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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Buddhism
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The Weaving of Mantra - Kukai and the Construction of Esoteric Buddhist Discourse (Paperback, Revised)
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The Weaving of Mantra - Kukai and the Construction of Esoteric Buddhist Discourse (Paperback, Revised)
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The great Buddhist priest Kukai (774-835) is credited with the
introduction and establishment of tantric -or esoteric -Buddhism in
early ninth-century Japan. In Ryuichi Abe 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 -Abe contends that the importance of Kukai'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 Kukai 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 Abe
illustrates, Kukai'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. Abe begins by placing Kukai'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 Kukai's magnum opus, () and introduces a number of
Japanese and Chinese primary-source texts previously unknown by
Western-language scholars. Instead of tracing Kukai's thought
through literal readings, explores the rhetorical strategies Kukai
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. The great
Buddhist priest Kukai (774-835) is credited with the introduction
and establishment of tantric-or esoteric-Buddhism in early
ninth-century Japan. In The Weaving of Mantra, Ryuichi Abe 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-Abe contends that the importance of
Kukai'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. The Weaving of
Mantra embeds Kukai 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 Abe illustrates, Kukai'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. Abe begins by placing
Kukai'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 Kukai's magnum opus, Ten
Abiding Stages on the Secret Mandalas (Himitsu mandara jujushinron)
and introduces a number of Japanese and Chinese primary-source
texts previously unknown by Western-language scholars. Instead of
tracing Kukai's thought through literal readings, The Weaving of
Mantra explores the rhetorical strategies Kukai 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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