From Outcasts to Emperors: Shingon Ritsu and the Mañjuśrī Cult in Medieval Japan. By David Quinter. Brill, June, 2015. 340 pages. ISBN13: 9789004293397 E-ISBN: 9789004294592
摘要
Quinter's study of Buddhist monks Eison (1201–1290), Ninshō (1217–1303), and Monkan (1278–1357) is exemplarily written allowing for his extensive research to be broadly approachable. Medieval Buddhism at Nara's Saidaiji developed a unique syncretism of teachings and practices bringing together esoteric (tantric) Buddhism, first introduced to Japan in the Heian period (Shingon), with an earlier school of Nara Buddhism (Ritsu). This created an interesting amalgam of monastic discipline with mystical rituals, ethical merit with ecstatic experiences. These biographies also lay out important and interesting roots for understanding the transformations of Buddhism as well as how Kuroda Toshio's influential theories on esoteric/exoteric characteristics of medieval Buddhism are embodied and contextualized. Shingon Ritsu monks may not be as well known as their contemporaries like Nichiren, Shinran, or Dogen, whose imagined Buddhisms were characterized more by sectarianism than syncretism with earlier teachings and traditions. However the monks of Saidaiji's contributions are substantial for gaining a complete understanding of the period as well as subsequent evolutions of Buddhism. Quinter argues effectively that the emphasis of previous studies on certain medieval sectarian founders skews accurate historical understandings and appropriate theoretical utilizations. Eison, Ninshō, and Monkan are presented as commendable Buddhist leaders who take monastic piety and social compassion seriously. They strive to perpetuate traditions to which they are strongly and genuinely committed. Devotion for them was represented through serious monastic commitment, ritual performances including memorial services, campaigns to replace icons or repair temples damaged by the Heian‐era‐ending Gempei war (1180–1185), social activities to help hijiri (itinerant monks), nuns, and laity on the margins of society (hinin), as well as serious textual and liturgical study. While not rejecting the existence and significance of corruption in medieval Buddhism, common in pervious studies, Quinter reveals a fuller and more complex picture, which makes the contemporary perpetuation of esoteric Buddhism's monastic institutions and popular pilgrimages more plausible. The text's appendix of annotated translations for an extensive collection of relevant documents is a notable contribution. Even more commendable is Quinter's emplacement of these primary sources into narratives of lived religion, which makes the study much more relevant and readable.
