The Princess Nun: Bunchi, Buddhist Reform, and Gender in Early Edo Japan

by Gina Cogan

Overview

The Princess Nun tells the story of Bunchi (1619–1697), daughter of Emperor Go-Mizunoo and founder of Enshōji. Bunchi advocated strict adherence to monastic precepts while devoting herself to the posthumous welfare of her family. As the first full-length biographical study of a premodern Japanese nun, this book incorporates issues of gender and social status into its discussion of Bunchi’s ascetic practice and religious reforms to rewrite the history of Buddhist reform and Tokugawa religion.

Gina Cogan’s approach moves beyond the dichotomy of oppression and liberation that dogs the study of non-Western and premodern women to show how Bunchi’s aristocratic status enabled her to carry out reforms despite her gender, while simultaneously acknowledging how that same status contributed to their conservative nature. Cogan’s analysis of how Bunchi used her prestigious position to further her goals places the book in conversation with other works on powerful religious women, like Hildegard of Bingen and Teresa of Avila. Through its illumination of the relationship between the court and the shogunate and its analysis of the practice of courtly Buddhism from a female perspective, this study brings historical depth and fresh theoretical insight into the role of gender and class in early Edo Buddhism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674491977
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	03/03/2014
Series:	Harvard East Asian Monographs , #366
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Gina Cogan is Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion at Boston University.

Table of Contents

List of Figures ix

Acknowledgments xi

List of Abbreviations xiv

Note to the Reader xv

Introduction 1

1 Bunchi's Birth and Early Childhood 24

2 Bunchi's Marriage 46

3 Bunchi's Buddhist Education 72

4 Bunchi, Isshi, and Reform 96

5 The Monastic Body, Desire, and Sex 115

6 Reclusion and Spatiality 139

7 Enshoji: Surroundings and People 166

8 Discipline and Community at Enshoji 191

9 Precepts and Ordination at Enshoji 214

10 Bunchi at Court 230

Conclusion 256

Appendix: "Chronicle of Universal Gate Mountain" 263

List of Characters 271

Bibliography 277

Index 291