Setsuwa Flashcards
Nihon Ryōiki
- Record of Miraculous Events in Japan
- one of Japan’s first major collections of setsuwa
- focuses greatly on karmic retribution
setsuwa
- literal meaning: spoken story
- anecdotes
- stories that were orally spoken and then written down
- short and sweet, plot-driven, element of surprise, educational
- usually exist in multiple variations, as they are told and then written down. this repeated process eventually leads to different versions
- presumes a narrator and a listener, but not an author
what does Nihon Ryōiki teach?
- both good and bad deeds have direct consequences in this life or the next
- disease is the punishment for sin. often karmic retribution is granted via disease
- morals taught in this work are necessary in changing times to save people from their sins
record of miraculous events in Japan: language
- earliest major collection of setsuwa
- written in Chinese-style prose
record of miraculous events in Japan: arrangement
- 116 stories in 3 volumes
- pre-nara has 4 stories
- tenpyō era is volume 2
- post-tenpyō era is volume 3
record of miraculous events in Japan: background motivations
- mappō “ the last days of the dharma”
- 500 years of True Dharma
- 1 000 years of Counterfeit Dharma
- 10 000 years of Degenerative Dharma
Mahāyāna Buddhism
- great vehicle
- found in east Asia
- emphasis on other-power, faith, devotion
- bodhisattvas with Slavic powers, multiple buddhas
Hīnayāna buddhism
- inferior vehicle
- also known as mainstream buddhism
- found in south asia
- emphasis on self-power, motivation, etc
- arhats, self-enlightened ones, Buddha
popular Mahāyāna sūtras
lotus, nirvana, heart
5 sins of immediate karmic retribution
1) killing mother
2) killing father
3) killing arhat
4) shedding the blood of a Buddha
5) schisms in the community
5 ways to avoid rebirth in one of the hells
copy sūtras, do not slander/abuse monks, do not kill animals, never touch the temple’s goods, do not die owing temples
what are the 5 lay precepts to maintain?
avoid taking life, theft, sexual misconduct, lies, alcohol
buddhist hells
- 8 hot hells, 8 cold hells
- each hell has 4 sides
- each side has 4 entrances
bodhisattva
- one who strives for an awakening
- this has a different meanings in the two types of buddhism
- mainstream buddhism: refers to the Buddha before he becomes the Buddha, i.e. his life during his spiritual/religious quest
- Mahāyāna buddhism: refers to salvic figures who have postponed their own awakenings to remain in this world and help all living beings
setsuwa-shū
collection of setsuwa
Konjaku monogatari-shu
- Tales of Times Now Past
- completed in ca. 1120 in late Heian
- made up of mixed Japanese and Chinese prose
- 31 books/scrolls with 3 of them missing
- tales divided into buddhism (2/3) and secular (1/3)
- around 1093 stories
- all stories begin with “Once long ago” (i.e. Ima wa mukashi)
how many sections are in Konjaku monogatari-shu and what are they?
3 sections: India (5), china (5), Japan (21)
what are some themes in Konjaku monogatari-shu?
- efficacy of reciting the Lotus Sūtra
- the belief in the power of Buddhism to protect human beings from disaster is stressed
- ongaeshi (repaying gratitude)
- hōjō (releasing sentiment + beings)
dragon kings/nāgā rājas
can control weather/climate
what are two ways in which the Buddha was depicted?
iconic and an-iconic
iconic
present in bodily form. (ex: buddha in the picture)
an-iconic
not physically present; homage. (Ex: image of people praying. we know they are praying to the buddha and that the buddha is there even though it is not visible)
3 key elements to understanding setsuwa
1) the act of narration
2) the act of writing, which records the spoken story or rewrites an earlier one
3) the act of editing, which brings together the stories in a certain order by topic
round-table
- form of setsuwa in the heian and medieval period
- people took turns telling stories with a listener who was an aristocrat and who could write
all-night storytelling
form of setsuwa in the heian and medieval period
heia monogatari
setsuwa was also used in court. “court tales”
what was setsuwa considered as in medival and edo periods?
historical records
one-horned astetic
- pits astetic’s life against erotic lure
- astetic was known as a holy being
- did not like rain. so he captured the dragon kings and caused a drought for years
- no one could say anything out of respect for the astetic
- king decided to send a woman to lure him so he could loose his powers
- astetic did this and he lost all his powers
- dragon kings were free
- woman could not walk in the rain, so the infatuated astetic carried her
self-sacrifical rabbit
- reveals the bodhisattva ideal of sacrifice
- rabbit, monkey, and fox wanted to follow the bodhisattva way
- the god Indra saw this and decided to test them
- Indra changed into an old man and said told the animals he was weak and hungry
- money and fox scavenged for food and brought it. rabbit couldn’t find anything
- rabbit sacrificed himself by throwing himself into the fire so the old man could eat him and not starve
- Indra placed rabbit on the moon as a reminder of his sacrifice
lion who tore off his own flesh
- sacrifice of Shakyamuni buddha
- monkeys were starving but could not leave their babies alone because eagle might come to eat them
- they asked the lion to take care of their babies while they hunted. lion agreed
- lion dozed off and during that time, the eagle took the babies
- lion tore off his own flesh so eagle could return the babies
nine-coloured deer
- example of ongaeshi combined with hōjō
- man was drowning and the deer saved his life
- deer asked man not to tell anyone about him or his whereabouts because they would want his hide
- man promised he would not and kept this promise for years
- many years later, at the mention of reward for the deer’s hides forgot and broke the promise
- deer is shakyamuni buddha
Indra
god; lives at the top of the mountain
wang zhaojun
women who’s honesty cost her her life. had to go live with the barbarians because she would not lie
jataka
- depiction of Buddha’s past lives
- exhibits some sort of virtue
