Ryōgen and Mount Hiei : Japanese Tendai in the Tenth Century

__Ryogen and Mount Hiei__ focuses on the transformation of the Tendai School from a small and impoverished group of monks in the early ninth century to its emergence as the most powerful and influential school of Japanese Buddhism in the last half of the tenth century--a position it would maintain throughout the medieval period. This is the first study in a Western language of the institutional factors that lay behind the school's success. At its core is a biography of a major figure behind this transformation, Ryogen (912-985). The discussion, however, extends well beyond a simple biography as Ryogen's activities are placed in their historical and institutional context. Unlike the recluses and eccentrics that have so often attracted Western readers of Buddhism, Ryogen was a consummate politician and builder. Because he lost his major monastic sponsor at an early age, he was forced to find ways to advance his career with little support. His activities reveal much about the path to success for monks during the tenth century. Skill in debate, the performance of Esoteric Buddhist ritual, and strategic alliances with powerful lay and monastic figures were important to his advance. In 966 Ryogen was appointed head of the Tendai School and served until his death nineteen years later. He has been vilified at times for his loyalty to his own faction within Tendai at the expense of other groups. Careful analysis of the political and social factors behind his attitudes, however, places his activities in their appropriate context. The study concludes with a discussion of the ordinations and roles of nuns during the early Heian period. An examination of Ryogen's close relation with his mother helps define the ambiguities of a school that prohibited women from the precincts of its temple yet performed rituals to insure safe childbirth and frequently attracted their patronage. A number of primary sources are translated in the appendices.

Rhetoric in Modern Japan is the first volume to discuss the role of Western rhetoric in the creation of a modern Japanese oral and narrative style. It considers the introduction of Western rhetoric, clarifying its interactions with the forces and synergies that shaped Japanese literature and culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Focusing on the Meiji and Taishxc5x8d years (1868-1926), it challenges the prevailing view among contemporary scholars that rhetoric did not play a significant role in the literary developments of the period.

Massimiliano Tomasi chronicles the blooming of scholarship in the field in the early 1870s, providing the first descriptive analysis and cogently articulated critique of the major rhetorical treatises of the time. In discussing the rise of public speaking in early Meiji society, he unveils the existence of crucial links between the study of rhetoric and the social and literary events of the time, underscoring the key role played by oratory both as a tool for social modernization and as an effective platform for the reappraisal of the spoken language.

The collusion and conflicts characterizing rhetoric and its relationship with the genbun itchi movement, which sought to unify spoken and written language, are explored, demonstrating that their perceived antagonism was the uh_product of a misguided notion of rhetoric and the process of rhetorical signification rather than a true theoretical conflict. Tomasi makes a convincing argument that, in fact, Western rhetoric mediated between these equally compelling pursuits and paved the way toward an acceptable compromise between classical and colloquial written styles.

Contents List of Tables and Figures Preface Abbreviations 1. Ryōgen’s Place in the History of the Tendai School 2. The Early History of Factionalism within the Tendai School: From Saichō throug the Mid-tenth Century 3. Ryōgen’s Early Years 4. Ryōgen’s Rise to Prominence 5. Ryōgen’s and the Fujiwaras: Patronage and Esoteric Buddhist Ritual 6. The Ōwa Debates 7. Ryōgen’s Appointments as Head of the Tendai School and to the Office of Monastic Affairs 8. The Significance of Ryōgen’s Revival of the Examination System 9. Rebuilding the Tendai Establishment on Mount Hiei 10. Ryōgen as Zasu: Financing the Spread of Tendai Influence 11. Factionalism and Ryōgen’s Efforts to Control the Order 12. Ryōgen and the Role of Nuns in Ninth- and Tenthcentury Japan 13. Epilogue: Ryōgen’s Posthumous Career Appendix 1. Ennin and Yokawa Appendix 2. A Note on Morosuke’s Interests Appendix 3. Dying Instructions of the Great Archbishop Jie Appendix 4. Takamitsu’s Retreat to Tōnomine Appendix 5. A Record of the Ōwa Debates Appendix 6. Ten Doubts concerning the Hossō School Appendix 7. Zōga as an Eccentric Appendix 8. Invocation of Tendai Abbot Ryōgen Notes Glossary Bibliography Index "Ryogen and Mount Hiei focuses on the transformation of the Tendai school from a small and impoverished group of monks in the early ninth century to its emergence as the most powerful and influential school of Japanese Buddhism in the last half of the tenth century - a position it would maintain throughout the medieval period. This is the first study in a Western language of the institutional factors that lay behind the school's success. At its core is a biography of a major figure who played an active role during the transformation, Ryogen (912-985). The discussion, however, extends well beyond a simple biography as Ryogen's activities are placed in their historical and institutional context."--Jacket