The Ashikaga's Delivery of Za-Kumon and Politics Integration

Abstract

It is a well-known fa,ct that the five major Zen temples (Gozan 五山) in medieval Japan, whose abbots were appointed by the Ashikaga during its reign, played an important role in supporting the Bakufu's fiscal budget. In concrete terms, the discussion has turned to the fact that the order appointing Zen temple abbots (kojo 公帖) was widely sold for cash in the form of an official position know as za-kumon 坐公文, which was not directly related to the religious appointment of abbots. However, the issuance of kojo is an issue at the very core of the policy towards Zen temples, so the question arises as to whether or not appointments to za-kumon should be looked upon merely in economic terms as a form of selling kojo. This is the focus of the present article, which attempts to consider the political and religious ramifications of the practice. As a result, the author concludes that rather than constituting a source of revenue for the za-kumon appointments were related more to the expenditures side of the its fiscal ledger. Out of its belief in Zen Buddhism, the Ashikaga regime absorbed and systematized za-kumon payments and used the revenue in its sponsorship (like other members of medieval ruling elite) of such religious projects as the building and repair of temple complexes, sutra copying, and the dispatch of trading ships (the profits from which were used to build and repair temples). However, even more important than such religious sponsorship was the, decision-making process involved in za-kumon appointments. The purpose of such appointments-i.e., the implementation of Buddhist ceremonies and projects-became an important aspect promoting consensus among a ruling class that was on the verge of breaking apart in the midst of civil war. This political aspect of za-kumon certainly can not be understood merely within the framework of the "buying and selling of offices" to accumulate fiscal revenue with no consideration of the "religious grace" emanating from such an act. It was only during the following Sengoku period that revenue from the purchase of za-kumon appointments would go to the treasury or be redistributed as stipends to secular aristocrats within the regime. That is to say, the emphasis on the fiscal aspects of za-humon with no consideration for financing religious activities represents a marked deviation from the essential meaning of the practice.