Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Monastic Institution in Medieval Japan (Harvard East Asian Monographs)

Collcutt, Martin

ISBN 10: 0674304985 / ISBN 13: 9780674304987

Published by Harvard University Asia Center, 1996

About this Item

The book is in good condition with all pages and cover intact, including the dust jacket if originally issued. The spine may show light wear. Pages may contain some notes or highlighting, and there might be a "From the library of" label. Boxed set packaging, shrink wrap, or included media like CDs may be missing.

Seller Inventory # BSM.11TS0

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Monastic Institution in Medieval Japan (Harvard East Asian Monographs)
• Publisher: Harvard University Asia Center
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674304985
• ISBN 13: 9780674304987
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: good

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.