The True History of Shido Temple

The seven fourteenth-century engi ("true histories") associated with Shidoji at the northeast corner of Shikoku, relate the temples legendary origins and the story of successive, divinely inspired repairs. Five are translated below, with an introduction. The best known, Sansh? Shido D?j? engi, also raises issues related to the origins of the Fujiwara regents and to medieval Japanese sovereignty.