David Quinter, PhD

Area of Study / Keywords

East Asian Buddhism Japanese Religions Medieval Japan Lived Religion devotional cults

Research

Research Areas and Interests

My area of research specialization is East Asian religions, with a focus on medieval Japanese Buddhism. In broad terms, my research examines the interweaving of narratives, rituals, and images in devotional cults and the life portraits of charismatic practitioners. Particular interests center on the Shingon Ritsu movement (also known as the Saidaiji order) founded by Eison (1201-90) and Ninshō (1217-1303); medieval Nara Buddhism more broadly; the Manjusri cult in China and Japan; Buddhist devotional cults across Asia; and outcasts (hinin), discrimination, and social welfare in Japanese religion. An emerging area of research interest for me is the study of “lived religion” in Asia and the West in both methodological and empirical terms.

Publications

Books

From Outcasts to Emperors: Shingon Ritsu and the Mañjuśrī Cult in Medieval Japan. Brill’s Japanese Studies Library. Leiden: Brill, 2015.

http://www.brill.com/products/book/outcasts-emperors-shingon-ritsu-and-manjusri-cult-medieval-japan

Articles

“Eison, Monkan, and the Cult of Founders in Medieval Japan: On the Construction of Narrative and Material Selves in East Asian Buddhism.” Studies in Chinese Religions 7, no. 4 (2021): 390-416. https://doi.org/10.1080/23729988.2021.2015147

“Visualization/Contemplation Sutras (Guan Jing).” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.770

“Moving Monks and Mountains: Chōgen and the Cults of Gyōki, Mañjuśrī, and Wutai.” Studies in Chinese Religions 5, no. 3-4 (2019): 391-414.

“Eison.” In Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Vol. 2, Lives, edited by Jonathan Silk et al., 944–50. Leiden: Brill, 2019.

“Mañjuśrī in East Asia.” In Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Vol. 2, Lives, edited by Jonathan Silk et al., 591–99. Leiden: Brill, 2019.

“Mantras and Materialities: Saidaiji Order Kōmyō Shingon Practices.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 45, no. 2 (2018): 309–40.

“Visualization/Contemplation Sutras.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Buddhism. Ed. Richard Payne. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018 (updated version).

http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393521/obo-9780195393521-0137.xml

“Materializing and Performing Prajñā: Jōkei’s Mañjuśrī Faith and the Kasagidera Restoration.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 43, no. 1 (2016): 17–54.

“Localizing Strategies: Eison and the Shōtoku Taishi Cult.” Monumenta Nipponica 69, no. 2 (2014): 153–219.

“Relics.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Buddhism. Ed. Richard Payne. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393521/obo-9780195393521-0196.xml

“Women, Gender, and Nara Buddhism: Reflections on Lori Meeks, Hokkeji and the Reemergence of Female Monastic Orders in Premodern Japan, University of Hawai‘i Press, 2010.” Translated into Japanese by Kikuchi Hiroki. Nihon bukkyō sōgō kenkyū (Interdisciplinary Studies of Japanese Buddhism) 10 (2012): 181-98.

“Invoking the Mother of Awakening: An Investigation of Jōkei’s and Eison’s Monju kōshiki.” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 38, no. 2 (2011): 263-302.

“Visualizing the Mañjuśrī Parinirvāṇa Sutra as a Contemplation Sutra.” Asia Major, 3d series, 23, part 2 (2010): 97-128.

“Emulation and Erasure: Eison, Ninshō, and the Gyōki Cult.” Eastern Buddhist, n.s., 39, no. 1 (2008): 29-60.

“Creating Bodhisattvas: Eison, Hinin, and the ‘Living Mañjuśrī.’” Monumenta Nipponica 62, no. 4 (2007): 437-79.

Teaching

We welcome applications from potential graduate students in East Asian religions and Buddhism in both the Department of East Asian Studies and the Program in Religious Studies (I have a 50/50 joint appointment and can supervise graduate students in East Asian religions, especially Buddhism, through either program). We have particular strengths in the study of premodern Japanese religions and Japanese Buddhism.

EASIA 101 - Understanding East Asia

Important aspects of pre-modern and modern East Asia from a broad interdisciplinary perspective.

EASIA 424 - Revisioning Buddhism and Shinto

Exploration of changing visions of Japanese religions, past and present. Prerequisite: 3 units from EASIA 101, RELIG 103, EASIA 223, RELIG 240, EASIA 325, or RELIG 343, or consent of instructor.

EASIA 524 - Revisioning Buddhism and Shinto

Exploration of changing visions of Japanese religions, past and present.

RELIG 375 - Approaches to the Study of Religion

Theories and disciplinary approaches in the study of religion, religions, and religious practices. Required for Honors, Majors, and Minors. Prerequisite: 3 units in 200-level RELIG or consent of Program. Note: May be repeated for credit when course content differs. Preference given to RELIG Honors, Majors, and Minors. Students cannot receive credit for both RELIG 475 and 375.

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