Japanese Buddhism in the Back of Beyond: A New Perspective from Archaeological and Manuscript Sources
Introduction
Between the late seventh and early ninth centuries, Japan changed from a land largely without Buddhism to a country where Buddhist ideas, images, and practices were everywhere. Regions that once lacked temples suddenly had so many that virtually every village had a place of worship nearby. People began to understand their world in new ways, imagining previously inconceivable possibilities for themselves in this life and the next. This was possibly the most dramatic religious transformation in the history of Japan, but it has mostly gone unnoticed. This talk uses archaeological and manuscript evidence to argue that this revolution did indeed take place in the eighth and ninth centuries, discuss how we know about it, explain why scholars have ignored it, and explore what this transformation may have meant for the villagers themselves.
About the Speaker
Bryan Lowe is an associate professor in the Department of Religion at Princeton University. He specializes in Buddhism in ancient Japan (seventh through ninth centuries) and has broader research interests in ritual, manuscript studies, historiography, canons, and the religion of non-elites. Lowe’s first book, Ritualized Writing: Buddhist Practice and Scriptural Cultures in Ancient Japan, received the John Whitney Hall Book Prize from the Association of Asian Studies. His second, How Buddhism Spread in Japan, 650–850 CE, will be published in August this year.