Accounts And Images Of Six Kannon In Japan

Author : Sherry D. Fowler
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 457 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2016-11-30
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780824856229

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Accounts and Images of Six Kannon in Japan by Sherry D. Fowler Pdf

Buddhists around the world celebrate the benefits of worshipping Kannon (Avalokiteśvara), a compassionate savior who is one of the most beloved in the Buddhist pantheon. When Kannon appears in multiple manifestations, the deity’s powers are believed to increase to even greater heights. This concept generated several cults throughout history: among the most significant is the cult of the Six Kannon, which began in Japan in the tenth century and remained prominent through the sixteenth century. In this ambitious work, Sherry Fowler examines the development of the Japanese Six Kannon cult, its sculptures and paintings, and its transition to the Thirty-three Kannon cult, which remains active to this day. An exemplar of Six Kannon imagery is the complete set of life-size wooden sculptures made in 1224 and housed at the Kyoto temple Daihōonji. This set, along with others, is analyzed to demonstrate how Six Kannon worship impacted Buddhist practice. Employing a diachronic approach, Fowler presents case studies beginning in the eleventh century to reinstate a context for sets of Six Kannon, the majority of which have been lost or scattered, and thus illuminates the vibrancy, magnitude, and distribution of the cult and enhances our knowledge of religious image-making in Japan. Kannon’s role in assisting beings trapped in the six paths of transmigration is a well-documented catalyst for the selection of the number six, but there are other significant themes at work. Six Kannon worship includes significant foci on worldly concerns such as childbirth and animal husbandry, ties between text and image, and numerous correlations with Shinto kami groups of six. While making groups of Kannon visible, Fowler explores the fluidity of numerical deity categorizations and the attempts to quantify the invisible. Moreover, her investigation reveals Kyushu as an especially active site in the history of the Six Kannon cult. Much as Kannon images once functioned to attract worshippers, their presentation in this book will entice contemporary readers to revisit their assumptions about East Asia’s most popular Buddhist deity.

Author : Karen M. Gerhart
Publisher : BRILL
Page : 435 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2018-06-12
Category : History
ISBN : 9789004368194

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Women, Rites, and Ritual Objects in Premodern Japan by Karen M. Gerhart Pdf

Women, Rites, and Ritual Objects in Premodern Japan seeks to expand our understanding of the roles women played in rituals, how particular rituals were carried out, what types of implements or icons accompanied them, and how various ritual objects were used.

Author : Vanessa R. Sasson
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 383 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2021-09-30
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780824889524

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Jewels, Jewelry, and Other Shiny Things in the Buddhist Imaginary by Vanessa R. Sasson Pdf

Renunciation is a core value in the Buddhist tradition, but Buddhism is not necessarily austere. Jewels—along with heavenly flowers, rays of rainbow light, and dazzling deities—shape the literature and the material reality of the tradition. They decorate temples, fill reliquaries, are used as metaphors, and sprout out of imagined Buddha fields. Moreover, jewels reflect a particular type of currency often used to make the Buddhist world go round: merit in exchange for wealth. Regardless of whether the Buddhist community has theoretically transcended the need for them or not, jewels—and the paradox they represent—are everywhere. Scholarship has often looked past this splendor, favoring the theory of renunciation instead, but in this volume, scholars from a wide range of disciplines consider the role jewels play in the Buddhist imaginary, putting them front and center for the first time. Following an introduction that relates the colorful story of the Emerald Buddha, one of the most famous jewels in the world, chapters explore the function of jewels as personal identifiers in Buddhist and other Indian religious traditions; Buddhaghosa’s commentary on the Jewel Sutta; the paradox of the Buddha’s bejeweled status before and after renunciation; and the connection in early Buddhism between jewels, magnificence, and virtue. The Newars of Nepal are the focus of a chapter that looks at their gemology and associations between gems and celestial deities. Contributors analyze the Fifth Dalai Lama’s reliquary, known as the “sole ornament of the world”; the transformation of relic jewels into precious substances and their connection to the Piprahwa stupa in Northern India and the Nanjing Porcelain Pagoda. Final chapters offer detailed studies of ritual engagement with the deity known as Wish-Fulfilling Jewel Avalokiteśvara and its role in the new Japanese lay Buddhist religious movement Shinnyo-en. Engaging and accessible, Jewels, Jewelry, and Other Shiny Things in the Buddhist Imaginary will provide readers with an opportunity to look beyond a common misconception about Buddhism and bring its lived tradition into wider discussion.

Author : Katharina Epprecht,Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 204 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : Art, Buddhist
ISBN : UCSD:31822034611533

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Kannon by Katharina Epprecht,Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan Pdf

"Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, is probably Japan's most popular Buddhist deity. Images of Kannon - who hears the cries for help of all beings in distress - are the main focus of worship in many Japanese temples. The Museum Rietberg presents an exceptional selection of the most beautiful sculptures and paintings from the seventh to the fourteenth century, some of which have never been seen before outside Japan or which are rarely accessible even to the Japanese public."--Jacket

Author : Rebecca M. Brown,Deborah S. Hutton
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Page : 691 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2015-06-22
Category : Art
ISBN : 9781119019534

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A Companion to Asian Art and Architecture by Rebecca M. Brown,Deborah S. Hutton Pdf

A Companion to Asian Art and Architecture presents a collection of 26 original essays from top scholars in the field that explore and critically examine various aspects of Asian art and architectural history. Brings together top international scholars of Asian art and architecture Represents the current state of the field while highlighting the wide range of scholarly approaches to Asian Art Features work on Korea and Southeast Asia, two regions often overlooked in a field that is often defined as India-China-Japan Explores the influences on Asian art of global and colonial interactions and of the diasporic communities in the US and UK Showcases a wide range of topics including imperial commissions, ancient tombs, gardens, monastic spaces, performances, and pilgrimages.

Author : Ive Covaci
Publisher : Yale University Press
Page : 193 pages
File Size : 42,8 Mb
Release : 2016-01-01
Category : Art
ISBN : 9780300215779

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Kamakura by Ive Covaci Pdf

Catalog of the exhibition at the Asia Society Museum, New York, February 9-May 8, 2016.

Author : Sherry D. Fowler
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2005-03-31
Category : Art
ISBN : 9780824874582

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Muroji by Sherry D. Fowler Pdf

Murōji, a magnificent temple founded in the eighth century, is known both for its dramatic location and the exceptional quality of its ritual objects and art dating from the ninth and tenth centuries of the Heian period. Sherry Fowler makes extensive use of primary sources to explore the circumstances surrounding the creation and function of the temple’s main images and considers why major works of early Heian sculpture were housed in such a remote mountain setting. Employing a multifaceted approach that looks at Murōji’s art and architecture in socio-political context, she explores the establishment of the temple, its role in the religious life and power structure of the region, and the ways in which the temple reconfigured its early history to suit its later circumstances. Emerging from Fowler’s study are pervasive themes relating to worship and practice at Murōji that highlight plurality of practice (of different schools of Buddhism as well as Shinto); flexibility of practice and its impact on sculptural icons; the relationship of Murōji to other temple/shrine complexes; and the association of the temple with women’s worship.

Author : 笠原一男
Publisher : Tuttle Publishing
Page : 660 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2001
Category : History
ISBN : STANFORD:36105111768870

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A History of Japanese Religion by 笠原一男 Pdf

Seventeen distinguished experts on Japanese religion provide a fascinating overview of its history and development. Beginning with the origins of religion in primitive Japanese society, they chart the growth of each of Japan's major religious organizations and doctrinal systems. They follow Buddhism, Shintoism, Christianity, and popular religious belief through major periods of change to show how history and religion affected each-and discuss the interactions between the different religious traditions.

Author : James C. Dobbins
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2020-03-31
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780824879990

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Behold the Buddha by James C. Dobbins Pdf

Images of the Buddha are everywhere—not just in temples but also in museums and homes and online—but what these images mean largely depends on the background and circumstance of those viewing them. In Behold the Buddha, James Dobbins invites readers to imagine how premodern Japanese Buddhists understood and experienced icons in temple settings long before the advent of museums and the internet. Although widely portrayed in the last century as visual emblems of great religious truths or as exquisite works of Asian art, Buddhist images were traditionally treated as the very embodiment of the Buddha, his palpable presence among people. Hence, Buddhists approached them as living entities in their own right—that is, as awakened icons with whom they could interact religiously. Dobbins begins by reflecting on art museums, where many non-Buddhists first encounter images of the Buddha, before outlining the complex Western response to them in previous centuries. He next elucidates images as visual representations of the story of the Buddha’s life followed by an overview of the physical attributes and symbolic gestures found in Buddhist iconography. A variety of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and other divinities commonly depicted in Japanese Buddhism is introduced, and their “living” quality discussed in the context of traditional temples and Buddhist rituals. Finally, other religious objects in Japanese Buddhism—relics, scriptures, inscriptions, portraits of masters, and sacred sites—are explained using the Buddhist icon as a model. Dobbins concludes by contemplating art museums further as potential sites for discerning the religious character of Buddhist images. Those interested in Buddhism generally who would like to learn more about its rich iconography—whether encountered in temples or museums—will find much in this concise, well-illustrated volume to help them “behold the Buddha.”

Author : Lori R. Meeks
Publisher : University of Hawaii Press
Page : 426 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2010-04-30
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780824833947

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Hokkeji and the Reemergence of Female Monastic Orders in Premodern Japan by Lori R. Meeks Pdf

Hokkeji, an ancient Nara temple that once stood at the apex of a state convent network established by Queen-Consort Komyo (701–760), possesses a history that in some ways is bigger than itself. Its development is emblematic of larger patterns in the history of female monasticism in Japan. In Hokkeji and the Reemergence of Female Monastic Orders in Premodern Japan, Lori Meeks explores the revival of Japan’s most famous convent, an institution that had endured some four hundred years of decline following its establishment. With the help of the Ritsu (Vinaya)-revivalist priest Eison (1201–1290), privately professed women who had taken up residence at Hokkeji succeeded in reestablishing a nuns’ ordination lineage in Japan. Meeks considers a broad range of issues surrounding women’s engagement with Buddhism during a time when their status within the tradition was undergoing significant change. The thirteenth century brought women greater opportunities for ordination and institutional leadership, but it also saw the spread of increasingly androcentric Buddhist doctrine. Hokkeji explores these contradictions. In addition to addressing the socio-cultural, economic, and ritual life of the convent, Hokkeji examines how women interpreted, used, and "talked past" canonical Buddhist doctrines, which posited women’s bodies as unfit for buddhahood and the salvation of women to be unattainable without the mediation of male priests. Texts associated with Hokkeji, Meeks argues, suggest that nuns there pursued a spiritual life untroubled by the so-called soteriological obstacles of womanhood. With little concern for the alleged karmic defilements of their gender, the female community at Hokkeji practiced Buddhism in ways resembling male priests: they performed regular liturgies, offered memorial and other priestly services to local lay believers, and promoted their temple as a center for devotional practice. What distinguished Hokkeji nuns from their male counterparts was that many of their daily practices focused on the veneration of a female deity, their founder Queen-Consort Komyo, whom they regarded as a manifestation of the bodhisattva Kannon. Hokkeji rejects the commonly accepted notion that women simply internalized orthodox Buddhist discourses meant to discourage female practice and offers new perspectives on the religious lives of women in premodern Japan. Its attention to the relationship between doctrine and socio-cultural practice produces a fuller view of Buddhism as it was practiced on the ground, outside the rarefied world of Buddhist scholasticism.

Author : Sarah Alizah Fremerman
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 466 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2008
Category : Electronic
ISBN : STANFORD:36105210233891

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Divine Impersonations by Sarah Alizah Fremerman Pdf

Author : John M. Rosenfield,Shūjirō Shimada,Fogg Art Museum
Publisher : [Cambridge, Mass.] : Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University
Page : 446 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 1970
Category : Art
ISBN : MINN:31951001855026C

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Traditions of Japanese Art by John M. Rosenfield,Shūjirō Shimada,Fogg Art Museum Pdf

The 153 masterworks illustrated here represent major trends in Japanese art from its prehistory to its recent past. Exploring the religious, social, intellectual, and purely aesthetic values that helped to bring them about, John M. Rosenfield and Shūjirō Shimada provide a thorough historical and aesthetic account of each object.

Author : Dwijendra Nath Bakshi
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 160 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 1991
Category : Art, Indic
ISBN : UOM:39015029088054

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Iconography of the Bodhisattva (Bosatsu) Images in Japan and India by Dwijendra Nath Bakshi Pdf

On the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and Buddhist iconography in Japan and India; based on the author's researches in Japan.

Author : S. Horton
Publisher : Springer
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2007-10-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780230607149

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Living Buddhist Statues in Early Medieval and Modern Japan by S. Horton Pdf

A study of the surprising functions of Buddhist statues, which helped disseminate Buddhist beliefs among the populace in Tenth- and Eleventh-century Japan. Using ethnographic data drawn from present-day fieldwork and marshalling ancient textual evidence, Horton reveals the historical origins and development of modern Japanese beliefs and practices.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 370 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 1984
Category : India
ISBN : UVA:X004065994

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Journal of Ancient Indian History by Anonim Pdf