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Transcriber's note:
Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=).
Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation in the original
have not been changed.
SHINTO
(The Way Of The Gods)
by
W. G. ASTON, C.M.G, D.Lit.
Author of
'A Grammar of the Japanese Spoken Language,' 'A Grammar of the
Japanese Written Language,' 'The Nihongi' (Translation),
'A History of Japanese Literature,' &c.
Longmans, Green, and Co.
39 Paternoster Row, London
New York and Bombay
1905
All rights reserved
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE.
I. MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF SHINTO 1
II. GENERAL FEATURES--PERSONIFICATION 5
III. GENERAL FEATURES--DEIFICATION OF MEN 36
IV. GENERAL FEATURES--FUNCTIONS OF GODS, &C. 65
V. MYTH 75
VI. THE MYTHICAL NARRATIVE 84
VII. THE PANTHEON--NATURE-DEITIES 121
VIII. THE PANTHEON--MAN-DEITIES 177
IX. THE PRIESTHOOD 200
X. WORSHIP 208
XI. MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY 241
XII. CEREMONIAL 268
XIII. MAGIC, DIVINATION, INSPIRATION 327
XIV. DECAY OF SHINTO. MODERN SECTS 359
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE.
_Ohonamochi and his Double_ 28-29
_The Sun-Goddess issuing from the Rock-Cave of Heaven_ 98-99
_Sun Worship at the Twin-Rocks of Ise_ 130-31
_Hohodemi at the Court of Toyotama-hiko_ 149
_Kedzurikake_. The one on the right is the ordinary form,
the other a special kind called _ihaigi_ 192
_Oho-nusa_.
(From Dr. Florenz's paper in the _T.A.S.J._) 214
_Gohei_ 215
_Ema_ (Horse-picture) 222
_Mikoshi_ 224-25
_Himorogi_. (From the _T.A.S.J._) 226
_Shrines of Ise_ 229-30
_Toriwi_ 233
_Chi no wa_ 266-67
_Misogi, or Purification Ceremony_ 298-99
_Tsuina, or Expulsion of Devils_ 310-11
_Wayside Shrines_ 366
ABBREVIATIONS.
Ch. K.--Mr. B. H. Chamberlain's translation of the _Kojiki_.
_Nihongi_.--Translation of the _Nihongi_ by W. G. Aston.
_T.A.S.J._--Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan.
ERRATA.
For "Welhausen," note to p. 113, read _Wellhausen_.
For "of," p. 12, l. 18, read _on_.
P. 335, l. 24, read _to do her behests_.
ADDENDA.
Add, bottom of p. 60, "St. Augustine says, in his 'Civitas Dei,' that
funeral observances are rather solace to the living than help to the
dead."
P. 41, line 25, after "deities" insert "a phrase which closely
resembles the 'Zembla Bogh' used of the Czar by Russians."
P. 31, add to first note, "The Romans had an evil counterpart of
Jupiter, viz., Vediovis or Vejovis."
PREFACE.
As compared with the great religions of the world, Shinto, the old
_Kami_ cult of Japan, is decidedly rudimentary in its character. Its
polytheism, the want of a Supreme Deity, the comparative absence of
images and of a moral code, its feeble personifications and hesitating
grasp of the conception of spirit, the practical non-recognition of a
future state, and the general absence of a deep, earnest faith--all
stamp it as perhaps the least developed of religions which have an
adequate literary record. Still, it is not a primitive cult. It had an
organized priesthood and an elaborate ritual. The general civilization
of the Japanese when Shinto assumed the form in which we know it had
left the primitive stage far behind. They were already an agricultural
nation, a circumstance by which Shinto has been deeply influenced. They
had a settled government, and possessed the arts of brewing, making
pottery, building ships and bridges, and working in metals. It is not
among such surroundings that we can expect to find a primitive form of
religion.
The present treatise has two objects. It is intended, primarily and
chiefly, as a repertory of the more significant facts of Shinto for the
use of scientific students of religion. It also comprises an outline
theory of the origin and earlier stages of the development of religion,
prepared with special reference to the Shinto evidence. The subject is
treated from a positive, not from a negative or agnostic standpoint,
Religion being regarded as a normal function, not a disease, of
humanity. This element of the work owes much to the continental
scholars Réville, Goblet D'Alviella, and Pfleiderer.
In anthropological matters, I have been much indebted to Dr. Tylor's
'Primitive Culture' and Mr. J. G. Frazer's 'Golden Bough.' I should not
omit to express my obligations to my friend Mr. J. Troup for assistance
with the proofs and for a number of useful corrections and suggestions.
CHAPTER I.
MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF SHINTO.
=Prehistoric Shinto=.--Ethnologists are agreed that the predominant
element of the Japanese race came to Japan by way of Korea from that
part of Asia which lies north of China, probably by a succession of
immigrations which extended over many centuries. It is useless to
speculate as to what rudiments of religious belief the ancestors of the
Japanese race may have brought with them from their continental home.
Sun-worship has long been a central feature of Tartar religions, as it
is of Shinto; but such a coincidence proves nothing, as this cult is
universal among nations in the barbaric stage of civilization. It is
impossible to say whether or not an acquaintance with the old State
religion of China--essentially a nature-worship--had an influence on
the prehistoric development of Shinto. The circumstance that the Sun
was the chief deity of the latter and Heaven of the former is adverse
to this supposition. Nor is there anything in Japan which corresponds
with the Shangti of the ancient Chinese.
There are definite traces of a Korean element in Shinto. A Kara no Kami
(God of Kara in Korea) was worshipped in the Imperial Palace. There
were numerous shrines in honour of Kara-Kuni Idate no Kami. Susa no wo
and Futsunushi have Korean associations.
Until the beginning of the fifth century of our era, writing was
practically unknown in Japan. It is certain, however, that a
considerable body of myth, together with formal rituals, was already in
existence, having been transmitted from generation to generation by the
_Nakatomi_ and _Imbe_, two hereditary priestly corporations attached
to the Mikado's Court. We hear also of _Kataribe_, or corporations of
reciters, who were established in various provinces, especially in
Idzumo, a primaeval centre of Shinto worship. They are mentioned in the
_Nihongi_ under the date A.D. 465, and were still in existence in the
fifteenth century. Unfortunately we know little about them beyond the
circumstance that they attended at the capital, and delivered their
recitals of "ancient words" on the occasion of the Mikado's coronation.
These must have helped to furnish material for the written mythical and
quasi-historical narratives which have come down to us.
=Kojiki=.--The oldest of these is a work entitled the _Kojiki_, or
'Records of Ancient Matters.' It was compiled by Imperial order, and
completed in A.D. 712. The preface states that it was taken down from
the lips of one Hiyeda no Are, who had so wonderful a memory that he
could "repeat with his mouth whatever was placed before his eyes and
record in his heart whatever struck his ears." English readers may
study this work in an accurate translation contributed by Mr. B. H.
Chamberlain to the _Transactions_ of the Asiatic Society of Japan in
1882. It is preceded by a valuable introduction.
=Nihongi=.--The mythical narrative of the _Nihongi_, or 'Chronicles of
Japan,' also an official compilation (A.D. 720), is not quite so full
as that of the _Kojiki_, and it has the disadvantage of being composed
in the Chinese language. But it has one feature of great interest. The
author, or some nearly contemporary writer, has added to the original
text a number of variants of the current myths, thus enabling us to
correct any impression of uniformity or consistency which might be
left by the perusal of the _Kojiki_ or _Nihongi_ alone. These addenda
show that there was then in existence a large body of frequently
irreconcilable mythical material, which these works are attempts to
harmonize. A translation of the _Nihongi_ by the present writer forms
Supplement I. of the _Transactions_ of the Japan Society (1896). Dr.
Florenz's excellent German version of the mythical part of this work
may also be consulted with advantage. It has copious notes.
=Kiujiki=.--A third source of information respecting the mythical lore
of Japan is the _Kiujiki_. A work with this name was compiled A.D. 620,
_i.e._, one hundred years before the _Nihongi_, but the book now known
by that title has been condemned as a forgery by native critics. Their
arguments, however, are not quite convincing. The _Kiujiki_ is in any
case a very old book, and we may accept it provisionally as of equal
authority with the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_. It contains little which is
not also to be found in these two works. Unlike them, the _Kiujiki_
makes no attempt to be consistent. It is a mere jumble of mythical
material, distinct and conflicting versions of the same narrative being
often dovetailed into one another in the most clumsy fashion. It has
not been translated.
=Idzumo Fudoki=.--This work, a topography of the province of Idzumo,
was compiled about A.D. 733. It contains a few mythical passages.
=The Kogoshiui= was written in 807. It adds a very little to the
information contained in the _Kojiki_ and _Nihongi_.
=Shôjiroku=.--In this work, which is a sort of peerage of Japan (815),
the descent of many of the noble families is traced from the deities of
the Shinto Pantheon.
=Yengishiki=.--Our principal source of information for the ceremonial
of Shinto is the _Yengishiki_, or 'Institutes of the Period Yengi'
(901-923). It gives a minute description of the official Shinto ritual
as then practised, together with Red Snow Algatwenty-seven of the principal prayers
used in worship. These prayers, called _norito_, were now, so far as we
know, for the first time reduced to writing, but many of them must be
in substance several hundreds of years older. Some have been translated
by Sir Ernest Satow for the Asiatic Society of Japan (1879-81), and the
series is now being continued by Dr. Karl Florenz, whose translation of
the _Ohoharahi_ (1899) is a notable addition to the English reader's
means of studying Shinto.
=Moto[:o]ri and Hirata=.--The writings of the native scholars Moto[:o]ri,
Hirata, and others during the second half of the eighteenth century
and the first half of the nineteenth are an indispensable source of
information. No part of this voluminous literature has been, or is
likely to be, translated. The English reader will find a good account
of it in Sir Ernest Satow's 'Revival of Pure Shinto,' contributed
to the _Transactions_ of the Asiatic Society of Japan in 1875. By
"Pure Shinto" is meant the Shinto of the _Kojiki_, _Nihongi_, and
_Yengishiki_, as opposed to the corrupt forms of this religion which
sprang up under Buddhist influence in later times.
The above-named works contain fairly ample materials for the study of
the older Shinto. They have the advantage of showing us this religion
as seen by the Japanese themselves, thus leaving no room for the
introduction of those errors which so often arise from the unconscious
importation of modern European and Christian ideas into the accounts
of other rudimentary cults. It should be observed that it is the State
religion to which these records chiefly relate. Of the popular beliefs
and practices at this time we are told but little.
The _Nihongi_, and, to a lesser extent, the _Kojiki_, are somewhat
influenced by Chinese ideas; but this element is generally
recognizable. Buddhism was introduced into Japan towards the middle
of the sixth century, and was widely propagated under the regency of
Shôtoku Daishi, who died A.D. 621; but there is little or no trace of
it in the older Shinto. For a long time there was a marked antagonism
between the two religions which served to protect the latter from such
adulteration.
=The Fūzoku Gwahō=, a modern illustrated magazine, is a rich store
of information respecting modern Shinto and the folk-lore and
superstitions which are associated with it.