Basic and Comprehensive Study of Funerary Buddhism by the Zen and Ritsu sects of Buddhism in the Late Middle Ages

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K03064
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Japanese history
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: SHIMAZU Takeshi 大阪大学, 文学研究科, 招へい研究員 (90794024)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 禅律僧 / 葬祭仏教 / 葬送祭祀 / 境内墓地 / 天皇・上皇 / 女性 / 幼児

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study examines the formation of funerary Buddhism with Zen-ritsu Buddhism at its core in the late Middle Ages, and clarifies the following.
(1) The change in funerary practices in the late Middle Ages was the beginning of the establishment of cemeteries within the precincts of Zen Buddhist temples and the burial of people from various walks of life. It also marked the beginning of the establishment of Japanese Buddhism as funeral Buddhism. As a precondition for this, there were changes in the social infrastructure, such as the establishment of medieval "households" in aristocratic society, and every member of the family was incorporated into the funeral service at temples with cemeteries on their premises. (3) From the 15th and 16th centuries onward, the general public also began to be buried in temple cemeteries, and the changes in the funeral and grave system in the late Middle Ages provided the social groundwork for the temple and parish systems of the early modern period.

Free Research Field

日本中世史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

近年、近世仏教の葬祭仏教に対する再評価が進んでいる。ところが、中世仏教がどのような過程を経て近世の葬祭仏教へ移行するのかについては、ほとんど研究が進んではいなかった。
本研究は、天皇家・女性・幼児という具体的な対象を通して、中世仏教が葬祭仏教化していく歴史的過程を明らかにした。しかも、本研究は社会との関係性に重点を置きながら検討したため、これら葬送を担ってきた禅律系寺院の対応も、当時の社会的なニースに応える形で進められてきたことも解明することができた。これは、日本仏教と民衆との関係を再考するうえでも、重要な意義をもつものと考えられる。