Writing Societies

Chapter three focuses on cases of collective patronage, in which groups of individuals pooled their resources to sponsor sutra transcription, often identifying themselves as wholesome friends. It shows how fellowship groups were drawn together for a variety of motivations ranging from political to pious, as many individuals treated participation in these groups as an opportunity to engage in Buddhist practice. While many scholars treat fellowships as an example of popular or folk Buddhism (minshū Bukkyō), this chapter shows how many of these groups benefited from state institutions. At the same time, it argues that many organizations transcended officially sanctioned social structures and introduced new notions of community, such as wholesome friends who joined together in practice and worship. It focuses on Japan but also makes comparison with similar groups in China.

Merit, Purity, and Ceremony

Chapter one outlines three ways that writing was ritualized in East Asian Buddhism: the discourse of wholesome action and merit that treated sutra transcription as uniquely pious and instrumental; the purification of scribal bodies prior to transcription through practices such as performing ablutions, wearing special garments, and avoiding defilements including meat, death, and illness; and participation in ceremonies to dedicate merit on calendrically significant days, when it was believed that deities descended from the heavens to observe human conduct. It uses a variety of sources from throughout the Buddhist world including quotations from Indic sutras, Dunhuang manuscripts from western China, tales that circulated throughout East Asia, and Shōsōin documents.

Haunted by Demons, Watched by Kings

Chapter six uses a case study of the transcription of three texts sponsored by Queen Consort Kōmyōshi in 748—the Scripture on Saving and Protecting Body and Life, Golden Light Sutra, and Scripture on Brahma’s Spirit Tablets—to reevaluate the political nature of ritual in ancient Japan. By emplacing kings and queens in a world in which they were haunted by ghastly attacks and answered to celestial kings who threated to punish the impious, it suggests that rulers were compelled to cultivate virtuous conduct or risk punishment in accord with the cosmological schemes they themselves promoted. It argues that Buddhist ideas were an authoritative force that structured ethical codes of conduct in ancient Japan. It outlines the processes through which these texts were copied, provides an overview of succession disputes in the eighth century, and interprets the content of the scriptures within the political world and the context at the scriptorium.

Introduction

This chapter introduces the notion of ritualized writing, a specific mode set apart from more quotidian forms. It traces the development of sutra transcription in terms of the “cult of the book” in the Buddhist tradition and highlights similar practices in a variety of religions around the world. It then outlines a practice based approach to ritual that focuses on ethical cultivation and social function, while arguing against a classic functionalist position. The introduction then turns to historiographical issues related to the “state Buddhism model” as well as its critics. It proposes new approaches to get beyond common elite/folk binaries. It outlines the structure and logic of the book and overviews the sources with a detailed description of Shōsōin documents, a collection of roughly 10,000 documents from the eighth century that deal primarily with sutra copying.

Ritual Compositions

Chapter two focuses on the prayers inscribed in colophons to sutra manuscripts that were vocalized at the dedication ceremonies studied in chapter one. It argues that ritual and literary expectations generated a particular expression of the cosmos and moral responsibility derived from diverse cultural and literary repertoires not limited to canonical Buddhist texts. It highlights shared structural and stylistic features in prayers throughout East Asia. It looks at the ways patrons praised scripture, mourned the dead, and imagined the realms of rebirth in creative ways that synthesized metaphors and concepts rooted in the Chinese literary tradition with ideas from Buddhist texts. It reflects more broadly on the relationship between literature and ritual.

Epilogue

The epilogue synthesizes the previous chapters. It focuses first on arguments about ritual, scriptural cultures, and Buddhist practice. It then turns to the historiographical concerns regarding Nara Buddhism.

Disciplinary Regimes

Chapter five traces the career of Karakuni no Hitonari, who worked in a variety of both scribal and administrative roles at the Office of Sutra Transcription before becoming a monk. Through this insider’s view and using a theoretical model based on disciplinary regimes, the chapter argues the scriptorium offered Hitonari and others chances to cultivate themselves through religious, calligraphic, and literary pursuits. It outlines Hitonari’s career and work responsibilities, translates his poetry, assesses his calligraphy, examines his religious practices. It connects these activities with monastic training and shows how they would have been useful to Hitonari after he became a monk.

Instituting Transcription

Chapter four stresses the importance of institutions in enabling the reproduction of large numbers of Buddhist texts. It surveys the types of institutions that existed in ancient Japan and argues for the close connection between bureaucracy and ritual practice. It begins with an overview of the process of sutra copying. It then turns to continental precedent before looking at some of the earliest sutra copying projects in Japan and the institutions that sponsored them. It provides a detailed institutional history of a scriptorium at Tōdaiji closely connected to Queen Consort Kōmyōshi but also uncovers numerous other scriptoria managed by a variety of individuals in the capital and provinces, some of relatively small scale. It also addresses projects known as “private copying” in documents at the Tōdaiji scriptorium to show how individuals could use personal connections to utilize state institutions for their own purposes.