Blessings on the Waves: Miraculous Encounters of Japanese Pilgrim Monks during Sea Voyages Transmitting Dharma from Southern Song China
The maritime route connecting the Chinese continent and the Japanese archipelago facilitated a significant exchange of commercial goods and sociocultural knowledge throughout the Southern Song dynasty. Within this context, Japanese pilgrim monks traveling along this route acted as key conduits for t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Religions |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/1/134 |
| _version_ | 1827371225514508288 |
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| author | Yi Liu |
| author_facet | Yi Liu |
| author_sort | Yi Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The maritime route connecting the Chinese continent and the Japanese archipelago facilitated a significant exchange of commercial goods and sociocultural knowledge throughout the Southern Song dynasty. Within this context, Japanese pilgrim monks traveling along this route acted as key conduits for the transmission of Buddhist teachings. Their journeys profoundly influenced the establishment and development of new Buddhist monasteries in Japan. Focusing on biographical accounts that portray the experiences of these pilgrim monks during their twelfth- and thirteenth-century sea voyages, this paper aims to explore how these accounts drew on intertextual links with existing Buddhist records to fulfill the compilers’ intentions. Specifically, this paper examines the structure and sources of biographical accounts detailing miraculous encounters between pilgrim monks and Buddhist deities during perilous situations at sea. By interpreting the role of these deities in the corpus of Buddhist literature and within Japanese Buddhist monasteries founded by pilgrim monks, this paper argues that the increasing emphasis on pilgrim monks’ attainment of divine protection in their biographical records suggests a growing concern for reinforcing the authority of their dharma lineages. Moreover, the composition and reception of these miraculous accounts reflected the changing religious needs and reshaped strategies for promoting specific Buddhist sects in subsequent periods. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:36:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-350d4aa3319243b790478d0b2805d55d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:36:11Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-350d4aa3319243b790478d0b2805d55d2024-01-26T18:15:11ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442024-01-0115113410.3390/rel15010134Blessings on the Waves: Miraculous Encounters of Japanese Pilgrim Monks during Sea Voyages Transmitting Dharma from Southern Song ChinaYi Liu0Department of East Asian Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USAThe maritime route connecting the Chinese continent and the Japanese archipelago facilitated a significant exchange of commercial goods and sociocultural knowledge throughout the Southern Song dynasty. Within this context, Japanese pilgrim monks traveling along this route acted as key conduits for the transmission of Buddhist teachings. Their journeys profoundly influenced the establishment and development of new Buddhist monasteries in Japan. Focusing on biographical accounts that portray the experiences of these pilgrim monks during their twelfth- and thirteenth-century sea voyages, this paper aims to explore how these accounts drew on intertextual links with existing Buddhist records to fulfill the compilers’ intentions. Specifically, this paper examines the structure and sources of biographical accounts detailing miraculous encounters between pilgrim monks and Buddhist deities during perilous situations at sea. By interpreting the role of these deities in the corpus of Buddhist literature and within Japanese Buddhist monasteries founded by pilgrim monks, this paper argues that the increasing emphasis on pilgrim monks’ attainment of divine protection in their biographical records suggests a growing concern for reinforcing the authority of their dharma lineages. Moreover, the composition and reception of these miraculous accounts reflected the changing religious needs and reshaped strategies for promoting specific Buddhist sects in subsequent periods.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/1/134BuddhismJiangnanPilgrim Monks |
| spellingShingle | Yi Liu Blessings on the Waves: Miraculous Encounters of Japanese Pilgrim Monks during Sea Voyages Transmitting Dharma from Southern Song China Religions Buddhism Jiangnan Pilgrim Monks |
| title | Blessings on the Waves: Miraculous Encounters of Japanese Pilgrim Monks during Sea Voyages Transmitting Dharma from Southern Song China |
| title_full | Blessings on the Waves: Miraculous Encounters of Japanese Pilgrim Monks during Sea Voyages Transmitting Dharma from Southern Song China |
| title_fullStr | Blessings on the Waves: Miraculous Encounters of Japanese Pilgrim Monks during Sea Voyages Transmitting Dharma from Southern Song China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Blessings on the Waves: Miraculous Encounters of Japanese Pilgrim Monks during Sea Voyages Transmitting Dharma from Southern Song China |
| title_short | Blessings on the Waves: Miraculous Encounters of Japanese Pilgrim Monks during Sea Voyages Transmitting Dharma from Southern Song China |
| title_sort | blessings on the waves miraculous encounters of japanese pilgrim monks during sea voyages transmitting dharma from southern song china |
| topic | Buddhism Jiangnan Pilgrim Monks |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15/1/134 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yiliu blessingsonthewavesmiraculousencountersofjapanesepilgrimmonksduringseavoyagestransmittingdharmafromsouthernsongchina |