Book contents
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- The Cambridge History of Violence
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Table
- Contributors to Volume II
- Introduction to Volume II
- Part I Beyond Warfare: Armies, Tribes and Lords
- Part II The Violence of Governments and Rulers
- Part III Social, Interpersonal and Collective Violence
- Part IV Religious, Sacred and Ritualised Violence
- 17 Religion and Violence in China
- 18 Buddhism and Violence in Premodern Japan
- 19 Human Sacrifice and Ritualised Violence in the Americas before the European Conquest
- 20 ‘Not Cruelty but Piety’
- 21 Chivalric Violence
- 22 Jihad in Islamic Thought
- 23 Christian Violence against Heretics, Jews and Muslims
- 24 ‘Fighting for Peace’
- Part V Depictions of Violence
- Index
- References
18 - Buddhism and Violence in Premodern Japan
from Part IV - Religious, Sacred and Ritualised Violence
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2020
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- The Cambridge History of Violence
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures and Table
- Contributors to Volume II
- Introduction to Volume II
- Part I Beyond Warfare: Armies, Tribes and Lords
- Part II The Violence of Governments and Rulers
- Part III Social, Interpersonal and Collective Violence
- Part IV Religious, Sacred and Ritualised Violence
- 17 Religion and Violence in China
- 18 Buddhism and Violence in Premodern Japan
- 19 Human Sacrifice and Ritualised Violence in the Americas before the European Conquest
- 20 ‘Not Cruelty but Piety’
- 21 Chivalric Violence
- 22 Jihad in Islamic Thought
- 23 Christian Violence against Heretics, Jews and Muslims
- 24 ‘Fighting for Peace’
- Part V Depictions of Violence
- Index
- References
Summary
This study treats violent actions by Buddhist groups in premodern Japan (ca. 6.-17. ces.). When Buddhism was introduced from Korea since the 6. ce., it triggered conflicts with the indigenuous beliefs. They consisted of physical war between different clans and spiritual warfare through subjugation of the local deities. Later, after Japanese Buddhism had developed into various denominations since the 8. ce., sectarian conflicts for patronage among competing Buddhist groups emerged which the state had to control. When during the late Heian period, struggles about the ownership of landed estates emerged, the aristocats employed warriors for their protection whereas monasteriesguarded their manors through low ranking “evil monks”. Because they injured and killed people in order to fullfil their duties, scholar monks developed doctrinal justifications to exculpate them against critics. When during the Kamakura period new Buddhist groups emerged, the established monasteries used their monastic armees as well as the military of the state to subdue them because they threatened their economic and social basis. Finally, during the Muromachi period violent peasant uprisings of a new Buddhist group were triggered by its suppression through a monastic complex due to economic reasons, i.e. competiton concerning membership and donations.
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- Information
- The Cambridge World History of Violence , pp. 368 - 389Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020