The most commonly employed framework for assessing the religion of the Nara period (710-784) remains the state Buddhism model (kokka Bukkyo ron 国家仏教論) advanced by Inoue Mitsusada 井上光貞 (1917-1983). While Inoue provided the
most systematic and influential version of this thesis, this article traces its origins at least as far back as the Meiji peri…[Read more]

This article explores the notion of the Buddhist canon in seventh- and eighth-century Japan. It relies on scriptorium documents, temple records, and manuscripts of catalogs to argue that there was no single Buddhist canon in ancient Japan; each was created at a particular moment in a unique configuration to respond to the needs of the patron and…[Read more]

Recent discoveries and scholarship on Japanese Buddhist manuscripts have illuminated new areas of research and raised previously unexplored questions in Buddhist studies and East Asian religions. This article introduces some of the recent finds and approaches to these materials. It focuses on three sets of sources: scriptorium documents from an…[Read more]

This article introduces and translates the Scripture on Saving and Protecting Body and Life (Jiuhu shenming jing 救護身命經), a text likely composed in sixth-century China that claims to represent the words of the Buddha. The article traces the treatment of this text in Chinese catalogues, and analyzes its themes with regard to other works composed…[Read more]

This article focuses on ritualized scribal practices in eighth-century Japan. It uses colophons, scriptorium documents, and narrative tales to explore how sutra copyists upheld vegetarian diets, performed ablutions, wore ritual garments, and avoided contact with pollutants stemming from death and illness. Such practices, often described in terms…[Read more]

Study of an eighth-century Japanese Buddhist manuscript in the Gest Collection at Princeton University. It argues for a mutually empowering and interdependent relationship between the scribe, the patron, and the text. It also looks at issues related to manuscript cultures, gender, the materiality of prayer, and the religious significance of labor.