The Weaving of Mantra - Hardcover

Ab�, Ry�ichi

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Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0231112866 ISBN 13: 9780231112864

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 1999

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The great Buddhist priest K�kai (774-835) is credited with the introduction and establishment of tantric -or esoteric -Buddhism in early ninth-century Japan. In Ry�ichi 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 K�kai�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. embeds K�kai 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, K�kai�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 K�kai�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 K�kai�s magnum opus, () and introduces a number of Japanese and Chinese primary-source texts previously unknown by Western-language scholars. Instead of tracing K�kai�s thought through literal readings, explores the rhetorical strategies K�kai 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. --

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Book Description:

Ry�ichi Ab� presents the most thorough and innovative study to date on the Buddhist figure K�kai (774 - 835)―one that constitutes a radically different approach to the research on early Japanese religious history. K�kai 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 K�kai'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.

From the Back Cover:

The great Buddhist priest Kukai (774-835) introduced and established tantric -- or esoteric -- Buddhism in early ninth-century Japan. Ryuichi Abe examines this momentous religious figure and his profound influence on Japanese culture. Offering a radically new approach to the study of early religious history that combines historical research, discourse analysis, literary criticism, and semiology, Abe contends that the importance of Kukai's transmission of esoteric Buddhism to Japan lay less in the foundation of a new sect than in his creation of a general theory of language grounded in the ritual speech of mantra. Exploring the rich rhetorical strategies Kukai employed in his works, The Weaving of Mantra illuminates both what his texts meant to his readers and what goals guided the creation of a powerful discourse that ultimately transformed Japanese culture.

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