Ancient and Medieval Thought
Before feudalism was firmly established in Japan, Buddhism occupied the mainstream of Japanese thought. The Buddhism culture introduced politically by Prince Shotoku is completed as the “making a country safe” thought in the Nara era. When the Heian era begins, in substitution for the “making a country safe thought”, mikkyo becomes popular. However, in the late noble era when pessimism was popular due to the “belief that Buddhism will decline during the latter days of this world”, the Pure Land movements spread out in the strong admiration to the future life in desperation over the life in this world. When the Kamakura era at which a samurai grasps the government begins, the “new” Buddhism for the newly-risen class (samurai) appears.
Read more about this topic: Japanese Philosophy
Famous quotes containing the words ancient and, ancient, medieval and/or thought:
“In an ancient and dead language, any recognition of living nature attracts us. These are such sentences as were written while grass grew and water ran. It is no small recommendation when a book will stand the test of mere unobstructed sunshine and daylight.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“When I was young, beautiful ancient statues were castrated, so that the eye might not be corrupted.... Nothing was gained, unless horses and asses had also been castrated.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)
“The Christos-image
is most difficult to disentangle
from its art-craft junk-shop
paint-and-plaster medieval jumble
of pain-worship and death-symbol.”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)
“We read that the traveller asked the boy if the swamp before him had a hard bottom. The boy replied that it had. But presently the traveller’s horse sank in up to the girths, and he observed to the boy, “I thought you said that this bog had a hard bottom.” “So it has,” answered the latter, “but you have not got half way to it yet.” So it is with the bogs and quicksands of society; but he is an old boy that knows it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)