Flowing Traces: Buddhism in the Literary and Visual Arts of Japan

290 Pages·1992·43.175 MB·English

by  James H. Sanford, William R. Lafleur, Masatoshi Nagatomi (editor)

FLOWING TRACES

FLOWING TRACES
If
BUDDHISM IN THE LITERARY AND VISUAL
ARTS OFJAPAN
Edited by James H. Sanford, William R. LaFleur,
and Masatosht Nagatomi
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
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Copyright © 1992 by Princeton University Press
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Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Oxford
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Date
Flowing traces : Buddhism in the literary and visual arts of Japan /
edited by James H. Sanford, William R. LaFleur, and Masatoshi
Nagatomi.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-691-07365-1 (alk. paper)
I. Japanese literature—To 1868—History and criticism. 2. Buddhism
in literature. 3. Buddhism and art—Japan. I. Sanford, James H.
II. LaFleur, William R. III. Nagatomi, M.
PL726.112.B8F56 1992
895.6Ό9382—dc20 91-29243 CIP
The costs of publishing this book have been defrayed in part by an
award from the Books on Japan Fund in respect of Crisis and
Compensation: Public Policy and Political Stability m Japan, 1949-
1986 and The Artistry of Aeschylus and Zeamu A Comparative Study
of Greek Tragedy and No, both published by Princeton University
Press. The Fund is financed by TheJapan Foundation from donations
contributed generously by Japanese companies.
This book has been composed in Linotron Sabon
Princeton University Press books are printed on acid-free paper
and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the
Council on Library Resources
Printed in the United States of America
1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY LIBRARY PAIR>
32101 020766489
To Bodhidharma
AND HIS GOOD FRIENDS EVERYWHERE

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 3
One
Symbol and Yiigen·. Shunzei's Use of Tendai Buddhism
William R. LaFleur 16
Two
Nature, Courtly Imagery, and Sacred Meaning in the Ippen
Hijiri-e
Laura S. Kaufman 47
Three
Prefiguration and Narrative in Medieval Hagiography: The
Ippen Hijiri-e
James H. Foard 76
Four
Coping with Death: Paradigms of Heaven and Hell and the Six
Realms in Early Literature and Painting
Barbara Ruch 93
Five
Seeing and Being Seen: The Mirror of Performance
Frank Hoff 131
Six
"The Path of My Mountain": Buddhism in N5
Royall Tyler 149
Seven
Chujohime: The Weaving of Her Legend
Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis 180
Eight
Multiple Commemorations: The Vegetable Nehan of Ito
Jakuchu
Yoshiaki Shimizu 201
Vlll CONTENTS
Nine
Holy Horrors: The Sermon-Ballads of Medieval and Early
Modern Japan
Susan Matisoff 234
Contributors 263
Index 265
Illustrations
Figure 1 Ippen preaches at the Shaka-do. Ippen Hijiri-e scroll
vii, section 2. (Courtesy of Tokyo National Museum.
Photograph of facsimile by the author.) 50
Figure 2 Ippen distributing Nembutsu cards at the Shaka-do.
Detail of lppen Hijiri-e, scroll vn, section 2.
(Courtesy of Tokyo National Museum. Photograph
of facsimile by the author.) 52
Figure 3 Ippen parts from Shokai at Sakurai. Detail of lppen
Hijiri-e, scroll n, section 2. (Courtesy of Shojokoji,
Kanagawa and Kankikoji, Kyoto.) 54
Figure 4 lppen departs from the house of Oi no Tar5. Ippen
Hijiri-e, scroll v, section 1. (Courtesy of Shojokoji,
Kanagawa and Kankikoji, Kyoto.) 56
Figure 5 lppen at the Shirakawa Barrier. Ippen Hijiri-e, scroll
v, section 3. (Courtesy of Shojokoji, Kanagawa and
Kankikoji, Kyoto.) 59
Figure 6 lppen visits the Iwashimizu Hachiman Shrine. Ippen
Hijiri-e, scroll ix, section 1. (Courtesy of Shojokoji,
Kanagawa and Kankikoji, Kyoto.). 65
Figure 7 Yakuo-bon frontispiece. Heike nokyo, chapter 23.
(Courtesy of Itskushima Shrine, Hiroshima
Prefecture and Benrido.) 72
Figure 8 A Kumano nun and her young novice assistant with
alms cup at the foot of a bridge performing etoki
(painting-recitation) of the Kumano kanjin jikkai
mandara. Detail from a pair of two-fold screens, "A
Festival at the Sumiyoshi Shrine" (Freer 00.25),
seventeenth century. (Courtesy of Freer Gallery of
Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.) 95
Figure 9 A deceased mother returns in the form of a great
white bird to save her children's lives. Tsukihi no
honji, one-volume Nara-ehon, early Edo period.
(Courtesy of Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Hofer
Collection of the Arts of Asia, Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.) 104