMT+2).

Abstract
Daoists traditionally believe in the presence of celestial beings in the human body, notably a group of three demon parasites described as “corpses” or “deathbringers.” Envoys of the Ruler of Destiny, they ascend to the celestial administration once in sixty days, on the night of the so-called gengshen (Jap. kōshin) day. There they report on the sins committed by their host, which causes the divine bureaucrats to mete out punishments in the form of diseases, misfortunes, and early death. After the host’s demise, moreover, the parasites get to feed on the cadaver and steal the person’s ancestral offerings. They are, therefore, a thoroughly negative force.
In response, Daoists developed a variety of practices to eliminate them. Besides observing the precepts and leading a faultless life, one can kill them with herbal concoctions, exorcistic meditations and incantations, and—the preferred method—a night-long vigil that prevents them from leaving the body.
First mentioned in sources of the Later Han, the deathbringers are fully established by the 4th century, giving rise to a flourishing cult with boisterous vigil parties during the Tang. In the 8th century, the cult moved to Japan, probably transmitted by Tendai monks through medical books. There it became part of Buddhism and connected to the Tantric deity Shōmen kongō, the Bluefaced Vajrapani. A scripture emerged, following a text contained in a Song Daoist collection, and various local records testify to the practice.
Spreading and flourishing, in the Edo period, the practice was further linked with the Shintō monkey-faced deity Saruta-hiko. The Meiji Restoration relegated it back to its Buddhist antecedents; modernization reduced its impact. Today Kōshin vigils are still held in the countryside, and certain larger temples have specially dedicated halls and festivals.
 

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