The Shōkokuji Pagoda: Building the Infrastructure of Buddhist Kingship in Medieval Japan
This article outlines the history of the Shokokuji Pagoda and reflects on the building's role in the remarkable career of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408). A small yet critical body of documents from the late fourteenth century sheds light on a compelling set of details regarding the 109-meter-t...
| Published in: | Japanese journal of religious studies |
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| Authors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Nanzan Institute
2018
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| In: |
Japanese journal of religious studies
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Ashikaga, Yoshimitsu 1358-1408
/ Shokoko-ji Kioto
/ Pagoda
/ Dharma
/ Ruler
/ History 1378-1416
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| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AG Religious life; material religion BL Buddhism KBM Asia TH Late Middle Ages |
| Further subjects: | B
Emperors
B Buddhism B Pagodas B Religious Studies B Religious rituals B Dedications B Dharma B Mandalas B Retirement B Kingship |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | This article outlines the history of the Shokokuji Pagoda and reflects on the building's role in the remarkable career of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408). A small yet critical body of documents from the late fourteenth century sheds light on a compelling set of details regarding the 109-meter-tall monument's location, iconographic program, and ritual functions. The findings reveal a conscious impulse to mimic precedents set two centuries earlier by powerful ex-sovereigns of the Insei period (1180s-1280s). By building the Shokokuji Pagoda, Yoshimitsu sought to create a context, both material and situational, within which the symbols and rituals of Buddhist kingship could be deployed to assert a status synonymous with dharma king. In doing so, he forged an anthropocosmic connection between himself and the divine, thereby perpetuating an architectural tradition that can be compared to the great Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms of Southeast Asia. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Japanese journal of religious studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.18874/jjrs.45.1.2018.125-144 |