While a fading practice today, handwritten letters in medieval Japan were the sole form of communication between long-separated lovers, parents unlikely to reunite with their children, and distant friends, artists, and poets. The quality and decoration of the paper itself was of critical importance, and an admirer鈥檚 advances听could听be rejected on the basis of crude paper. Memoirs were punctuated by poignant laments on the long wait for letters that might never arrive. For one diarist, seeing the handwriting of her love summoned unbearable sorrow, and she committed the letters to the fire rather than live with their stark reminder of loss.听听
In the epistolary culture of medieval Buddhist Japan, handwritten letters, therefore,听figured prominently in mourning rituals.听This talk explores the creation,听materiality, and haptics听of听letter sutras听(蝉丑艒蝉辞办耻办测艒). These textually layered manuscripts are the result of a听Buddhist death ritual听in which family and friends reused paper bearing the handwriting of a deceased loved one to copy scripture, creating memorial palimpsests. The early fourteenth-century听Lotus Sutra听copied by the celebrated calligrapher Emperor Fushimi (1265-1317, r. 1287-98) on the back of an astonishing 171 letters from his father, Emperor听GoFukakusa听(1243-1304, r. 1246-59),听provides an excellent illustration of the dynamics of mourning and ritual听realised听through material expression. They also stand as a prime example of what we can learn from treating palimpsests as layered biographies. By听analysing听the shifting functions of handwriting in these manuscripts, the talk ties together听themes of embodiment, memory, and medieval reuse and recycling within profoundly personal papers steeped in grief and prayers for salvation.听
Halle O鈥橬eal is a Reader in听Japanese art and Co-Director of Edinburgh Buddhist Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Her recent book,听Word Embodied: The Jeweled Pagoda Mandalas in Japanese Buddhist Art听published by听Harvard University Asia听Center,听explored the intersections of word听and听image听and听relics听and听reliquaries, as well as the performativity and objecthood of Buddhist texts.听She is currently on a Leverhulme Research Fellowship,听in听which听she is working on her book,听鈥淲riting against Death: Reuse and Recycling in Japanese Buddhist Manuscripts.鈥 This project explores the materiality of mourning, the visualisation of memory, and the haptic experience of Japanese palimpsests.听She sits on the editorial boards of听Art Bulletin听and听Art in Translation.听
Organised by Dr Stephen Whiteman (The 天美传媒), Dr Austin Nevin (The 天美传媒) and Professor Sussan Babaie (The 天美传媒).听
Organised in collaboration with the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist Art and Conservation.
The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Centre for Buddhist Art and Conservation at The 天美传媒 was established by a generous endowment in 2012 from the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation.