Selected Poems of du Fu

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The great Buddhist priest Kkai (774835) is credited with the introduction and establishment of tantric or esoteric Buddhism in early ninthcentury Japan. In Ryichi Ab examines this important religious figure neglected in modern academic literature and his profound influence on Japanese culture. Offering a radically new approach to the study of early religious history combining historical research, discourse analysis, literary criticism, and semiology Ab contends that the importance of Kkais transmission of esoteric Buddhism to Japan lay not in the foundation of a new sect but in his creation of a general theory of language grounded in the ritual speech of mantra. embeds Kkai within the fabric of political and social life in ninthcentury Japan and explains how esoteric Buddhism played a crucial role in many societal changes in Japan from the growth of monasteries into major feudal powers to the formation of the native phonetic alphabet, kana. As Ab illustrates, Kkais writings and the new type of discourse they spawned also marked Japans transition from the ancient order to the medieval world, replacing Confucianism as the ideology of the state. Ab begins by placing Kkais life in the historical context of medieval Japan and the Ritsuryo state, then explores his interaction with the Nara Buddhist intelligentsia, which was seminal to the introduction of esoteric Buddhism. The author discusses Kkais magnum opus, () and introduces a number of Japanese and Chinese primarysource texts previously unknown by Westernlanguage scholars. Instead of tracing Kkais thought through literal readings, explores the rhetorical strategies Kkai employed in his works, shedding valuable light on what his texts meant to his readers and what his goals were in creating a discourse that ultimately transformed Japanese culture.

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