Receptacle of the Sacred - (South Asia Across the Disciplines) by Jinah Kim (Hardcover)
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About this item
Highlights
- In considering medieval illustrated Buddhist manuscripts as sacred objects of cultic innovation, Receptacle of the Sacred explores how and why the South Asian Buddhist book-cult has survived for almost two millennia to the present.
- About the Author: Jinah Kim is Assistant Professor of History of Art & Architecture at Harvard University.
- 432 Pages
- Social Science, Anthropology
- Series Name: South Asia Across the Disciplines
Description
Book Synopsis
In considering medieval illustrated Buddhist manuscripts as sacred objects of cultic innovation, Receptacle of the Sacred explores how and why the South Asian Buddhist book-cult has survived for almost two millennia to the present. A book "manuscript" should be understood as a form of sacred space: a temple in microcosm, not only imbued with divine presence but also layered with the memories of many generations of users. Jinah Kim argues that illustrating a manuscript with Buddhist imagery not only empowered it as a three-dimensional sacred object, but also made it a suitable tool for the spiritual transformation of medieval Indian practitioners. Through a detailed historical analysis of Sanskrit colophons on patronage, production, and use of illustrated manuscripts, she suggests that while Buddhism's disappearance in eastern India was a slow and gradual process, the Buddhist book-cult played an important role in sustaining its identity. In addition, by examining the physical traces left by later Nepalese users and the contemporary ritual use of the book in Nepal, Kim shows how human agency was critical in perpetuating and intensifying the potency of a manuscript as a sacred object throughout time.From the Back Cover
"This is an important work on the well known but little-studied Buddhist manuscripts created in eastern India during the last centuries of major Buddhist activity there. Her use of contemporary evidence in Nepal wonderfully grounds historical imagining of the cultic practices associated with books. Simply put, Jinah Kim has produced a scholarly jewel." --Dr. Janice Leoshko, Professor at the University of Texas at Austin"A dazzling demonstration of the centrality of the Buddhist book cult in medieval India and Nepal. Illuminated books come alive in the hands of their scribes, painters, and donors, and for the reader as well. The most important work on late Esoteric Buddhism and its relationship to Mahayana and society at large since Ronald M. Davidson's 2002 Indian Esoteric Buddhism." --Rob Linrothe, Associate Professor at Northwestern University
Review Quotes
"This book is of great value for graduate courses on Buddhist material culture, art historical methodology, or esoteric Buddhism."-- "Religious Studies Review"
About the Author
Jinah Kim is Assistant Professor of History of Art & Architecture at Harvard University.Dimensions (Overall): 9.1 Inches (H) x 6.1 Inches (W) x 1.1 Inches (D)
Weight: 1.95 Pounds
Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up
Number of Pages: 432
Series Title: South Asia Across the Disciplines
Genre: Social Science
Sub-Genre: Anthropology
Publisher: University of California Press
Theme: Cultural & Social
Format: Hardcover
Author: Jinah Kim
Language: English
Street Date: April 12, 2013
TCIN: 92120780
UPC: 9780520273863
Item Number (DPCI): 247-15-7658
Origin: Made in the USA or Imported
Shipping details
Estimated ship dimensions: 1.1 inches length x 6.1 inches width x 9.1 inches height
Estimated ship weight: 1.95 pounds
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