Hiromine Shrine
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Historical significance
The shrine is between Enokuma Shrine in Bingo Province and Gion Shrine in Kyoto. This location helped spread the Gozu Tennō cult eastward.
According to the Nijūnisha chūshiki, which was compiled between 1532 and 1573 by Yoshida Kanetomo, Gozu Tennō first made his presence known at Akashi in Harima province. From there, he shifted to Hiromine, subsequently relocating to Tōkōji in Kitashirakawa, Kyoto. By the Gangyō era (877–885), he had moved to the Kanjin-in of Kankeiji, now known as Gion Shrine.
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Kibi no Makibi and the Hiromine tradition
Kibi no Makibi (695–775) founded the Hiromine Shrine. He was an Onmyōji in the Chinese royal court and when he returned to Japan he spent a night in Hiromine. In the year 733 . That night, he dreamed that a nobleman appeared to him. He said Kotan refused him hospitality and had found shelter in Somin Shōrai’s house. But since then he had been wandering, and remembering a pact made with Kibi no Makibi in China, he had now come to see him. The role of Kibi no Makibi is significant in this context because he posthumously became the “ancestor” of Onmyōdō and also played an instrumental role in the development of the legend of Abe no Seimei.
Later that year he built the beginnings of the shrine. The next year the main building was built. It was moved to the present location in 972.
Onmyōji influence
In the ninth and tenth centuries, onmyōji, particularly those from Harima province, performed rituals focusing on deities of pestilence. Harima was renowned for onmyōji who operated outside the traditional Yin-Yang Bureau. Ashiya Dōman was prominent enough to rival Abe no Seimei.
The Genko shakushō attributes the Indian ascetic, Hōdō Sennin, with promoting the Hiromine Shrine's cult. As per this legend, Gozu Tenno appeared to Hōdō Sennin as a protector against misfortunes during his time at Ichijōji on Mount Hokke. In another instance documented in the Saimyōji engi, when Hōdō Sennin was preparing to exorcize a malevolent tree stump, Gozu Tennō manifested as an old man riding a yellow ox and requested the stump. Following Hōdō Sennin's refusal, Gozu Tennō granted him land to establish a temple and further the (Senju) Kannon's cult in Ōmi province.
Gozu Tennō's is represented as an old man because he represents a landlord deity giving land to monks to build a temple.
He is also often presented as a god of war.