Marriage Mediation

A marriage mediator receives little thanks when a couple prospers and much blame when things go wrong. Beginning with this familiar predicament, Sakaki Ryōzaburō asks why Buddhist disciplinary rules forbid monks to arrange marriages, even when marriage itself is a legitimate religious and legal act.

His inquiry ranges from Japanese household anxieties and Sanskrit verses about daughters to Chinese Vinaya translations, Pāli terminology, and the marriage forms recorded in ancient Indian law codes. Two comparative tables preserve the categories, uneven numbering, and textual differences that he studies. Along the way, his argument challenges explanations of monastic offenses and traces changes in social arrangements.

First published in 1921, this essay combines philology, legal comparison, historical anecdotes, and pointed social commentary. The complete English translation retains the author’s uncertainties and final reconsideration, with notes distinguishing historical judgments from present-day conclusions and explaining names, technical terms, disputed derivations, and irregular table readings. AI-assisted translation.