In 1654 Zen Master Yinyuan traveled from China to Japan. Seven years
later his monastery, Manpukuji, was built and he had founded a new
tradition, called Obaku. In this sequel to his 2008 book,
Enlightenment in Dispute, Jiang Wu tells the story of the tremendous
obstacles faced by Yinyuan, drawing parallels between his experiences
and the broader political and cultural context in which he lived.
Yinyuan claimed to have inherited the "Authentic Transmission of the
Linji Sect." After arriving in Japan, he was able to persuade the
Shogun to build a new Ming-style monastery for the establishment of
his Obaku school. His arrival in Japan coincided with a series of
historical developments, including the Ming-Qing transition, the
consolidation of early Tokugawa power, the growth of Nagasaki trade,
and rising Japanese interests in Chinese learning and artistic
pursuits. While Yinyuan's travel is known in scholarly circles, the
significance of his journey within East Asian history has not been
fully explored. Leaving for the Rising Sun provides a unique
opportunity to reexamine the crisis in the continent and responses
from other parts of East Asia. Using Yinyuan's story as a bridge
between China and Japan, Wu demonstrates that the monk's significance
is far greater than the temporary success of a religious sect. Rather,
Yinyuan imported to Japan a new discourse of authenticity that gave
rise to indigenous movements that challenged, and led to the eventual
breakup of, a China-centered world order.
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Chinese Zen Master Yinyuan and the Authenticity Crisis in Early Modern East Asia
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780199393145
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Oxford University Press Academic US
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter