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The Enigma of Shinto
The Enigma of Shinto
What is Shinto? Shinto is an indigenous Japanese belief system which involves shamanistic and animistic rituals. The object of worship or the perceived deities are known as 'kami', which stands for chronicled divine beings of heaven and earth as well as the spirits in the shrines. The notion 'kami' is a vast and all-encompassing concept since it covers nearly all animated or non-animated creatures in nature. However, that is not to say that 'kami' has to be virtuous beings, instead, De Bary, Gluck and Tiedemann (2005) stated that kami can also refer to immoral or degenerate things as long as they possess superior mightiness.
There has been a constant debate on whether Shinto could be classified as a religion. De Bary, Gluck and Tiedemann (2005) argue that it was the role of the West in defining 'Shintoism' as a religion. Kato (1935, 9) argues that Shinto developed from a nature religion to a culture religion. Primitively, it involved naturism, spiritism, ancestor worship and totemism. It evolved into a culture religion embodying the awareness of ethic values or morality. Ancient records demonstrated sophisticated criteria assessing positive and negative aspects of morality. In modern time, the cultural aspect of Shinto can be interpreted as a system of paradigms embodied in the Japanese way of life ("Is Shrine Shinto a Religion" 1961, 86).
Tori Gate is the quitessential emblem usually located at the entrances of Shinto shrines. It marks a demarcation of the secular and the secred. It is believed to ward off the substances in the mundane world becuase of Shinto's preoccupation with purity.
Shinto Tradition
Shinto Tradition
The time-honoured Shinto tradition has been inherited from generation to generation as the most venerated belief system in Japan. The preoccupations of Shinto include purity, organized rituals at shrines, etc. Today, Shinto worship has not waned out. In epic occasions, for instance, the enthronement of the new monarch, namely, commencement of a new imperial era, the imperial family would participate a nuanced procedure of Shinto rituals to commemorate enthronement. Even in modern era, Commoners also converged into Meiji Shrine to celebrate the new inauguration through Shinto rituals.
Harmonious Coexistence
Harmonious Coexistence
The professional terminology for the Buddhism-Shinto amalgamation is Shinbutsu-shūgōo (神仏習合 ). In the 6th century (Asuka period), The Yamato court imported Buddhism from Korean peninsula to Japan. Then prince regent Shotoku opened the precedent of venerating both Shinto and Buddhism (Kitagawa 1987, 155). As Toshio, Dobbins & Gay (1981, 9) mentioned, between the late 8th to early 9th century, worship of kami had been integrated into Buddhist practices. Toshio, Dobbins & Gay (1981) also explained that
'The kami realize that they themselves are trapped in this world of samsara and transmigration and they also seek liberation through the Buddhist teachings; 2) the kami are benevolent deities who protect Buddhism; 3) the kami are transformations of the Buddhas manifested in Japan to save all sentient beings (honji suijaku); and 4) the kami are the pure spirits of the Buddhas (hongaku)' (p. 9).
Harking back the development of the syncretic blending, it stemmed from the influence that Buddhism imposed on indigenous beliefs by Soga clan and later consolidated by Shotoku’s multi-religious policy that harmonized Shinto and Buddhism (Kitagawa 1987, 155-156). From then on, Shinto and Buddhism have been irrevocably intertwined with each other. Shotoku also implemented administrative policies bearing the characteristics of both Buddhism and Shinto. In the Nara period, to sacralise his legitimacy, Emperor Shomu claimed that the monarch was the descendant of the sun goddess Amaterasu, who is the most divine deity in the indigenous pantheon. And Japanese imperial rulers were endowed with continental elements that through the patronage of the temples and virtuous deeds, he would gain reputations for his throne (Goodwin 1994, 25). As Kitagawa (1987, 158) addressed, the amalgamation of Shinto and Buddhism reached its zenith in Heian period when Tendai and Shingon sects were imported and esoteric Buddhism was disseminated. In medieval times, the term Shinto is used in the same way in the Shintoshu, a collection of tales in Tendai Buddhism that Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas manifest themselves in the form of Shinto through sympathy for all creatures.
However, the concept of Shinbutsu-shūgō underwent numerous renegotiations. The embryonic notion is that kami needs salvation by Buddha, and later this concept developed into the notion that Buddha was actually the personifications of the notion kami (Kitagawa 1962, 158). From the very beginning, Shinto did not antagonize the imported Buddhism, rather, it absorbed Buddhist concepts and coexisted harmoniously with Buddhism. Hence, Shinto and Buddhism have been intertwined throughout the course of Japanese history, with no clearly-defined boundaries.
Portrait of the Meiji Emperor in western-style military attire
Temple bells being smelted for bronze during the haibutsu kishaku (abolish Buddhismand destroy Shakyamuni)
Purposive Separation
Purposive Separation
In the Meiji period, the syncretic blending of Buddhism and Shinto underwent dramatic reconfiguration. The shinbutsu bunri (神仏分離) or the separation of Shinto from Buddhism occurred against the backdrop of nation-building campaign launched by ruling elites after the Meiji Restoration. Buddhism was prosecuted, with monasteries being confiscated and vandalized (Stone, 1993, 583). Labelling Buddhism with "ancient evil" distances Buddhist institutions from the political sphere to taking them under control so as to achieve social reconstructing (Stone 1993).
The Meiji government's stance towards Shinto stood stark contrast to that of Buddhism. To nurture the notion of 'shared community' or nationalism, Shinto was elevated as the national religion and labelled with pure Japanese-ness. "Buddhism" and "Shinto" were redefined by their separation in terms of ceremonial tradition that 'Shinto shrines are set off by torii gates and braided shimenawa ropes, or that Shinto priests wear white and Buddhist priests, black — originated in Meiji-period separation policy' (Stone, 1993).
They indoctrinated Japanese people through anti-Buddhist policy, pro-Shinto nationalism and emperor-oriented ceremonies to mobilize citizens and build a modern nation (Stone, 1993). Ironically, there had been few well-defined concepts of 'Shinto' throughout Japanese history because it had coalesced with Buddhism. The purposive separation indicated the urgent indoctrination of Japanese people to foster a sense of commonality, belonging and loyalty. Japan modernized and redefined itself as a modern nation-state in the identity-building process. Hence, the notion that Shinto is a purely Japanese product is mere political propaganda or even intentional distortion of cultural heritage.
Reinforcement of Chinese folk culture in the exhibitions of Hong Kong History Museum seeks to cultivate patriotism and cement the ties of the locals with the mainland.
FOR MORE MIND-BLOWING FACTS?
FOR MORE MIND-BLOWING FACTS?
To see other examples of the deployment of cultural heritage to fulfill political propaganda, please read this article. Silverman and Blumenfield addressed how cultural heritage was transformed into political tools for indoctrination of citizens in contemporary China. As they stated in the article, physical structures of the cultrual heritages are less valued than the narrativization of the underlying stories (Silverman and Blumenfield 2013, 19).
Page References:
De Bary, W. T., Gluck, C., & Tiedemann, A. (Eds.). (2002). Chapter 2 In Sources of Japanese Tradition: 1600 to 2000. (pp. 17-39). Columbia University Press.
Goodwin, J. R. (1994). Alms and Vagabonds: Buddhist temples and popular patronage in medieval Japan. University of Hawaii Press.
Is Shrine Shinto a Religion? (1961). Contemporary Religions in Japan Nanzan University, 2(1), 85-92. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30232852
Kato, Genchi. What is Shinto?. Board of Tourist Industry, Japanese Government Railways, 1935.
Kitagawa, J. (1962). Buddhism and Asian Politics. Asian Survey,2(5), 1-11. Retrieved from http://as.ucpress.edu/content/2/5/1
Kitagawa, J. (1987). On Understanding Japanese Religion. Princeton University Press.
Toshio, K., Dobbins, J. C., & Gay, S. (1981). Shinto in the history of Japanese religion. Journal of Japanese Studies, 7(1), 1-21. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/132163?casa_token=gClj9I9WaTIAAAAA:1GEA0FY2BfgnjnB2lGbRpj12M7y7cn84tHq63Xr5qrizKZE2goHuLHUa1iY2IGh32V9ofQ0YvYG2QT_svwFnTXrsKkES33Lh86bBugQARbLNFC6jwbM#metadata_info_tab_contents
Silverman, H., & Blumenfield, T. (2013). Cultural heritage politics in China: An introduction. In Cultural heritage politics in China (pp. 3-22). Springer, New York, NY.
Stone, J. (1993). Of Heretics and Martyrs in Meiji Japan: Buddhism and Its Persecution. Retrieved from http://www.thezensite.com/ZenBookReviews/Of-Heretics_and_Martyrs.html
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