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Concept
Goryō
Summary
In a broad sense, Goryō ɡoɾjoː is an honorific for a spirit, especially one that causes hauntings, and the term is used as a synonym for vengeful Japanese ghosts. In a narrower sense, it refers to a person who was a noble or accomplished person in his or her lifetime, but who lost a political power struggle or died prematurely from an epidemic or other disease, becoming a onyō that brings pestilence or famine and is later enshrined as a kami in Shinto shrines. For example, the "Sandai Jitsuroku" (a historical Japanese document) mentions that six Shinto shrines were dedicated to the worship of goryō, which were the spirits of those who died from non-natural causes. Later on, two more shrines were added, bringing the total to eight.
Belief in goryō refers to the belief that the onryō of people who have died unfortunate deaths cause hauntings and disasters, and the belief that they are enshrined as kami to appease them.
The name consists of two kanji, 御 (go) meaning honorable and 霊 (ryō) meaning soul or spirit.
The belief that the spirits of those who died with resentment or anger after being treated unfairly caused hauntings existed before the Nara period (710–794). However, the belief that the spirits of those who died after being defeated in a power struggle among the nobility caused plagues and natural disasters, and that Shinto shrines were built to appease their spirits and enshrine them as kami, arose from the Nara to the Heian periods (794–1185). The first example is Prince Sawara, who was stripped of his position as crown prince and exiled to Awaji Island to die in 785. After his death, a plague epidemic broke out in Kyoto, which people feared was caused by his spirit, and the Kamigoryo Shrine (ja) was built in Kyoto in 794 to appease his spirit, and he was enshrined as a kami.
An example of a goryō is the Shinto kami known as Tenjin:
Government official Sugawara no Michizane was killed in a plot by a rival member of the Fujiwara clan.
Official source
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