When tea ceremony, flower arrangement, Noh drama, linked verse (renga), monochrome painting, and dry-landscape gardening are said to represent Japanese culture, it is usually assumed that they were produced and fostered by Zen Buddhism. If we are fully to understand these art forms, we must therefore make a systematic study of their relationship to Zen. The particular species of Zen diat is said to have produced and fostered these arts is the Rinzai Zen developed by Muso at the beginning of the Muromachi Period (1336–1573) when Zen first became a pervasive influence in the cultural history of Japan. Let us look, then, at the position of Muromachi Zen in the history of Japanese Buddhism.
Review of: William E. Deal and Brian Ruppert, A Cultural History of Japanese Buddhism
