Description: This book examines the Zen monastery as a major institution in medieval Japanese society. Focusing on the Five Mountains network of officially sponsored Zen monasteries, it describes the transmission of Rinzai and Soto Zen to Japan, traces the patterns of secular patronage, and discusses the Zen monastic environment, rule, community, and economy.
Brief description: Martin Collcutt is Professor of East Asian Studies and History at Princeton University.
Review Quotes: This study...explores many areas of Japanese monastic life not thoroughly examined before by Western scholars... [A] rich and competent study of major significance.-- "Journal of the American Academy of Religion"