The description for this book, The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature, will be forthcoming.

The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature

Earl Miner

Hiroko Odagiri

Robert E. Morrell

Reference

Princeton University Press

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Zen Sanctuary of Purple Robes: Japan's Tokeiji Convent Since 1285

A fascinating look at a Zen convent throughout its history.Zen Sanctuary of Purple Robes examines the affairs of Rinzai Zen’s Tōkeiji Convent, founded in 1285 by nun Kakusan Shidō after the death of her husband, Hōjō Tokimune. It traces the convent’s history through seven centuries, including the early nuns’ Zen practice; Abbess Yōdō’s imperial lineage with nuns in purple robes; Hideyori’s seven-year-old daughter―later to become the convent’s twentieth abbess, Tenshu―spared by Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle for Osaka Castle; Tōkeiji as “divorce temple” during the mid-Edo period and a favorite topic of senryu satirical verse; the convent’s gradual decline as a functioning nunnery but its continued survival during the early Meiji persecution of Buddhism; and its current prosperity. The work includes translations, charts, illustrations, bibliographies, and indices. Beyond such historical details, the authors emphasize the convent’s “inclusivist” Rinzai Zen practice in tandem with the nearby Engakuji Temple. The rationale for this “inclusivism” is the continuing acceptance of the doctrine of “Skillful Means” (hōben) as expressed in the Lotus Sutra―a notion repudiated or radically reinterpreted by most of the Kamakura reformers. In support of this contention, the authors include a complete translation of the Mirror for Women by Kakusan’s contemporary, Mujū Ichien.

History

Sachiko Kaneko Morrell

Asia

State University of New York Press

Sand and Pebbles (Shasekishu): The Tales of Muju Ichien, A Voice for Pluralism in Kamakura Buddhism (SUNY Series in Buddhist Studies) (Buddhist Studies (Dis))

Sand and Pebbles presents the first complete English rendering of Shasekishu--the classic, popular Buddhist "Tale Literature" (setsuwa). This collection of instructive, yet often humorous, anecdotes appeared in the late thirteenth century, within decades of the first stirrings of the revolutionary movements of Kamakura Buddhism. Shasekishu's author, Muju Ichien (1226-1312), lived in a rural temple apart from the centers of political and literary activity, and his stories reflect the customs, attitudes and lifestyles of the commoners. In Sand and Pebbles, complete translations of Book One and other significant narrative parts are supplemented by summaries of the remaining (especially didactic) material and by excerpts from Muju's later work. Introduced by a historical sketch of the period, this work also contains a biography of Muju. Illustrations, charts, a chronology, glossary of terms, notes, an extensive bibliography and an index guide the reader into a seldom seen corner of old Japan. Muju and his writings will interest students of literature as well as scholars of Japanese religion, especially Buddhism. Anthropologists and sociologists will discover details of Kamakura life and thought unrecorded in the official chronicles of the age.

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Sand and Pebbles presents the first complete English rendering of Shasekishu--the classic, popular Buddhist "Tale Literature" (setsuwa). This collection of instructive, yet often humorous, anecdotes appeared in the late thirteenth century, within decades of the first stirrings of the revolutionary movements of Kamakura Buddhism. Shasekishu's author, Muju Ichien (1226-1312), lived in a rural temple apart from the centers of political and literary activity, and his stories reflect the customs, attitudes and lifestyles of the commoners. In Sand and Pebbles, complete translations of Book One and other significant narrative parts are supplemented by summaries of the remaining (especially didactic) material and by excerpts from Muju's later work. Introduced by a historical sketch of the period, this work also contains a biography of Muju. Illustrations, charts, a chronology, glossary of terms, notes, an extensive bibliography and an index guide the reader into a seldom seen corner of old Japan. Muju and his writings will interest students of literature as well as scholars of Japanese religion, especially Buddhism. Anthropologists and sociologists will discover details of Kamakura life and thought unrecorded in the official chronicles of the age.

Japanese historians have dealt with Kamakura Buddhism in terms of the major sectarian developments of the time, tending to ignore the fact that the ancient sects continued to exist and exert influence on the development of the tradition. Prof. Morrell has provided "a minority report," a study of these smaller but nonetheless important groups within Buddhism during the Kamakura period. This is a much needed addition to the works dealing with the history and religions of Japan. It will be of interest not only to Buddhist scholars but to all those who deal with the culture of Japan. 
"... This book is an exciting, important collection, well worth the time to read and suitable for libraries..."--Choice

Early Kamakura Buddhism: A Minority Report (Nanzan Studies in Religion and Culture)

Religion & Spirituality

Buddhism

Asian Humanities Press

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Books by Robert E. Morrell