Revisiting the Dragon Princess: Her Role in Medieval Engi Stories and Their Implications in Reading the Lotus Sutra

A new interpretation of the Dragon Princess from the Lotus Sutra challenges long-held assumptions about her role and transformation, revealing an intrinsic connection between medieval Japanese engi stories and Buddhist scriptural narratives. Unlike previous studies that emphasized her sudden sex change and metamorphosis into a Buddha, this research highlights her depiction in the Heike Nokyo sutra's Devadatta chapter frontispiece, where she offers a jewel to the Buddha without physical transformation. The study also proposes an alternative etymology for 'engi,' linking it to the Buddhist term nid?na (origin or provenance), which encompasses scriptural narratives about the origins of sermons and miracles linked to the Buddha's past lives. This reinterpretation provides fresh insights into the intersection of medieval Japanese storytelling and Buddhist doctrine, particularly in visual and textual representations preserved at Itsukushima Shrine.

Abe, R. (2015). Revisiting the Dragon Princess: Her Role in Medieval Engi Stories and Their Implications in Reading the Lotus Sutra. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 42(1). https://doi.org/10.18874/jjrs.42.1.2015.27-70