Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Monastic Institution in Medieval Japan

Martin Collcutt

ISBN 10: 0674304985 / ISBN 13: 9780674304987

Published by Harvard University, Asia Center, 1996

About this Item

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Seller Inventory # B9780674304987

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Monastic Institution in Medieval Japan
• Publisher: Harvard University, Asia Center
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674304985
• ISBN 13: 9780674304987
• Binding: Paperback / softback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 650 grams

About this title

Synopsis

In Japan today, Zen monastic life is practiced substantially as it was practiced in medieval Japan or Sung dynasty China. More than twenty-one thousand Zen temples are active. This book examines the Zen monastery as a major institution in medieval Japanese society. Focusing on the Five Mountains network of officially sponsored Zen monasteries, it describes the transmission of Rinzai and Soto Zen to Japan, traces the patterns of secular patronage, and discusses in detail the Zen monastic environment, the monastic rule, the community, and the economy.

This is the first detailed study in any Western language of the social and institutional development of Zen Buddhism. Martin Collcutt’s illustrated text should be valuable to those interested in medieval Japanese history as well as students of Zen practice and Zen-related culture.

About the Author

Martin Collcutt is Professor of East Asian Studies and History at Princeton University.