History 150a
Contested Notions of Good and Evil: Outlaws and Buddhism
Overview
Outlaws: Unauthorized Authorities?
Unconnectedness and commerce
Changing social status
New Kamakura Buddhist Sects
Doctrinal innovations
New constituencies
Suppression
Wanderers and the State
Ritsuryô state had centralized functions of the be by creating official bureaucracy for such groups
As Ritsuryô state was undermined, these groups sought patronage further afield
Buddhist Monks: Traders and Administrators
Link btwn the sacred & exchange
Muen and sacred authority
Things into commodities…
Markets and temples and shrines
Monks: pragmatic factors
Channels for continental cultural technologies and material goods
Well-developed literacy, accounting & administrative skills
Fund-raising for temples
Women and Commerce
Freedom of women to engage in travel & trade linked to muen (including tax-free) status
Female property ownership strongly linked to houses and residential properties
Outlaws: unauthorized authorities
By the Kamakura period, some groups of wanderers had developed organized regional communities outside of either imperial or shogunal purview
Unauthorized Authorities
Official centers of power concerned with management of land and elites, not commerce
Increasing volume and scope of trade in the Kamakura period
Merchants and financiers developed own systems for regularization of commerce
Power of lords of the land and sea founded on dependence of commerce on transportation networks
Unauthorized Authorities
By 13th c., many would regularly turn to these sources of alternative authority in the resolution of disputes or guaranteeing protection
Military campaigns to suppress lords of the land and sea in 13-14th centuries
Yet these groups provided indispensable services
Opportunities for wealth if cooperate/coopt
From 13th century, shogunate made some attempts to incorporate these networks
Outlaws and Religion
Pre-Kamakura Buddhism
Nara Period
Process of translation
State control
Philosophy over evangelism
Heian Period
Japanese sects
Emphasis on Doctrine
Esoteric v. Exoteric
Monastic Life and Meditation/Difficult Rituals
Tough Times
Established sects suffer setbacks
Mappô
Last and degenerate stage of cosmic cycle; no one bothers to follow Buddhist precepts or can achieve nirvana through own efforts
New Kamakura Buddhist Sects
Jôdo (Pure Land) by Hônen (1133-1212)
Jôdo Shinshû (True Pure Land)
Shinran (1173-1262)
Rennyo (1414-1499)
Ji (Time) by Ippen (1239-1289)
Nichiren by Nichiren (1222-1282)
Zen
Jôdo (Pure Land)
Hônen (1133-1212) trained at Mt. Hiei and in Nara
Made break with Tendai to advocate exclusive nembutsu
Jôdo refers to rebirth in the Pure Land of Amida
In degenerate age of mappô, only faith in Amida's mercy can bring salvation
"If a wicked man can be reborn in the Pure Land, how much more is a good man likely to be reborn in the Pure Land"
Jôdo Shinshû (True Pure Land)
Shinran (1173-1262) trained at Hiei, then became disciple of Hônen
Emphasis on faith in Amida becomes more purist
More radical statement re: good and evil: "If even a good man will be received in the Pure Land, how much more so a wicked man"
Daily life and concerns not obstacle to salvation
Great appeal to and practical for commoners
Rennyo (1414-1499) responsible for institutionalization and network of followers
Temples built by commoner, not state, sponsorship
Ji (Time) Sect
Ippen (1239-1289) studied Tendai & Jôdo
Neither faith nor sin matter
Followers drawn from urban society and "lower" orders of society: bandits, merchants, women, non-humans
Nichiren Sect
Nichiren (1222-1282) studied at Mt. Hiei
Emphasized the Lotus Sutra as the supreme Buddhist text
Exclusivist
Nationalism ("I am the soul of Japan")
Trends Among the New Kamakura Buddhist Sects
All come from monks who studied on Mt. Hiei
Belief that all have entered the degenerate age
Faith over practice
Anyone regardless of station in life can do it
But is it easy?
Believer over institution
Egalitarian lay communities for faith support & defense
Aggressively evangelical, new constituencies
Exclusivist (us and no one else)
Persecuted by the government
Why Were the New Sects Suppressed?
Accusations of Heresy
"Dangers" of monotheism
Vivid account of suppression by Nichiren
Changing Notions of Good & Evil
Tension between fixity v. fluidity
Hyakushô/officials as good, rônin /"bandits" as evil
Organization and mobilization of out of law elements
Buddhist morals
Different and more elaborated value system than that of Shintô
Converting women, non-humans, outlaws: blessing or a curse?
New values informing social hierarchy linked to changing relationship to nature?
Monday, November 6, 2006
Lecture 13: Kamakura Buddhism
