The Buddhist mythmaking of defilement: sacred courtesans in medieval Japan

Article Abstract:

Buddhism in medieval Japan changed the prevailing attitudes of the Japanese towards courtesans. More fundamentally, the concept of defilement was redefined in such a way that sexual relationship of a Buddhist monk with a courtesan is considered moral. The combined purity of the monks and the baseness of the prostitutes were often depicted in medieval Japanese tales and stories. Courtesans were thought to obtain salvation in the afterlife despite of their many sins.

Japan, Beliefs, opinions and attitudes, Criticism and interpretation, Prostitutes, Religious aspects, Buddhism, Buddhists, Buddhist literature

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Why did you kill? The Cambodian genocide and the dark side of face and honor

Article Abstract:

A combination of practice theory and cultural model theory indicates the influence of cultural notion of face and honor on the Cambodian genocide. Anthropologists need to include the cultural factor in analyzing mass violence and genocide. The Khmer Rouge, which, installed a new party order over traditional order, still used traditional notions of honor and loss of face to persuade people to collaborate in its imposition of ideology.

Social aspects, History, Genocide, Violence, Cambodia, Khmer Rouge

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