Robert E. Morrell

Muj? Ichien

Sand and Pebbles presents the first complete English rendering of Shasekishu--the classic, popular Buddhist "Tale Literature" (setsuwa). This collection of instructive, yet often humorous, anecdotes appeared in the late thirteenth century, within decades of the first stirrings of the revolutionary movements of Kamakura Buddhism. Shasekishu's author, Muju Ichien (1226-1312), lived in a rural temple apart from the centers of political and literary activity, and his stories reflect the customs, attitudes and lifestyles of the commoners. In Sand and Pebbles, complete translations of Book One and other significant narrative parts are supplemented by summaries of the remaining (especially didactic) material and by excerpts from Muju's later work. Introduced by a historical sketch of the period, this work also contains a biography of Muju. Illustrations, charts, a chronology, glossary of terms, notes, an extensive bibliography and an index guide the reader into a seldom seen corner of old Japan. Muju and his writings will interest students of literature as well as scholars of Japanese religion, especially Buddhism. Anthropologists and sociologists will discover details of Kamakura life and thought unrecorded in the official chronicles of the age.

The Tales of Muju Ichien, A Voice for Pluralism in Kamakura Buddhism

Sand and Pebbles

J. Thomas Rimer

Guide to Japanese Poetry

Sachiko Kaneko Morrell

Zen Sanctuary of Purple Robes examines the affairs of Rinzai Zen’s Toμkeiji Convent, founded in 1285 by nun Kakusan Shidoμ after the death of her husband, Hoμjoμ Tokimune. It traces the convent’s history through seven centuries, including the early nuns’ Zen practice; Abbess Yoμdoμ’s imperial lineage with nuns in purple robes; Hideyori’s seven-year-old daughter—later to become the convent’s twentieth abbess, Tenshuμ—spared by Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle for Osaka Castle; Toμkeiji as “divorce temple” during the mid-Edo period and a favorite topic of senryuμ satirical verse; the convent’s gradual decline as a functioning nunnery but its continued survival during the early Meiji persecution of Buddhism; and its current prosperity. The work includes translations, charts, illustrations, bibliographies, and indices. Beyond such historical details, the authors emphasize the convent’s “inclusivist” Rinzai Zen practice in tandem with the nearby Engakuji Temple. The rationale for this “inclusivism” is the continuing acceptance of the doctrine of “Skillful Means” (hoμben) as expressed in the Lotus Sutra—a notion repudiated or radically reinterpreted by most of the Kamakura reformers. In support of this contention, the authors include a complete translation of the Mirror for Women by Kakusan’s contemporary, Muju Ichien.

Japan's Tokeiji Convent Since 1285

Zen Sanctuary of Purple Robes

Earl Roy Miner

弘子·小田桐

Looks at the history of Japanese literature, identifies major authors and their works, and discusses literary terms, theater, and criticism

The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature

A fascinating look at a Zen convent throughout its history.

Hiroko Odagiri

The description for this book, The Princeton Companion to Classical Japanese Literature, will be forthcoming.

Robert E. Morrell

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