Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies

Collana | Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
Miscellanea | Itineraries of an Anthropologist
Capitolo | The Sutra of Druma, King of the Kinnara and the Buddhist Philosophy of Music

The Sutra of Druma, King of the Kinnara and the Buddhist Philosophy of Music

Abstract

This chapter discusses a little-known Buddhist scripture, the Sutra of the Questions by Druma, King of the Kinnara (Daiju kinnara-ō shomon-gyō), translated into Chinese by Kumārajīva in the early fifth century. This sutra is unique in that it proposes a powerful, and sympathetic, philosophy of music rooted in the Mahayana doctrines of emptiness; it also offers a template for Buddhist rituals involving music and dance that have been performed in Japan since the eighth century as part of the Gagaku and Bugaku repertory.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Presentato: 26 Gennaio 2021 | Accettato: 23 Febbraio 2021 | Pubblicato 18 Ottobre 2021 | Lingua: en

Keywords GagakuSutra of the Questions by Druma, King of the KinnaPhilosophy of music (Japan)Buddhism and music


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