HIRASAWA: The Inflatable, Collapsible Kingdom 19 As these images suggest, the wealthy might avoid payback for their less upst<strong>and</strong>ing deeds by dedicating resources to sacred text <strong>and</strong> image producti<strong>on</strong>. Images sold otherworldly insurance policies to those who could afford to pay for them—thereby sustaining their own cults. The poor <strong>and</strong> illiterate, <strong>on</strong> the other h<strong>and</strong>, had few avenues to salvati<strong>on</strong> apart from exemplary behavior. Perhaps resulting from a sense of inequity, some stories cast doubt <strong>on</strong> the impartiality <strong>and</strong> infallibility of otherworldly justice. There were loopholes, Enma made mistakes, <strong>and</strong> his henchmen took bribes. 69 Those sinners fortunate enough to have relatives to perform the proper rites escaped punishment—while those without c<strong>on</strong>necti<strong>on</strong>s served their full terms. The bureaucracy of hell resembled that of earth, warts <strong>and</strong> all, <strong>and</strong> overflowed into the world of the living. Addressing imbalances, even those with few resources or little to recommend them could hedge their bets by appealing to advocates who would negotiate with Enma. For a modicum of faith or a tiny fee in other forms of prepaid spiritual currency, such intermediaries helped sinners to get reduced penalties or to avoid hell altogether. The merciful bodhisattva Jizô (Sk. Kṡitigarbha) was the first choice of many, since he would descend to the very depths of hell to save people. 70 As with other deities we have examined, Jizô originated in India. He became the focus of an independent cult in China during the Tang dynasty, <strong>and</strong> his popularity there spawned many sculptures <strong>and</strong> paintings. 71 Am<strong>on</strong>g the most influential texts <strong>on</strong> Jizô is the Indian Shilun jing (Jp. Jûrin kyô), emphasizing the bodhisattva’s efficacy in saving beings throughout the six realms (particularly hell) <strong>and</strong> promoting his benefits in this world, 72 <strong>and</strong> Dizang pusa benyuan jing (Jp. Jizô bosatsu h<strong>on</strong>gan kyô), which additi<strong>on</strong>ally describes his prior lives. Such texts were copied in Japan during the Nara period, but in early centuries Jizô, the “earth storehouse,” was important primarily as a subject of esoteric prayer, paired with the bodhisattva Kokûzô (Sk. Âkâśagarbha), the “sky storehouse.” Jizô as an intermediary or savior became increasingly significant in the tenth century together with the promoti<strong>on</strong> (in Ôjôyôshû <strong>and</strong> other texts) of noti<strong>on</strong>s of the “end of the law” (mappô ), hell, <strong>and</strong> the Pure L<strong>and</strong>. 73 “Miracle stories” such as those in Dizang pusa yingyanji (Jp. Jizô bosatsu ôgenki), a collecti<strong>on</strong> of Jizô stories edited by Changjin in 989, 69 A story in Nih<strong>on</strong> ryôiki tells of Enma’s henchmen coming to fetch a man. After he serves them food <strong>and</strong> offers his cattle, they agree to take another man born in the same year. The first man lives to a ripe old age, <strong>and</strong> no menti<strong>on</strong> is made of the fate of the hapless fellow who went to hell in his stead. Nih<strong>on</strong> ryôiki 2:24; pp. 97–99, 247–48; <strong>and</strong> Nakamura 1973, pp. 192–94. 70 Others included the bodhisattva Kann<strong>on</strong> , animals <strong>on</strong>e had saved or spared, <strong>and</strong> kami. 71 On the cult of Jizô, see, for example, Hayami 1975a; Hayami 1975b; Jizô shinkô; Manabe 1960; <strong>and</strong> Zhuang 1999. For a reference list indicating the tremendous amount of research <strong>on</strong> Jizô, see Ôshima 2003. 72 Only fragments of the original Sanskrit text survive. It was translated into Chinese in the fourth or fifth century <strong>and</strong> retranslated in the Tang dynasty by Xuanzang (602 [or 600]–664) as Dacheng daji Dizang shilun jing (Jp. Daijô daijû Jizô jûrin kyô). 73 See Hayami 1975a, pp. 37–42, 63–73.
20 M<strong>on</strong>umenta Nipp<strong>on</strong>ica 63:1 Figures 4 <strong>and</strong> 5. Gokan <strong>and</strong> Godô Tenrin or Henjô scrolls, Jûô zu. Important Cultural Property. Courtesy of Jôfukuji , Kyoto. Image reproduced from Jigoku yûran. Many scholars regard figure 5 as Henjô, but Nakano
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