The Shōkokuji Pagoda: Building the Infrastructure of Buddhist Kingship in Medieval Japan

This article outlines the history of the Shokokuji Pagoda and reflects on the building's role in the remarkable career of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408). A small yet critical body of documents from the late fourteenth century sheds light on a compelling set of details regarding the 109-meter-t...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Stavros, Matthew Gerald 1972- (Author) ; Yoshiyuki, Tomishima (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Nanzan Institute 2018
In: Japanese journal of religious studies
Year: 2018, Volume: 45, Issue: 1, Pages: 125-144
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Ashikaga, Yoshimitsu 1358-1408 / Shokoko-ji Kioto / Pagoda / Dharma / Ruler / History 1378-1416
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
AG Religious life; material religion
BL Buddhism
KBM Asia
TH Late Middle Ages
Further subjects:B Emperors
B Buddhism
B Pagodas
B Religious Studies
B Religious rituals
B Dedications
B Dharma
B Mandalas
B Retirement
B Kingship
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Summary:This article outlines the history of the Shokokuji Pagoda and reflects on the building's role in the remarkable career of Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408). A small yet critical body of documents from the late fourteenth century sheds light on a compelling set of details regarding the 109-meter-tall monument's location, iconographic program, and ritual functions. The findings reveal a conscious impulse to mimic precedents set two centuries earlier by powerful ex-sovereigns of the Insei period (1180s-1280s). By building the Shokokuji Pagoda, Yoshimitsu sought to create a context, both material and situational, within which the symbols and rituals of Buddhist kingship could be deployed to assert a status synonymous with dharma king. In doing so, he forged an anthropocosmic connection between himself and the divine, thereby perpetuating an architectural tradition that can be compared to the great Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms of Southeast Asia.
Contains:Enthalten in: Japanese journal of religious studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.18874/jjrs.45.1.2018.125-144