Shōkū and the imperial consort in dialogue: an analysis of Nyoin Gosho

As a response to Western scholars’ focus on a select few medieval Japanese Pure Land monks and their doctrine, this study aims to target one specific, hitherto understudied monk, Shōkū (1177-1247), and his dialogue surrounding Buddhist doctrine with an Imperial Woman, Kitashirakawa-in (1173-1238). The changes in the status and involvement of women in Japanese religion over time has occasioned a great amount of scholarship on the role of women in Japanese Buddhism. This study seeks to contribute to this literature by explicating Pure Land doctrine as it is addressed to a specific woman and her concerns regarding religious practice. The study of Kitashirakawa-in’s anxieties indicates that she was not concerned with traditional prescribed doctrinal account of the defiled female body but rather regarded herself as a fully capable participant in Buddhist practice aimed at salvation. Lastly, this study offers the first English-language translation of the entirety of one of Shōkū’s works, the Nyōin gosho Volume Two (Letters to Imperial Women, Volume Two, c. 1222), comprising the known entirety of his correspondence with Kitashirakawa-in.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

E Asian Languages & Cultures

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2024

Author dc:creator

• Tschirki, Andrew Kordell

Contributors dc:contributor

• Persiani, Gian Piero

• Buddhism
• Gender
• Medieval Japan
• Japan
• Pure Land Buddhism

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2024 Andrew Tschirki

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/125575

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F125575