Women, Rites, and Ritual Objects in Premodern Japan

436 Pages·2018·6.656 MB·English

by  Karen M. Gerhart

Women,Rites,andRitualObjectsinPremodernJapan
Brill’s Japanese
Studies Library
Editedby
JoshuaMostow(ManagingEditor)
CarolineRose
KateWildmanNakai
volume 63
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/bjsl
Women, Rites, and Ritual Objects
in Premodern Japan
Editedby
KarenM.Gerhart
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Coverillustration:PortraitofJōkō-in,Edoperiod,hangingscroll,inkandcoloronsilk,119.5x51.5cm,Jōkōji
(nowinthecollectionoftheFukuiPrefectureWakasaHistoryMuseum).Source:EdoTōkyōHakubutsukan,
Gō:Himetachinosengoku:2011NHKtaigadoramatokubetsuten(Tokyo:NHK,2011),p.104.
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ISBN978-90-04-37011-1(hardback)
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Contents
Prologue vii
BarbaraRuch
ListofFiguresandTables xviii
ListofContributors xxi
Introduction 1
KarenM.Gerhart
Part 1
RitualsRelatedtotheHouseholdandChildbirth
1 Womenand“MovingHouse”RitualsinMid-HeianJapan 21
KarenM.Gerhart
2 DevisingtheEsotericRitualsforWomen:FertilityandtheDemon
MotherintheGushinintaisanshōhimitsuhōshū 53
AnnaAndreeva
3 TairanoTokushi’sBirthofEmperorAntoku 89
NaokoGunji
Part 2
WomenandBuddhistRitualsandIcons
4 AFemaleDeityastheFocusofaBuddhistRitual:KichijōKekaat
Hōryūji 141
ChariPradel
5 TheRelicandtheJewel:AnEleventh-CenturyMiniatureBronze
PagodatoHoldtheBonesofaYoungQueen 182
HankGlassman
6 ConnectingKannontoWomenThroughPrint 221
SherryFowler
vi contents
Part 3
BuddhistWomenandDeathMemorials
7 CommemoratingLifeandDeath:TheMemorialCultureSurrounding
theRinzaiZenNunMugaiNyodai 269
PatriciaFister
8 OfSurplicesandCertificates:TracingMugaiNyodai’sKesa 304
MonicaBethe
Part 4
FemalePatronage,Portraits,andRituals
9 RetiredEmpressandBuddhistPatron:Higashisanjō-inDonatesaSet
ofIconCurtainsintheIllustratedLegendsofIshiyamadera
Handscroll 343
ElizabethMorrissey
10 LifeAfterDeath:TheIntersectionofPatronandSubjectinthe
PortraitofJōkō-in 369
ElizabethSelf
Index 401
Prologue
BarbaraRuch
Rituals are organic, rooted in some deep human need. The forms they take
evolvethroughtime,anddependonthesoilinwhichtheygrow—fromisolated
andthin,tolushandabundant.Ritualpracticesbloominisolationorexpand
incollaborativefashion:self-comforting;family-nourishing;community-build-
ing;nation-protecting;evenreflectiveofalongingamongallofusonearthfor
calmandcomfort.Thereisadeeppsychologicaltruthaboutritesandrituals.
Peopleneedrhythmandstructurethatenablesthemtodrivesteadilythrough
unpredictablelives;tokeeptheirmindsfromfrayingoff intoanxietyoreven
intothemadnessthatcanoccurjustfromlivinginanunreliableworldinunre-
liable conditions. This truism appears on all levels of the human spectrum,
fromthoseengagedinthegrindingstruggletosurvivetothosequiteliterally
dyingofaffluentboredom.
Ritualinthefinalanalysisisthebehaviorof womenandmen,andthere-
fore without a doubt, one way or another, gender plays a role. As the cen-
turiespass,learnedgenderbehaviorslithersandslideswithfashionascultures
change. Some general gender differentiations, however, stand out.Wherever
you look in history, in cultures, East or West, men were enamored of ritu-
als with swords and imbued them with sacred powers. Women, kept out of
sight, are harder to observe, but you can be sure it was not a woman who
first conceived of the ritual of standing half-naked outside under the freez-
ingassaultofapoundingsacredwaterfallviewedaspurifying,nomatterhow
convincedshe had become bymonks that inherentlyher female naturewas
polluted.
Ritualicons,too,sometimesclearlyreflectthegenderoftheirmakers,even
when totally unintended. Contrast the lively deities and Bodhisattvas in the
thousands hacked from logs by the now famous seventeenth-century monk
Enkūwiththethousandsof miniatureKannonstatuesmoldedbyhandfrom
fragrant,carefullydried,thenpowderedJapaneseanise(shikimi)leavesoneach
ofwhichseventeenth-centuryAbbessShōzanGen’yōhadfirstcalligraphedthe
nameof theBodhisattvaKannon.Therearenoexamplesyetfoundbywhich
wecouldreversethisparticularkindofobservation.
Ritualobjectsaremono,materialsubstance,corporealobjectsthatexistout-
sideoneself.Asaccoutrementstoritualstheyaretransformedbyhumanbehav-
iorintoobjectsofpotencyandefficacy,whichareindispensablyprecious.They
arethevehiclesthattransportintobehavioritselftheinherentpowersthatare
viii ruch
thewonderofitall.InEnglish,todescribesomethingasan“object”issovery
“objective,”asopposedtotheuniqueintricaciesofthe“subjective.”Eachritual
object,however,isimbuedwithimposedmeaningsthataresubjectiveinthe
extreme.
Oncewehavebecomeacquaintedwiththesutras,studiedthepedanticwrit-
ingsof preacherswhohadanagenda,plowedthroughthediariesof officials
whohadopinions,andhaveenjoyedthosemarvelousweftsandwarpsofsto-
rieswovenpoeticallyintothetapestriesofpremodernJapanesefiction,weare
stillfacedwiththesolidmaterialityofritualobjects,figures,paintings,house-
wares,tools,allmannerofthingsthatexist,inseparable,fromcultureandfaith,
andthatconstituted“life”asitwaslived.Itwouldbeamiracle,evenaswelook
atthemwithempathy,wereoursensesabletoperceivetodaythesameliving
spiritsthattookupresidenceinsuchobjectswhentheybelongedtotheirpre-
modernusers.
ButIamabelieverinmiracles—especiallythosethatresultfromunbiased
effort.Andwhobettertoguideusdeepintoasamplingof justsuchritesand
ritualsthanthearthistorianKarenGerhartandherteamofscholars,whohave
ventured, in this study,Women,Rites,andRitualObjectsinPremodernJapan,
farbeyondartist,artisan,andtechnique,andhaveplungedintotheessential
meaningsattributedtothepremodernJapanesematerialworlditself andthe
culturalroleofthewomenwhoreckonedwithit.Onethingisforsure.Wecan
stopassumingthemenwereinchargeofeverything.
∵
Thehistoryof academiccultureinfluencesgreatlytheresearchsubjectsthat
scholarschoosetostudy(oravoid).Wehavetofacethefactthattheremust
alwayscontinuetobearectificationofpastbiasesanderrorsoffact.Oftimely
importancerightnowisthechallengeoftransformingacademiccultureitself
toincludeallgendersasessentialcomponentsofknowledge.Sincethebegin-
ningoftimeithasbeenmenstudyingmen;historywasthehistoryofmen.It
hasbeenlargelytheartistswhobrokeranks.InJapan,LadyMurasakiShikibu
usedaratheruninteresting“hero,”HikaruGenji,asafoiltorevealwhatVirginia
Woolf,astoundedtomeetanothermajorwomanwriterfromathousandyears
earlier,calledMurasaki’smethod:“themediumofwomen’sminds.”Itishardly
theindisputablefocusof the“malegaze”of theHeiancourtierthatissofas-
cinating.(Whatelseisnew?)ItishowwellMurasakiperceivedtheimpactof
thatgazeonthewomenwhowereitsobject,andhowprofoundlysheunder-
stoodandcoulddescribehoweachwomaninherownwaywasphysicallyand
psychologicallyaffectedbyit.
prologue ix
In academia, however, there has been another kind of “male gaze;” one
whichfocusesonwhatmalescholarsconsideredworthlookingat.Theirgaze
has been largely on a “canon” of male achievements, long since established
by others of their own gender. Contrary to its elite and elegant reputation,
a “canon” is an intimidating force employed not as an invitation but as a
warning—itrendersapioneeringmentalityunnecessary.Thereispressureto
keepone’scoloringwithinthelines.Canonicalworkbecomesincreasinglylap-
idary;thebyproductisapruningthatmaims.
The erasure of the celebrated singer Otomae (1086–1169) from our West-
erntextbooksisacaseinpoint.Icouldnotbelievemyeyeswhenthebrand-
newCambridgeHistoryofJapaneseLiteratureexcisedhernameinitsdescrip-
tionoftheremarkableanthologyofhersongs,theRyōjinhishō,andexplicitly
expresseddoubtaboutherveryexistence.This,despitethefactthatshehas
beenknownsincethe1940s,andrecentlyadozenormorescholarlystudiesby
WakitaHaruko,UekiTomoko,OkimotoYukiko,andothershaveresearchedthe
lifeof thisremarkablewoman.Herrepertoireof morethanfive-hundredrev-
elatorysongs,runsfromsecularpartysongstoliturgicalsongsforshrineand
templeoccasions.Thisyounggirlwho,itwaswritten,hadavoicelikeanangel,
was adopted into a sisterhood of female kugutsume from Aohaka, proud of
theirvocallineageandrepertories.UltimatelyOtomaebecameafamedimayō
singerinthecapital,awomanwhoseremarkablestylemadeRetiredEmperor
Goshirakawa,apassionatepractitionerof vocalartssincechildhood,commit
tore-learninghisentirerepertoireofsongsunderherby-thenelderlytutelage.
Thegreatlyrevered(andrightlyso)JapaneseliteraryhistorianKonishiJin’i-
chi(1915–2007)wasoneofthefewscholarsofOtomae’ssongsbackinthe1940s
and1950s,andoneoftherarescholarstranslatedintoEnglish.Forthatpurpose,
however, he greatly pruned his source base and his syllabic analysis, which
othersnowsimplycopy,propagatinganerroneousunderstandingofOtomae’s
songs.Healsopropagatedtheusualmalecondemnationof“femalemorals.”
Today,beforeourveryeyes,themalegazeofWesternscholarsisnowrevert-
ing to the man who loved her songs and wrote them down. It is all about
RetiredEmperorGoshirakawa.Vigilancewatchingforthiskindofgenderized
switchingandbackslidingistheonlythingIcanrecommend.Wehavesurely
passedthatstagewherethesuperbqualityoftheTaleofGenjimademendoubt
MurasakiShikibucouldhavewrittenit.Itmusthavebeenherfatherorthegreat
Michinaga!
Theimpulsetojustpassonpredecessors’opinionsisalsoaseriousproblem
inacademia.Kugutsuisaclassificationof greatmysteryaboutwhichnoone
hasever,forcenturiesnow,beenableto(orbotheredto)clarify.Somewherein
themurkypastitmayhavemeant“puppeteer.”Thereisnotashredofevidence,