Title: Jujutsu-shi Yū Ten Daisōjō o-ki-den (The Biography of the Sorcerer Yuten Daisojo), Circa 1780-1825. A Manuscript Copy of the Biography of The Great Monk Yuten Shonin, Said to Possess Supernatural Powers
Condition: Very Good
A Mid to Late Edo Period, 18th to 19th century manuscript entitled Jujutsu-shi Yū Ten Daisōjō o-ki-den, also known as the Biography of the Sorcerer Yuten Daisojo, or simply Yuten (1637-1718).
Born in Nitta Village, Iwaki County, Mutsu Province (later Iwaki Province) (Kami-Niida Village, now Kaminida, Yotsukura Town, Iwaki City), Yuten became a disciple of the priest Dantsu at Zojoji Temple at age 12 but was expelled for being too stupid to remember the sutras. Ashamed of this, he retreated to Naritasan Shinshoji Temple, where he was said to have been granted wisdom after having a dream in which Fudo Myoo thrust a sword into his throat, and thereafter displayed his mystical abilities. He was a devout follower of Shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, his birth mother Keishoin, and Tokugawa Ienobu, and by order of the shogunate served as the abbot of Daiganji Temple in Shimousa Province, Kokyoji Temple in the same province, and Dentsuin Temple in Edo. In 1711, he became the 36th head priest of Zojoji Temple and was appointed Daisojo (Great Priest). In his later years, he retired to a thatched hut in Ryudocho, Azabu, where he performed many miraculous miracles until he passed away at the age of 82 in 1718. After his death, he was buried at Zenkyuin Temple (later Yutenji Temple) in Meguro.
There is a legend that, despite not being an esoteric Buddhist monk, he saved those who were being attacked by powerful vengeful spirits and even helped those spirits to attain nirvana with the power of nembutsu. The legend of Yuten's exorcism was spread through publications aimed at the masses, such as "Memorial Notes on the Tale of Liberation of the Dead," which was written during his lifetime. Later, in the popular sermons of the time and in biographies such as the "Daisojo Yuten Godenki" written in the mid-18th century, the story of Yuten's exorcism was told as that of an incarnation of Jizo Bodhisattva, and it was believed by the common people for a long time.
Three manuscripts in quarto (24 x 16.7 cm), 35, 36, 34 leaves
These manuscripts are in very good shape, with minor staining and wear to the bindings, the first volume having been crudely repaired to the front. There is minor worming to the outer margins, heaviest to the first two volumes.