DISESTABLISHMENT OF SHINTŌ
OUTLINE OF TOPICS: Religion in Japan; Shintō; a “natural religion”;
simple services; religious patriotism; perfunctory worship; Shintō
doomed “as a religion”; secularization of Ise shrines; element of
embarrassment to Christians; “worship” (?) of Emperor’s portrait;
difficulties in translation of Christian terms; method of reforms in
Japan; future of Shintō.—Bibliography.
It is a curious fact that Japan cannot boast of an indigenous
religion, or of much original mental or moral philosophy. “Shintō”
(The Gods’ Way), purely Japanese in its origin, is only a cult, a
system of worship, not a religion, or even a philosophy. Buddhism
and Confucianism came in from China, perhaps through Korea, and
Christianity entered from Europe and America.
Shintō is a system in which the deification and worship of heroes,
emperors, family ancestors, and forces of nature play an important
part. It has no dogmas, no sacred books, no moral code, “no philosophy,
no code of ethics, no metaphysics”; it sums up its theory of human duty
in the following injunction: “Follow your natural impulses and obey the
laws of the State.”[154] It requires of its adherents nothing except
worship at certain temples or shrines on stated days. A “pure Shintō”
temple is an exceedingly plain affair, in front of which, at a little
distance, is invariably set a _torii_, or arch. Without idols, the
temple contains, as emblems of Shintō, strips of paper hanging from a
wand, together with a mirror. The form of ordinary worship is simple:
it consists of washing the face, or hands, or both, with holy water;
of ringing a bell, or clapping the hands, to call the god’s attention;
of casting in a coin as an offering; of standing with clasped hands
during a short prayer, and of making a farewell bow. This ceremony is
sufficient to “cover a multitude of sins”! At the regular festivals
there are special and elaborate services, at which the priests (often
laymen) officiate. Pilgrimages to holy spots, usually “high places,”
are important in Shintō.
But Shintō seems destined to decay as naturally as it developed.
According to the best authorities, it was, in the original and purest
form, ancestor-worship combined with the worship of nature. That is to
say, it arose from the natural reverence paid to ancestors, whether
individual or national, and from the awe inspired by the wonderful
and frequently horrible forces of nature. In time these two elements
became more or less confused, so that eventually, in some cases,
national ancestors were identified with heavenly bodies, and the sun,
for instance, worshipped as a goddess, was called the special ancestor
of the Japanese nation. It seems proper, therefore, to call Shintō, so
far as the word “religion” is applicable to it, a “natural religion” in
more senses than one of the word “natural.”[155]
It has just been intimated that the word “religion” is not in all
points applicable to Shintō. It has, for instance, no dogmas or creed,
except the very simple and general injunction: “Follow your own
natural impulses and obey the laws of the State.” Dr. Nitobe says, in
his book entitled “Bushidō”: “The tenets of Shintōism cover the two
predominating features of the emotional life of our race—patriotism and
loyalty.” Its services are very simple, and consist of the presentation
of offerings and the recital of formal addresses, which are partly
praises and partly prayers. In one ritual, that of purification, it is
true that there may be seen signs of moral instruction; but this is
now a mere formal ceremony, performed, perhaps, only twice a year in
some, not all, of the principal Shintō shrines. Certainly, in the sense
that Christianity, with its creeds, whether simple or complex, its
moral doctrines, its spiritual teachings, its outlook into the future
life, its restraining and uplifting influence upon the individual and
society, is called a religion, Shintō has no right to that appellation.
But as a system of national as well as of individual worship,
including prayers to the deified ancestors or national heroes or to
the personified and deified powers of nature, Shintō is properly a
religion. And there can be no doubt that, in the eyes of the great
mass of the people, it has all the force of a religion. One needs to
stand but a few minutes in front of a Shintō shrine to observe that
the mode of worship is practically the same as that before a Buddhist
temple. This does not refer to the regular public ceremonies at stated
times, but to the brief ordinary visits of the common people to the
shrines and temples as they may be passing by. In their hearts there
is apparently as much “worship” and “reverence” in one case as in the
other. And this superstitious attitude of the people toward Shintō has
been utilized on more than one occasion in political measures, so that
Shintō has often been nothing but a political engine. “In its lower
forms [it] is blind obedience to governmental and priestly dictates.”
It has thus been unfairly used as a test of so-called patriotism,
a kind of ecclesiastical patriotism, founded on mythology and
superstition. Thus Shintō has been, as Sir Ernest Satow called it, “in
a certain sense, a state religion, since its temples are maintained out
of the imperial and local revenues, and the attendance of the principal
officials is required by court etiquette at certain annual festivals
which are celebrated at the palace.” Similarly, local officials are
required to be present and “worship” on certain occasions at local
shrines. As Dr. Griffis has remarked, “To those Japanese whose first
idea of duty is loyalty to the Emperor, Shintō thus becomes a system of
patriotism exalted to a religion.”
But the relation of the educated classes toward Shintō is quite
different. A knowledge of science has shown the foolishness of
personifying and deifying the forces of nature and of worshipping
foxes, badgers, and other animals. Moreover, the scientific study of
the Japanese annals has revealed the absurdities of much that had been
accepted as real history, and has shown that the so-called historical
foundation of Shintō is a mass of myths and legends. The well-educated
Japanese do not believe the nonsense of the “Kojiki”[156] upon which
the claim that the Emperor should be worshipped is based; but few, if
any, dare to give public expression to their own private opinions, for
they love life and reputation more than liberty of speech. And many of
those who really know better not only will employ the old fictions in
word of mouth or on the written page, but will even visit shrines and
go perfunctorily through the forms of worship.
Now it is quite evident that, ever since the opening of Japan
and the consequent spread of popular education, the diffusion of
scientific knowledge, and the propagation of Christianity, Shintō _as
a religion_ has been doomed. Not merely monotheism, but also science,
ridiculed the Shintō doctrine of myriads of gods; and even atheism
and agnosticism, so heartily welcomed in Japan, would not lend any
support to the superstitions of Shintō. Ever since the Restoration
of 1868, which was, of course, a revival of pure political Shintō,
frequent attempts have been made to have Shintō declared, in actual
fact, by special enactment, the State religion of Japan. But religious
Shintō has been suffering a gradual decline, as Dr. Griffis shows in
“The Religions of Japan.” For a little while the council that had
charge of Shintō matters “held equal authority with the great council
of the government. Pretty soon the first step downward was taken,
and from a supreme council it was made one of the ten departments
of the government. In less than a year followed another retrograde
movement, and the department was called a board. Finally, in 1877, the
board became a bureau.” And, in the closing year of the nineteenth
century, another step downward was taken by making a complete official
demarcation between Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples. Hereafter
Buddhist and Christian matters come under the charge of the Bureau of
Religions; while Shintō affairs are entirely secularized and set apart
under a Bureau of Shrines. This is the final step in the official
_disestablishment of Shintō_. It is one of the greatest triumphs of
civilization and Christianity in Japan, for it has evidently been made
necessary by the spread of the gospel; and this move is fraught with
deep significance, with great promise and encouragement.
Even before this official action had been taken, the necessity for
completely secularizing Shintō had been fully recognized within its
own circles. In 1899 the officials of the Great Shrine at Ise, in
which are preserved the mirror, the sword, and the jewel, the three
sacred treasures of Shintō, took the proper legal steps to become a
secular organization. They asserted that Shintō is “merely a mechanism
for keeping generations in touch with generations, and preserving
the continuity of the nation’s veneration for its ancestors.” Shintō
could never hope “to stand as a religion,” but it might stand “as the
embodiment of a national sentiment.” According to the editor of the
“Japan Mail,” the leaders of Shintō have “shown great astuteness”
in taking that step; and others have even suggested that they have
very shrewdly laid a most dangerous trap for Christians by attempting
to deprive them of a valid reason for not participating in Shintō
ceremonies.
And there is no doubt that there still remains an element of
embarrassment to Christians. Nominally and theoretically, Shintō is
no longer a religion; it is “merely a cult embodying the principle
of veneration for ancestors, and having for its chief function the
performance of rites in memory of the [so-called] divine ancestors of
the empire’s sovereigns.” But the common people will continue to regard
Shintō in the light of a religion, and to worship and pray at the
shrines. Until, therefore, the masses are educated up to a knowledge
of the distinctions between “human” and “divine,” “secular” and
“religious,” “reverence” and “worship,” they will continue to bow their
heads, clap their hands, and mumble their prayers at Shintō shrines.
Christians, of course, ought not to indulge in such practices; but,
because such things are done by those who do not know better, should
they refrain entirely from participating in national celebrations and
patriotic ceremonies? Or should they, regardless of what others may
be doing, take part in whatever way their consciences will allow? Is
this a case in which Paul’s instructions about eating meat and things
offered to idols would be applicable?
This is really much the same question that arose some years ago with
reference to bowing before the Emperor’s portrait. To that ceremony
the common word for “worship” [_reihai_ or _hairei_] was applied;
and therefore many Christians conscientiously refused to perform it.
Now, those Japanese words are composed of _rei_, a very common term
indicating any polite act, and _hai_, which in its original ideographic
form was written with a picture of two hands clasped, and therefore
naturally indicates worship. But this word _hai_ is an integral part
of such words as _haiken_ (a very polite expression for “please let
me see”), _haishaku_ (“please lend”), _haikei_ (the humble phrase
at the beginning of a letter). In all these cases the word _hai_
expresses a humble request to a superior, originally made with clasped
hands and bowed head. These words are in daily use by Christians,
including missionaries, without conscientious scruples, because they
are apparently cases of what rhetoricians call “fossil metaphors.” It
would appear, then, that _hai_, which gives _reihai_ its significance
of “worship,” may have shades of meaning, just as we speak, not only
of the “worship of the one, true God,” but also of “hero-worship.”
It is, in fact, a question of terms in a language and among a people
where such fine distinctions are not drawn between the secular and the
religious, the common and the uncommon, the holy and the unholy. In a
country where each person must humble himself before others and must
express that humility in words and deeds that to Occidentals suggest
Uriah Heep, and where profound bows are the most ordinary occurrence,
bowing to the Emperor’s portrait is scarcely “worship.” It is no more
“worship” or “idolatry” than baring the head when the United States
flag was raised at San Juan de Porto Rico, or when the British sing
“God Save the King,” or than standing with bared and bowed heads before
an open grave. To repeat, the whole question is largely one of terms
in a language undergoing great transitions and modifications through
contact with Occidental thought and speech.
In this connection the whole subject of translation comes up. What
Japanese words, for instance, shall be used for “God,” “spirit,”
“love,” “home,” “worship,” “personal,” and many other terms? The ideas
included in such words do not exist in the Japanese mind, and therefore
there are no absolutely equivalent terms. Either old words of lower
concepts must be used, or words must be coined; in either case the full
idea of the original is not transferred to the Japanese mind without
considerable explanation. But this is a digression.
This disestablishment of Shintō is another instance of the peculiar
method by which reforms, whether political, social, or moral, are
usually accomplished in Japan. In Occidental nations political reforms
have been initiated by the people, by the power of public opinion;
and popular rights have been wrested by the ruled from the unwilling
rulers, whether feudal barons or monarchs. But in Japan all the
political and social reforms of the last few decades have been imposed
by the ruling classes upon the indifferent people. It is probably
true that the great mass of the Japanese care very little, if any,
whether their government is an absolute or a constitutional monarchy;
know scarcely anything about the cabinet, the Imperial Diet, the
new codes, and such things; and are contented with the old customs,
costumes, ceremonies, and religions. They are not like that Irishman
who, when he was asked, immediately upon landing in New York, to which
party he belonged, promptly replied, “I’m agin the government.” The
common people of Japan go to the other extreme and are always “for
the government”; that is, they favor the established order, whatever
it may be, and do not want any disturbance. Or it may, perhaps, be
nearer the truth to say that they keep “the noiseless tenor of their
way,” regardless of what changes may be transpiring in social and
political Japan. But, although they are natural conservatives, they
are, nevertheless, able to adapt themselves gradually to the new
order of things, as soon as these are firmly established. Now this
disestablishment of Shintō has not come about, as idolatry has often
been overthrown in the isles of the sea, in accordance with the
demands of the people, who had learned better from the teachings of
Christianity and modern science; but it has been carried out somewhat
as a political measure by the government, and the people must still be
educated up to an understanding of the new status of Shintō.
But, although Shintō will continue for some time to be considered
a religion by the mass of the people, and thus the full results of
disestablishment cannot be immediately realized; yet this official
removal of Shintō from the position of a religion is one of the most
important reforms of this great reform era in Japan. When Constantine
disestablished the religions of Greece and Rome by establishing
Christianity as the religion of his empire, the worship of Zeus (or
Jupiter), of Aphrodite (or Venus), and of the other deities of Olympus,
did not cease at once; nor, on the other hand, did the efforts of
Julian succeed in reviving the old idolatry. Shintō will linger and
continue to attract thousands of worshippers to its shrines; but it is
doomed to die as perished the Greek and Roman religions. Amaterasu,
the sun-goddess, will yet have her votaries in Japan as had Apollo
in Greece and Rome; but the rays of the Sun of Righteousness will
dispel the darkness of this myth. The farmers will continue to make
their offerings and their petitions at the shrines of Inari Sama,
the rice-god, and will attempt to propitiate the wrath of the god of
thunder and lightning; but they will gradually learn of the Almighty,
who sendeth seed-time and harvest, lightning and thunder, rain and
sunshine. The sailors and fishermen will continue their worship at the
shrines of their special deities, until they know of Him who maketh
the seas to be calm and the winds to be still. Therefore, although
the Japanese government has pronounced the sentence of death upon the
Shintō religion, the execution of that sentence will be a very gradual
and prolonged affair. In the mean time it behooves the disciples of
Jesus Christ to be unremitting in their labors of teaching the Japanese
people to substitute for “the Way of the Gods” the religion of Him who
said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
See Rein’s “Japan,” Peery’s “Gist of Japan,” Cary’s “Japan and its
Regeneration,” Knapp’s “Feudal and Modern Japan,” and Lowell’s
“Soul of the Far East,” pp. 162-193. But especially valuable are
“The Religions of Japan” (Griffis), “The Development of Religion in
Japan” (Knox), “Occult Japan” (Lowell), Hearn’s works, and papers by
Sir Ernest Satow and Dr. Florenz in Transactions Asiatic Society of
Japan, vols. ii., iii. (App.), vii., ix., xxvii. These references
are, of course, on the general subject of Shintō rather than the
special topic of this chapter.
Aston’s “Shintō: The Way of the Gods” (1905) is, of course, most
excellent. Hozumi’s “Ancestor-Worship and Japanese Law” is very
valuable.