BUDDHIST HAGIOGRAPHY IN EARLY JAPAN by Jonathan Morris Augustine ( 9780415322454 )

Item Details

Title:

BUDDHIST HAGIOGRAPHY IN EARLY JAPAN
IMAGES OF COMPASSION IN THE GYOKI TRADITION

By:

Jonathan Morris Augustine

Format:

Hardback

List price:

£135.00

Our price:

£121.50

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10% off

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£13.50

ISBN 10:

0415322456

ISBN 13:

9780415322454

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Publisher:

TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD

Pub. date:

28 October, 2004

Series:

Routledge Studies in Asian Religion

Pages:

184

Description:

Much of the Scholarship on Gyoki is based on fantastic medieval biographies and legends. This work, however, makes use of many different lenses to develop multiple perspectives on the life of Gyoki.

Synopsis:

Hagiographies or idealized biographies which recount the lives of saints, bodhisattvas and other charismatic figures have been the meeting place for myth and experience. In medieval Europe, the 'lives of saints' were read during liturgical celebrations and the texts themselves were treated as sacred objects. In Japan, it was believed that those who read the biographies of lofty monks would acquire merit. Since hagiographies were written or compiled by 'believers', the line between fantasy and reality was often obscured. This study of the bodhisattva Gyoki - regarded as the monk who started the largest social welfare movement in Japan - illustrates how Japanese Buddhist hagiographers chose to regard a single monk's charitable activities as a miraculous achievement that shaped the course of Japanese history.

Illustrations:

3 black & white line drawings

Publication:

Imprint:

RoutledgeCurzon

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Returnable

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BUDDHIST HAGIOGRAPHY IN EARLY JAPAN