عنوان

Un vandalisme dÉtat en Extrême-Orient? Les destructions de lieux de culte dans lhistoire de la Chine et du Japon

Number

LA122551

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

Un vandalisme dÉtat en Extrême-Orient? Les destructions de lieux de culte dans lhistoire de la Chine et du Japon

General Material Designation

[Article]

First Statement of Responsibility

Nathalie Kouamé, Vincent Goossaert, Nathalie Kouamé, et al.

Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.

Leiden

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

Brill

Text of Note

Throughout Chinese and Japanese history, state initiatives have led to the physical destruction of buildings of worship, for a large variety of reasons. The authors, historians of Japan and China respectively, attempt to analyse the whole breadth of such cases of destruction, asking how and why physical violence can be part of a religious policy. The notion of 'vandalism', created during the French Revolution to label the revolutionary state's destruction of church property and other symbols of the past, seems a stimulating way of thinking about this kind of violence that should not be taken for granted or as inevitable consequences of state control over religion. Far from incidental, the authors argue, destroying temples was often a purposeful, well thought out choice within a larger repertoire of ways to deal with religious institutions.The first part of the article sketches a typology of destruction according to context and motivation, ranging from an authoritarian reorganization of space (destruction might then be mitigated by reconstruction elsewhere) to targeted retaliation, to comprehensive repression. While not all types of 'vandalism' are attested in both China and Japan, cultural-political influences between the two areas, and some shared religious culture, make the comparison illuminating. The second part of the article deals with the symbolical-political meanings of the destructive praxis. Throughout Chinese and Japanese history, state initiatives have led to the physical destruction of buildings of worship, for a large variety of reasons. The authors, historians of Japan and China respectively, attempt to analyse the whole breadth of such cases of destruction, asking how and why physical violence can be part of a religious policy. The notion of 'vandalism', created during the French Revolution to label the revolutionary state's destruction of church property and other symbols of the past, seems a stimulating way of thinking about this kind of violence that should not be taken for granted or as inevitable consequences of state control over religion. Far from incidental, the authors argue, destroying temples was often a purposeful, well thought out choice within a larger repertoire of ways to deal with religious institutions.The first part of the article sketches a typology of destruction according to context and motivation, ranging from an authoritarian reorganization of space (destruction might then be mitigated by reconstruction elsewhere) to targeted retaliation, to comprehensive repression. While not all types of 'vandalism' are attested in both China and Japan, cultural-political influences between the two areas, and some shared religious culture, make the comparison illuminating. The second part of the article deals with the symbolical-political meanings of the destructive praxis.

Date of Publication

2006

Physical description

177-220

Title

Numen

Volume Number

53/2

International Standard Serial Number

1568-5276

Nathalie Kouamé

Vincent Goossaert

Call Number

10.1163/156852706777974504

Electronic name

p

[Article]

275578

a

Y