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Gozu-Tenno, Ox-headed King

Gozu-Tenno, Ox-headed King

牛頭天王

Gozu-Tenno, literally "Ox-headed King," is an object of worship that is a god with a head of ox in Japanese folk beliefs once common before Meiji Restoration happened in the late 19th century. He has two different personalities; as a guardian king in an India's Buddhist monastery Jetavana (祇園精舎 Gion-Shoja in Japanese); and as a god of pestilence who brings infectious diseases. Though his origin is shrouded in mystery in fact, he is believed to have come from outside of Japan and equated with 武塔神 Muto-no-kami appeared in 蘇民将来 Somin Shorai Folklore, a Japanese mythological god 素戔嗚 Susanoo, or Bhaisajyaguru (薬師如来 Yakushi-Nyorai in Japanese), Medicine Buddha.

Despite its alien-like looking, Gozu-Tenno cannot be found in other region's Buddhism. It is a figure unique to Japan developed with influences from different kinds of religions such as esoteric Buddhism, Taoism, The Way of Yin and Yang, and Japanese indigenous religion.

In Gozu-Tenno's first appearance as Muto-no-kami in Somin Shorai Folklore, during his journey to take a wife, he was looking for a place to stay overnight and asked two brothers he met. 巨旦将来 Kotan Shorai, the young and rich but greedy, refused his wish, while 蘇民将来 Somin Shorai, the old and poor but humble, welcomed him with a great hospitality. Later, he bestowed a sacred ring of grass to protect from misfortunes to Somin's daughter, who married into Kotan's family, and destroyed Kotan's family leaving only Somin's daughter safe. 

As understood from such personality, Gozu-Tenno has been feared but worshipped as a double-edged god both to bring epidemics and drive them away. He was later enshrined at 祗園感神院 Gion-Kanshin'in Temple (current Yasaka Shrine) in Kyoto to calm down epidemics supporsedly in the late 9th century. From Kyoto, Gozu-Tenno worship was spread over the country and at some stage, he started to be thought as an avatar of Susanoo, a Japanese mythological god with a brutal personality, because of the resemblance in the two's natures. Also, based on 本地垂迹説 Honji-suijaku Theory, in which the Buddhas transform themselves into Japanese gods to save local people, Gozu-Tenno is considered an incarnation of Bhaisajyaguru focusing on an aspect that he drives infectious diseases away.

Unfortunately, in the process of Meiji Restoration in the late 19th century, Gozu-Tenno was primarily targeted for the religious cleanups and denied by the new government blamed for its 'inpurity' that had influences from other cultures such as Buddhism in order to purify indigenous Shintoism and set it as the one and only national religion. Most of Gozu-Tenno throughout Japan were forced to become Japanese original Susanoo in Shinto shrines. For instance, Gion-Kanshin'in Temple was renamed 八坂神社 Yasaka Shrine and set Susanoo as the principal god there. But even if forgetten, traditions such as Gion Festival, originally to calm down the anger of Gozu-Tenno and turn him to protect people from epidemics, still survive today and the festival is so famous that it is one of the three most famous festivals in Japan. Also, many Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples still have a tradition of the sacred ring of grass having to do with Somin Shorai Folklore, which people pass through and go around wishing for a good health in the beginning of summer.

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