page_title: Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba
section_title: Manuscripts of the text
hierarchical_section_title: Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba / Manuscripts and printed editions / Manuscripts of the text
caption_attribution_description: English: Colophon of the Suwa-sha Engi Emaki (also known as the Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba, originally written in 1356) copied by the monk Bonshun (梵舜) in 1601.
context_page_description: The Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba, also known as Suwa Daimyōjin Go-engi Shidai or Suwa Engi Emaki, was a twelve volume set of emakimono or painted handscrolls completed in 1356, during the Nanboku-chō period. Originally describing and depicting legends concerning the Suwa Grand Shrine in Shinano Province and its deity as well as its various religious festivals as performed during the Middle Ages, the original scrolls containing the illustrations were eventually lost, with only the text being preserved in various manuscripts.
context_section_description: While the original twelve scrolls containing the illustrations are now lost, the text is preserved in a number of manuscripts. Some of these are:
  Bonshun-bon (梵舜本): Written in 1601 (Keichō 6) by a monk named Bonshun (梵舜), currently in the possession of Tokyo National Museum. The text exhibits certain characteristics which suggest it was copied directly from the actual scrolls. This copy is entitled Suwa Engi Emaki (諏方縁起絵巻), thought to be the work's original title.
  Gon-hōri-bon (権祝本): Written in 1472 (Bunmei 4) by Sōjun (宗詢), a monk from the Ina district of Shinano who transcribed a two-volume handwritten copy of the text made by a monk of Shicchi-in Temple in Mount Kōya, Jōen (盛円), who was a native of Suwa. This particular manuscript came into the possession of the Yajima clan, who served as gon-hōri (one of the five assistant priests to the ōhōri) of the Suwa Kamisha. From the Yajima, the Gon-hōri-bon passed into the ownership of the Moriya clan (another priestly family of the Suwa Kamisha) in 1847. 
  The oldest surviving manuscript of the text (albeit one generation removed from it), the Gon-hōri-bon is the source for all other surviving copies and most printed editions. The work's more well-known title, Suwa Daimyōjin Ekotoba (諏方大明神画詞), derives from this manuscript. 
  At some point before the early to mid-19th century, certain pages in the latter half of the Matsuri section have been rebound in incorrect order. Copies of the Gon-hōri manuscript text from the 1830s onwards and printed editions based on them reflect this error.
  Jinchō-bon (神長本): A copy of the Gon-hōri-bon made during the Muromachi period. The Jinchō manuscript notably features a different, more detailed version of the Matsuri portion of the text, suggesting that this section was edited for use by the Moriya jinchōkan, the priest responsible for overseeing the religious rites of the Suwa Kamisha. The title is given in this copy as Suwa Daimyōjin Go-engi Shidai (諏訪大明神御縁起次第).
  Takei-hōri-bon (武居祝本): A copy written by Kanasashi (Imai) Nobuhisa (金刺（今井）信古, died 1859), Takei-hōri of the Lower Shrine (Shimosha) of Suwa, during the late Edo period, based on the text passed down in his family collated with the Gon-hōri-bon and the Jinchō-bon.
  Ōhōri-bon (大祝本): One of two copies of the Gon-hōri manuscript text made by gon-hōri Yajima Tsunamasa (矢島綱政, died 1657) and passed down within the Suwa ōhōri line. The Engi section of this manuscript is arranged in a different order from that of the Gon-hōri-bon.
caption: Colophon of the Bonshun manuscript of the Ekotoba. The title Suwa-sha Engi (諏方社縁起) can be seen in the rightmost column, with the date of copying and Bonshun's name (慶長辛丑六年十一月廿八日 梵舜) on the third column from the right.
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