Rituals of Initiation and Consecration in Premodern Japan: Power and Legitimacy in Kingship, Religion, and the Arts

Published by De Gruyter 2022

Rituals of Initiation and Consecration in Premodern Japan

Power and Legitimacy in Kingship, Religion, and the Arts

Edited by: Fabio Rambelli and Or Porath

Volume 87 in the series Religion and Society

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110720211

Overview
Contents

About this book

In premodern Japan, legitimization of power and knowledge in various contexts was sanctioned by consecration rituals (kanjō) of Buddhist origin. This is the first book to address in a comprehensive way the multiple forms and aspects of these rituals also in relation to other Asian contexts.
The multidisciplinary chapters in the book address the origins of these rituals in ancient Persia and India and their developments in China and Tibet, before discussing in depth their transformations in medieval Japan. In particular, kanjō rituals are examined from various perspectives: imperial ceremonies, Buddhist monastic rituals, vernacular religious forms (Shugendō mountain cults, Shinto lineages), rituals of bodily transformation involving sexual practice, and the performing arts: a history of these developments, descriptions of actual rituals, and reference to religious and intellectual arguments based on under-examined primary sources. No other book presents so many cases of kanjō in such depth and breadth.
This book is relevant to readers interested in Buddhist studies, Japanese religions, the history of Japanese culture, and in the intersections between religious doctrines, rituals, legitimization, and performance.

Author / Editor information

Fabio Rambelli, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA and Or Porath, Leiden University, Netherlands.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	XI
List of Illustrations and Image Credits Publicly Available Download PDF	XV
Notes for the Reader Publicly Available Download PDF	XIX
List of Contributors Publicly Available Download PDF	XXI
Chapter One General Introduction: Rituals of Initiation and Consecration (kanjō) in Premodern Japan Fabio Rambelli and Or Porath Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part One: Origins and Developments on the Asian Mainland
Chapter Two Reflections on the Royal Unction Waters David Gordon White Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	33
Chapter Three The Origin and Transformations of Abhiṣeka in Indian Buddhism Mori Masahide Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	51
Chapter Four Birds of a Feather Bathe Together: Buddhist Consecration Rituals in Medieval China and their Relation to Daoism Introduction: Buddhist Consecration in China Dominic Steavu Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	61
Chapter Five Three Chapters on Consecration from the Oḍiyāna Mahāmudrā Lineage Adam C. Krug Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
Part Two: Imperial Consecration in Japan
Chapter Six The First Royal Abhiṣeka in Japan: Kūkai’s Esoteric Buddhist Ordination for the Grand Emperor Heizei Ryūichi Abé Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	115
Chapter Seven Literary Secret Agents: Solving the Case of the Sokui Kanjō Susan Blakeley Klein Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
Chapter Eight New Interpretations of Sokui Kanjō in the Modern Period: The Enthronement Ceremonies of Emperors Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa Matsumoto Ikuyo Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
Part Three: Religious Developments of the Imperial Consecration
Chapter Nine The Cultural History of Kanjō in Japan: The Integration of the Sacred and the Profane Abe Yasurō Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
Chapter Ten “Tossing the Flower for the Sake of the Divinities”: Kechien Kanjō and the Medieval Japanese Cosmology Tomishima Yoshiyuki Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
Chapter Eleven Ritually Embodying the Lotus Sutra: An Interpretation of the Japanese Tendai Kurodani Lineage Consecrated Ordination (Kai Kanjō) Paul Groner Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	245
Chapter Twelve The Abhiṣeka of the Yogin: Bodily Practices and the Interiorization of Ritual in Medieval Japan Lucia Dolce Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	275
Chapter Thirteen The World of Shintō Kanjō, With a Focus on Ryōbu Shinto Itō Satoshi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	321
Chapter Fourteen The Consecration of Acolytes (Chigo Kanjō): Ritualizing Male-Male Sexuality in Medieval Tendai Or Porath Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	343
Chapter Fifteen Before the Appearance of Shugen Kanjō: Origin and History of a Forged Ritual Kawasaki Tsuyoshi Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	377
Chapter Sixteen Buchū Kanjō: Secret Dharma Transmission in the Shugendō Mountain-Entry Ritual Andrea Castiglioni Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	391
Part Four: Developments in the Arts
Chapter Seventeen Kokin Kanjō: Rituals and Conceptualizations Unno Keisuke Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	409
Chapter Eighteen The Consecration to the Art of the Biwa (Biwa Kanjō) Inose Chihiro Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	421
Chapter Nineteen Shō kanjō: Music Education, Secret Melodies, and Imperial Politics Fabio Rambelli Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	435
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	461
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	495

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars and students in Buddhist studies, ritual studies, Japanese religious and intellectual history, Asian religions
Pages
- Front matter: 24
- Main content: 505
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 25
- Coloured Illustrations: 15
- Coloured Maps: 1
- Tables: 8
Keywords: Buddhism; Asian religions; rituals; Japan

eBook

Published: January 19, 2022
ISBN: 9783110720211

Hardcover

Published: January 31, 2022
ISBN: 9783110720143