Synopses & Reviews
The great Buddhist priest KAkai (774-835) is credited with the introduction and establishment of tantric -- or esoteric -- Buddhism in early ninth-century Japan. In The Weaving of Mantra, RyAichi AbA(c) examines this important religious figure -- neglected in modern academic literature -- and his profound influence on Japanese culture. Offering a radically new approach to the study of early religious history -- combining historical research, discourse analysis, literary criticism, and semiology -- AbA(c) contends that the importance of KAkai's transmission of esoteric Buddhism to Japan lay not in the foundation of a new sect but in his creation of a general theory of language grounded in the ritual speech of mantra.
The Weaving of Mantra embeds KAkai within the fabric of political and social life in ninth-century Japan and explains how esoteric Buddhism played a crucial role in many societal changes in Japan -- from the growth of monasteries into major feudal powers to the formation of the native phonetic alphabet, kana. As AbA(c) illustrates, KAkai's writings and the new type of discourse they spawned also marked Japan's transition from the ancient order to the medieval world, replacing Confucianism as the ideology of the state.
AbA(c) begins by placing KAkai's life in the historical context of medieval Japan and the Ritsuryo state, then explores his interaction with the Nara Buddhist intelligentsia, which was seminal to the introduction of esoteric Buddhism. The author discusses KAkai's magnum opus, Ten Abiding Stages on the Secret Mandalas ( Himitsu mandara jujushinron) and introduces a number of Japanese and Chinese primary-source texts previously unknown by Western-language scholars. Instead of tracing KAkai's thought through literal readings, The Weaving of Mantra explores the rhetorical strategies KAkai employed in his works, shedding valuable light on what his texts meant to his readers and what his goals were in creating a discourse that ultimately transformed Japanese culture.
Synopsis
Ryuichi Abe presents the most thorough and innovative study to date on the Buddhist figure Kukai (774 - 835) -one that constitutes a radically different approach to the research on early Japanese religious history. Kukai is generally credited with the formal establishment of tantric -or esoteric -Buddhism in Japan and as the founder of the Shingon school of Buddhism. Yet as Abe contends, the importance of Kukais importation of esoteric Buddhism into Japan lay not in the foundation of a new sect but in his creation of a new religious discourse.
Embedding Kukai within the fabric of political and social life of ninth-century Japan, "The Weaving of Mantra" explores the various intellectual and political contexts which surrounded him, and introduces a number of Japanese and Chinese primary-source texts previously undiscovered by Western-language scholars.
Synopsis
The great Buddhist priest Kkai (774-835) is credited with the introduction and establishment of tantric -- or esoteric -- Buddhism in early ninth-century Japan. In The Weaving of Mantra, Ryichi Ab examines this important religious figure -- neglected in modern academic literature -- and his profound influence on Japanese culture. Offering a radically new approach to the study of early religious history -- combining historical research, discourse analysis, literary criticism, and semiology -- Ab contends that the importance of Kkai's transmission of esoteric Buddhism to Japan lay not in the foundation of a new sect but in his creation of a general theory of language grounded in the ritual speech of mantra.
The Weaving of Mantra embeds Kkai within the fabric of political and social life in ninth-century Japan and explains how esoteric Buddhism played a crucial role in many societal changes in Japan -- from the growth of monasteries into major feudal powers to the formation of the native phonetic alphabet, kana. As Ab illustrates, Kkai's writings and the new type of discourse they spawned also marked Japan's transition from the ancient order to the medieval world, replacing Confucianism as the ideology of the state.
Ab begins by placing Kkai's life in the historical context of medieval Japan and the Ritsuryo state, then explores his interaction with the Nara Buddhist intelligentsia, which was seminal to the introduction of esoteric Buddhism. The author discusses Kkai's magnum opus, Ten Abiding Stages on the Secret Mandalas ( Himitsu mandara jujushinron) and introduces a number of Japanese and Chinese primary-source texts previously unknown by Western-language scholars.Instead of tracing Kkai's thought through literal readings, The Weaving of Mantra explores the rhetorical strategies Kkai employed in his works, shedding valuable light on what his texts meant to his readers and what his goals were in creating a discourse that ultimately transformed Japanese culture.
Synopsis
Ryichi Ab presents the most thorough and innovative study to date on the Buddhist figure Kkai (774 - 835) -- one that constitutes a radically different approach to the research on early Japanese religious history. Kkai is generally credited with the formal establishment of tantric -- or esoteric -- Buddhism in Japan and as the founder of the Shingon school of Buddhism. Ab contends that the importance of Kkai's transmission of esoteric Buddhism to Japan lay not in the foundation of a new sect but in his creation of a general theory of language grounded in the ritual speech of mantra.