250 CHAPTER TEN(978-circa 1025)-reveal how Buddhism functioned in the life and world-
view ofJapanese society in general (see also Strong EB, sees. 8.8.1, 8.5.2). Ac-
cording to Murasaki, temples served as locations for secret trysts, as retreats for
young widows caught in the chess of marital politics, and as harbors of seclu-
sion in which retired emperors could pursue their literary and artistic interests
undisturbed. Religious pilgrimages allowed members of the court to escape
the confines of court life, while at the same time exploring the mysterious
world of the common folk.
The worldview portrayed in the book combines views of karma and spirit
agency similar to what we noticed in Thai popular Buddhism (see Section
7.5.1). Calamities-from earthquakes to marital spats-are blamed on the in-
fluence of angry spirits, called goryo. To appease these spirits, festivals are held,
partly to entertain them with shows of wrestling, dancing, music, archery, and
horse racing; partly to exorcise them with Buddhist and Shinto rituals. Karma
plays an integral role in Murasaki's plots, in that good and bad fortune are
traced back to the characters' own actions, either in present or past lives, but it
is viewed less as a means of shaping the future than as a force for being pun-
ished or rewarded by the past. This view gives a non-Buddhist, fatalistic col-
oring to the doctrine. Romantic entanglements, for instance, are predestined
and thus unavoidable .. The ancient Chinese view of the sins of the parents
being inflicted on their children also plays a role: A bastard son is cursed by his
parents' adultery. Ultimately, fatalism-perhaps influenced by the Mappo
movement-proves more pervasive than a truly Buddhist view of karma. The
characters are essentially helpless "bits of driftwood in a floating world" -an
image that was to have a lasting influence on subsequent Japanese literature.
10.5 The Kamakura Period (1185-1333)
Toward the end of the twelfth century, courtiers and provincial warriors be-
came involved in a series of battles that led to a decisive victory for the war-
riors in 1185. This ushered in a new era for Japan, politically, socially, and
culturally. Political power was now in the hands of the Bakufu ("tent govern-
ment"), or shogunate, which moved the seat of government to Kamakura.
While the warriors ruled, the emperor and his court remained in Kyoto, where
they were allowed to "reign" in a ritual sense, deprived of any real power. Em-
perors sporadically attempted to regain control of the government, but feudal
military rulers remained in power until the mid-nineteenth century.
The Bakufu greatly simplified the legal code for the country and, in doing
so, gave religious institutions much greater freedom to operate. This resulted
in the growth of a number of new Buddhist sects, many of them advocating a
single practice rather than the amalgam of practices taught by Shingon and
Tendai, and focusing their efforts on serving the populace as a whole, rather
than just the court.