It was originally chanted at the end of June and December every year to purge tsumi (Shinto concept of sin and pollution).
In the Middle Ages, it became associated with Onmyōdo and Esoteric Buddhism, and it came to be thought that merit (merit good luck gained from helping people or doing holy work in Buddhism to attain buddha hood[clarification needed]) could be gained by simply chanting it, like the incantations of Onmyōdō and Buddhist scriptures.
This was especially important in the Buddhist and Confucian Shinto mixed schools, and commentaries on the Daishoribito[clarification needed] were written, such as "Chushin-hara-kunka" and "Chushin-hara-fusui-so.
[2] The purification ceremony is held at Suzaku-mon Gate in Kyoto on the last day of June and December every year to remove the various sins and impurities that have been unintentionally committed by all the people under heaven, including the 100 government officials, men and women.
According to the Ritsuryo system, the Teikan ritual, and the Enki shiki, the central vassal of the imperial court offers masa,[clarification needed] the east and west vassals offer exorcism knives, and read exorcism words in Chinese characters.
[8][full citation needed] It is said that the text is excellent and magnificent, and its thought expresses an aspect of the national spirit.
For this reason, it has been revered as a scripture of Shintoism since the Middle Ages, and it is believed that prayers can be accomplished by performing it before the gods.
Tens of thousands of exorcisms were actively performed, and the Goshi distributed them among believers in imitation of Buddhist prayer scrolls (kanjus).
[citation needed] On the other hand, Nakatomi-no-harae was a form of Shinto ritual in which the words of the exorcism were changed from being proclaimed to people to be played to the gods in order to convert them to private prayers, and is thought to have been established in the 10th century.
[9] Nakatomi exorcism was used by the Department of Divinities to purify the emperor, and it can be confirmed that Onmyōjis used it for private prayers in the early 11th century.
According to the claim of Okada Yoneo, a researcher affiliated with the Agency for Divine Worship, the Asano-Gunbun's Chutomi-Saihumi is the oldest form of exorcism that is read before the gods as a prayer in modern times.
In the early days, the theory of Nakatomi's exorcism was cited in the analogous Shinto sources of the Doge's book, and the world refers to it as the work of Kūkai, but in fact it seems to have been made public in the late Kamakura period.
The Nakatomi Exoteric Text in the Jingu Bunko collection is a transcription of an ancient manuscript from the early Kamakura period, dated June Kenpo 3 (1215).
In the late Edo period (1603-1868), as Kokugaku (the study of the country) and Fuko-shinto (the ancient Shinto religion) flourished, the original name "Daihaishiki" came to be used again.
[citation needed] The first part begins with the phrase, "Listen carefully to the words of congratulation" to the royal family and 100 officials who have gathered for the exorcism.
Hirata Atsutane, a "posthumous student" of Motoori Norinaga, advocates the theory in his unfinished "Koshi-den" that "there is a congratulatory verse called "Amatsu-shukushi-no-taishugushi-joto" which was orally transmitted from Amaterasu, and was handed down only to the Nakatomi family.
In his book, "Amatsu Shukushigi Ko," he claims that the words were uttered by Izanagi-no-mikoto when he purified himself at Abakihara in Tachibana-no-Kodo, Hyuga, Chikushi.