Buddhist Perspectives on the Modern and Pre-modern

Organizer: SUEKI Fumihiko, Professor

　Originally, the ancient and medieval were the primary focus of Buddhist studies. Thus the unspoken assumption was that New Kamakura Buddhism was seen as the high point, and that earlier developments were preparatory stages—while post-medieval Buddhism was seen as its gradual diminution and corruption. However, currently, this kind of shared assumption is fading.
　This collaborative research, recognizing the current condition of Buddhist studies, will bring together experts in both pre-modern and modern Buddhist studies. It will compare and contrast pre-modern and modern Buddhism and attempt to uncover the meaning of the transformation from pre-modern to modern. Further, since the collaborative research will draw together experts in religious studies who approach Japanese religion from a broad perspective, it will establish a point of view that considers the broader conceptual and religious history of Japan rather than simply Buddhism.
　More specifically, we plan to cast our focus on the late pre-modern era (Edo period). The late pre-modern era was the period in which ancient and medieval ideas and religion were transformed into the modern, and this transformation indeed engendered and constituted a new world. Previously, late pre-modern ideas were said to have been primarily Confucian in character, but currently this interpretation has been completely overturned; instead, contemporary scholarship emphasizes the basic influence of Buddhism on the ethics and religion of the populace.
　In this collaborative research, we will combine debates concerning members’ presentations with group readings of relevant primary texts, attempting thereby to clarify the relationship between religion, ideas, and the development of late pre-modern Buddhism. Ultimately, we will attempt to develop an appropriate interpretive framework for the study of late pre-modern Buddhism. By such means, we will venture to gain a clearer outlook concerning the problem of how late pre-modern Buddhism mediated the transformation of ancient and medieval Buddhism into modern Buddhism. In this way, furthermore, we can presumably come to comprehensive conclusions concerning not only Buddhism but also epochal changes in the entirety of Japanese religion and thought.