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Hachikazuki: Revealing Kannon's Crowning Compassion in Muromachi Fiction |
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| Author |
Dix, Monika
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| Source |
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies
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| Volume | v.36 n.2 |
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| Date | 2009 |
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| Pages | 279 - 294 |
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| Publisher | Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture=南山宗教文化研究所 |
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| Publisher Url |
http://nirc.nanzan-u.ac.jp/en/
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| Location | 名古屋, 日本 [Nagoya, Japan] |
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| Content type | 期刊論文=Journal Article |
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| Language | 英文=English |
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| Note | Special issue: Vernacular Buddhism and Medieval Japanese Literature |
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| Abstract | The corpus of late-medieval Japanese fiction contains various stories about
the benefits and favors obtained through devotion to the bodhisattva Kannon.
One of these stories is Hachikazuki, which features a young heroine who, following her parents’ prayers, is conceived through the divine intervention of
Kannon. The girl loses her mother at an early age, is stigmatized by a bowl
that her mother has placed inverted upon her head, and undergoes a series of
hardships and sufferings. Eventually, the bowl miraculously falls off, and the
story culminates in the heroine’s happy marriage and the universal recognition
of her virtues. I discuss the significance of the bowl as a narrative trope in
Hachikazuki in order to illuminate its function as a physical symbol of Kannon’s active compassion and divine protection. Kannon seems to be largely
absent throughout the narrative, especially in the episodes where the heroine
overcomes her suffering thanks to the saving power of the bowl. I argue
that the bowl indicates Kannon’s benevolent presence throughout the entire
story. Therefore, the bowl not only serves as a regenerative space where Hachikazuki can overcome the trauma of her early childhood loss, but it also bridges the gap between orthodox doctrinal and popular vernacular representations of Kannon. |
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| ISSN | 03041042 (P) |
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| Hits | 1328 |
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| Created date | 2009.10.14 |
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| Modified date | 2018.09.04 |
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