The Image of Priest Doumyo Ajari in Ujishuui Monogatari

Abstract

This research aims to study the image of priest Doumyo ajari in Ujishuui Monogatari. In the first chapter the story is about “priest Doumyo ajari had performed prayers at the house of a lady called Izumi Shikubu and the God called Dousojin of the fifth avenue came to listen to the prayers.” Priest Doumyo ajari existed in history and was born into a noble family. He was ordained from a very young age and was supposed to be a very strict priest who follows Buddhism’s doctrines; however he had slept with a lady without doing any cleansing the body rites. Therefore, it is of interest to study the image of priest Doumyo ajari who was in the
position to inherit Buddhism’s doctrines to look at Buddhism’s concepts of saving mankind from sin. The positive image of mankind and as members of society could make mistakes in a lifetime as usual behaviour
in Heian Era. For research methodology and data analysis, the researcher studies the content of the tale of
Ujishuui Monogatari and the same character in another tale of Konjaku Monongatari and summary descriptive analysis. The results indicated into two concepts:
 



1. The image of the priest Doumyo ajari, who acted against the Buddhism’s doctrines by sleeping with a lady without doing any cleansing body rites. This turned into the way of saving mankind from sin as Dousojin, the lower God, came to listen and admired his prayers. This made him into having a positive image.
2. The Image of the Buddhism’s priests who act against the doctrines and do not follow their roles and duties in the social norms. In the case of the priest Doumyo ajari who was a Buddhism’s priest who should have acted and followed Buddhism’s doctrines and social norms strictly. He had been told by the elder priest to be strict with the regulations while performing prayers but he also did not listen. This eventually ended up with the negative image of being the priest at the end of the tale.