Shinto

Motoöri's principal work is the Kojiki den, a commentary on the Kojiki, in which he loses no opportunity of attacking everything Chinese and of exalting the old Japanese customs, language, and religion in a spirit of ardent and undiscriminating patriotism. He seems to have been wholly blind to the fact that the exotic faiths and philosophies, whose intrusion into Shinto he so bitterly resented, contain elements far otherwise valuable to mankind than the ritual of the Yengishiki and the old-world myths of the Kojiki.

His pupil Hirata (1776-1843) was less of a literary man and more of a theologian than his master. In a long life he wrote numbers of books, amounting to hundreds of volumes, and delivered innumerable lectures urging the claims of the old Shinto. His teaching was so successful that it at last drew upon him the attention of the Shōgun's Government, who, finding that their own authority was being undermined by the prominence given to the de jure sovereign rights of the Sun-Goddess's descendants, forbade his lectures and banished him to his native province of Dewa. Hirata's anti-foreign prejudices did not prevent him from believing in the immortality of the soul-a doctrine of Buddhist origin-or from borrowing from China a worship of ancestors quite different from anything in the old Shinto. He adopts the Chinese duty of "filial piety," and makes strenuous but unavailing efforts to find countenance for it in the Kojiki and Nihongi. Though he says that the Kami detest Buddhism because it teaches us to abandon lord and parent, wife and child, and is therefore destructive of morality, and because its adherents are filthy beggars, who boast of wearing cast-off rags and eating food given in charity, in another place he goes so far as to admit Buddha to his Shinto Pantheon, on condition that he shall be content with an inferior position. He tacitly accepts the moral code of China, while protesting that such things are unnecessary, as we are endowed by nature with an intuitive knowledge of right and wrong.

The agitation for the revival of Pure Shinto was a retrograde movement, which could only end in failure. It contributed substantially, however, to the success of the political revolution which in 1868 brought about the restoration of the Mikado to the sovereign position which was the logical outcome of Motoöri's and Hirata's teachings. The Shinto reformation of the same date, when the Buddhist priests were removed from the Ryōbu shrines, and a certain purification of ritual and ornaments was effected, was also due to their influence.344

Shingaku. – A school of preachers who called their doctrine shingaku or "heart-learning," and professed to combine Shinto with Buddhism and Confucianism, had some vogue in the first half of the nineteenth century. These men were in reality rationalists, who took the maxims of Confucius and Mencius as the basis of their doctrines. Any Shinto element which they may contain is quite inappreciable. Their sermons, of which a good number have been printed, are in the colloquial dialect. They are very entertaining and, despite an occasional bit of indecency, not unedifying.

Tenrikyô,345 or the "teaching of the Heavenly Reason," is a modern sect. The founder was a woman named Omiki, who was born in the province of Yamato in 1798, and died in 1887. Her religion owes much to the Shingaku and Ryōbu doctrines. While professing to worship Kunitokotachi, Izanagi, Izanami, and seven other Shinto deities, practically Izanagi and Izanami are her only Gods. The former (identified with the sun) is taken to represent the male, and the latter the female principle, corresponding in nature to Heaven and Earth, and in human society to husband and wife. These Gods are spiritual beings, chiefly revealed in the heart of man, and are endowed with personal attributes. Tenrikyô has high moral aims, and has made rapid progress. In 1894 there were claimed for it 10,000 priests and preachers, and 1,400,000 adherents.

Remmonkyô.346 – The name of this sect implies that, like the spotless lotus-flower, which has its roots in the mud, it attains to purity in the midst of a wicked world. It is stated to have originated with a certain Yanagita Ichibeimon, but its real founder was his disciple, a woman named Shimamura Mitsuko, who was still alive and preaching in 1901.

The Remmonkyô professes to be a reformed Shinto, but in reality it owes little to this source beyond the names of the Gods Ame no minaka nushi, Taka-musubi, and Kami-musubi, who are termed the three Creator Deities. They are considered, however, to be only manifestations of the Ji no Myôhô, or "Wonderful Law of Things," and the real God of the sect is the personified Myôhô (wonderful law) a conception borrowed from the Buddhist Nichiren sect. The followers of Shimamura call her an ikigami (live God), and regard her as identical with the Myôhô. How often in Japanese religious history do we meet with this idea of the incarnation of the God in his priest or prophet!

The shintai, or material representative of the Myôhô, is a slip of paper bearing the words "Ji no Myôhô," written by the founder herself. It is sold as a charm against disease and danger. Faith-healing is a practice of this sect, as it is of the Tenrikyô. Their moral code is of the ordinary Confucian type.

The last-named two sects are not likely to play an important part in religious history. The founders of both were ignorant women, and their doctrines are a mere jumble of conflicting ideas borrowed from various sources, and inspired by no great central thought. We may, perhaps, compare their position in Japan to that of the Salvation Army or the Plymouth Brethren in this country.

Official Shinto. – The official cult of the present day is substantially the "Pure Shinto" of Motoöri and Hirata. But it has little vitality. A rudimentary religion of this kind is quite inadequate for the spiritual sustenance of a nation which in these latter days has raised itself to so high a pitch of enlightenment and civilization. No doubt some religious enthusiasm is excited by the great festivals of Ise, Idzumo, and a few other shrines, and by the annual pilgrimages-which, however, have other raisons d'être. The reverence paid to the Mikado is not devoid of a religious quality which has its source in Shinto. But the main stream of Japanese piety has cut out for itself new channels. It has turned to Buddhism, which, at the time of the Restoration in a languishing state, is now showing signs of renewed life and activity. Another and still more formidable rival has appeared, to whose progress, daily increasing in momentum, what limit shall be prescribed?

As a national religion, Shinto is almost extinct. But it will long continue to survive in folk-lore and custom, and in that lively sensibility to the divine in its simpler and more material aspects which characterizes the people of Japan.

THE END

1

At the festival of Nifu Miōjin in Kiī, when the procession bearing offerings arrives before the shrine, the village chief calls out in a loud voice, "According to our annual custom, let us all laugh." To which a hearty response is given. This is because this God does not go to Idzumo for an annual visit like the others.

2

'Sociology,' p. 153.

3

Compare with this the following description of the huacas of the ancient Peruvians. "All those things which from their beauty and excellence are superior to other things of a like kind; things that are ugly and monstrous or that cause horror and fright; things out of the usual course of nature."

4

In the spirit of Wordsworth's

"Listen, the mighty being is awakeAnd doth with his eternal motion makeA noise like thunder everlastingly."

5

M. Goblet d'Alviella says: "I maintain that neither of these two forms of worship necessarily presupposes the other; but that man having been led by different roads to personify the souls of the dead on the one hand and natural objects and phenomena on the other, subsequently attributed to both alike the character of mysterious superhuman beings. Let us add that this must have taken place everywhere, for there is not a people on earth in which we do not come upon these forms of belief side by side and intermingled." Dr. Pfleiderer's view is substantially identical.

6

Max Müller speaks of "that ancient stratum of thought which postulated an agent in the sky, the sun, &c." This is really a secondary conception.

7

It was not unknown in ancient Greece and Rome. Zeus, Hercules, and other deities became divided up in this way.

8

"Mr. Tyler has justly observed that the true lesson of the new science of Comparative Mythology is the barrenness in primitive times of the faculty which we most associate with mental fertility, the imagination… Among these multitudes (the millions of men who fill what we vaguely call the East) Literature, Religion, and Art-or what correspond to them-move always within a distinctly drawn circle of unchanging notions… This condition of thought is rather the infancy of the human mind prolonged than a different maturity from that most familiar to us." – Maine, 'Early History of Institutions,' pp. 225-6. This characteristic of the mental development of the races of the Far East is discussed in 'A Comparative Study of the Japanese and Korean Languages,' by W. G. Aston, in the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, August, 1879, and more fully by Mr. Percival Lowell, in his 'Soul of the Far East,' 1888. See also Mr. B. H. Chamberlain's' Kojiki,' Introd., lxvi.

9

Homer implicitly denies the spirituality of his Gods when he says that the Hercules which was summoned up by Ulysses was only his eidolon, or phantom, the real man being in Olympus among the happy Gods.

10

See an instructive article on 'Shekinah' in Dr. Hastings's 'Dictionary of the Bible'.

11

"And mine eternal jewel given to the common enemy of man." – 'Macbeth,' Act III. scene i.

12

The Shekinah was also associated with a divine radiance, or glory.

13

Mi mi (august body) in the names of others involves a more material conception of deity.

14

Corresponding to the mo acha, uncle of peace, and ski acha, rough uncle, of the Ainus.

15

Homer's άντός

16

Sakitake no Ben, 21.

17

See Index.

18

For deities of classes consult Dr. Tylor's 'Primitive Culture,' ii. 242.

19

"Laotze finit par n'être plus que le principe vital universel existant avant le ciel et la terre et qui s'est plu à chaque époque a se montrer sous les traits d'un personnage quelconque souvent des plus obscurs." – 'Religion de la Chine,' De Harlez.

20

See a paper on the Hi no maru (sun-circle) in the T. A. S. J., Nov. 8th, 1893.

21

Such as touching for scrofula or the assurance of fine weather.

22

The statements of Kaempfer, in his 'History of Japan,' regarding the sacred character of the Mikado's person cannot be depended on. His account of Shinto generally is grossly erroneous, or rather imaginary.

23

'Japan,' edited by Capt. Brinkley.

24

See Index, sub voce.

25

See Index-'Suha.'

26

'Evolution of Religion,' p. 239.

27

Fuku means good fortune.

28

See p. 27.

29

In Teutonic mythology the will-of-the-wisps are souls which have not attained heavenly peace.

30

See also Mr. Frazer's 'Golden Bough,' ii. 297.

31

The Stoics held that the world was not only animated and immortal, but likewise happy and round, because Plato says that that is the most perfect form.

32

Hirata denies this.

33

For full details of the construction of the Japanese dolmen, the reader may consult two admirable papers by Mr. W. Gowland, in the Japan Society's Transactions, 1897-8, and the Journal of the Society of Antiquaries, 1897.

34

"Blood, which is the life, is the food frequently offered to the dead… By a substitution of similars, it is considered sufficient to colour the corpse, or some part thereof, with some red substance taking the place thereof." – Jevons, 'Introduction to the History of Religion,' p. 52. But see Index-'Red.'

35

Some of these figures are still in existence, and one may be seen in the British Museum, where it constitutes the chief treasure of the Gowland Collection. The Uyeno Museum, in Tokio, also possesses specimens, both of men and horses.

36

"Rites, performed at graves, becoming afterwards religious rites performed at altars in temples, were at first acts done for the benefit of the ghost." – Herbert Spencer's 'Sociology,' ii. 8.

37

See an article by Mr. W. H. Lay in T. A. S. J., 1891.

38

"Comte ramenait toutes les religions à l'adoration de l'homme par l'homme. Comte, il est vrai, ne faisait pas de l'homme individuel l'objet du culte normal: il proposait à nos adorations l'homme en tant qu' espèce en tant qu' humanité et parvenait à deployer une véritable mysticité sur cette étroite base." – Reville, 'Prolegomena,' p. 26.

39

See Index-'Incest.'

40

In 'Japan,' edited by Capt. Brinkley.

41

Dr. Florenz, in his 'Japanische Mythologie,' says that Sui-tengū is a fusion of the Sumiyoshi Sea-Gods with the Indian Sea-God Sui-ten, that is, Varuna, subsequently identified with the youthful Emperor Antoku (who lost his life by drowning in 1185).

42

"The different peoples conceived and developed this divine hierarchy pari passu with their own approximation to political unity" (Goblet d'Alviella, Hibbert Lectures). Aristotle recognized the same principle.

43

"The symbol or permanent object, at and through which the worshipper came into direct contact with the God, was not lacking in any Semitic place of worship, but had not always the same form, and was sometimes a natural object, sometimes an artificial erection." – Robertson Smith, 'Religion of the Semites,' p. 160.

44

simulacra que maesta deorumArte carent, cæsis extant informia truncis.Lucan, 'Pharsalia.'

45

See Index-Sake no kami.

46

See Index-Naishidokoro.

47

In an official report by Mr. H. Risley he says that at the time of the spring equinox there is a festival (in India) called Sri Panchami, when it is incumbent on every religious-minded person to worship the implements or insignia of the vocation by which he lives.

48

P. 16.

49

See above, p. 12, and Index-'Dreams,'

50

See Dr. Tylor's 'Primitive Culture,' second edition, i. 285.

51

See 'Rig-veda,' x. 129, for a similar rationalistic dissertation on the origin of the universe. Here and below the italics indicate translations.

52

In Chinese, Yin and Yang. The Yin is the dark, negative, passive, feminine, and terrene principle; the Yang is light, positive, active, male, and celestial.

53

'Philosophy of Religion,' i. 269.

54

"Into human shape" is another version.

55

I shall usually omit this purely honorific addition to the names of Japanese Gods and sovereigns.

56

Hirata says that "the five generations of deities which in the Kojiki precede Izanagi and Izanami are only names descriptive of the successive stages of formation of these deities. Their functions are obscure, and they have no shrines or worship. They are unnecessary, as all that are required are two Gods for the creation of Heaven, two of Yomi and two of Earth."

57

There is a close association in Hebrew between the ideas of creation and begetting. Bara, create, and jalad, beget, are often interchanged.

58

See Index.

59

See Index.

60

It was deprived of this character soon after by order of the Mikado's Government, the only monument of the old cult left standing being Nantai (male form), a mountain which towers above Nikko to the height of 8,500 feet.

61

'Sociology,' ii. 177.

62

See Index, 'Circumambulation.' Also Simpson's 'Praying Wheel,' p. 285, and Jevons's 'Introduction to Religion,' p. 210. The corresponding Highland ceremony, called Deasil, is described in Sir Walter Scott's 'Fair Maid of Perth.' See also Brand's 'British Antiquities.'

63

I 324.

64

A strong suspicion of Chinese origin attaches to these elemental gods.

65

The significance of the wo-bashira, or end-tooth, is explained elsewhere. See Index.

66

See Index-'Peach.'

67

Deified as Chi-gaheshi no Oho-kami (road-send-back-great-deity).

68

Muir's 'Sanskrit Texts,' v. 320.

69

See Murray's 'Japan,' fifth edition, p. 408.

70

See Index.

71

See Dr. Tylor's 'Primitive Culture,' ii. 435.

72

As Horus, in Egyptian myth, confronts the powers of darkness.

73

The Milky Way: a Chinese expression.

74

This is one of several miraculous births and pregnancies in Japanese myth. Mankind have a rooted propensity for imagining that it is possible to improve on the means ordained for this purpose by Divine Providence. See Mr. Hartland's 'Legend of Perseus' for numerous examples.

75

The Kiujiki makes Masa-ya, &c., the son of the Sun-Goddess by Takamusubi.

76

Represented at Ise by dancers called tonako (bird-cry).

77

'The Golden Bough,' second edition, i. 115.

78

See Index-'River-deities.'

79

See above, p. 90.

80

Another authority makes Uka no mitama a daughter of Izanagi and Izanami.

81

See above, p. 93.

82

See Index-Futsunushi.

83

Like Odin, who lends his spear Gungmir to heroes to win victories with.

84

I.e., died.

85

It was an Arab custom in certain places to build a hut outside the camp, where the parturient woman had to stay for a time. – Welhausen.

86

There was no official recognition of the art of writing in Japan until a. d. 405, and no mention of calendars until a. d. 553. So much for the authenticity of the above date.

87

Usa is not on the direct route from Hiuga to Yamato. It was no doubt introduced because this place was anciently a famous centre of Shinto worship.

88

This is a specimen of the numerous derivations of the Jimmu narrative. The Idzumo Fudoki is also full of infantile etymologies, which have usually a scrap of legend attached to them.

89

Blade-holder.

90

Yata-garasu means eight-hand-crow. The guidance of conquerors or colonists to their destination by a supernatural bird or beast is a familiar feature of old-world story.

91

Ame is the name of a sweet substance made from millet, of the same nature as our malt extract.

92

The Mikado deputed most of his priestly functions to the Nakatomi.

93

Idzu-hime means dread or sacred princess. Michi no Omi (minister of the way) seems therefore to have been given a feminine title for the occasion, no doubt because the office was usually held by women.

94

It was at this season of the year that the harvest festival, or rather the festival of tasting the new rice, was celebrated. See Index-Nihiname.

95

Japanese history is said to begin from this date. In reality nothing deserving the name existed for nearly one thousand years more.

96

Deuteronomy iv. 19; xvii. 3.

97

The Vice-Royalty of Kiushiu.

98

In Korea.

99

See above, p. 70; also Index-'Mirror.'

100

"The mirror is kept in a box of chamaecyparis wood, which rests on a low stand covered with a piece of white silk. It is wrapped in a bag of brocade, which is never opened or renewed, but when it begins to fall to pieces from age another bag is put on, so that the actual covering consists of many layers. Over the whole is placed a sort of wooden cage, with ornaments said to be of pure gold, over which again is thrown a cloth of coarse silk falling to the floor on all sides." – Murray's 'Japan,' fifth edition, p. 308.

101

See Index-Naishidokoro.

102

A kind of hawk. 'Odyssey,' xv. 525.

103

Vide 'The Hinomaru' in the T. A. S. J., vol. xxii. p. 27.

104

See above, p. 65.

105

'In the Shinto Pantheon,' in the New World, December, 1896.

106

Japan is annually visited by destructive typhoons, accompanied by great darkness and a terrific downpour of rain.

107

See above, p. 106.

108

Egyptian is one.

109

See Index-'Sasura-hime.'

110

'Religions of Primitive Peoples,' p. 80.

111

I offer, for consideration only, two conjectures: first, that Tsuki-yomi was the Ise Moon-God, and Susa no wo the Idzumo lunar deity; and second, that Susa may possibly be an allotropic form of sasura, banish.

112

"The large, deep love of living sea and land." – Swinburne, 'Kynance Cove.'

113

Graphically described in Lafcadio Hearn's 'Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan.'

114

See above, p. 108.

115

See above, p. 106.

116

Nihongi, ii. 366.

117

I. 198.

118

See 'Ch. K.,' p. 33.

119

See above, p. 95.

120

See Index-'Sumiyoshi.'

121

See p. 114.

122

See above, p. 92.

123

Nihongi, i. 22.

124

See Index-'Wind-Gods.'

125

In Yucatan there were four Wind-Gods, who upheld the four corners of Heaven.

126

See above, p. 109.

127

Nihongi, i. 115.

128

Nihongi, i. 44.

129

Is it possible that Fuji no yama is really for Futsu no yama, the mountain of fire?