가와라(香春)신사의 제신에 관한 고찰

A Study on the God Enshrined in Kawara Shrine

香春神社は、古来より宇佐神宮と共に豊前国を代表する神社である。『隋書』によると、豊前國その一帶は秦王國といわれたように、豊前國は新羅系渡來人·秦氏の集團居住地域であったと推定される。從って古代韓國の文化的色彩が著しいところであり、古代日本とは異なる風俗や信仰體系を保っていたと考えられる。本稿は香春神社緣起(『豊前國風土記』逸文)を中心に、３祭神(辛国息長大姫大目命ㆍ忍骨命·豊比咩命)を、宇佐神宮ㆍ英彦山神宮との関連をも視野に入れながら檢討考察したものである。新羅より渡來した香春神は『延喜式』3座中、採銅所の古宮八幡宮に鎭坐する豊比咩命であり、銅の採掘·鍛冶技術をもって渡來した新羅系渡來人は、6世紀頃秦氏の統率下、香春岳の銅採作業に携わり、故國の神即ち新羅の女神を香春3岳で祭ったものと考えられる。

Kawara Shrine has been one of the representative shrines in Bunzen-no-kuni, together with another representative shrine, Usa Shrine. Kawara Shrine was quite prestigious in the early period of Heian era, and some documents even state that the shrine was conceived of as a palace of Bunzen-no-kuni. According to Book of Sui, the area around Bunzen-no- kuni was called Shinokoku; it is presumed that Bunzen-no-kuni was the place where the Hata clan, the people from Shilla, lived. Therefore, the place represents the ancient Korean culture, maintaining the customs and religious system different from those of the ancient Japan. In this article, I focus on Engi-Setsuwa (mentioned in Bunzen-no-kuni Fudoki) to analyse the name of the three enshrined gods (Karakunishina-Ohime-Ome, Oshihone, and Toyohime). The Kawara god from Shilla is Toyohime, enshrined in Komiya Hachimangu, as described in “Jinmyocho,” Engishiki. The Akasome clan, who came with the technique of copper mining and forging, was engaged with copper mining in Kawara Mountain under the governance of the Hata clan in the early sixth century. We claim that their ancestry god, namely the goddess of Shilla, was enshrined in the three mountains in Kawara.