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Japanese Mandalas

Japanese Mandalas

By ten Grotenhuis, Elizabeth

Published by University of Hawaii Press

English 249 pages 1998 ISBN 9780824863111
Estimated reading time: 4 h 34 min
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About this book

The first broad study of Japanese mandalas to appear in a Western language, this volume interprets mandalas as sanctified realms where identification between the human and the sacred occurs. The author investigates eighth- to seventeenth-century paintings from three traditions: Esoteric Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhism, and the kami-worshipping (Shinto) tradition. It is generally recognized that many of these mandalas are connected with texts and images from India and the Himalayas. A pioneering theme of this study is that, in addition to the South Asian connections, certain paradigmatic Japanese mandalas reflect pre-Buddhist Chinese concepts, including geographical concepts. In convincing and lucid prose, ten Grotenhuis chronicles an intermingling of visual, doctrinal, ritual, and literary elements in these mandalas that has come to be seen as characteristic of the Japanese religious tradition as a whole. This beautifully illustrated work begins in the first millennium B.C.E. in China with an introduction to the Book of Documents and ends in present-day Japan at the sacred site of Kumano. Ten Grotenhuis focuses on the Diamond and Womb World mandalas of Esoteric Buddhist tradition, on the Taima mandala and other related mandalas from the Pure Land Buddhist tradition, and on mandalas associated with the kami-worshipping sites of Kasuga and Kumano. She identifies specific sacred places in Japan with sacred places in India and with Buddhist cosmic diagrams. Through these identifications, the realm of the buddhas is identified with the realms of the kami and of human beings, and Japanese geographical areas are identified with Buddhist sacred geography. Explaining why certain fundamental Japanese mandalas look the way they do and how certain visual forms came to embody the sacred, ten Grotenhuis presents works that show a complex mixture of Indian Buddhist elements, pre-Buddhist Chinese elements, Chinese Buddhist elements, and indigenous Japanese elements.

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Japanese Mandalas is available as PDF at 13 online bookshops. Bookshops carrying it include Association of University Presses - Tienda FILUNI, Bajalibros Argentina, Bajalibros Latam.

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In what formats is Japanese Mandalas available?
Japanese Mandalas is available as PDF at 13 online bookshops.
Where can I buy Japanese Mandalas?
You can buy Japanese Mandalas at Association of University Presses - Tienda FILUNI, Bajalibros Argentina, Bajalibros Latam. Compare every option in the list on this page.
How long does it take to read Japanese Mandalas?
At an average reading pace, Japanese Mandalas takes about 4 h 34 min to read (249 pages).

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