No.61 Seminar ： Medieval Japanese Esoteric Buddhism, Shinto, and Dragon Cults
- Steven TRENSON (The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research)
- 2013/06/04 4:00pm
- The Hakubi Center for advanced research (iCeMS West Wing 2F, Seminar Room)
- Japanese
Summary
Medieval Japanese religions can roughly be subdivided into a Buddhist wing and a Shinto wing, but when investigating concrete cases, one very often, if not always, encounters combinatory belief systems interconnecting these two categories. Although the wealth of medieval sources makes it difficult to clearly grasp the historical development of these belief systems, the red thread running through the various religious patchworks seems to be the serpent-dragon of esoteric Buddhist tradition. In the talk, I will explain this feature of medieval Japanese religions by first highlighting the preeminent role of the serpent-dragon in esoteric Buddhism and introducing some of its most salient transformations. Then the talk will proceed with a description of how the multi-faceted esoteric Buddhist dragon gave birth to ‘medieval Shinto’ by occupying the central position in a number of major medieval Shinto lineages.