The Doctrinal Origins of Embryology in the Shingon School
In this article, I discuss the significance of embryological knowledge, such as the red and white drops and the five developmental stages of the embryo, in medieval Shingon esoteric Buddhism. Specifically, I examine the writings of Kakuban, an eminent Shingon Buddhist monk in early medieval Japan, a...
| Published in: | Japanese journal of religious studies |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Contributors: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Nanzan Institute
2020
|
| In: |
Japanese journal of religious studies
|
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Shingon school
/ Kakuban 1095-1144, Gorin kuji myō himitsushaku
/ Embryology
/ Cosmology
|
| IxTheo Classification: | BL Buddhism KBM Asia |
| Further subjects: | B
Embryology
B Gorinkuji myō himitsu shaku B five stages within the womb B red and white drops B Esoteric Buddhism B Kakuban |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | In this article, I discuss the significance of embryological knowledge, such as the red and white drops and the five developmental stages of the embryo, in medieval Shingon esoteric Buddhism. Specifically, I examine the writings of Kakuban, an eminent Shingon Buddhist monk in early medieval Japan, and point out that, according to Kakuban, embryological knowledge was connected with the six elements, which were fundamental to Shingon conceptions of ontology. In other words, by constructing embryological theories, medieval Shingon monks such as Kakuban attempted to make a correlation between abstract and distant cosmologies and the life and death realities of their daily lives. |
|---|---|
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Japanese journal of religious studies
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.18874/jjrs.47.1.2020.85-102 |