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Hualin International Journal of Buddhist Studies 8.2 (2025): 225–273; https://dx.doi.org/10.15239/hijbs.08.02.09
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Buddhist Epigraphy and Women’s History)
Precepts, the Nenbutsu and Moxibustion: The Toolkit of a Buddhist Healer in Medieval Japan
Alessandro POLETTO
Washington University in St. Louis
poletto@wustl.edu
Abstract: This paper examines a dynamic period of Japanese history—the second half of the twelfth century—when new techniques were added to the therapeutic toolkit of Buddhist practitioners, by focusing on the activities of the monk Butsugon-bō Shōshin 仏厳房聖心 (fl. 1141–1194), a figure often mentioned only for his close ties with Fujiwara no Kanezane 藤原兼実 (1149–1207), one of the most influential political figures in Japan at the time. Through an analysis of records written by his patrons and patients, I will attempt to outline Butsugon’s ideas and practices, to then zoom in on the therapeutic modalities that he employed. He can be seen carrying out rituals from both the esoteric and exoteric traditions, promoting the practice of the nenbutsu 念仏—the chanting of Amitābha Buddha’s name—but also conferring the precepts on ill and pregnant patients, and practicing moxibustion, a therapeutic modality typically associated with court physicians. The conferral of the precepts and moxibustion favored by Butsugon are especially noteworthy, as they constitute relatively new additions to the toolkit of Buddhist healers that would soon become popular among members of the court bureaucracy. The paper concludes with a reflection on the implications of the addition of these new technologies of healing to the toolkit of Buddhist healers, for example in terms of the relationship between status and ritual efficacy. It emphasizes the importance of the realm of worldly concerns and everyday life to understand the relationship between ‘Buddhism’ and ‘medicine’ in this period of Japanese history.
Keywords: Japan, nenbutsu, precepts, moxibustion, microhistory
About the Author: Alessandro Poletto specializes in the social and religious history of premodern Japan, with an emphasis on Buddhism in the early medieval period (approx. tenth to the thirteenth century). He earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University in 2020 with a dissertation entitled ‘The Culture of Healing in Early Medieval Japan: A Study in Pre-modern Epistemology’, in which he examined discourses and practices concerning healing and disease, with particular attention to the relationship between Buddhist healers and other technicians involved in the treatment of illness, namely court physicians and onmyōji. His other research and teaching interests include the understanding and ritual resolution of natural disasters in premodern East Asia, the history of the cultural exchanges between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago, and Buddhist material culture and archaeology in East Asia. Before joining Washington University in St. Louis as a lecturer in East Asian religions, he was a JSPS postdoctoral fellow at Kyoto University.
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
