{"product_id":"the-gates-of-power-mikael-s-adolphson-9780824822637","title":"The Gates of Power: Monks, Courtiers, and Warriors in Premodern Japan","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe political influence of temples in premodern Japan, most clearly manifested in divine demonstrations--where rowdy monks and shrine servants brought holy symbols to the capital to exert pressure on courtiers--has traditionally been condemned and is poorly understood. In an impressive examination of this intriguing aspect of medieval Japan, the author employs a wide range of previously neglected sources to argue that religious protest was a symptom of political factionalism in the capital rather than its cause. It is his contention that religious violence can be traced primarily to attempts by secular leaders to rearrange religious and political hierarchies to their own advantage, thereby leaving disfavored religious institutions to fend for their accustomed rights and status. In this context, divine demonstrations became the preferred negotiating tool for monastic complexes. For almost three centuries, such strategies allowed a handful of elite temples to maintain enough of an equilibrium to sustain and defend the old style of rulership even against the efforts of the Ashikaga Shogunate in the mid-fourteenth century. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e By acknowledging temples and monks as legitimate co-rulers, The Gates of Power provides a new synthesis of Japanese rulership from the late Heian (794-1185) to the early Muromachi (1336-1573) eras, offering a unique and comprehensive analysis that brings together the spheres of art, religion, ideas, and politics in medieval Japan.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Mikael S. Adolphson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0824822633\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780824822637\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Hawaii Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/01\/2000\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 480\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.78lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.06d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/01\/2001 pg. 1514","brand":"Mikael S. Adolphson","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48013816103167,"sku":"9780824822637","price":105.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_07dfc0a5-372b-4b79-bc4e-6620a6980d5c.jpg?v=1767744948","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-gates-of-power-mikael-s-adolphson-9780824822637","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}