Hiraizumi: Buddhist Art and Regional Politics in Twelfth-Century Japan (Harvard East Asian Monographs)

In the twelfth century, along the borders of the Japanese state in northern Honshu, three generations of local rulers built a capital city at Hiraizumi that became a major military and commercial center. Known as the Hiraizumi Fujiwara, these rulers created a city filled with art, in an attempt to use the power of art and architecture to claim a religious and political mandate. In the first book-length study of Hiraizumi in English, the author studies the rise of the Hiraizumi Fujiwara and analyzes their remarkable construction program. She traces the strategies by which the Hiraizumi Fujiwara attempted to legitimate their rule and grounds the splendor of Hiraizumi in the desires, political and personal, of the men and women who sponsored and displayed that art. In The Twelfth Century, Along What Were Then The Borders Of The Japanese State In Northern Honshu, Three Generations Of Local Rulers Built A Capital City At Hiraizumi That Became A Major Military And Commercial Center. Known As The Hiraizumi Fujiwara, These Local Powerholders Were Descendents Of The Ancient Emishi, For Centuries Rivals To The Central Japanese State And Only Recently Reluctant Participants In The Growing Japanese Polity. At Hiraizumi, These Rules Created A City Filled With Art, From Splendid Temples And Shrines To Landscaped Gardens And Palatial Residences That Rivaled In Scale And Extravagance Those Found In Kyoto. This Building Program Was At Least In Part An Attempt To Use The Power Of Art And Architecture To Claim A Religious And Political Mandate. At The Same Time, It Was An Encounter With A Set Of Concerns That Arose From The Situation Of The Hiraizumi Fujiwara As Outsiders In An Emergent Cultural Homogeneity Defined By The Center In Kyoto. In This, The First Book-length Study Of Hiraizumi In English, Mimi Hall Yiengpruksawan Studies The History Of The Region And The Rise Of The Hiraizumi Fujiwara And Analyzes Their Remarkable Program Of Construction.--book Jacket. Pt. I. Foundations -- 1. The Emishi -- 2. The Kitakami Rulers -- Pt. Ii. Art And Politics At Hiraizumi -- 3. Kiyohira -- 4. Motohira And Hidehira -- 5. A Realm Of Gold -- 6. The Fall Of Hiraizumi -- 7. Art And Mandate. Mimi Hall Yiengpruksawan. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 235-254) And Index. HIRAIZUMI ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CONTENTS Illustrations Introduction PART I FOUNDATIONS 1 THE EMISHI The Unruled East The Emishi Hitakami The Northern World Taking the East Buddhist Strategies Barbarians over Barbarians The Emishi Wars 2 THE KITAKAMI RULERS The Fushū Rebellion in the North A New Political Order The Ōshū Wars Kitakami Buddhism A Fushū Nation? PART II ART AND POLITICS AT HIRAIZUMI 3 KIYOHIRA Kiyohira Hiraizumi Chūsonji Another Temple Sutra of Gold and Silver Symbolisms 4 MOTOHIRA AND HRNEHIRA Contests for Legitimacy Strategies of Culture Motohira Hidehira Hiraizumi Mōtsūji Kanjizaiōin Muryōkōin Sutra in Blue and Gold A Splendid Domain 5 A REALM OF GOLD House of Gold The Mummies in the Altar Three Generations at Konjikido Meaning in Anomaly The Sutra Repository Housing the Canon Wutaishan Monju A Golden World PART III POWER IN ART 6 THE FALL OF HIRAIZUMI Crisis and Demise A Final Transcription King Kinrin Prophylaxis 7 ART AND MANDATE The Capital of Artists Art Rhetoric Heterologie REFERENCE MATTER Notes Bibliography Index HARVARD EAST ASIAN MONOGRAPHS