[Buddha-l] Religious, But is it the power of Kings?

[Joy Vriens]

Bob,
>> The text books seem in agreement that Buddhism was first introduced into 
>> Japan from Korea at the highest levels. 
 
Dan,
>That's basically right, Bob. From the start, Japanese Buddhism was quite 
>literally the property of ruling class. The govt. built the temples, 
>controlled ordination, and supervised overseas contacts. Major monasteries 
>eventually developed their own military components, and were major players. 
>It was various forms of Pure Land that initially attracted wider popular 
>support (with their own peasant revolts and militaries), and that was after 
>the ruling elite had already been patronizing various forms of Buddhism for 
>some time. 

I don't know anything about Japanese history. Could it have been mimetic court behaviour? If Chinese culture is imported so heavily (scripture, classics and all, perhaps including governing technics and tactics?), it probably would have been considered cool to follow the latest fashions from the Chinese emperial court. I can still imagine a bottom-up development, through the intermediary of the aristocracy , merchants (or equivalent).  

Joy