A Cultural History of Japanese Buddhism

William E. Deal, Brian Ruppert

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781118608333
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Buddhism

A Cultural History of Japanese Buddhism offers a comprehensive, nuanced, and chronological account of the evolution of Buddhist religion in Japan from the sixth century to the present day.

• Traces each period of Japanese history to reveal the complex and often controversial histories of Japanese Buddhists and their unfolding narratives
• Examines relevant social, political, and transcultural contexts, and places an emphasis on Japanese Buddhist discourses and material culture
• Addresses the increasing competition between Buddhist, Shinto, and Neo-Confucian world-views through to the mid-nineteenth century
• Informed by the most recent research, including the latest Japanese and Western scholarship
• Illustrates the richness and complexity of Japanese Buddhism as a lived religion, offering readers a glimpse into the development of this complex and often misunderstood tradition

1
Early Historical Contexts (Protohistory to 645)

Buddhism’s Transmission to Yamato: The Nihon shoki Narrative

The Nihon shoki (Chronicles of Japan) is the primary textual source for narrative details about the transmission of Buddhist texts, images, and ritual objects to the Japanese islands, and for Buddhism’s early development. Compiled by imperial command and completed in 720 CE, it narrates the history of Japan from its mythic origins to 697 CE. According to the Nihon shoki, Buddha’s Dharma (i.e., teaching) was introduced to Japan in 552 CE:

552 CE. Winter, 10th Month: King Sŏngmyŏng of the Korean kingdom of Paekche [ J. Kudara] – also known as King Sŏng – dispatched Norisach’igye [ J. Nurishichikei] and other retainers to Japan. They offered as tribute a gold and copper statue of Śākyamuni Buddha, ritual banners and canopies, and several volumes of sūtras and commentaries. In a separate declaration, King Sŏng praised the merit of propagating and worshipping the Dharma, stating, “This Dharma is superior to all the others. It is difficult to understand and difficult to attain. Neither the Duke of Chou nor Confucius was able to comprehend it. This Dharma can produce immeasurable, limitless meritorious karmic consequence, leading to the attainment of supreme wisdom. It is like a person who has a wish-fulfilling gem whose every desire is granted. The jewel of this wonderful Dharma is also like this. Every prayer is answered and not a need goes unfulfilled. Moreover, from distant India (Tenjiku) all the way to the three Korean kingdoms this teaching has been followed and upheld. There is no one who does not revere it. Accordingly, I, King Sŏngmyŏng, your vassal, have humbly dispatched my retainer Norisach’igye to the Imperial Country [that is, Yamato] to transmit and propagate this teaching thoughout the land, thereby effecting what the Buddha foretold, “my Dharma will spread to the east.”

(adapted from Inoue 1987: 2.474–5 and Deal 1995: 218)

The Buddha may have foretold the eastward transmission of the Dharma, but this did not mean that its acceptance in Japan did not merit discussion among the Heavenly Sovereign’s (tennō) most powerful advisors. The same Nihon shoki entry continues by recounting the manner in which Buddhism was received as a result of the Paekche king’s urging.

This very day the Heavenly Sovereign [that is, Kinmei] heard this declaration and leapt with joy. He declared to the envoys, “From ancient times to the present we have not heard of such a fine Dharma as this. Nevertheless, we cannot ourselves decide whether to accept this teaching.” Thereupon he inquired of his assembled officials, “The Buddha presented to us from the country to our west has a face of extreme solemnity. We have never known such a thing before. Should we worship it or not?”

Soga no Iname humbly responded: “The many countries to the west all worship this Buddha. Is it only Japan [Nihon] that will reject this teaching?”

Mononobe no Okoshi and Nakatomi no Kamako together humbly responded: “The rulers of our country have always worshipped throughout the four seasons the 180 deities of heaven and earth. If they now change this and worship the deity of a foreign country [adashikuni no kami], we fear that the deities of our country [kuni tsu kami] will become angry.”

The Heavenly Sovereign declared, “I grant to Soga no Iname the worship of this Buddha image in order to test its efficacy.”

Soga no Iname knelt down and received the statue. With great joy, he enshrined it in his home at Owarida and devotedly performed the rituals of a world renouncer [that is, a practicing Buddhist]. He also purified his home at Mukuhara and made it into a temple.

(adapted from Inoue 1987: 2.475 and Deal 1995: 219)

The Nihon shoki account of Buddhism’s introduction to Japan raises a number of historical and conceptual issues. Historically, there is a wider East Asian context for Buddhism’s transmission: Buddhism was received in China from Central Asia by way of India, and from China to the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago. Once transmitted to the Japanese islands, there are issues regarding Buddhism’s reception and its cultural impact. Conceptually, what did the Heavenly Sovereign and his courtiers understand Buddhism to be? Or, put another way, what did they assume they were adopting or rejecting? Though there may be no definitive answer to this question, we can explore Japanese responses to Buddhism in this formative period following its transmission to the Japanese islands. We will consider these issues from both the larger East Asian perspective and from the specific context of Japan.

Buddhism in the China Sea interaction sphere

Joan Piggott’s (1997) notion of the China Sea interaction sphere (or China Sea sphere)¹ offers one way to frame East Asian relations in the era of Buddhist transmission. This term refers to the shared material and intellectual culture that flowed between parts of the Chinese mainland, the Korean peninsula, and the Japanese archipelago by way of the China Sea during the third through eighth centuries (see Figure 1.1). Exchange in the China Sea sphere impacted emerging notions about Japanese kingship and, ultimately, the formation of the state known as “Nihon,” a term in use by the late 670s. Piggott stresses that China Sea sphere cultural transmission was multidirectional, and not simply Chinese culture radiating unidirectionally out to other parts of East Asia, as has sometimes been assumed. Ko, Haboush, and Piggott (2003: 9–10) argue that the China Sea sphere shared, to some extent, “compatibility in written language, institutions, law, religions, and aesthetics. Confucian texts, along with Buddhist sutras, gave elites a common vocabulary that transcended ethnic and national boundaries.” They go on to note that despite these shared elements, each East Asian region maintained its own distinctive cultural and intellectual perspectives.

Figure 1.1 China Sea Interaction Sphere. Map by Matthew Stavros.

The transmission of Buddhism to Japan, then, constitutes one aspect of a larger process of the selective adaptation and use of East Asian mainland culture. Examples of material and intellectual culture exchanged included – in addition to Buddhism, Confucian, and Daoist ideas – the Chinese language and writing system, artistic techniques, medical knowledge, political structures, and social configurations. These cultural influences flowed into the Japanese archipelago at the same time as powerful extended families or clans (uji)² were competing for political ascendancy over Yamato. The transmission of Buddhism to the Japanese islands was thus intimately connected with struggles over the consolidation of political power.

Traditional scholarship on the role of China in ancient East Asia has typically viewed China as a cultural juggernaut that transmitted culture and civilization to the East Asian hinterlands. From this perspective, a one-way cultural transmission from China to Korea to Japan brought political, religious, literary, and artistic traditions to otherwise culturally deprived regions. As Piggott (1997) suggests, however, there is clear evidence that the cultural transmission was multidirectional. Cultural flows back and forth throughout East Asia included such things as trade goods, art and architectural techniques and styles, texts, medicines, and human resources (Buddhist monks and nuns, Confucian scholars, merchants, government emissaries, artisans, and craftspeople, among others) as well as intangible human resources such as language, religion, political structures, medical knowledge, and promises of political and military support.

One important aspect of this multidirectional cultural exchange was its usefulness in establishing trade and strategic relationships with other East Asian political entities in the early centuries of the Common Era. The Nihon shoki depicts relations between the Japanese archipelago and the Korean peninsula. It is clear that there was much maneuvering on the part of the kings of Yamato and the Korean Three Kingdoms (Koguryŏ, Paekche, and Silla) to secure support, threaten retaliation, and otherwise jockey for position. In Japan’s case, its relations with the Korean peninsula and the Chinese mainland reinforced the growing power of the Yamato Great Kings.³ Importantly, this relationship was also one of tribute. Besides the establish...