Pure Land Buddhism; Japan; Shin (Sect); Honganji=西本願寺; Muromachi=室町
摘要
Since its pivotal sixteenth century the Honganji has been the largest religious institution in Japan. It achieved this status because it reflected the deep privatization which has been the underlying current of Japanese politics since the late medieval period. The sixteenth century institution can be described in terms of its general membership, which had many bourgeois characteristics and was on the cutting edge of contemporary economic development; in terms of its leadership, which was devoted to lessening political frictions with warlords by centralizing authority; in terms of its widespread geography, centered in the richest provinces of Japan; in terms of its political activity as a private organization; and in terms of its religious forms, which reflected both extensive popularization and the prosperous sociopolitical status of its membership. The individualistic character of Honganji's Pure Land Buddhist doctrine runs parallel with the sociopolitical character of the institution and cannot be correctly interpreted without the sociopolitical history. Honganji religion has often been likened to a protestant form of Buddhism, but compared to reformed Christianity in Europe, it was more peacefully continuous with earlier religious institutions and more successfully adjusted between the secular and religious spheres.
目次
Abstract Introduction Ch 1. The Legal Background of Honganji Ch 2. The Muromachi Political Context and the Social Forms of the Honganji General Membership Ch 3. The Honganji Leadership and its Organizational Policies Ch 4. The Geography of the Honganji Network Ch 5. Honganji's Political Activity Ch 6. The Outer Forms of Honganji's Religious Culture
