Zen Sanctuary of Purple Robes: Japan's Tokeiji Convent Since 1285

by Morrell, Sachiko Kaneki; Morrell, Robert E.

• ISBN13: 9780791468289
• ISBN10: 0791468283
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-07-06
• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr

Summary

Zen Sanctuary of Purple Robes examines the affairs of Rinzai Zen's Tokeiji Convent, founded in 1285 by nun Kakusan Shido after the death of her husband, Hojo Tokimune. It traces the convent's history through seven centuries, including the early nuns' Zen practice; Abbess Yodo's imperial lineage with nuns in purple robes; Hideyori's seven-year-old daughter-later to become the convent's twentieth abbess, Tenshu-spared by Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle for Osaka Castle; Tokeiji as "divorce temple" during the mid-Edo period and a favorite topic of senryu satirical verse; the convent's gradual decline as a functioning nunnery but its continued survival during the early Meiji persecution of Buddhism; and its current prosperity. The work includes translations, charts, illustrations, bibliographies, and indices. Beyond such historical details, the authors emphasize the convent's "inclusivist" Rinzai Zen practice in tandem with the nearby Engakuji Temple. The rationale for this "inclusivism" is the continuing acceptance of the doctrine of "Skillful Means" (hoben) as expressed in the Lotus Sutra-a notion repudiated or radically reinterpreted by most of the Kamakura reformers. In support of this contention, the authors include a complete translation of the Mirror for Women by Kakusan's contemporary, Muju Ichien. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Sachiko Kaneko Morrell is retired from her position as East Asian Librarian at Washington University in St. Louis Robert E. Morrell is Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature and Buddhism at Washington University in St. Louis

Table of Contents

Figures	ix
Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xix
1. Winds of Doctrine: The World of Thought and Feeling in Late Kamakura Japan	1	(14)
2. Muju Ichien's Mirror for Women (Tsuma kagami, 1300): A Buddhist Vernacular Tract of the Late Kamakura Period	15	(24)
3. Abbess Kakusan and the Kamakura Hojo	39	(16)
4. Princess Yodo's Purple-clad Nuns	55	(22)
5. From Sanctuary to Divorce Temple: Abbess Tenshu and the Later Kitsuregawa Administrators	77	(18)
6. Everyday Life at Matsugaoka Tokeiji: Sacred and Secular	95	(18)
7. The "Divorce Temple" in Edo Satirical Verse	113	(24)
8. Meiji through Heisei: Tokeiji and Rinzai Zen Continuity	137	(13)
Appendixes
Chart A. Zen Lineage from Sakyamuni to the Tokeiji	150	(3)
Chart B. Kakusan's Relationship to the Hojo and Adachi Families	153	(1)
Chart C. From Ashikaga to the Kitsuregawa Administrators	154	(1)
Chart D. Relationships in the Tokeiji Succession during the Late Muromachi and Early Edo Periods	155	(1)
Chart E. Tokeiji Head Abbesses and Acting Abbesses	156	(1)
Notes	157	(36)
Annotated Cross-Referenced Index to Major Cited Texts	193	(12)
Bibliography	205	(24)
Index	229