Buddhist Temples of Kyōto and Kamakura. By Beatrice Lane Suzuki. Equinox Publishing, November 30, 2013. 256 pages. ISBN-10: 1845539214 ISBN-13: 978-1845539214
摘要
It is important for us to remember our ancestors and to reread their work when we can. This delightful volume is lovingly compiled from the occasional writings of Beatrice Lane Suzuki (1878–1939), who wrote them from the 1920s onward for the Eastern Buddhist. The journal itself, which she edited until her death in 1939, continues today as one of the key journals for Buddhist studies. Beatrice Lane Suzuki was the American spouse of the famous D. T. Suzuki, whose writings introduced Zen Buddhism to the West in the twentieth century. But this volume shows that she was a significant scholar in her own right. Her writings on the major temples she visited in Kyōto and Kamakura over her many years living in Japan are detailed and scholarly, but also engagingly well written. They remain outstanding microstudies of Buddhist sacred places—showing the author's knowledge of Buddhist sources, local temple lore, and a keen ethnographic eye for detail. The book also supplements her work with new essays by Patricia Yamada and others, offering a contemporary view of these same temples today. The volume is organized as follows: Part 1, “Temples of the Eastern Hills in Kyōto,” Part 2, “Pure Land and True Pure Land Temples,” Part 3, “Zen Temples in Kyōto and Kamakura,” Part 4, “Temple of Shingon Buddhism,” Part 5, “Temples of Nichiren Tradition,” and Part VI, “More Temples and Shrines of Kamakura.” In this book it is a pleasure to learn about famous temples like Kiyomizudera, Ginkakuji, Engakuji, Mount Kōya and others. But it's useful in the classroom as well. Her essays remain invaluable for giving students a first‐hand view of the architectural, religious, and literary riches tied to these famous Buddhist temples.
