Michael Como is Fukami Professor of Shinto Studies at Columbia University.
"This is an ambitious and richly interdisciplinary book that
reexamines our sources on Prince Shotoku to trace the Prince's
iconic image as cultural hero and royal Buddhist paragon in Japan's
seventh and eighth centuries. Unwrapping Shotoku's multi-layered
image provides critical clues to the multifaceted transition that
spanned Japan's pre-Buddhist and Buddhist epochs. At the center of
the process, Como locates Korean emigrés, especially those from
Silla, whose grasp of the tools of literacy gave them key roles in
the construction of kingship and mythmaking. Shotoku is a
well-written book that anyone interested in Japan's history,
culture, and religion will
want to read." --Joan Piggott, Gordon L. Macdonald Professor &
Director of the Project for Premodern Japan Studies, History
Department, University of Southern California
"This book vastly expands our understanding of ancient Japan and
the role played by 'immigrants' in its formation. Michael Como's
sleuthing in the historical record and his close readings of
legends and myths enable him to trace the genealogies,
intermarriages, locations, and functions of these communities. The
evolving myths surrounding the figure of Shotoku Taishi constitute
the centerpiece of this reconstruction. Pleasantly surprising
mini-denouements of
suspense-building interpretations invariably tie together beliefs
and practices that have traditionally been labeled separately
('Shinto,' 'Buddhist,' 'Daoist'), as sharing roots in 'non-native'
cultural
soil. Como's focus on the immigrant connection and his firm and
sure expository style cuts a clear path through and around the
innumerable historical controversies that surround this fascinating
period of Japanese history." --Herman Ooms, author of Imperial
Politics and Symbolics in Ancient Japan
"This is a very creative work that breaks new ground in
understanding the historical sources of early Shinto and Buddhist
traditions. All students of Japanese religious and cultural history
will find Como's insights invaluable." --Religious Studies
Review
"I would heartily recommend this study to anybody concerned with
early Japanese history." --Journal of Japanese Studies
"...the author's clear argument and lively sense of story provide a
strong wrap for the weft of hagiography and ethnicity he weaves
through the work."--Kevin Gary Carr, University of Michigan
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