Book contents
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures in Volume II
- Contributors to Volume II
- Editors’ Preface to the Series
- 1 Human Sexuality: The Evolutionary Legacy of Mating, Parenting, and Family Formation
- 2 Sexuality in Ancient Egypt: Pleasures, Desires, Norms, and Representations
- 3 Sexuality in the Systems of Thought and Belief of the Ancient Near East
- 4 Sexuality in Traditional South Asian Systems of Thought and Belief
- 5 Discourses of Desire in Ancient Greece and Rome
- 6 Writing a History of Sexuality for Pre-Modern China
- 7 Sexuality in Traditional Systems of Thought and Belief in Pre-modern Japan
- 8 African Traditions of Sexualities
- 9 Sexuality in the Traditional Systems of Thought and Belief of the Americas
- 10 Oceanic Sexualities: Persistence, Change, Resistance
- 11 Sexuality in Buddhist Traditions
- 12 Sexuality in Jewish Traditions
- 13 Sexuality in Christian Traditions
- 14 Sexuality in Islamic Traditions
- 15 Scientific Sex in the Modern World
- 16 Sexuality in Marxism and Socialism
- 17 Feminism and Modern Sexuality
- 18 Post-Colonialism and Sexuality
- Index
- Contents to Volumes I, III, and IV
- References
7 - Sexuality in Traditional Systems of Thought and Belief in Pre-modern Japan
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 April 2024
Book contents
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures in Volume II
- Contributors to Volume II
- Editors’ Preface to the Series
- 1 Human Sexuality: The Evolutionary Legacy of Mating, Parenting, and Family Formation
- 2 Sexuality in Ancient Egypt: Pleasures, Desires, Norms, and Representations
- 3 Sexuality in the Systems of Thought and Belief of the Ancient Near East
- 4 Sexuality in Traditional South Asian Systems of Thought and Belief
- 5 Discourses of Desire in Ancient Greece and Rome
- 6 Writing a History of Sexuality for Pre-Modern China
- 7 Sexuality in Traditional Systems of Thought and Belief in Pre-modern Japan
- 8 African Traditions of Sexualities
- 9 Sexuality in the Traditional Systems of Thought and Belief of the Americas
- 10 Oceanic Sexualities: Persistence, Change, Resistance
- 11 Sexuality in Buddhist Traditions
- 12 Sexuality in Jewish Traditions
- 13 Sexuality in Christian Traditions
- 14 Sexuality in Islamic Traditions
- 15 Scientific Sex in the Modern World
- 16 Sexuality in Marxism and Socialism
- 17 Feminism and Modern Sexuality
- 18 Post-Colonialism and Sexuality
- Index
- Contents to Volumes I, III, and IV
- References
Summary
Rich historical records from pre-modern Japan allow us to imagine ‘sexuality’ despite the absence of an explicit lexicon referring to it. The chapter examines three systems of thought: the Kami (Deities) Way, Mahayana Buddhism, and Confucianism. The Kami Way was the native cult and the spiritual foundation for Japan’s first state. Inscribed in its texts such as the Kojiki (Records of Ancient Matters, 712 CE) are vivid descriptions of deities’ bodies and performances steeped in symbolic meanings. Buddhism’s treatment of sexuality varied as widely as its diverse offerings of doctrines and practices. At least for the priestly figures, however, it denounced desire for and intercourse with women but affirmed sex with men. Confucianism, which arrived from the continent alongside Buddhism, taught social order and disapproved of all human relations, including sexual ones, that threatened the stable moral order and the gender hierarchy. The three systems of thought operated symbiotically, and reflected and shaped social rules, norms, and power relations of a given historical moment. Mostly more celebratory than condemning of the sexual body, pre-modern sources have no vocabulary for virginity as a boundary to be guarded or conquered, nor a body-altering institution such as the castration of eunuchs.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities , pp. 136 - 157Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024
References
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