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- Convenor:
-
Jon Morris
(Daito Bunka University)
Send message to Convenor
- Stream:
- Religion and Religious Thought
- Location:
- Torre A, Piso 0, Sala 02
- Sessions:
- Saturday 2 September, -
Time zone: Europe/Lisbon
Short Abstract:
This panel examines developments within Japanese Religion during Japan's transition from a medieval to an Early Modern society. Focusing on new modes of Buddhist preaching and new published formats of Buddhist texts, this project contributes to a reassessment of Early Modern "secularization."
Long Abstract:
The notion that "the Middle Ages were a time of religion, Early Modernity was a time of secularization" has been the subject of considerable criticism by historians of Japanese religions, and must now be reassessed. The role of religious thought in Early Modern society is also being reassessed. How, then, should we understand the connection between religious thought in the Middle Ages and in Early Modernity? This panel considers the ways in which religion changed amid the social transitions spanning the Middle Ages and Early Modernity.
The first presentation introduces examples from around the year 1700 of oral transmissions, which were of considerable importance in the Middle Ages, being disavowed. The significance of Matarajin worship in association with these disavowals is explored. The period of time around the year 1700 is recognized by researchers as an important turning point in Japanese Confucianism, but there was also a great change in Buddhism at that time.
The second presentation discusses the publication of esoteric Buddhist ritual texts. Secret traditions in oral transmission were limited to a closed world of initiates during the Middle Ages, but with the onset of Early Modernity many were made public in manuscript and, in some cases, woodblock print editions. In these published forms, the focus of these texts' significance tended to shift from usage in practice to a more academic interest.
The third presentation discusses the changing forms of Buddhist preaching in late Medieval Japan and the developments in religion in the years leading up to the onset of the Early Modern period. The creation of the popular preaching form known as jikidan 直談 ("direct sermons") at this time led to the production of jikidanmono 直談物 ("writings on direct sermons"). This marked the emergence of Buddhist preaching texts which demonstrate a move toward an Early Modern religious mode founded upon popularization of knowledge.
Usages of the term kinseika 近世化 (which implies the introduction of cultural and societal modes typical of the Early Modern period) are many and varied. We apply it here as a means to acknowledge interaction with other Asian regions.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Saturday 2 September, 2017, -Paper short abstract:
In the first part of the Early Modern period., Reikū Kōken promulgated what came to be known as the Anraku precepts. This presentation examines the direction, focusing on the disavowal of oral transmission and the end of the worship of Matara-Jin , in Reikū's criticisms of Tendai esotericism.
Paper long abstract:
Tendai Buddhism and Shinto underwent a series of significant changes in the first part of the Early Modern period. One of these changes was the disavowal of oral transmissions of Buddhist teachings. Kōben was the third Hosshin nō 法親王 (a senior abbacy by imperial proclamation for an ordained male member of the imperial family) of the Rinnō-ji Monzeki from 1690 to 1715. With Kōben's support, Reikū Kōken 霊空光謙 promulgated what came to be known as the Anraku 安楽 precepts.
This precepts movement disavowed the secret oral transmissions of the Middle Ages, and standardized "orthodox" textually based precepts from China throughout the Tendai sect. Another development was a tightening of regulations within the sect, which extended to its scholastics and doctrinal training. In the Tendai esotericism of this period, the Hōman 法曼tradition came to be favored above the Yōjō 葉上 and Sanmai 三昧 traditions, unifying the Abhisheka initiation tradition throughout the Tendai institution.
We may also observe that a first revision of the 'Tōshōgū Honjiku' 東照宮本地供 (Offering to the "Original Ground" (fundamental person) of the Tōshōgū Shrine) was made at this same point in time. This presentation examines the direction taken by Early Modern Tendai, focusing on the disavowal of oral transmission and the end of the worship of Matara-Jin 摩多羅神, a kami typical of Japan's Middle Ages, as demonstrated in Reikū's criticisms of the Genshi kimyō dan 玄旨帰命壇 school of Tendai esotericism.
The trends toward the publication of knowledge demonstrated in these case studies were not limited to the Tendai sect. I will discuss their wider commonality within Early Modern Japanese religions as a whole, including Confucianism.
Paper short abstract:
In the 14th century, the preaching form known as jikidan "direct sermons" appeared. This style was more concerned with explaining the content of a teaching in a readily comprehensible manner, and marks a movement toward an Early Modern religious mode founded upon popularization of knowledge.
Paper long abstract:
Teachings and the way in which they are preached to people change with the times. The original model for Buddhism in Japan was the Chinese form of Buddhism imported during the ancient period. For this reason, Buddhist services in Japan took a Chinese Buddhist ceremonial form and interpretations of scripture were based on Chinese commentaries. Commentarial works in Chinese characters by Indian and Chinese monks held authority, and were interpreted line by line by Japanese scholar monks.
Buddhist Studies progressed through this type of painstaking academic work. From the Middle Ages onward, however, increasing numbers of people sought knowledge of Buddhism, wishing to understand its teachings. Examples of monks explaining Buddhist teachings to members of the general populace may also be observed from that time onward. In the 14th century, the preaching form known as jikidan 直談 ("direct sermons") appeared. This preaching style was more concerned with explaining the content of a teaching in a readily comprehensible manner than with academic accuracy, and placed exegesis provided by the preacher monks themselves at the fore.
From the latter half of the 15th century onward, collections were produced of hortatory work based on the jikidan style of preaching. These were known as jikidanmono 直談物 ("writings on direct sermons"). This trend marks the emergence of a movement toward an Early Modern religious mode founded upon popularization of knowledge. Certain aspects of this trend are analogous with similar developments in the west at that time. Even as Japan entered its Early Modern period, the acceleration in the diffusion of religious texts led not to a weakening of oral preaching but to a widening of its audience.
Paper short abstract:
This presentation examines esoteric ritual manuals in the Early Modern period, focusing on the ‘Asaba shō’ compendium. ‘Asaba shō’ came to be adopted throughout the Tendai sect,and also in other sects during that period. I trace its increasing diffusion in both manuscript and print editions.
Paper long abstract:
The Doctrinal and scholastic element in esoteric Buddhism (kyōsō 教相, implying the particular character of a school's teachings) was not limited to textual study. It involved direct transmission from master to disciple via personal instruction (menju 面授) and oral transmissions (kuju 口授). This form of transmission was typical of esoteric Buddhism until the Middle Ages.
The praxis element (jisō 事相 "phenomena") of esoteric Buddhism underwent a codification in the Middle Ages in both the Tendai and Shingon sects. One of the key forms of codification was esoteric ritual procedure manuals known as shidai 次第. Shidai manuals dealing with esoteric rites that had a buddha or bodhisattva as the main object of worship took shape within Tendai, and were brought out in the latter half of the Kamakura period as the text entitled 'Asaba shō' 阿娑縛抄 (The 'Anthology of A, Sa and Va'). This text was copied and passed down in manuscript form within a certain Tendai tradition, the Nishiyama lineage (Nishiyama-ryū 西山流).
Esoteric ritual procedure manuals underwent two important changes during the Early Modern period. Firstly, the 'Asaba shō' came to be copied in considerable numbers throughout the Tendai sect regardless of branch or lineage. This Early Modern proliferation is the reason many copies of the 'Asaba shō' remain extant across Japan. 'Asaba shō' was also taken up in other sects, such as Jōdo and Jōdo Shinshū, during the Early Modern period. Secondly, some parts of esoteric ritual manuals came to be produced in woodblock print. This presentation examines the changing face of esoteric ritual manuals during the Early Modern period, focusing on the main collection of Tendai ritual procedures, the 'Asaba shō'.