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Death in the Fourteenth Century

Karen M. Gerhart

in The Material Culture of Death in Medieval Japan

This chapter describes the funerals of, and subsequent memorial services for, two members of a family of court officials in mid-fourteenth century Japan. Rituals associated with death among the ... More

This chapter describes the funerals of, and subsequent memorial services for, two members of a family of court officials in mid-fourteenth century Japan. Rituals associated with death among the elites in medieval Japan can be divided into three distinct segments that dealt with the preparation for death and the act of dying, the funeral and burial or cremation, and the mourning rites: forty-nine days of deep mourning followed by regular memorial services and additional offerings extending through at least the third year. Through a translation and analysis of the relevant sections of Moromoriki, a chronicle written by the courtier Nakahara Moromori during the era of the Northern and Southern Courts (1336–1392), this chapter examines the flow of the various rituals associated with death in the fourteenth century, along with other practices related to medieval lay funerals. The discussion revolves around variations between the funerals and memorial rituals held for Senior Secretary Nakahara Morosuke and his wife, Nakahara Kenshin.Less

Ritual Implements for Funerals and Memorials

Karen M. Gerhart

in The Material Culture of Death in Medieval Japan

This chapter examines the primary ritual implements used in funerals and memorials. In medieval Japan, death rituals required the use of special objects whose meaning lay in their roles in funerary ... More

This chapter examines the primary ritual implements used in funerals and memorials. In medieval Japan, death rituals required the use of special objects whose meaning lay in their roles in funerary and memorial ceremonies. Particular ritual implements are carefully depicted in medieval illustrations, a recognition of their importance in the performance of rituals and memorial services. This chapter considers the types of ritual objects depicted in funeral scenes in illustrated biographies of important priests dating from the fourteenth through the early sixteenth centuries, with particular emphasis on ritual implements used in funeral processions. The discussion focuses on the types of ritual implements that attended Priest Nichiren’s (1222–1282) funeral procession in the Nichiren shōnin chūgasan handscroll, and those that accompanied Priest Hōnen’s (1133–1212) seven seventh-day death memorials in Hōnen shōnin e-den. Examples from other medieval scrolls are given where useful.Less

Portraits of the Deceased

Karen M. Gerhart

in The Material Culture of Death in Medieval Japan

This chapter examines the types of portraits used at funerals and memorial services. In medieval Japan, portraits of the deceased were considered ritual implements essential to Buddhist funerals and ... More

This chapter examines the types of portraits used at funerals and memorial services. In medieval Japan, portraits of the deceased were considered ritual implements essential to Buddhist funerals and to the offering services performed on behalf of the deceased. In both of these contexts, portraits functioned as consecrated images through which the presence of the deceased could be invoked. This chapter begins with a discussion of portraits used in conjunction with Buddhist services for the dead and goes on to describe their function in the funerals and memorial rituals of Japan’s medieval elites. It also analyzes the terminology for mortuary portraits and raises a number of questions, such as when and where the portraits were displayed, who commissioned them and when, and what types of rites were performed before them. The chapter concludes by assessing the relationship between accuracy and efficacy in portraits; more specifically, how important it was for a portrait of the deceased to be an accurate rendition of its corporeal subject.Less

Irving Berlin: “Poem” (1938)

Robert Wyatt and John Andrew Johnson

in The George Gershwin Reader

This chapter presents the poem written by George Gershwin's mentor composer and lyricist Irving Berlin on the occasion of the memorial services after Gershwin's death.

Looking Back and Looking Forward – Significant Anniversaries

Anne Eyre and Pam Dix

in Collective Conviction: The Story of Disaster Action

This chapter reflects on the importance of remembering and commemorating disasters. For all affected by these tragic events, significant anniversaries are in part about reconciling and assimilating ... More

This chapter reflects on the importance of remembering and commemorating disasters. For all affected by these tragic events, significant anniversaries are in part about reconciling and assimilating the past into their everyday lives. For some, the passage of time means that the tenth, twentieth, and twenty-fifth anniversaries can represent an opportunity to look forward; for others, personal loss and the fact that fundamental questions about these events remain unanswered and unaddressed mean that notions such as 'moving on' or 'letting go' are simplistic and unhelpful. The challenge for those organising and conducting commemorative events after collective tragedy is to ensure that moving on does not mean moving away from the connection with the tragedy. Commemorations need to be inclusive in order to avoid individual survivors or bereaved, or the wider community, feeling that their loss and experience are somehow lesser, or not recognised; the whole point of commemoration is to feel validated. When thoughtfully considered, the way in which permanent memorials and memorial services are designed and conducted can embrace the sense of remembering the unique character and loss of individuals within the collective experience of disaster.Less

Experiences of Christianity in the Camps

Anne M. Blankenship

in Christianity, Social Justice, and the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II

Incarcerated Christians frequently thanked God for giving them the strength to endure the incarceration and developed a variety of faith communities to provide additional support. The focus of ... More

Incarcerated Christians frequently thanked God for giving them the strength to endure the incarceration and developed a variety of faith communities to provide additional support. The focus of Chapter Four turns away from church leaders to examine how lay (non-ordained) Christians experienced camp life. Buddhists joined Protestants and Catholics to organize interfaith memorial services for Nikkei soldiers killed in action, while pacifists and others resisted the military draft. This chapter expands the book’s focus to highlight Christian youth culture at a camp in Arizona and the hardships at Tule Lake, where incarcerees attacked Japanese Christians for cooperating with camp officials. The roots of Asian American theologies began growing in the camps in response to this rejection and suffering.Less

Jerome Kern: “Tribute” (1938)

Robert Wyatt and John Andrew Johnson

in The George Gershwin Reader

This chapter presents an excerpt from the 1938 book George Gershwin, edited by Merle Armitage focusing on composer Jerome Kern's tribute to Gershwin. Kern was one of the greatest influences on ... More

This chapter presents an excerpt from the 1938 book George Gershwin, edited by Merle Armitage focusing on composer Jerome Kern's tribute to Gershwin. Kern was one of the greatest influences on Gershwin for he served like a father figure for the younger composer. He believed that there was anything puny or insignificant about the life, work, or opinions of Gershwin.Less

Introduction

Karen M. Gerhart

in The Material Culture of Death in Medieval Japan

This book examines the material culture of death, and particularly how ritual objects functioned in death rituals, in Japan in the early medieval period. Through a close reading and interpretation of ... More

This book examines the material culture of death, and particularly how ritual objects functioned in death rituals, in Japan in the early medieval period. Through a close reading and interpretation of funeral manuals, diaries, and other records, coupled with a careful examination of medieval illustrated handscrolls, the book considers how elites in medieval Japanese society negotiated the boundary between the living and the dead through their funerals and memorial services. It also explores whether the ritual implements that accompany Japanese Buddhist funerals and memorial services fall under the rubric of art. Overlapping ritual studies, material culture, and art history, this study analyzes the context that rituals provide to the objects and the role of objects within the rituals. Finally, the book explains the ways in which rituals and ritual objects were interconnected with societal norms of class and gender.Less

Conclusion: The American Creed

D. G. Hart

in Benjamin Franklin: Cultural Protestant

The Conclusion sums up how, after Franklin’s death, his reputation rested on contemporaries and then historians and other writers. He had limited appeal to prominent Protestants even as business ... More

The Conclusion sums up how, after Franklin’s death, his reputation rested on contemporaries and then historians and other writers. He had limited appeal to prominent Protestants even as business leaders and pastors later embraced Franklin’s understanding of religion in relation to the way to wealth. Historians recognized his remarkable career even while granting other American statesmen, no more devout than Franklin, were more profound than the Founder in their interpretations of divine providence. Franklin did not produce a set of reflections on the tragic aspects of human existence the way that other notable Americans did with the help of Protestant teaching. But he was no less a Protestant culturally than these other figures.Less

To Love Each Other like Warriors

Susan M. Reverby

in Co-conspirator for Justice: The Revolutionary Life of Dr. Alan Berkman

Berkman’s commitment to global solidarity and equality drove his actions through alliances. His memorial service brought comrades and colleagues from around the globe to Columbia to share their sense ... More

Berkman’s commitment to global solidarity and equality drove his actions through alliances. His memorial service brought comrades and colleagues from around the globe to Columbia to share their sense of his importance in the global struggle against inequality and injustice.Less

Caretaking and Cave Paintings

Cathy Curtis

in A Generous Vision: The Creative Life of Elaine de Kooning

In late 1975, Elaine bought a house in East Hampton, giving up her New York studio. She had come to rescue Bill from alcohol addiction. But she also traveled abroad, including trips to the ... More

In late 1975, Elaine bought a house in East Hampton, giving up her New York studio. She had come to rescue Bill from alcohol addiction. But she also traveled abroad, including trips to the Paleolithic caves in France and Spain, which provided subject matter for her last major painting series and a suite of prints. At home, she looked after Bill, worked in her studio, and roamed the beach with artist Connie Fox. Courtney Ross produced a documentary about Bill with commentary by Elaine, who served as his spokesperson as his dementia worsened. A partial lobectomy failed to stop the recurrence of Elaine’s lung cancer, yet she remained in high spirits, trying to work on her memoir. But immediately after the opening of her cave painting show at Fischbach Gallery, she was hospitalized. Elaine died on February 1, 1989; tributes at her New York memorial service lasted nearly three hours.Less

Remembering

Sonja D. Williams

in Word Warrior: Richard Durham, Radio, and Freedom

This chapter recounts Richard Durham's memorial service at Rayner's funeral home in his hometown Chicago. Durham died unexpectedly of a heart attack on April 27, 1984, during a business trip in New ... More

This chapter recounts Richard Durham's memorial service at Rayner's funeral home in his hometown Chicago. Durham died unexpectedly of a heart attack on April 27, 1984, during a business trip in New York City. Among those who paid tribute to the complicated family man, friend, and mentor—as well as the writer and dedicated freedom fighter—were Durham's thirty-four-year-old son, Mark; one of Mark's uncles, his mother's oldest brother, Robert Davis; Pulitzer Prize–winning author Louis Terkel; and Margaret Burroughs, the visual artist, writer, and co-founder of the South Side's Du Sable Museum of African American History. Others who spoke fondly of Durham were journalist Vernon Jarrett and activists Ishmael Flory and Edward “Buzz” Palmer; the singer, actor, and activist Oscar Brown Jr.; and Harold Washington, Chicago's first black mayor. The final speaker was Durham's brother Earl Durham.Less

Epilogue Reflecting on aMovement Icon

Diane C. Fujino

in Samurai among Panthers: Richard Aoki on Race, Resistance, and a Paradoxical Life

This concluding chapter provides an overview of the memorial service of Richard Aoki. It then discusses Aoki’s significant contributions in activism in the Asian American Political Alliance and Third ... More

This concluding chapter provides an overview of the memorial service of Richard Aoki. It then discusses Aoki’s significant contributions in activism in the Asian American Political Alliance and Third World Liberation Front, his professional work in the educational field, and his recent life. Afflicted by an incurable illness and a rapidly declining body, Aoki chose to end his life on his own terms. His self-inflicted gunshot wound represents both the fear and vulnerability that makes his act so human and the courage, honor, and dignity he embodied throughout his life. Aoki’s death can be understood in terms of Huey Newton’s idea of “revolutionary suicide”. Newton argues that the primary cause of suicide is not individual temperament but forces in the social environment.Less

Into the Twenty-First Century

Gregory Smits

in Seismic Japan: The Long History and Continuing Legacy of the Ansei Edo Earthquake

This chapter examines the iconic function of the Ansei Edo earthquake in the modern era and the influence of early modern earthquake lore on the modern science of seismology, conceptions of Japan, ... More

This chapter examines the iconic function of the Ansei Edo earthquake in the modern era and the influence of early modern earthquake lore on the modern science of seismology, conceptions of Japan, and contemporary life in the country. It argues that key elements of the Tokugawa past have conditioned modern and contemporary Japan in the realm of popular thought, in the development of seismology, and in perceptions of Japan and its relationship with earthquakes. The chapter first considers understandings of earthquakes in the Western world, focusing on pioneer geologist Charles Lyell and his work, Principles of Geology. It also discusses the legacy of the Ansei Edo earthquake in modern times, with particular emphasis emphasis on how memorial services helped sustain public memory of the earthquake, and how the earthquake challenged the emerging discipline of seismology. Finally, it assesses the implications of Japan's seismicity for architecture, and especially conceptions of Japan as an “earthquake country.” A postscript reflects on the rhetoric that emerged after the Great East Japan earthquake.Less

Democracy and Segregation, 1961–1965

Ronald P. Formisano

in Boston Against Busing: Race, Class, and Ethnicity in the 1960s and 1970s

This chapter discusses the memorial service in Boston for the late President Kennedy that was attended by a pantheon of political and religious celebrities. Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish clergy ... More

This chapter discusses the memorial service in Boston for the late President Kennedy that was attended by a pantheon of political and religious celebrities. Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish clergy joined together in honoring the native son, and a venerable Boston historian thought he saw in the proceedings “the spirit of Bishop Cheverus and his neighbors of the first quarter of the nineteenth century. . . . The memory of John F. Kennedy had reunited Boston.” Later that year, however, a black Roxbury mother observed sadly about Boston: “I used to feel that things like boycotts and demonstrations belonged in Birmingham and Mississippi. Now I know that . . . this is the Boston problem as well, here in the deep North.”Less