|
|
Asian Studies Book Services |
|||
|
|
||||
About us contact details Catalogue
|
Engendering
Faith is a monumental and pioneering study on women and Buddhism. It
clarifies distinctions necessary for a proper understanding of just what
was understood by “nun” in early Japanese history and offers a great
deal of information, knowledge, and ideas that are of critical importance
to understanding Buddhist history as it relates to women (and men), and to
understanding premodern Japanese culture in general. The
lengthy front matter and twenty chapters open a sorely neglected area of
Japanese cultural history by bringing new research on women and Buddhism
to the English-reading audience of scholars not only in Japan-related
fields but also in religious history, comparative religion, and women’s
studies. Richly illustrated and with a comprehensive list of characters,
Engendering Faith is must reading for anyone interested in premodern
Japanese history, culture, and religion. Contributors
include: Robert Borgen, Chikusa Masaaki, Margaret H. Childs, Martin
Collcutt, James C. Dobbins, Anne Dutton, Endo€ Hajime, Nicole Fabricand-Person,
Hank Glassman, Paul Groner, Carol Hochstedler, Hongo€ Masatsugu, Masayo
Kaneko, Katsuura Noriko, Susan Matisoff, Mikoshiba Daisuke, Nagata Mizu,
Nishiguchi Junko, Obara Hitoshi, O–sumi Kazuo, Barbara Ruch, Cecelia
Segawa Seigle, Virginia Skord Waters, Marian Ury, Ushiyama Yoshiyuki,
Burton Watson, Paul B. Watt, Diana E. Wright, Philip Yampolsky, Mimi
Yiengpruksawan, Yoshida Kazuhiko. “Through
these wonderfully written essays by Japanese and Western authors, Japanese
Buddhist women, both nuns and laywomen, stand center stage for the very
first time. This is a pioneer work in two senses. It announces the urgent
need to study the lives of women in all Buddhist traditions, and it
provides us with the methodology to carry out this task. The authors use
art, temple records, and historical and literary writings to reconstruct
the rich history of Buddhist women’s lives in Japan. This is truly an
enlightening book. It declares the arrival of a new era in Buddhist
scholarship.” “This
volume brings together genuinely original scholarship that has emerged
from the pioneering efforts of Japanese and Western scholars and two
groups: the Research Group on Women and Buddhism in Japan, organized by
Professors Nishiguchi Junko and O–gumi Kazuo, and the Institute for
Medieval Japanese Studies, directed by Professor Barbara Ruch. These
studies address long-neglected questions about the roles of women in
Japanese Buddhism and represent the welcomed first steps toward disclosing
‘the other half of Buddhist history.’ Much remains to be done, but the
ground has now been broken and a strong foundation laid by the
interdisciplinary studies presented in this important volume. Barbara Ruch
is to be commended for her vision and her devotion to this project.” Michigan Monographs in Japanese Studies No. 43 |
