Jewel in the Ashes

Download or read book Jewel in the Ashes written by Brian Douglas Ruppert and published by Harvard Univ Asia Center. This book was released on 2000 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focusing on the ninth to the fourteenth centuries, this study analyzes the ways in which relics functioned as material media for the interactions of Buddhist clerics, the imperial family, lay aristocrats, and warrior society and explores the multivocality of relics by dealing with specific historical examples. Brian Ruppert argues that relics offered means for reinforcing or subverting hierarchical relations.