Buddhism and Modernity

Buddhism and Modernity PDF Author: Orion Klautau
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824884582
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Japan was the first Asian nation to face the full impact of modernity. Like the rest of Japanese society, Buddhist institutions, individuals, and thought were drawn into the dynamics of confronting the modern age. Japanese Buddhism had to face multiple challenges, but it also contributed to modern Japanese society in numerous ways. Buddhism and Modernity: Sources from Nineteenth-Century Japan makes accessible the voices of Japanese Buddhists during the early phase of high modernity. The volume offers original translations of key texts—many available for the first time in English—by central actors in Japan’s transition to the modern era, including the works of Inoue Enryō, Gesshō, Hara Tanzan, Shimaji Mokurai, Kiyozawa Manshi, Murakami Senshō, Tanaka Chigaku, and Shaku Sōen. All of these writers are well recognized by Buddhist studies scholars and Japanese historians but have drawn little attention elsewhere; this stands in marked contrast to the reception of Japanese Buddhism since D. T. Suzuki, the towering figure of Japanese Zen in the first half of the twentieth century. The present book fills the chronological gap between the premodern era and the twentieth century by focusing on the crucial transition period of the nineteenth century. Issues central to the interaction of Japanese Buddhism with modernity inform the five major parts of the work: sectarian reform, the nation, science and philosophy, social reform, and Japan and Asia. Throughout the chapters, the globally entangled dimension—both in relation to the West, especially the direct and indirect impact of Christianity, and to Buddhist Asia—is of great importance. The Introduction emphasizes not only how Japanese Buddhism was part of a broader, globally shared reaction of religions to the specific challenges of modernity, but also goes into great detail in laying out the specifics of the Japanese case.

Buddhism and Modernity

Buddhism and Modernity PDF Author: Orion Klautau
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824884582
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Get Book

Book Description
Japan was the first Asian nation to face the full impact of modernity. Like the rest of Japanese society, Buddhist institutions, individuals, and thought were drawn into the dynamics of confronting the modern age. Japanese Buddhism had to face multiple challenges, but it also contributed to modern Japanese society in numerous ways. Buddhism and Modernity: Sources from Nineteenth-Century Japan makes accessible the voices of Japanese Buddhists during the early phase of high modernity. The volume offers original translations of key texts—many available for the first time in English—by central actors in Japan’s transition to the modern era, including the works of Inoue Enryō, Gesshō, Hara Tanzan, Shimaji Mokurai, Kiyozawa Manshi, Murakami Senshō, Tanaka Chigaku, and Shaku Sōen. All of these writers are well recognized by Buddhist studies scholars and Japanese historians but have drawn little attention elsewhere; this stands in marked contrast to the reception of Japanese Buddhism since D. T. Suzuki, the towering figure of Japanese Zen in the first half of the twentieth century. The present book fills the chronological gap between the premodern era and the twentieth century by focusing on the crucial transition period of the nineteenth century. Issues central to the interaction of Japanese Buddhism with modernity inform the five major parts of the work: sectarian reform, the nation, science and philosophy, social reform, and Japan and Asia. Throughout the chapters, the globally entangled dimension—both in relation to the West, especially the direct and indirect impact of Christianity, and to Buddhist Asia—is of great importance. The Introduction emphasizes not only how Japanese Buddhism was part of a broader, globally shared reaction of religions to the specific challenges of modernity, but also goes into great detail in laying out the specifics of the Japanese case.

Buddhism and Buddhists in Japan

Buddhism and Buddhists in Japan PDF Author: Robert Cornell Armstrong
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description


The Japanese Buddhist World Map

The Japanese Buddhist World Map PDF Author: D. Max Moerman
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824890051
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
From the fourteenth through the nineteenth centuries Japanese monks created hundreds of maps to construct and locate their place in a Buddhist world. This expansively illustrated volume is the first to explore the largely unknown archive of Japanese Buddhist world maps and analyze their production, reproduction, and reception. In examining these fascinating sources of visual and material culture, author D. Max Moerman argues for an alternative history of Japanese Buddhism—one that compels us to recognize the role of the Buddhist geographic imaginary in a culture that encompassed multiple cartographic and cosmological world views. The contents and contexts of Japanese Buddhist world maps reveal the ambivalent and shifting position of Japan in the Buddhist world, its encounter and negotiation with foreign ideas and technologies, and the possibilities for a global history of Buddhism and science. Moerman’s visual and intellectual history traces the multiple trajectories of Japanese Buddhist world maps, beginning with the earliest extant Japanese map of the world: a painting by a fourteenth-century Japanese monk charting the cosmology and geography of India and Central Asia based on an account written by a seventh-century Chinese pilgrim-monk. He goes on to discuss the cartographic inclusion and marginal position of Japan, the culture of the copy and the power of replication in Japanese Buddhism, and the transcultural processes of engagement and response to new visions of the world produced by Iberian Christians, Chinese Buddhists, and the Japanese maritime trade. Later chapters explore the transformations in the media and messages of Buddhist cartography in the age of print culture and in intellectual debates during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries over cosmology and epistemology and the polemics of Buddhist science. The Japanese Buddhist World Map offers a wholly innovative picture of Japanese Buddhism that acknowledges the possibility of multiple and heterogeneous modernities and alternative visions of Japan and the world.

A Cultural History of Japanese Buddhism

A Cultural History of Japanese Buddhism PDF Author: William E. Deal
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1405167017
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
A Cultural History of Japanese Buddhism offers a comprehensive, nuanced, and chronological account of the evolution of Buddhist religion in Japan from the sixth century to the present day. Traces each period of Japanese history to reveal the complex and often controversial histories of Japanese Buddhists and their unfolding narratives Examines relevant social, political, and transcultural contexts, and places an emphasis on Japanese Buddhist discourses and material culture Addresses the increasing competition between Buddhist, Shinto, and Neo-Confucian world-views through to the mid-nineteenth century Informed by the most recent research, including the latest Japanese and Western scholarship Illustrates the richness and complexity of Japanese Buddhism as a lived religion, offering readers a glimpse into the development of this complex and often misunderstood tradition

A History of Japanese Buddhism

A History of Japanese Buddhism PDF Author: Kenji Matsuo
Publisher: Global Oriental
ISBN: 9004213317
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
First study in English on Japanese Buddhism by a distinguished scholar in the field of Religious Studies will be widely welcomed.The main focus is on the tradition of the monk (o-bo-san) as the main agent of Buddhism, together with the historical processes by which monks have developed Japanese Buddhism as it appears in the present day.

Encyclopedia of Buddhism

Encyclopedia of Buddhism PDF Author: Damien Keown
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136985956
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 1396

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Book Description
Reflects the current state of scholarship in Buddhist Studies, its entries being written by specialists in many areas, presenting an accurate overview of Buddhist history, thought and practices, most entries having cross-referencing to others and bibliographical references. Contain around 1000 pages and 500,000 words, totalling around 1200 entries.

Behold the Buddha

Behold the Buddha PDF Author: James C. Dobbins
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824879996
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
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.”

Buddhism and Christianity in Japan

Buddhism and Christianity in Japan PDF Author: Notto R. Thelle
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824846907
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
The modern dialogue between Buddhism and Christianity in Japan is reaching new depths and insights and is being recognized today as a challenging and promising point of contact between two cultures. This volume is based on the premise that an understand­ing of the past is important for meaningful interaction in the present. By placing the Buddhist-Christian dialogue in historical perspective, the author provides an essential element for critical and creative reflection on today's dialogue. Thelle's historical examination begins with the arrival of Francis Xavier in 1549, which initiated the "Christian century." However, his main emphasis is on the nineteenth century, when relations between the two reli­gions moved from confrontation to conciliation. The opening of Japan in 1854 initiated a confrontation that was more than a reli­gious conflict; the meeting of the two faiths was part of an all-inclusive cultural clash. The confrontation of Buddhism and Chris­tianity is interpreted in a broad cultural and sociopolitical context and reveals how strong­ly both religions were influenced by the social and ideological upheavals in nine­teenth-century Japan. The vital issue was which religion would become the spiritual basis for the "new" Japan. Christianity, in­troduced as the spiritual backbone of West­ern power, was associated with ideas of modernization and democracy. Buddhism, regarded as part of the old culture, was in serious crisis. But the conflict was not resolved in victory and defeat. Radical changes took place within the two religions, and by the turn of the century confrontation had moved toward conciliation. The author examines the origins of emerging peaceful dialogue and uncovers the complex process by which it grew out of an atmosphere of animosity and distrust. Thelle's central themes are the connection between Christian expansion and Buddhist anti-Christian campaigns, religion and na­tionalism, Christian impact on Buddhist re­form movements, attempts at unifying the two faiths into a new religiosity, and the development of an indigenous Japanese the­ology. He throws light on cross-cultural interactions far beyond the specialized area of religion and theology. With its broad cultur­al and sociopolitical scope, this book will in­terest all students of Japanese history and culture.

Buddhism and the Arts of Japan

Buddhism and the Arts of Japan PDF Author: Richard B. Pilgrim
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231113472
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description
Few aspects of American military history have been as vigorously debated as Harry Truman's decision to use atomic bombs against Japan. In this carefully crafted volume, Michael Kort describes the wartime circumstances and thinking that form the context for the decision to use these weapons, surveys the major debates related to that decision, and provides a comprehensive collection of key primary source documents that illuminate the behavior of the United States and Japan during the closing days of World War II. Kort opens with a summary of the debate over Hiroshima as it has evolved since 1945. He then provides a historical overview of thye events in question, beginning with the decision and program to build the atomic bomb. Detailing the sequence of events leading to Japan's surrender, he revisits the decisive battles of the Pacific War and the motivations of American and Japanese leaders. Finally, Kort examines ten key issues in the discussion of Hiroshima and guides readers to relevant primary source documents, scholarly books, and articles.

Popular Buddhism in Japan

Popular Buddhism in Japan PDF Author: Esben Andreasen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134249292
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
With a foreword by Prof. Alfred Bloom. This completely new study of Japanese Shin Buddhism offers a valuable combination of historical development, carefully selected readings with commentaries and illustrations. Widely welcomed both for its scope as course work reader and as a general introduction to the subject.