This volume gathers together revised and expanded versions of four lectures given under the auspices of the Centre of Buddhist Studies at the University of Hong Kong in October of 2024. Chapters Two, Three and Four were given as the three public lectures of The 12th MaMa Charitable Foundation Lecture Series in Buddhist Studies. Chapter One was a lecture given for Dr. Tony Chui’s class “Japanese Culture and Thought: The Buddhist Impact.”
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From the Introduction:
This work revises and expands a set of four lectures given at the University of Hong Kong in 2024. One of the overall themes of those lectures was that the category of “Japanese Buddhism” is artificial, that is, it is a construct. The category is, in part, informed by modern, nineteenth century nationalism, which naturalized the notion of “nation-states.” This is the conception that nations are, in some fashion, natural as a unity of geography, culture,
language and ethnicity, combined then with the political status of states as domains of governance.
The second factor in forming this idea is the legacy of the academic category of “Japanese Buddhism.” This implies a unity that is “Japanese Buddhism,” as distinct from the Buddhisms of Japan. Japanese Buddhism is then thought to have some defining characteristics that can be identified and which distinguish it from other nationalistic categories, such as Chinese Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Burmese Buddhism and so on. However, the category is an artifice, that is, it was made up in particular social, historical, and intellectual contexts. As such, it can be of use for particular kinds of inquiries, but it should not be treated as a default category that is based on a natural object of inquiry. The category becomes problematic when it is taken uncritically as the framework for all inquiries, and it then distorts and obscures the history. Before we know which category to use, we need to know what question we are asking; otherwise the category will predetermine the answer to the question.
As an alternative to drawing a border around our inquiry that is based on the modern nation-state of Japan, these chapters first provide a general overview, and then go on to examine three aspects of Buddhist practice in Japan, looking at how those connect to broader Buddhist traditions. The three aspects are pilgrimage, ritual and thought. These chapters are not presented as somehow comprehensive, but rather as topics of inquiry that are heuristically valuable for seeing continuities of the Buddhist tradition that cross political borders, geographic boundaries, cultural divisions and linguistic limitations.
My thanks to my friend and colleague Georgios Halkias for kindly inviting me to give the lectures, and for supporting the publication of them by the Center for Buddhist Studies at Hong Kong University. I would like to also express my appreciation to Jnan Nanda Tanchangya and Christina Partsalaki for their very helpful editorial assistance.
| Author: | Richard K. Payne |
| Publisher: | Centre of Buddhist Studies, HKU |
| Language: | English |
| ISBN: | 978-988-76424-6-6 (Ebook) |
| Date of Press: | 2026 |
Richard K. Payne 