medieval Japan; Mahāyāna; reading; human body; classical Chinese; explanatory tales; setsuwa; sacred Buddhist texts; preaching; sutras
摘要
This book explores the intersection of two key genres of sacred literature in medieval Japan: sutras, or sacred Buddhist texts; and setsuwa, or “explanatory tales,” used in sermons and collected in written compilations. For most of East Asia, Buddhist sutras were written in classical Chinese and inaccessible to many devotees. How, then, did such devotees access these texts? The book argues that the medieval genre of “explanatory tales” illuminates the link between human body (devotee) and sacred text (sutra). The author's approach to understanding Buddhist textuality focuses on the sensual aspects of religious experience and also looks beyond Japan to explore pre-modern book history, practices of preaching, miracles of reading, and the Mahāyāna Buddhist “cult of the book.”
目次
Front Matter Copyright Page Dedication Illustrations Note on Sutras Note on Setsuwa Abbreviations Acknowledgments Introduction: The Cult of the Book and the Culture of Text View chapter One The Ontology of Sutras View chapter Two Locating Setsuwa in Performance View chapter Three Decomposing Bodies, Composing Texts View chapter Four Textual Transubstantiation and the Place of Memory View chapter Conclusion: On Circumambulatory Reading View chapter End Matter Notes Glossary Works Cited Index
