Japanese Religions before Restoration: Shintō and Buddhism.
In the previous chapter the outbreak and suppression of the Satsuma
rebellion were recorded. An outline was also given of the course of
events by which the administration assumed a new character, the
direction of affairs passing into the hands of the Satsuma and Chōshiū
clans. The point now reached, when the new Government is seen at length
firmly seated in the saddle, seems to furnish a suitable opportunity for
dealing with the subject of religion. Though not in all respects very
closely connected with the development of Japan on modern lines, it was,
as we have seen, indirectly associated with the work of reconstruction
and reform; and this association continues, being noticeable from time
to time in various ceremonial changes and other innovations.
In the moulding of Japanese life and character four religions have
played a part, Shintō, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. To these a
fifth, Christianity in different forms, has in recent times been added.
There is nothing peculiar in this, for other countries have more than
one religion. But in Japan the existence side by side of religions quite
separate in character has had curious results. Not only have the four
earliest of these different religions influenced each other in a marked
degree, this interaction resulting in one case in a fusion of two faiths
which might almost be classified as a fresh religion, or sect, but the
singular habit of professing two religions at the same time has been
evolved—a circumstance without parallel elsewhere. Every Japanese house,
no matter whether the occupant is an adherent of the Shintō, or
Buddhist, faith, has both Shintō and Buddhist altars, at which daily
offerings are made. To the persons concerned this dual worship conveys
no sense of incongruity, nor, strangely enough, is it regarded as
incompatible with acknowledged adherence to one of the two faiths. When
questioned as to the religion they profess, they will reply that it is
Shintō, or Buddhism, as the case may be. And there the matter is left.
Referring to this point the _Japan Year Book_ for 1915 admits that most
Japanese are dualist in the matter of religion. “A new-born child,” it
says, “is taken to a Shintō”—[the words “or Buddhist” should here have
been added]—“temple to invoke the help of the guardian deity for its
prosperity or success in life. When it dies, it is taken to a Buddhist
temple for burial.”
The foregoing facts seem to confirm the statement made by the author of
_Fifty Years of New Japan_ as to the freedom of the Japanese people from
sectarian prejudice. “Whereas in China,” Marquis Ōkuma says, “the
co-existence of Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism resulted in a war of
creeds which weakened that empire, and was the cause of its present
condition, the presence side by side of four different beliefs in Japan”
[not counting Christianity] “gave rise to no sectarian strife whatever.”
Marquis Ōkuma’s assertion applies, indeed, with more accuracy to present
than to past times. He appears to overlook more than one instance in
Japanese history where excess of religious zeal has caused not only
sectarian strife, but popular commotion, which has led in its turn to
interference on the part of the authorities. There can be little doubt,
however, that the matter of religion has, on the whole, never been taken
so seriously by the Japanese as by other peoples. It is equally clear
that the authorities in their attitude towards religion have invariably
been guided by political expediency, rather than by religious motives.
How far political considerations have affected religious development in
Japan will be seen later on in the course of the next chapter, when it
will also be more convenient to deal with the latest of Japanese
religions, Christianity, as being specially identified with the nation’s
modern progress. Let us first dwell briefly on the distinctive features
of the religions themselves, as they existed before the reopening of
Japan to foreign intercourse, beginning with Shintō the native faith.
Originally a form of nature-worship, Shintō at an early date came to
include ancestor-worship. This was due to the influence of Buddhism and
Confucianism. The cult of natural deities known by the general
designation of _kami_—a word of many meanings—was thus extended so as to
include deified heroes, deceased sovereigns, and, finally, abdicated and
reigning Mikados, as being of divine descent. Shintō ritual, as handed
down from ancient times, is limited to formulas of prayer to natural
deities; its ceremonial is concerned solely with purification for
wrong-doing, or for defilement by contact, real or imaginary, with the
dead. It had no authorized funeral rites, nor were there any Shintō
cemeteries. It has no sacred books, no dogmas, no moral code. All these
it was left to other religions, chiefly Buddhism, to supply.
Notwithstanding the absence of these features, common to most religions,
the author of a work on Buddhism, _The Creed of Half Japan_ (the Rev.
Arthur Lloyd), speaks of it as having “a slight flavour of philosophy, a
vague but deepseated religiosity,” and as making “a strong appeal to
Japanese pride.” The correctness of this last statement no one will be
inclined to dispute, for to the influence of Shintō ideas regarding the
semi-divinity of Japanese monarchs the unbroken character of the dynasty
is largely due.
A peculiar feature of the Japanese native religion, namely, its
connection with the worship of animals, is described by Mr. Aston in his
“Shintō”:—
“Animals,” he says, “may be worshipped for their own sakes, as
wonderful, terrible, or uncanny beings. The tiger, the serpent, and the
wolf are for this reason called _kami_. But there are no shrines in
their honour, and they have no regular cult. A more common reason for
honouring animals is their association with some deity as his servants,
or messengers. Thus the deer is sacred at” [the shrine of] “Kasuga, the
monkey at” [that of] “Hiyoshi, the pigeon to the god (of war), the white
egret at the shrine of Kébi no Miya, the tortoise at Matsunöo, and the
crow at Kumano.... The pheasant is the messenger of the Gods generally.
The best known case of the worship of an associated animal is that of
Inari, the rice-god, whose attendant foxes are mistaken by the ignorant”
[namely, the uneducated masses] “for the god himself, and whose effigies
have offerings made to them.” The “Korean dogs,” he adds, seen in front
of many Shintō shrines, are meant not as gods but as guardians, like the
great figures on each side of the entrance to Buddhist temples.
Japanese writers fix the date of the introduction of Buddhism into Japan
at about the middle of the sixth century. The Buddhism then introduced
was that of the so-called Northern School, the doctrines of which are
based on what is known as the “Mahayana Vehicle.” One of its earliest
adherents was the Imperial Prince Shōtoku Taishi, who, though he never
occupied the throne, virtually ruled the country for many years as
deputy, or Vice-Regent, for his aunt the Empress Suiko. He it was who
carried out the “Great Reform,” which revolutionized Japanese
administration in imitation of Chinese models. He also did much to
propagate Buddhism, which at that time was unsectarian. It was not till
after his death in A.D. 620 that the first sects came into existence. By
the end of the eighth century there were eight sects, of which two only,
the Tendai and Shingon, now survive. The chief sects, in addition to
these two, are the _Zen_, _Jōdo_, _Shin_ and _Nichiren_, all of which
were founded during the rule of the Hōjō Regents in the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries. Into the question of the tenets which distinguish
these different sects, one from another, it is unnecessary to enter. It
will be sufficient to indicate the main characteristics of the three,
the _Zen_, _Shin_ and _Nichiren_ sects, which have by far the most
numerous adherents.
The _Zen_ sect, the earliest of the three, which has six sub-sects, was
established in the first years of the thirteenth century, its founder
being the Buddhist priest Eisai Zenshi. It has, Mr. Lloyd tells us,
always been more or less influenced by Confucianism, and is opposed to
what its followers regard as the anthropomorphic tendencies of other
sects. It recognizes a supreme being, but refuses to personify him,
holding that personification of this kind is but a pious device to adapt
the truth to the weakness of human intellect. Apart from actual
doctrine, the main feature of the _Zen_ sect is the practice of silent
meditation for the purpose of acquiring by introspective contemplation a
detached and philosophic habit of mind. Before the abolition of
feudalism it was the favourite sect of the military class, and to this
day it includes more naval and military men among its adherents than
other sects, while its influence on _Bushidō_ has been very marked.
The _Shin_ sect, which has also six sub-sects, was founded by the priest
Shinran Shōnin. The position which it holds in regard to other Buddhist
sects is in some respects similar to that of Protestantism in regard to
Roman Catholicism. Its followers eat meat, and the clergy are free to
marry. The chief point in its doctrine is salvation by faith through the
mercy of Buddha, and, in Mr. Lloyd’s opinion, the whole system of the
founder “savours strongly of Nestorianism,” which was propagated in
China as far back as the seventh century.
There remains to be noticed the _Nichiren_ sect. This, the most active
and indeed aggressive, and, it may be added, the noisiest in the conduct
of religious festivals, of all Buddhist sects, was established by the
priest Nichiren. His object, as we learn from the author previously
quoted, was to purge Japanese Buddhism from the errors which, in his
view, had crept into it, and restore the primitive character imparted to
the Buddhist faith by its Indian founder. The ardour with which he
pursued his object led him to trench on political matters, and brought
him into collision with the authorities. He was a fierce opponent of the
_Zen_ sect, and its Confucian tendencies, describing it as “a doctrine
of demons and fiends.”
Owing to the circumstances attending its introduction the traces of
Chinese influence in Japanese Buddhism are naturally very marked. This
influence was increased by the frequent visits paid by Japanese monks to
China, where they came into direct contact with Chinese religious
thought. Nevertheless, the fact that the three sects most prominent
to-day owe their origin and development to Japanese priests is evidence
of a certain tendency towards national independence in religious
matters. Buddhism, it may be added, has more adherents in Japan than
Shintō, though the difference in numbers is not great.
The fusion of Shintō and Buddhism under the name of _Riōbu Shintō_,
which, according to the best authorities, took place in the ninth
century, is generally regarded as the work of the _Shingon_ sect of
Buddhists, though the _Tendai_ sect appears to have been associated in
the movement. By this fusion, which seems to have been copied from
earlier attempts in China to amalgamate Buddhism and Confucianism, the
Shintō _Kami_, or deities, were—by a pious fraud known to Japanese
Buddhists by the term _hōben_—received into the Buddhist pantheon as
avatars of ancient Buddhas. Its Buddhist character is sufficiently
indicated by the qualifying prefix in its name of _Riōbu_, which means
“two parts,” namely, the two mystical worlds that figure in the doctrine
of the _Shingon_ sect; its Shintō connection is shown by the worship of
Shintō deities under Buddhist names. “Despite its professions of
eclecticism,” says Mr. Aston in his book already quoted, “the soul of
_Riōbu Shintō_ was essentially Buddhist.” He speaks, also, of the
movement as the formation of a new sect, a view in which Professor
Chamberlain in his _Things Japanese_ does not seem altogether to concur.
The point may be left to Shintō and Buddhist scholars to determine. The
result of the fusion, in any case, was that most Shintō shrines became
_Riōbu Shintō_ temples. In many of these Buddhist priests alone
officiated, but in some cases such temples had separate establishments
of Shintō and Buddhist clergy, who conducted services alternately in the
same buildings.
Although Confucianists can point to the existence of a temple of that
religion in Tōkiō, neither Confucianism nor Taoism—both of which came to
Japan with the adoption of the written language of China—had ever quite
the status of established religions. It would be difficult to
overestimate the part played by Confucian ethics in the development of
Japanese character and thought. Those, moreover, who have studied the
subject profess to see both in Shintō and Buddhism the impress of Taoist
philosophy. In both cases, however, the influence of these cults on the
Japanese people has been exercised indirectly, by the infiltration of
Confucian and Taoist principles into other faiths, and not directly, as
would have been the case had they operated in the character of separate
and distinct religions.