This study addresses the relationship between the veneration of Buddha relics and the appropriation of power in early medieval Japan. Focusing on the ninth to fourteenth centuries, it analyzes the ways in which relics functioned as material media for the interactions of Buddhist clerics, the imperial family, lay aristocrats, and warrior society and explores the multivocality of relics by dealing with specific historical examples. Brian Ruppert argues that relics offered means for reinforcing or subverting heirarchical relations. The author's critical literary and anthropological analyses attest to the prominence of relic veneration in government, in lay practice associated with the maintenance of the imperial line and warrior houses, and in the promotion of specific Buddhist sects in Japan.
目次
1. Introduction: Buddha Relics, Exchange, and the Value of Death 2. The Continental Context: Buddha Relics in India and China 3. Buddha Relics as Imperial Treasures 4. Buddha Relics as Esoteric Treasures: The Latter Seven-Day Rite and the Inventory of Buddha Relics 5. Buddha Relics as Objects of Contention: Wish-Fulfilling Jewel Worship and the Genealogy of Relic Theft 6. Lineage and Gender in the Economy of Relics 7. Rebirth of the Warrior-King: Samurai Society and the Powers of Buddha Relics 8. conclusion: Buddha Relecs and the Ritual Economy in Early Medieval Japan
