Zen Culture - Part 27
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Part 27

Jodo: sect of j.a.panese Buddhism based on chant praising Amida Buddha which was founded in 1175.

Jodo Shin: rival sect of j.a.panese Buddhism also based on chant praising Amida which was founded in 1224.

Jomon: prehistoric culture in j.a.pan.

Josetsu (active 1400-1413): leading artist in j.a.panese Sung revival.

_kaiseki_: special cuisine a.s.sociated with the tea ceremony. Kamakura: effective capital of j.a.pan during period of warrior

domination (1185-1333). kami: Shinto spirits inhabiting the natural world.

Kamikaze: "Divine Wind" that sank the Mongol fleet attacking

j.a.pan in 1281.

_kamoi_: crossbeams in the traditional j.a.panese house.

Kano: family of painters dominating much of j.a.panese painting since the sixteenth century, replacing Zen artists as the official stylists.

_kare sansui_: stone gardens in "dry landscape" style.

Kinkaku-ji: "Golden Pavilion" built by Yoshimitsu in 1394.

_koan_: illogical conundrums used in Rinzai Zen to induce enlightenment.

_koicha_: powdered green tea used in the tea ceremony.

Kokinshu: anthology of j.a.panese poems from the year 905.

Kukai (774-835): introduced Shingon Buddhism to j.a.pan in 808. Kyogen: farces performed as part of a program of No plays. Kyoto: capital city of j.a.pan from 794 to seventeenth century and

site of cla.s.sic Zen culture.

Lankavatara: _sutra _believed by Bodhidharma to best express Ch'an philosophy.

Lin-chi (d. 866): leading figure of the "sudden enlightenment" school of Ch'an, whose teachings were much of the basis of j.a.panese Rinzai Zen.

Mahayana: Buddhism which spread to China and j.a.pan. _mandala_: esoteric diagrams purportedly containing the key to cosmological truths.

Manyoshu: early anthology of j.a.panese poetry (780).

Ma Yuan (active ca. 1190-1224): Chinese Southern Sung painter

whose works strongly influenced j.a.panese Zen artists.

Minamoto: warrior family of the Heian and Kamakura eras. Mincho (1351- 1431): j.a.panese priest and one of the first j.a.panese artists to successfully adopt and revive Chinese styles of paintings.

_miso_: fermented soybean paste used in j.a.panese cooking. _miyabi_: Heian aesthetic term signifying subtleties only a connoisseur could appreciate.

Momoyama: period of j.a.panese history from 1 537 to 1615. mondo: Zen question-and-answer session in which a novice must

respond immediately and without reflection to questions posed by a Zen master.

Mu-ch'i (ca. 1210-ca. 1280): Chinese Ch'an painter whose works

strongly affected j.a.panese Zen artists.

mudra: sacred hand signs.

Muso Soseki (1275-1351): Zen scholar and adviser to Ashikaga Takauji, who is traditionally thought to be the designer of several early Zen landscape gardens in Kvoto.

Nageire: style of Ikebana.

_nageshi_: decorative element in the ceiling of a traditional j.a.panese house.

Nara: site of the first capital of j.a.pan, which was consecrated in

710 and abandoned by the court in 784.

_nembutsu_: chant to Amida Buddha used by Jodo and Jodo Shin sects.

Nichiren (1222-1282): founder of Buddhist sect based on Lotus Sutra.

Nichiren Shoshu: name of the sect founded by Nichiren.

No: theatrical form reflecting Zen ideals, which came to prominence during the Ashikaga era.

n.o.bunaga (1534-1582): military ruler who began the movement to unify j.a.pan.

Oribe: style of j.a.panese Zen-influenced ceramics.

pi-kuan: "wall-gazing" meditation practiced and extolled by Bodhidharma.

Raku: style of ceramics invented by Chojiro.

_ramma_: open latticework in the traditional j.a.panese house.

Renga: "linked verse" form of j.a.panese poetry, in which different

partic.i.p.ants must contribute alternate stanzas.

Rikka: an early style of formal flower arranging.

Rinzai: j.a.panese sect of Zen stressing sudden enlightenment and use of _koans_.

_roji_: "dewy path" leading through the j.a.panese tea garden. Ryoan-ji: temple in Kyoto with a famous kare sansui flat garden. _Sabi_: aesthetic tenn signifying the dignity of old age.

Saicho (767-822): introduced Tendai Buddhism into j.a.pan (806).