Engishiki
Also known as: 延喜式, Engi-shiki, Procedures of the Engi Era
A fifty-book Heian-period procedural code detailing imperial court regulations and Shinto ritual liturgies, including the earliest authoritative corpus of norito and a comprehensive catalog of recognized shrines.
Description
Compiled in the early tenth century as a practical manual for the ritsuryō state, the Engishiki codifies ministries’ procedures and, in its first ten books, preserves formal Shinto liturgies (norito) and ritual calendars overseen by the Department of Divinities. It records offerings, seasonal ceremonies, and the ranked catalog of shrines, anchoring the relationship between court and cult. The remaining volumes regulate other bureaus, festivals, and administrative minutiae, making the work a cornerstone for reconstructing Heian religious and bureaucratic life. Its ritual language and institutional lists shaped later shrine practice and scholarly understandings of kami worship.
Historiography
Ordered in 905, the Engishiki underwent decades of compilation and review, reaching a stable form in 927 and formal promulgation in 967. Medieval manuscript transmission preserved the text, with early printed editions appearing in the early modern period. Edo-period kokugaku scholars mined the norito and shrine lists to reconstruct ancient rites. Modern critical studies compare surviving recensions and employ the Engishiki’s shrine catalog (Jinmyōchō) to trace the formation of the jinja system and regional cult geographies.
Date Notes
Commissioned 905 CE under Emperor Daigo in the Engi era; compilation completed 927 under Fujiwara no Tadahira; formally promulgated in 967 under Emperor Murakami.
Archetypes
Major Characters
- Amaterasu
- Susanoo
- Okuninushi
- Hachiman
- Inari
Myths
- Great Purification (Ōharae)
- Harvest Offering (Niinamesai)
- Ise Shrine Rites
- Rites of Provincial Deities
Facts
- Comprises fifty books structured across imperial ministries, with Books 1–10 devoted to Shinto ritual (Jingikan).
- Preserves the earliest extensive corpus of norito (ritual liturgies) in an official code.
- Commissioned in 905 CE; compilation finalized in 927 CE; promulgated in 967 CE.
- Includes the Engishiki shrine catalog (Jinmyōchō) listing and ranking recognized shrines.
- Standardizes seasonal festivals and offerings between court and shrines across the realm.
- Served as a working manual for ritsuryō administration rather than a purely theoretical code.
- A key source for reconstructing Heian ritual language, offerings, and purity regulations.
- Influenced later shrine practice and was central to Edo-period kokugaku interpretations of ancient rites.
- Documents procedures for major state rites such as Ōharae, Niinamesai, and Kanname-sai.
- Provides bureaucratic protocols for diverse bureaus beyond ritual, including logistics and ceremonies.