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Home , Buddhism in Japan, Fujiwara no Fuhito, Kokan Shiren, Mugaku Sogen, Muso Soseki, Zen master

Barbara Ruch, ed.. Engendering Faith: Women and in Premodern . Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2002. Illustrations, charts, maps. lxxviii + 706 pp. $69.00, cloth, ISBN 978-1-929280-15-5.

Reviewed by Michiko Yusa

Published on H-Buddhism (August, 2009)

Commissioned by A. Charles Muller (University of Tokyo)

This book marks a clear departure from the this process, and feminist scholarship, too, made male-oriented foci of traditional scholarship on its contribution. That the recent volume of the Ja‐ Japanese Buddhism and ventures to reconstruct panese Journal of Religious Studies ( JJRS, 2003, its history by incorporating women's voices.[1] All edited by Noriko Kawahashi and Masako Kuroki) of the essays address, from diverse angles, wom‐ is dedicated to "Feminism and in Contem‐ en's roles in the history of Japanese Buddhism. porary Japan" speaks for the healthy unfolding of The volume begins with a foreword and preface, feminist studies in Japan, as this issue marks the followed by twenty-three weighty essays, inter‐ twentieth anniversary of the 1983 special issue of spersed with ninety-fve illustrations, charts, and JJRS, "Women and ," the guest ed‐ maps, many of which are in full color; a list of itor of which was the late Kyōko Nakamura. characters; a selected bibliography; index; and Indeed, Japanese society's acknowledgement information about the contributors. One of the of the importance of women's issues helped to distinctive features of this book is that it contains create the academic discipline of women's studies a substantial number of essays by a younger gen‐ as well as to promote the study of women in the eration of Japanese scholars, all translated into history of Japanese . But it should not be English. These essays are the fruit of a scholarly forgotten that the scholarly interest in women's movement that has been taking place in Japan for roles and female spirituality is by no means a re‐ the last two decades. cent phenomenon. A handful of Japanese scholars The emergence of women's studies in Japa‐ always engaged in these issues; for example, nese academia began with the women's liberation works by Origuchi Shinobu, Makita Shigeru, Taka‐ movement of the early 1970s--trailing that of tori Masao, Ueda Masaaki, Miyata Noboru, Saeki North America by a decade or so. The public's Junko, Asai Torao, Iwamoto Yutaka, and Kasahara consciousness was awakened to gender issues in Kazuo readily come to mind. What is diferent to‐ H-Net Reviews day, however, is that the studies focusing on wom‐ One day in the 1980s Ruch came across a photo of en have gained momentum and are developing a chinzō--this word chinzō 頂相 usually refers to into a mainstream research feld. portraits of masters, but also includes sculp‐ In this regard, Nishiguchi Junko may be sin‐ tures--of a female Mugai Nyodai. gled out as one of the driving forces of studies on Ruch's encounter turned out to be decisive, be‐ women and , someone compa‐ cause as she went on to fnd out more about ‐ rable in importance to the general editor of this gai Nyodai, a wholly new area of research began book, Barbara Ruch in North America. to unfold. Nishiguchi's pioneering work, Onna no chikara: Mugai Nyodai 無外如大 (1223-98) was born a kodai no josei to bukkyō (Woman's power: Wom‐ daughter of the Adachi family closely related to en of ancient times and Buddhism), was pub‐ the Hōjō regency of the shogunate, but lished by Heibonsha in 1987. Three years prior to for reasons unknown she took up Zen practice un‐ that in 1984, she, together with Ōsumi Kazuo, had der the Chinese Chan master Wuxue Zuyuan (Mu‐ organized a "Study Group on Japanese Women gaku Sogen 無学祖元; 1226-86), who came to Japan and Buddhism" (Kenkyūkai, nihon no josei to in 1279 at the invitation of regent Hōjō Tokimune. bukkyō), which did much to advance research in Sogen frst resided at Kenchōji in Kamakura and that area. Consisting of specialists of history, liter‐ then in 1282 became the kaizan, or the "founder," ature, religious studies, and ethnography, this of Engakuji. Mugai Nyodai was one of his group met every summer for the following ten heirs (hassu), along with the eminent Kōhō years to hear seminar reports from its members. Kennichi, the son of and the teach‐ These seminar reports were compiled in four vol‐ er of . Mugai Nyodai's enlightenment umes, Josei to bukkyō (Women and Buddhism), was authenticated by Mugaku Sogen, who most and published by Heibonsha in 1989. The momen‐ likely gave her the of Mugai, by tak‐ tum, thus built up, is undoubtedly continuing in ing the Chinese character wu 無 (mu in Japanese, Japan. In 1997, Hotoke to onna (Buddha and wom‐ meaning "nothingness") from his own dharma en), edited by Nishiguchi, was published by name, Mugaku (or Wuxue), which in turn had Yoshikawa Kōbunkan; this book contains essays been bestowed on him by his master, Wuzhuan by younger scholars--mostly born after 1950. Shifan 無準師範 (or Bujun Shiban in Japanese, More recently in 1999, Nihonshi no naka no josei 1178-1249). This fact seems to indicate how to bukkyō (Women and Buddhism within the con‐ pleased he was with the scope of his disciple's en‐ text of the ) was published by lightenment. She became the frst Japanese fe‐ Hōzōkan in as the outcome of a lecture se‐ male Zen master and founded a Rinzai Zen nun‐ ries organized by Nishiguchi. Most recently, the nery in Kyoto. This temple, Keiaiji, became the birth of the imperial princess Aiko on December head temple of the amadera (or niji 尼寺) gozan, 1, 2001, kindled the debate concerning the post- or the Five Mountain Convent System that paral‐ legislation that the imperial suc‐ leled the Five Mountain System of Ky‐ cession be limited to the male heir alone. Rekishi oto and Kamakura. (Regrettably, the existence of no naka no kōjotachi (Imperial women in Japa‐ amadera gozan came to my attention too late for nese history), published in December of 2002, inclusion in my textbook, Japanese Religious Tra‐ came out of this public debate. ditions, [2002]). Scholarly breakthroughs in the humanities, Back to our times: the year 1989 saw not only just as discoveries in the feld of natural sciences, the publication of the four volumes of Josei to sometimes depend on the factor of serendipity. bukkyō (Women and Buddhism) in Japan, but also

2 H-Net Reviews the hosting of the frst international conference ti‐ pay attention to the role of women as mothers tled "Workshop on Women and Buddhism in Pre- and sisters of , since such stories abound in modern Japan: Research Strategies for a Newly- the medieval setsuwa literature. What is called developing Field" by the Institute for Medieval Ja‐ for is the adoption of a more balanced perspective panese Studies at Columbia University. This con‐ by breaking away from an exclusively male-ori‐ ference gathered ffty-seven scholars from the ented approach. felds of art history, religion, history, and litera‐ Chikusa Masaaki's essay, "The Formation and ture, and included seven members of the afore‐ Growth of Buddhist Nun Communities in China," mentioned Nishiguchi-Ōsumi group. The present examines biographical accounts of Chinese nuns book initially grew out of this conference. from Wei, Jin, to Northern and Southern dynasties In 1994, Ruch and her group organized the (221-589) and shows the lively presence of Bud‐ Imperial Buddhist Convent Research and Conser‐ dhist nuns, who enjoyed the confdence and pa‐ vation Project, which has thus far completed the tronage of ruling kings and queens. Mikoshiba survey of one of the twelve Japanese imperial Daisuke's "Empress Kōmyō's Buddhist Faith: Her convents (monzeki amadera), and individual Role in the Founding of the State Temple and Con‐ scholars are now at work in six others. This vent System" sheds light on the fact that the project has uncovered innumerable artifacts and wealth Empress Kōmyō inherited from her father, documents. At Daishōji, the highest-ranking impe‐ Fujiwara no Fuhito, enabled her, the wife of Em‐ rial convent and a Rinzai Zen temple in Kyoto, peror Shōmu, to promote Buddhism among wom‐ Mugai Nyodai's letter and a poem describing her en. It was at her initiative that nunneries were es‐ enlightenment experience, both in her own hand, tablished along with in each prov‐ were discovered. At Hōkyōji, originally a subtem‐ ince; we also learn that Empress Kōmyō looked up ple (tacchū) of Keiaiji, they found the biography of to Empress Wu as her model, and adopted the the abbess titled "Chiyono's story"--Chiyono most Tang temple system developed by the Chinese em‐ likely being the childhood name of Mugai Nyodai. press. These hitherto unrecognized materials ofer un‐ In "State Buddhism and Court Buddhism: The precedented opportunities for researchers en‐ Role of Court Women in the Development of Bud‐ gaged in the study of monastic women in Japa‐ dhism from the Seventh to the Ninth Centuries," nese Buddhism. In April 2003, commemorating Hongō Masatsugu features the active role the the tenth anniversary of this project, the Chūsei court ladies assumed in shaping Buddhist practice Nihon Kenkyūjo (Institute of Studies of Medieval from the to the early Heian periods. Katsuu‐ Japan) was established at Daikankiji in Kyoto to ra Noriko's "Tonsure Forms for Nuns: Classifca‐ facilitate the operation and research related to the tion of Nuns according to Hairstyle" clarifes the project. various degrees of renunciation the aristocratic As mentioned above, this book contains a women of the embraced, based on large number of essays by Japanese scholars, the observation of diferent lengths of their hair. meticulously translated into English by leading Moreover, most of the "nuns" lived at home, not American scholars. Ōsumi Kazuo, cochair of the in nunneries. Study Group on Japanese Women and Buddhism, "Buddhist Convents in Medieval Japan" by has contributed a foreword, "A New Age of Re‐ Ushiyama Yoshiyuki is considered by many Japa‐ search on Women and Buddhism," and a preface, nese scholars to be the groundbreaking work on "Historical Notes on Women and the Japanization the study of medieval nunneries. His meticulous of Buddhism." He points out that scholars need to feld research and theoretical conjectures have el‐

3 H-Net Reviews evated the level of scholarship by a few important ried Shin Buddhist priests assumed the role of bō‐ notches. The long list of convents found at the end mori, "temple guardian," and shared congrega‐ of his essay just shows how much work is left to tional leadership with their husbands; they trans‐ be done. formed their home into a religious meeting place Nagata Mizu's "Transitions in Attitudes to‐ (dōjō), where community members gathered. ward Women in the Buddhist Canon: The Three Endō examines the rise of the position of bōmori Obligations, the Five Obstructions, and the Eight to the legend of 's marriage to a noble Rules of Reverence" traces the doctrines of three princess, as well as to the reverence for Shinran obligations (that women were subordinate to shown by his wife, Eshin-ni, and his daughter, their fathers in the natal home, to their husbands Kakushin-ni. Women for some time enjoyed high in marriage, and to their sons in old age), and fve status as the "proprietor" of the dōjō for the con‐ obstructions or states (that women could not at‐ gregations. tain the supreme ranks of Brahmā, Indra, Māra, All of these essays by Japanese scholars were Cakravartin king, and Buddha). He then discusses originally published in the above-mentioned four- in detail the set of eight rules of reverence nuns volume series, Josei to bukkyō (1989). In contrast, were expected to observe. He speculates on the Nishiguchi's "Where the Bones Go: Death and anti-female traditions of ancient India and China, Burial of Women of the Heian High Aristocracy" is and asks why Japanese Buddhism unquestioning‐ taken from her book, Onna no chikara. Her study ly embraced the doctrines of the three obligations shows that, once cremated, women's ashes and and fve obstructions. relics were rendered genderless, "clean," and no In "The Enlightenment of the Dragon King's longer "polluting," and therefore could be buried Daughter in The Lotus ," Yoshida Kazuhiko at sacred mountain cemeteries, such as at Mt. examines the rhetoric of the salvation of the drag‐ Kōya. on king's daughter in the chapter of the Works by Western scholars add further rich in terms of the efectiveness of mis‐ content to this book. Ruch's introductory essay, sionary activities. The tactic of the story was to be‐ "Obstructions and Obligations: An Overview of little women frst and then ennoble them; this tac‐ the Studies That Follow," contains invaluable in‐ tic, he argues, was successful in popularizing the formation on Mugai Nyodai and the history of the Lotus Sutra and Amida faith among women. last two decades of the study of Japanese Bud‐ Obara Hitoshi's "The of Women into Par‐ dhism. In her other essay, "Burning Iron against adise: Women in Fujiwara no Minetada's Diary the Cheek: A Female Cleric's Last Resort," Ruch in‐ Chūyūki (1087-1138)" reveals that aristocratic troduces the biographies of nuns who gained women of the latter half of the Heian period were their religious inspiration and devotion from the key players in managing the family worship halls abbess Mugai Nyodai. and temples, and as such exerted signifcant eco‐ Paul Groner's "Vicissitudes in the Ordination nomic, political, and religious infuence. of Japanese 'Nuns' during the Eighth through the Endō Hajime's "The Original Bōmori: Hus‐ Tenth Centuries" not only examines the ordina‐ band and Wife Congregations in Early Shin Bud‐ tion practice of the eighth and ninth centuries but dhism" illustrates how women were an integral also studies specifc imperial women, such as part of the lay congregations (congregations being Tachibana no Kachiko (786-850), Emperor Saga's defned as community-based, voluntary religious wife, and their daughter Seishi, showing the sin‐ associations privately organized and self-govern‐ cere devotion of these imperial ladies to Bud‐ ing) in the True sect. Women who mar‐ dhism. Martin Collcutt's "'Nun Shogun': Politics

4 H-Net Reviews and Religion in the Life of Hōjō Masako Jūrasetsunyo Iconography in Japanese Buddhist (1157-1225)" looks into the religious and spiritual Art" traces the development of this specifc side of Masako, the wife of Minamoto Yoritomo, iconography of "ten female demons," or goddess‐ and ofers a sympathetic characterization of her es, possibly having its origin in the practice of as a devoted wife, a dedicated and caring mother hakkō (the four-day recitation of the Lotus of four children, and, after the death of her hus‐ Sutra) and the practice of illustrating each chap‐ band, a committed caretaker of the ofce of ter of the Lotus Sutra by taking a memorable Shogunate and the Hōjō family. scene. The late Marian Ury's "Nuns and Other Fe‐ "The Nude Jizō at Denkōji: Notes on Women's male Devotees in Genkō shakusho" introduces Salvation in Kamakura Buddhism," by Hank Japan's frst comprehensive Glassman, illustrates the importance of Jizō wor‐ by the Zen monk, (1278-1346); ff‐ ship practiced among the women in the Kamaku‐ teen biographical accounts of nuns and female ra period. He takes on this subject to illustrate devotees were included among the 416 biogra‐ how they drew their soteriological inspiration phies. This book was compiled at the behest of his from the established traditions of Buddhist sects Chinese master, Yishan Yining (Issan Ichinei in Ja‐ predating Kamakura Buddhism. Indeed, the asser‐ panese), who wanted to read such a biographical tion made by Kasahara Kazuo that the problem of work. Ury's unfnished essay was edited and pol‐ women's salvation was a development of Ka‐ ished by her colleague, Robert Borgen. makura "new Buddhism" and that the traditional Anne Dutton's "Temple Divorce in Tokugawa sects of Buddhism remained aloof and uncon‐ Japan: A Survey of Documentation on Tōkeiji and cerned with it is generally refuted today by the Mantokuji" traces in detail, how the convents of fndings of new scholarship. Tōkeiji and Mantokuji, havens for women seeking Susan Matisof's "Barred from Paradise? divorce, evolved, and how divorce brokerage be‐ Mount Kōya and the Karukaya Legend" studies came a lucrative temple business managed by the complex myths and stories that grew out of male ofcials. Diana E. Wright's "Mantokuji: More the practice of "barring women out of the sacred than a 'Divorce Temple'" shows the intricate rela‐ mountains." Various versions of stories that tionship between the convent Mantokuji and the evolved over the years were open to interpreta‐ shogunal women residing in the women's quar‐ tion, not only as the stories of celebration of ters, the ōoku, as the abbesses of this convent monastic commitment but also as the stories of a were appointed from among them. Other women pious wife and mother, whose death inspired her of the same quarters sought to strengthen their husband and son to renew their religious devo‐ position by conceiving the shogun's ofspring, and tion. Ruch's essay, "Woman to Woman: Kumano in that context sponsoring birth rituals performed Bikuni Proselytizers in Medieval and Early Mod‐ at Mantokuji was considered particularly efca‐ ern Japan," completes the book. In this essay, she cious in obtaining this desired end. shows how these "Kumano bikuni" should be Paul B. Watt, in "Body, Gender, and Society in treated more as a generic category than a specifc Jiun Sonja's (1718-1802) Buddhism," examines one. celibacy in early Christianity and the similar This volume is an eloquent witness to the held by Jiun Sonja, and concludes that he consid‐ emerging feld of studies on women in Japanese ered nuns to be equal to monks within the celi‐ Buddhism as a mainstream academic discipline. bate community. Nicole Fabricand-Person's "De‐ Its essays are far from elementary, and Ruch ex‐ monic Female Guardians of the Faith: The Fugen presses the hope that "this anthology of begin‐

5 H-Net Reviews nings will inspire a new generation of young scholars from all manner of felds to take on the next stage of inquiry in the areas that have most attracted them" (p. lxi). As for the translation from Japanese into English, I found the level to be of high quality; accuracy was generally retained even if some details were omitted from the Eng‐ lish version. In short, the English-reading audi‐ ence will fnd the information contained in this volume indispensable for furthering their under‐ standing of women in Japanese Buddhism. Ruch is to be heartily congratulated for her dedication and scholarly commitment, which are efectively breaking down boundaries and opening up new horizons. Note [1]. This review was originally written for a volume on Dunhuang Tantric materials edited by Matthew Kapstein, to have been published as a special issue of Studies in Central and (SCEAR). After problems arose with that publication, Kapstein negotiated for it to be re‐ leased on H-Net, and we are delighted to be able to publish this excellent review on such an impor‐ tant book.

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Citation: Michiko Yusa. Review of Ruch, Barbara, ed. Engendering Faith: Women and Buddhism in Premodern Japan. H-Buddhism, H-Net Reviews. August, 2009.

URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=25097

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

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