The rekindling of a tradition: Menzan Zuiho and the reform of Japanese Soto Zen in the Tokugawa era

Japanese Soto Zen Buddhism underwent a period of challenge and change in the eighteenth century that enormously altered the doctrines and practices that had sustained it for hundreds of years. Menzan Zuiho, though one of the most illustrious writers and reformers of this period of courageous and creative thinking is mostly remembered in Soto Zen circles as merely a meticulous editor of the writings of Dogen (1200--1254). Under the cloak of simply returning to the old ways, Menzan and other reformers of the period used the long neglected texts of Dogen in innovative ways to create a vital new tradition based on careful textual learning rather than on secretly transmitted lore. This dissertation re-evaluates Menzan and seeks to bring him forward from his chosen position in the shadow of Dogen to take his rightful place as one of the major creative thinkers of Soto Zen.;Menzan's investigations of historical sources played a major role in the new interpretation of the writings of Dogen, and he also was instrumental in the reform of monastic rules, dharma transmission standards, and ordination practices. His approach was to first establish a reliable text and then attempted to interpret it in its own historical context, without relying on centuries of accumulated commentary and customary practice. This dissertation presents translations of selections from Menzan's writings and an analysis of his development of Soto doctrine. It also investigates koan practice in Soto, and finds that the modern polarity between Rinzai and Soto Zen over koan practice is not found in Menzan's time.;These reforms are considered in the context of studies of how communities invent their traditions and are compared to the trends in Japanese literary circles and in Confucian scholarship that emphasize open textual analysis and learning rather than secrete lore. The effect of stringent government controls is evaluated, as well as the competition from a new lineage of Chinese Buddhism, called Obaku Zen in Japan, that challenged the standards of practice of Soto Zen and influenced the thinking of some of its best people.