PDF Uchinanchu: A History of Okinawans in Hawaii by Center for Oral History History in History

Description

Japan’s monastic warriors have fared poorly in comparison to the samurai; both in terms of historical reputation and representations in popular culture. Often maligned and criticized for their involvement in politics and other secular matters; they have been seen as figures separate from the larger military class. However; as Mikael Adolphson reveals in his comprehensive and authoritative examination of the social origins of the monastic forces; political conditions; and warfare practices of the Heian (794–1185) and Kamakura (1185–1333) eras; these "monk-warriors"(sôhei) were in reality inseparable from the warrior class. Their negative image; Adolphson argues; is a construct that grew out of artistic sources critical of the established temples from the fourteenth century on.In deconstructing the sôhei image and looking for clues as to the characteristics; role; and meaning of the monastic forces; The Teeth and Claws of the Buddha highlights the importance of historical circumstances; it also points to the fallacies of allowing later; especially modern; notions of religion to exert undue influence on interpretations of the past. It further suggests that; rather than constituting a separate category of violence; religious violence needs to be understood in its political; social; military; and ideological contexts.