Overview. Jizō is one of the most beloved deities in the Chinese and Japanese pantheon of Buddhist saviors. Jizō, however, was never widely venerated in India, the birthplace of Buddhism. Most scholars generally consider Jizō-related texts (discussed below) to be products of China rather than India, followed centuries later by Japanese renditions and additions. The Jizō cult in China and later in Japan developed in phases, during which Jizō became associated with different functions and iconography. Once in Japan, the Jizō cult developed along distinctly Japanese lines, although it retained many of its earlier Chinese characteristics. The various Jizō texts, along with Jizō’s changing roles, are presented below in chronological order. 

• INDIA. Jizō’s earliest association is with Prthvi (Prithvi), a Hindu goddess who personifies the earth and is associated with fertility and with Lord Vishnu (originally a solar god). In the VEDAS, she is celebrated as the mother of all creatures and the consort of the sky. This association with the sky is very important, for many centuries later, in China, Jizō Bodhisattva (lit. Earth Repository) was paired with Kokūzō Bodhisattva 虚空蔵菩薩 (lit. Space Repository), with the two representing the blessings of earth and space respectively. This pairing is now almost entirely forgotten in both China and Japan. But the pairing lends strong support to Jizō’s early association with the Hindu goddess Prithvi. The strongest support for the Prithvi/Jizō link, however, is the Jizō Bosatsu Sūtra (Jp. = 地蔵菩薩本願経), a 7th-century Chinese translation from Sanskrit. In Chapter 11 of this 13-chapter sūtra, Prthivi vows to use all her miraculous powers to protect Jizō devotees.
   
• CHINA. When and how Jizō was introduced to China is unknown, but from the earliest extant texts (7th century; see below), Jizō is already closely associated with the earth. The deity’s name, in Sanskrit, Chinese, and Japanese, literally means “womb of the earth,” and is typically rendered in English as Earth Store, Earth Treasury, or Earth Womb. Other early attributes of Jizō include:
   
• Appears from the south, endowed with mysterious power
   
• Main savior of sentient beings between the departure of Shaka Nyorai (Historical Buddha) and the advent of Maitreya Buddha (Jp. = Miroku Nyorai), the Future Buddha. During this period, known as Mappō (Age of Degenerative Law), Jizō is considered the most effective and most beneficial savior. Jizō thus embodies supreme spiritual optimism, compassion, and universal salvation, all hallmarks of Mahayana Buddhism.
   
• Can assume various forms, including that of a priest
   
• Earliest texts already associate Jizō with the Lord of Death (Skt. = Yama, Chn. = Yanmo Wang 閻魔王, Jp. = Emma-ō)
   
• Only later, in China’s late Sung dynasty (Japan’s late Heian) does Jizō become associated with the Taoist Ten Kings of Hell.
   
• JAPAN. The Jizō cult in Japan incorporates many of the traditional characteristics of Jizō veneration in China, but the Japanese developed their own distinct variants from the Kamakura period onward, including (1) Jizō’s close association with the Lotus Sutra; (2) Jizō serving the same functions and roles as Kannon Bodhisattva; (3) Jizō’s very close association with Amida Nyorai and the Pure Land sect; (4) Jizō and the Six Realms and the Ten Kings; (5) Jizō as having the same body as Emma-ō, the King of Hell; (6) Jizō’s association with warriors; (7) Jizō appearing as a young child or boy and; (8) many other forms of Jizō unique to Japanese. Since the Kamakura period, Jizō worship has attained a tremendous following in Japan, and today Jizō remains one of Japan's most revered deities. See Jizō top page for a review of Jizō’s many forms in modern Japan. 

1 大乘大集地藏十輪経 Mahāyāna Great Collection Sūtra Ten Cakras of Ksitigarbha Sūtra Jp. = Daijō Daijū Jizō Jūrin-Kyō  Reference: Taishō, XIII, p. 722 Translated in into Chinese in the mid-7th century by the Chinese monk Hsuan-tsang (Xuanzang) 玄奘, known as Genjō 玄奘 in Japan. The Sanskrit text is no longer extant. The sūtra’s shortened title is 地藏十輪経, Ten Cakras of Ksitigarbha. It was copied by the Japanese around +738-739 (Nara period). Another Chinese sūtra from the Tang period, known as the Ten Cakras Sutra 大方廣十輪経 (see #2 below) differs slightly in chapter arrangement, but the content of both texts is essentially the same. Jizō worship in China can be traced back to these two sūtra, which introduced Jizō as a savior who would remain on earth between the absence of Shaka Nyorai (Historical Buddha) and the future coming of Miroku (Skt. = Maitreya). Jizo would function most effectively during the Mappō (末法) period, the period of degenerate law, when Buddhist faith and practice were at all time lows. The sūtra also says Jizō appears from the south, possesses miraculous powers, and is able to assume various forms, including that of a Buddhist priest, and even that of the Judge of Hell, known in Sanskrit as Yama-rāja (Lord of Death), in Chinese as Yanmo Wang 閻魔王, and in Japanese as Emma-ō 閻魔王. This early association between Jizō and the underworld foreshadows Jizō’s future role in China and Japan as the savior “par excellence” of those who fall to hell.

RESOURCES

• Japanese Resources. Most sources point to three main Jizō-related sūtra (地蔵三経):
• 地蔵菩薩本願経  Sūtra on the Fundamental Vows of Jizo (Skt. = Ksitigarbha) Bodhisattva
• 大乗大集地蔵十輪経 Sūtra of the Ten Cakras
• 占察善悪業報経 Sūtra on the Divination of the Effect of Good & Evil Actions
   
• Jizō, the Most Merciful. Tales from Jizō Bosatsu Reigenki. The Jizō Bosatsu Reigenki 地蔵菩薩霊験記 is a collection of stories (setsuwa 説話) about Jizō, dated to the middle of the Heian Era, around +1020, although the exact date of compilation remains uncertain. This article, written by Yoshiko Kurata Dykstra in 1978, includes translations of seven Jizō tales, and a long review of the important Jizō texts that sparked the development of the Jizō cult in Japan. See Monumenta Nipponica, Summer 1978 Edition, Volume XXXIII, Number 2, pp. 179-200.
   
• Miraculous Stories from the Japanese Buddhist Tradition. The Nihon Ryōiki of the Monk Kyōkai. 日本霊異記. Its full title is 日本国現報善悪霊異記 (Nihonkoku Genpō Zen’aku Ryōiki). Compiled in the early ninth century by the Japanese priest Kyōkai. This English translation includes annotations and an introduction by Kyoko Motomochi Nakamura. First published in 1973, by Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-7007-0449-3. 322 pages. 
   
• Buddhist Tripitaka Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經 (revised), edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaikyoku 渡辺海旭. Tokyo, Daizōkyōkai, 1924-1935. Also see the Taishō Shinshu Daizōkyō Iconographic Supplement 大正新脩大藏經図像 and Taishō Issaikyō Kankōkai 大正一切経刊行会, 1925. 
   
• Bukkyō Daijiten, 仏教大辞典, III, IV, 1954
   
• The Other Side of Zen: A Social History of Soto Zen Buddhism in Tokugawa Japan. By scholar Duncan Williams, published in 2005. Chapter Five of this book, entitled “Medicine and Faith Healing in the Soto Zen Tradition” investigates the close links between miraculous medicine and healing practices at Soto temples. Williams lists a wide range of illnesses that were cured through faith in Jizo Bodhisattva, and translates various mircale stores of healing that center on the time span between 1713 and 1812. Sources such as the Enmei Jizōson Inkō Riyakuki 延命地蔵尊印行利益記 (Records of the Benefits Gained from Printing Talismans of the Prolonging-Life Jizō), written in 1822, allow readers to get a precise idea of how their authors understood the efficiency of specific rituals to cure specific problems. It is fascinating to note that these problems were far from being limited to physical ailments, and also included issues such as “loss of money” or being “about to commit suicide.” <Above review from the Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 33/1 (2006, pages 176 and 177, written by Michel Mohr, Doshisha University.> Book published by Princeton University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-691-11928-7. 
   
• Muller, Charles, ed. Digital Dictionary of Buddhism. <http://www.acmuller.net/ddb>
   
• Nara National Museum Links
  Go to its English Page about the Ten Cakras Sutra
  Go to its Japanese Page about the Ten Cakras Sutra
  The sūtra was copied in China's Tang dynasty and is today preserved in Japan in the Shōsō-in 正倉院 repository.

RESEARCH NOTES FROM
THE DIGITAL DICTIONARY OF BUDDHISM
Not yet incorporated.

地藏
[py] Dìzàng
[wg] Ti-tsang
[hb] Jizō
Its shortened title is Dìzàng shílún jīng
[Soothill] " 乞叉底蘗沙; Earth-store, Earth-treasury, or Earthwomb. One of the group of eight Dhāraṇī- Bodhisattvas. With hints of a feminine origin, he is now the guardian of the earth. Though associated with Yama as overlord, and with the dead and the hells, his role is that of savior. Depicted with the alarum staff with its six rings, he is accredited with power over the hells and is devoted to the saving of all creatures between the nirvana of Śākyamuni and the advent of Maitreya in the fifth century he has been especially considered as the deliverer from the hells. His central place in China is at Chiu-hua-shan, forty li south-west of Qingyang in Anhui. In Japan he is also the protector of travelers by land and his image accordingly appears on the roads; bereaved parents put stones by his images to seek his aid in relieving the labors of their dead in the task of piling stones on the banks of the Buddhist Styx; he also helps women in labor. He is described as holding a place between the gods and men on the one hand and the hells on the other for saving all in distress; some say he is an incarnation of Yama. At dawn he sits immobile on the earth 地 and meditates on the myriads of its beings 藏. When represented as a monk, it may be through the influence of a Korean monk who is considered to be his incarnation, and who came to China in 653 and died in 728 at the age of 99 after residing at Chiu-hua-shan for seventy-five years: his body, not decaying, is said to have been gilded over and became an object of worship. Many have confused 眞羅 part of Korea with 暹羅 Siam. There are other developments of Jizang, such as the 六地藏 Six Jizang, i. e. severally converting or transforming those in the hells, pretas, animals, asuras, men, and the devas; these six Ti-tsang have different images and symbols. Ti-tsang has also six messengers 六使者: Yama for transforming those in hell; the pearl-holder for pretas; the strong one or animals; the devāof mercy for asuras; the devā of the treasure for human beings; one who has charge of the heavens for the devas. There is also the 延命地藏 Yanming Jizang, who controls length of days and who is approached, as also may be Puxian, for that Purpose; his two assistants are the Supervisors of good and evil 掌善 and 掌惡. Under another form, as 勝軍地藏 Jizang is chiefly associated with the esoteric cult. The benefits derived from his worship are many, some say ten, others say twenty-eight. His vows are contained in the 地藏菩薩本願經. There is also the 大乘大集地藏十電經 tr. by Xuanzang in 10 juan in the seventh century, which probably influenced the spread of the Jizang cult." (Tib. Sa yi snying bo) [cmuller ; source(s): Soothill]
〔梵網經 T 1484.24.1009c15, 成唯識論 T 1585.31.23c14〕

閻魔王
[py] Yánmó wáng
[wg] Yen-mo wang
[hg] 염마왕
[mc] Yeomma wang
[mr] Yŏmma wang
[kk] エンマオウ
[hb] Enma ō
[qn] Diêm ma vương
[Basic Meaning:] Yama
See 閻魔. (Skt. Yama-rāja) 〔一切經音義 T 2128.54.447a10〕 [cmuller ; source(s): Hirakawa]


閻魔
[py] Yánmó
[wg] Yen-mo
[hg] 염마
[mc] Yeomma
[mr] Yŏmma
[kk] エンマ
[hb] Enma
[qn] Diêm ma
Yama. The king of the world of the dead, who judges the dead. (1) In the Vedas the god of the dead, with whom the spirits of the departed dwell. He was son of the Sun and had a twin sister Yamī or Yamuna. By some they were looked upon as the first human pair. (2) In later Brahmanic mythology, one of the eight Lokapālas, guardian of the South and ruler of the Yamadevaloka and judge of the dead. (3) In Buddhist mythology, the regent of the Nārakas, residing south of Jambudvīpa, outside of the Cakravālas, in a palace of copper and iron. Originally he is described as a king of Vaiśālī, who, when engaged in a bloody war, wished he were master of hell, and was accordingly reborn as Yama in hell together with his eighteen generals and his army of 80,000 men, who now serve him in purgatory. His sister Yamī deals with female culprits. Three times in every twenty-four hours demon pours into Yama's mouth boiling copper (by way of punishment), his subordinates receiving the same dose at the same time, until their sins are expiated, when he will be reborn as Samantarāja 普王. In China he rules the fifth court of purgatory. Eitel says: "He is grim in aspect, green in color, clothed in red, riding on a buffalo, and holding a club in one hand and noose in the other; he has two four-eyed watch-dogs." In some sources he is spoken of as ruling the eighteen judges of purgatory. Other sources texts say that he is a reincarnation of Kṣitigarbha bodhisattva. Also written as 閻王, 閻羅, 閻魔王, 閻摩羅, 閻老, 夜摩, 閻羅王, 琰魔, 炎摩, 燄摩, 琰摩, 爓魔, etc. [cmuller ; source(s): Soothill]

Ksitigarbha literally means "Womb of the Earth " or "the one who encompasses the earth". According to the "Ten Wheel of Earth Womb Sutra", the name represents this Bodhisattva's personality which include patience, stillness, hardness and vastness (like earth), deepness and profundity (like womb). The implication is that our mind creates all Dharma and accommodates all matters just like the earth womb. It is the foundation on which everything grows, including the immeasurable treasures - the Buddhist Way. Ksitigarbha is the bodhisattva who saves suffering beings in the Hell, therefore, is often referred to as the Bodhisattva of the Hell beings because of his vow to not achieve Buddhahood until "all the Hells are empty". This vow actually encompasses all sentient beings.

Ksitigarbha is the only Bodhisattva portrayed as a monk. He has a monk's pilgrim's staff with six rings, which signifies that Ksitigarbha stands by all beings in the six paths of existence. According to the "Earth Womb Sutra", Ksitigarbha was appointed by Shakyamuni to be the headmaster of Buddhism on Earth during the period from the Nirvana of Shakyamuni to the advent of Maitreya, the next Buddha born on Earth. As the master of the six paths (Hell, Ghost, Animal, Man, Asura and Deva) he is described as savior for all beings from suffering. With this responsibility, his status is well-respected by all Buddhas and other beings in the Ten Dharma Realms including human beings. Because Ksitigarbha is connected to deliver sentient beings wandering astray in the Hell, this expresses an extremely profound and esoteric aspect of the Bodhisattva's compassionate activity. This deepest compassion is working from the highest to the lowest. He is thus the supreme embodiment of spiritual optimism, the most profound development of Mahayana universalism.

Over one thousand years ago, a Korean Buddhist monk named Gin-Chau-Jue went to Jo-Hwa Mountain in China for Dharma practice around in mid-Tang Dynasty. Regional followers believed Gin is the emanation of Ksitigarbha therefore, after he passed away, start building temples to worship him. Since then Jo-Hwa Mountain becomes the sacred site of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

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