Beyond Reproduction and Pollution: Buddhist Therapeutics for Women’s Health in the Heian and Kamakura Periods

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter in a book

Abstract

What do Buddhist therapeutics of the Heian and Kamakura periods reveal about the ways in which female bodies were conceptualized in premodern Japan? In this chapter, I propose to tackle this question by exploring key rites performed to ensure women’s physical and mental health. Among these, I look at both fertility and childbirth-related rituals, as well as procedures targeting other conditions as well, in order to get a more comprehensive outlook on the existing conceptions of the female body beyond its reproductive functions. At the same time, the overview will reveal that treatments for women were not only grounded in medical and religious discourses framing the female body as hard to treat, hindering, and potentially dangerous, they were also driven by the need to find efficacious solutions for practical concerns. By foregrounding the coexistence of multiple approaches to women’s wellbeing, the chapter will attempt to nuance unilateral assumptions over the ontological status of female bodies.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication Handbook on Women in Japanese Buddhism
EditorsEmily Simpson, Monika Shrimpf
Place of PublicationTokyo
PublisherJapan Documents Publishing - MHM Limited
Publication statusAccepted/In press - Jul 2024

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