Jewel in the Ashes : Buddha Relics and Power in Early Medieval Japan / Brian D. Ruppert.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ruppert, Brian D., author.

Series:

Harvard East Asian Monographs ; 188.

Harvard East Asian Monographs ; 188

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gautama Buddha--Relics.

Gautama Buddha.

Relics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource.

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

Leiden; Boston : BRILL, 2000.

Other Title:

Buddha Relics and Power in Early Medieval Japan

Place of Publication:

Boston : Harvard University Asia Center, 2000.

Summary:

Focusing on the ninth to the fourteenth centuries, this study analyzes the ways in which relics functioned as material media for the interactions of Buddhist clerics, the imperial family, lay aristocrats, and warrior society and explores the multivocality of relics by dealing with specific historical examples. Brian Ruppert argues that relics offered means for reinforcing or subverting hierarchical relations. The author's critical literary and anthropological analyses attest to the prominence of relic veneration in government, in lay practice associated with the maintenance of the imperial line and warrior houses, and in the promotion of specific Buddhist sects in Japan.

Contents:

Preliminary Material

Buddha Relics, Exchange, and the Value of Death

The Continental Context: Buddha Relics in India and China

Buddha Relics as Imperial Treasures: 'Ichidai ichido busshari hōken'

Buddha Relics as Esoteric Treasures: The Latter Seven-Day Rite and the Inventory of Buddha Relics

Buddha Relics as Objects of Contention: Wish-Fulfilling Jewel Worship and Relic Theft

Lineage and Gender in the Economy of Relics

Rebirth of the Warrior-King: Samurai Society and the Powers of Buddha Relics

Buddha Relics and the Ritual Economy in Early Medieval Japan

Scripture of the Golden-Wheel Dhāraṇī King's Secret Transformation into a Buddha in This Body Through Turning the Wheel of the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel

Excerpts from the "Relics" ("Shari") and "Additional Teachings on Jewels" ("Hōju yū setsu") Chapters of Kakuzen's Notes (Kakuzen shō)

Glossary

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Harvard East Asian Monographs.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [461]-488) and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9781684173389

1684173388

OCLC:

988767868

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9781684173389 DOI