Awakening between Science, Art & Ethics: Variations on Japanese Buddhist Modernism, 1890–1945

James Shields

Awakening between Science, Art & Ethics: Variations on Japanese Buddhist Modernism, 1890–1945

James Shields

Bucknell University

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter

Abstract

<p> The half-century between the publication of the Imperial Rescript on Education ( <em> ky&omacr;iku chokugo </em> 教育勅語, 1890) and the bombing of Pearl Harbor (1941) was one of tremendous institutional and intellectual tumult in the world of Japanese Buddhism. Buddhist sects and scholars were not immune to the changing political and cultural winds. While it is true that by the late 1930s, the majority of Buddhist leaders and institutions had capitulated to the status quo, preaching, in the words of Joseph Kitagawa “the virtues of peace, harmony, and loyalty to the throne,” the previous decades show anything but a continuous progression towards Buddhist nationalism. From the 1890s, Buddhist scholars and leaders such as Murakami Sensh&omacr; 村上専精 (1851-1929), Inoue Enry&omacr; 井上圓了 (1858-1919), Shaku S&omacr;en 釋宗演 (1859-1919), and Kiyozawa Manshi 清沢満之 (1863-1903) were working towards the “reform” of Buddhism along to suit what they saw as encroaching “modernity”—especially Western science. They were joined in the succeeding decades by the intellectuals of the Kyoto School, whose vision was less a “new Buddhism” than a “new philosophy” both suited to twentieth-century Japan and with universal aspirations. Though there is significant variation in the thought of the leading figures of the Kyoto School, Nishida Kitar&omacr; 西田幾多郎 (1870-1945), Tanabe Hajime 田辺元 (1885-1962), and Nishitani Keiji 西谷啓治 (1900-1990), their work can be accurately categorized as an attempt at Buddhist “modernism.” What emerges then, from an examination of this fertile period is a debate between two visions of “new Buddhism”—one based on an understanding of “modernity” as a historical locus with specific political and cultural implications, and the other based on a “modernist” understanding of religion as a form of “aesthetics” largely abstracted from historical circumstances. This paper will examine the debate between the two visions of Buddhism during the period leading up to World War Two, as well as its implications for post-war Japanese Buddhism.</p>

Original language	American English
Title of host publication	Rethinking Japanese Modernism
State	Published - Jan 1 2012

Keywords

Buddhism
modernism
Japan
Meiji
Taisho
Showa
Buddhism and modernity; modernism; Japanese Buddhism; awakening; Buddhist ethics

Disciplines

Asian History
Comparative Methodologies and Theories
Ethics in Religion
History of Religion
History of Religions of Eastern Origins
Intellectual History
Japanese Studies
Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion
Buddhist Studies

Access to Document

Awakening between Science Art Ethics Variations on Japanese BFinal published version, 283 KBLicense: CC BY
Awakening between Science Art Ethics Variations on Japanese BFinal published version, 288 KBLicense: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Awakening between Science, Art \& Ethics: Variations on Japanese Buddhist Modernism, 1890–1945",

abstract = " The half-century between the publication of the Imperial Rescript on Education ( ky\&omacr;iku chokugo 教育勅語, 1890) and the bombing of Pearl Harbor (1941) was one of tremendous institutional and intellectual tumult in the world of Japanese Buddhism. Buddhist sects and scholars were not immune to the changing political and cultural winds. While it is true that by the late 1930s, the majority of Buddhist leaders and institutions had capitulated to the status quo, preaching, in the words of Joseph Kitagawa \“the virtues of peace, harmony, and loyalty to the throne,\” the previous decades show anything but a continuous progression towards Buddhist nationalism. From the 1890s, Buddhist scholars and leaders such as Murakami Sensh\&omacr; 村上専精 (1851-1929), Inoue Enry\&omacr; 井上圓了 (1858-1919), Shaku S\&omacr;en 釋宗演 (1859-1919), and Kiyozawa Manshi 清沢満之 (1863-1903) were working towards the \“reform\” of Buddhism along to suit what they saw as encroaching \“modernity\”\—especially Western science. They were joined in the succeeding decades by the intellectuals of the Kyoto School, whose vision was less a \“new Buddhism\” than a \“new philosophy\” both suited to twentieth-century Japan and with universal aspirations. Though there is significant variation in the thought of the leading figures of the Kyoto School, Nishida Kitar\&omacr; 西田幾多郎 (1870-1945), Tanabe Hajime 田辺元 (1885-1962), and Nishitani Keiji 西谷啓治 (1900-1990), their work can be accurately categorized as an attempt at Buddhist \“modernism.\” What emerges then, from an examination of this fertile period is a debate between two visions of \“new Buddhism\”\—one based on an understanding of \“modernity\” as a historical locus with specific political and cultural implications, and the other based on a \“modernist\” understanding of religion as a form of \“aesthetics\” largely abstracted from historical circumstances. This paper will examine the debate between the two visions of Buddhism during the period leading up to World War Two, as well as its implications for post-war Japanese Buddhism.",

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AB - The half-century between the publication of the Imperial Rescript on Education ( ky&omacr;iku chokugo 教育勅語, 1890) and the bombing of Pearl Harbor (1941) was one of tremendous institutional and intellectual tumult in the world of Japanese Buddhism. Buddhist sects and scholars were not immune to the changing political and cultural winds. While it is true that by the late 1930s, the majority of Buddhist leaders and institutions had capitulated to the status quo, preaching, in the words of Joseph Kitagawa “the virtues of peace, harmony, and loyalty to the throne,” the previous decades show anything but a continuous progression towards Buddhist nationalism. From the 1890s, Buddhist scholars and leaders such as Murakami Sensh&omacr; 村上専精 (1851-1929), Inoue Enry&omacr; 井上圓了 (1858-1919), Shaku S&omacr;en 釋宗演 (1859-1919), and Kiyozawa Manshi 清沢満之 (1863-1903) were working towards the “reform” of Buddhism along to suit what they saw as encroaching “modernity”—especially Western science. They were joined in the succeeding decades by the intellectuals of the Kyoto School, whose vision was less a “new Buddhism” than a “new philosophy” both suited to twentieth-century Japan and with universal aspirations. Though there is significant variation in the thought of the leading figures of the Kyoto School, Nishida Kitar&omacr; 西田幾多郎 (1870-1945), Tanabe Hajime 田辺元 (1885-1962), and Nishitani Keiji 西谷啓治 (1900-1990), their work can be accurately categorized as an attempt at Buddhist “modernism.” What emerges then, from an examination of this fertile period is a debate between two visions of “new Buddhism”—one based on an understanding of “modernity” as a historical locus with specific political and cultural implications, and the other based on a “modernist” understanding of religion as a form of “aesthetics” largely abstracted from historical circumstances. This paper will examine the debate between the two visions of Buddhism during the period leading up to World War Two, as well as its implications for post-war Japanese Buddhism.

KW - Buddhism

KW - modernism

KW - Japan

KW - Meiji

KW - Taisho

KW - Showa

KW - Buddhism and modernity; modernism; Japanese Buddhism; awakening; Buddhist ethics

UR - https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/fac_books/106

UR - https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/fac_books/97

M3 - Chapter

BT - Rethinking Japanese Modernism

ER -

Awakening between Science, Art & Ethics: Variations on Japanese Buddhist Modernism, 1890–1945

Abstract

Keywords

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