Yasaka Gion Goryo Legend

The Yasaka Gion goryo legend records the origin of the Gion-goryo-e, a rite established to quell epidemics in Heian-kyo, at Yasaka Jinja (formerly Gion-sha) in Higashiyama, Kyoto. According to the Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku, in 869, during a Heian-kyo epidemic, Urabe no Hiramaro was ordered by the court to set up sixty-six halberds at Shinsen-en, corresponding to the sixty-six provinces, and to receive the mikoshi of Gion-sha to pacify the plague deities; this Gion goryo-e became the origin of the Gion Matsuri. Susanoo-no-Mikoto is syncretised with Gozu-tenno and was widely received from the medieval period as a deity who repels epidemics. The structure has three parts: the spread of epidemic at Heian-kyo and the conception of the goryo (the angered dead); the plague-quieting rite at Shinsen-en using the Gion-sha mikoshi; and the institution of the Gion Matsuri and the development of the yamahoko procession. The cycle stands at the intersection of goryo belief (the pacification of vengeful spirits) and plague-deity worship, at the core of the Kyoto goryo belief area together with Kami Goryo Jinja and Shimo Goryo Jinja. The site is Yasaka Jinja in Gion-machi Kita-gawa, Higashiyama-ku, and Shinsen-en in Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto. Although it is not listed in the Engishiki Jinmyocho, Yasaka was a notable shrine established in the Heian period; before the Meiji separation of Buddha and kami it was Kanshin-in Gion-sha. The yamahoko procession is an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property and a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage element. Sources include the entries for 869 in the Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku, the Niju-ni Sha Chushiki and the Gion-sha Ki. References to the Gion goryo-e also appear in Fujiwara no Akihira's Shin-Sarugaku-ki and in volume 11 of the Konjaku Monogatarishu, with further documentation in Yasaka Jinja shrine records, the Kyoto Cultural Property Protection Section and the Kyoto Gion Matsuri Yamaboko Rengokai.