2025 Theses Doctoral

The Forge and the Mediator: Narrative, Memory, and the Making of Kiyomizudera

Xiao, Xiao

This dissertation examines the dynamic interplay between narrative traditions and institutional development at Kiyomizudera during the Heian and early Kamakura periods (794–1244 CE). Moving beyond conventional historiographical approaches that privilege official documentation, I demonstrate how religious narratives actively shaped—rather than merely reflected—Kiyomizudera’s transformation from an obscure clan temple into a prominent religious institution. Drawing upon theoretical frameworks articulated by Pierre Nora, Jan Assmann, and Bruno Latour, I analyze how these narratives functioned as mediators of the past, constructing the temple’s memories and institutional image in response to changing sociopolitical contexts.

Through textual analysis of multiple narrative traditions, I reveal how Kiyomizudera became a convergence point for elite and non-elite religious imagination. While the temple appears infrequently in court chronicles, it possesses an extraordinarily rich corpus of forged and fictional narratives, such as engi (origin accounts) and setsuwa (didactic tales). This dissertation approaches these narratives as fluid, dynamic repositories of memory that actively constructed contemporary realities for their creators and audiences. For example, I demonstrate how Kiyomizudera’s foundation narrative underwent significant reconfiguration as the temple transitioned from a Sakanoue family temple to a major pilgrimage destination, deliberately rebalancing the roles of its monastic founder Enchin and secular patron Sakanoue no Tamuramaro to accommodate new institutional affiliations.

Furthermore, I explore how these narratives mediated relationships between the temple and diverse social communities. By examining Kiyomizudera’s setsuwa tradition, I argue that Japanese Kannon tales associated with the temple diverged significantly from Chinese precedents, particularly in their focus on female protagonists, sexuality, and material benefits. These narratives connected the temple with pilgrims and patrons across social strata, proving instrumental to Kiyomizudera’s mid-Heian rise as a center of Kannon worship. I demonstrate how the temple’s institutional trajectory became intertwined with marginalized communities, especially the hinin groups at Kiyomizuzaka. Despite their limited representation in elite-dominated historical records, these “non-human” communities were central to the temple’s medieval social and religious imagination and developments.

By integrating methodologies from historical, literary, religious, and memory studies, this dissertation challenges court- and elite- centered narratives of Heian religious history by highlighting how non-elite participants shaped religious institutions through memory-making narratives and practices. It illustrates memory’s active role in historical development, illuminating the multilayered nature of the representation and imagination of a religious institution like Kiyomizudera in premodern Japan.