The Gates of Power
Monks, Courtiers, and Warriors in Premodern Japan
The political influence of temples in premodern Japan, most clearly manifested in divine demonstrations—where rowdy monks and shrine servants brought holy symbols to the capital to exert pressure on courtiers—has traditionally been condemned and is poorly understood. In an impressive examination of this intriguing aspect of medieval Japan, the author employs a wide range of previously neglected sources to argue that religious protest was a symptom of political factionalism in the capital rather than its cause. It is his contention that religious violence can be traced primarily to attempts by secular leaders to rearrange religious and political hierarchies to their own advantage, thereby leaving disfavored religious institutions to fend for their accustomed rights and status. In this context, divine demonstrations became the preferred negotiating tool for monastic complexes. For almost three centuries, such strategies allowed a handful of elite temples to maintain enough of an equilibrium to sustain and defend the old style of rulership even against the efforts of the Ashikaga Shogunate in the mid-fourteenth century.
By acknowledging temples and monks as legitimate co-rulers, The Gates of Power provides a new synthesis of Japanese rulership from the late Heian (794–1185) to the early Muromachi (1336–1573) eras, offering a unique and comprehensive analysis that brings together the spheres of art, religion, ideas, and politics in medieval Japan.
A judicious, detailed, and highly informative account of a complicated history. Relations between the court and the religious elite are extremely confusing, and Adolphson has done an admirable job of sorting out the conflicts and guiding us through them.
An impressive contribution on many levels
Without question, one of the most thought-provoking non-Japanese works to be written on Japanese medieval history in years
[Adolphson’s] ideas are often very interesting and deserve to be considered by those who teach survey courses in Japanese and East Asian history as well as by ... specialists
Valuable ... This book is worth considering for advanced undergraduates.
A major study that sheds important light on the world of medieval Japan.
A very impressive piece of scholarship.... The author writes authoritatively, advancing a series of interpretations that in some cases revise views long held by historians, both Japanese and Western.
The Gates of Power offers new insights into the dimensions of government in premodern Japan. While focusing on the crucial role of Buddhism from the 11th through the 14th centuries, it also prompts the reader to reflect on the intricate balance between power elites and the complex interdependencies of religion and politics.
Mikael S. Adolphson is Keidanren Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Cambridge .
