The Buddhist Body of the King: Ritual practices of consecration in medieval Japan
The medieval period (11-16c) in Japan was a moment of great creativity in the religious and political sphere. Shaped by Tantric Buddhism, new notions of attainment emerged, articulated through distinctive practices and unconventional visual forms. This talk re-reads a curious portrait of Go-Daigo Tenno in light of an influential ritual of Tantric consecration that was constructed anew in the medieval period. Drawing on unpublished documents that have recently been uncovered in Japanese temple archives, it retrieves the conceptions of the body that underlie the ritual and explores their impact on the discourse on the legitimation of the ruler.
Date:
20 October 2023, 17:00 (Friday, 2nd week, Michaelmas 2023)
Venue:
Pavilion Room, 4th Floor, Gateway Building, St. Antony's College
Speaker:
Prof. Lucia Dolce (SOAS)
Organising department:
Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies
Organiser:
Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies
Organiser contact email address:
administrator@nissan.ox.ac.uk
Part of:
Nissan Institute Seminar in Japanese Studies
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Public
Editors:
Jane Baker,
Andrea Roncolato
