Three Treasures: A Revised and Illustrated Study and Translation of Minamoto no Tamenori's Sanboe (Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies) - Softcover

Edward Kamens (author) & Ethan Bushelle (author)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0472055801 ISBN 13: 9780472055807

Publisher: University of Michigan Press, 2023

Synopsis

When the young Princess Sonshi became a Buddhist nun in the year 984, a scholar-official of the royal court was commissioned to create a guide to the Buddhist religion that would be accessible for her. He did so in the form of the illustrated works of fiction (monogatari) that appealed to women readers of her time and class. The text has survived in later manuscripts; the illustrations, if they ever existed, have not. This revised translation recreates Sonshi’s experience of receiving this multimedia presentation, with illustrations selected to help contemporary readers visualize its content and essays that provide context on the religious and cultural experience of the author. The Three Treasures is a unique document that opens a window onto the world of Buddhist religious experience—especially for women—in high classical Japan, the time of Sei Shōnagon’s Pillow Book and Murasaki Shikibu’s Tale of Genji.

About this title

About the Author

Edward Kamens is Sumitomo Professor of Japanese Studies at Yale University.

Ethan Bushelle is Assistant Professor of East Asian Religions and Culture at Western Washington University.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Michigan Press
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0472055801
• ISBN 13: 9780472055807
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 440