Five Mountains: The Rinzai Zen Monastic Institution in Medieval Japan

Harvard East Asian Monographs #85

by Martin Collcutt

In Japan today, Zen monastic life is practiced substantially as it was practiced in medieval Japan or Sung dynasty China. More than twenty-one thousand Zen temples are active. This book examines the Zen monastery as a major institution in medieval Japanese society. Focusing on the Five Mountains network of officially sponsored Zen monasteries, it describes the transmission of Rinzai and Soto Zen to Japan, traces the patterns of secular patronage, and discusses in detail the Zen monastic environment, the monastic rule, the community, and the economy.

This is the first detailed study in any Western language of the social and institutional development of Zen Buddhism. Martin Collcutt’s illustrated text should be valuable to those interested in medieval Japanese history as well as students of Zen practice and Zen-related culture.

Genres: Buddhism

399 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Sasha]

Wonderful and concise introduction into the Five Mountain system of Japanese Rinzai Zen. It gives you context to the Chinese monastic system of the time and is about the best book on the topic in terms of Japanese Rinzai Zen and the medieval monastic system.
I took one star off because the structure is a bit weird at times, and it's hard to find a good spot where it explains in short terms how the whole system works (though I'll concede that is not easy to do), as well as the lack of characters in the main text (there is, however, a glossary in the back). Wade Giles has never been my friend, but the book is from 1981 so there's that...
Otherwise a superb book.

[Joe Vaughn]

Very interesting if you're into the Heian period of Japan and Easie bringing Cha'an Zen,and subsequently the nascent spark to the samurai class.

Asa mere dilettante, I was a tad overwhelmed with the dry riches contained inthe pages.

Definitely worththe read.