N & G 11 Answers: Shinto: The Native Contribution to Japanese Religion

Transcription

1 N & G 11 Answers: Shinto: The Native Contribution to Japanese Religion 1: Comment on the notion that Japan is the center of this phenomenal world : Answer: The Japanese have an intense loyalty to their land, their islands. So much so they first expressed it in myth (the islands of Japan were the first to be created) then in nationalistic ideology ( no other land was divine ). To be away from the homeland is a great distress. The Background of Shinto: 2: What does the word Shinto mean? Answer: Derived from shedao, means the way of the higher spirits or gods otherwise expressed as kami-no-michi or the kami s way. ; 3: Recount the early history and ethnic origins of Japan: Answer: Contrary to the myth that Japan was originally inhabited by kami (spirit beings), their origins are from Korea, Mongolia, and Malaya, a mixed people. These peoples pushed the early indigenous Japanese northward. They were tribal and practiced animism and magic; 4: How did the Yamato clan gain ascendancy in Japan around the fourth century C.E.? Answer: By placing their chieftain on the shaky imperial throne as a descendent of the sun god. The Yamato s were from the North and subordinated the two other tribal centers, those on the south island of Kyushu (focused on gods of the sea), and those at Izumo (focused on the storm god, Susa-no-wo). This all occurred around 400 CE; 5: What effect did Chinese culture have upon early Shinto? Answer: Mainly in the infusion of ancestor worship. The claim of descent from the sun goddess was intensified by ancestor worship imported from China. Japan quickly absorbed the culture and language of China (somewhat via Korea) and made great advances; 6: What is the Kojiki and the Nihongi? Answer: The Kojiki or Chronicle of Ancient Events is the history of Japan from the creation of the world to the middle of the 7 th century. The Nihongi, the Chronicles of Japan, issued in 720 CE, parallels this account with greater accuracy; The Shinto Myth 7: Who are Izanagi and Izanami? Answer: These are the two primal deities that created the universe, Izanagi, the male who invites, and Izanami, the female who invites. They created the Japanese islands and various other deities in a manner reminiscent of Hesiod s Theogony; 8: How did the creation of Amaterasu (sun) and Tsuki-yomi (moon) come about? Answer: These deities pre-figure Japan s preoccupation with pollution and ablutions as these two deities were created by Izanagi s washing out the filth of his left eye (the creation of Amaterasu, the sun goddess) and then his right eye (the creation of Tsuki-yomi, the mood god). This was all after a fight with Izanami;

2 9: How did it happen that the emperor of Japan came to be understood as a descendant in an unbroken line from the sun-goddess Amaterasu? Answer: Amaterasu sent her grandson Ni-ni-gi to rule the islands for her. He then had a great grandson named Jimmu Temno, the first human emperor who conquered the province of Yamato. This all happened about around 660 BCE. ; 10: What are some of the component parts of the myth of Japan s origin? Answer: Chinese stories of the creation of the world, evolving out of an egglike chaotic mass. Seasonal vegetation myths developed into the story of Izanagi and Izanami resembling the stories of the Greek Demeter and Persephone or the Egyptian Isis and Osiris. Input from various early clan traditions; Shinto in Medieval and More Recent Times 11: what constitutes the family model in Japan? Answer: An emphasis upon identity through family or clan often tied to the uji-gami, or family deity, usually a long-honored ancestor. This emphasis survived the impact of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism; 12: What is the guest model? Answer: In this model, family traditions were allowed to incorporate favors or blessings from foreign deities; 13: What influence did Confucian and Buddhist ideas exert upon the elite in Japan? Answer: It provided the norms of beliefs and behavior; 14: What is mixed Shinto? Answer: Shinto as accommodating and/or being accommodated to the influences of Buddhism. 15: What factors contributed to a revival of Shinto in the fourteenth century? Answer: The people needed a deeper sense of identity than that which Buddhism provided, hence there was a return to the dominance of earlier Shinto ideas. Christians were suppressed in the 17 th century and Confucianism offered yet another alternative; 16: Who was Motoori? Answer: One of three outstanding scholars, Motoori Norinaga (early 19 th Century) reiterated through his commentary on the Kojiki the preeminence of the Ancient Way even to the point of suggesting that the Japanese people were so pure, originally, that they did not need a system of ethics, like that of Confucianism; 17: What happened to facilitate the second great transformation of Japan? Answer: In 1868 various political forces reversed the previous shogun s policy of isolation and began a westernizing process of Japanese military and industrial might. Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 made some gains by requesting, with a letter from President Millard Fillmore, access to certain Japanese ports for whaling ships;

3 18: What are articles I and III of Japan s Constitution of 1889? Answer: 1. The Japanese empire shall be ruled by the unbroken line of emperors and 2. The Emperor is sacred and inviolable; 19: What effect did this have on Buddhism? Answer: It caused an initial persecution of Buddhism that was short lived. Eventually, there arose the distinction between state and sect Shinto, the latter allowing for elements of Buddhism. State Shinto to : provide a definition of State Shinto: Answer: the government fostered program of patriotic rites that was conducted until 1945 in shrines removed from sectarian control and made national property ; 21: has religion been on the up or the decline in Japan since 1945? Include some statistics in your answer: religion has been on the down in Japan. Answer: The statistics on page 300 are impressive. A survey in 2004 found 64 percent of Japanese adults placed themselves in the no religion category ; 22 how did a broad definition of the concept of kami contribute to revisions of Japanese myth? Answer: A kami was defined as anything or being with superior potency or power. This led to a humanized and rationalized (300) understanding of Japanese mythology. The gods were reinterpreted as apotheosized human beings ( ). Although appealing, this view is inaccurate; 23: Assess the move by the Japanese government to save Shinto by making it over into a positive force, a national institution of an ethical and a historical character : Answer: The Japanese government in 1882 officially separated state Shinto from sectarian Shinto, making state Shinto a mere patriotic cult and sectarian Shinto a religion like Buddhism or Christianity. They then reinforced state Shinto with the importance of moral development and inculcated a sort of reverence for the state; 24: What was the number and status of state shrines before 1945? Answer: There were 110,000 shrines, jinja (god houses), that were maintained by priests and although religious in form but national and moral in intent; 25: Why was the Grand Imperial Shrine at Ise so important?: Answer: It is dedicated to the sun-goddess Amaterasu. It is believed that from ancient times people would make a once in a lifetime pilgrimage to it. It contains the three treasures of the sun-goddess, a mirror, a sword, and a string of ancient curved stone jewels. (see story on page 303); 26: What is the O-Harai purification rite? Answer: A rite performed at Ise and other shrines twice a year, in June and in December. It was a national purification ritual with inner and outer facets to it. Individual and collective guilt was removed through various ritual acts;

4 Shinto and the Warrior 27: what was the Bushido code and what were its eight attitudes? : Answer: The Bushido code was for samurai warriors. The code, in brief, is as follows: 1. loyalty; 2. gratitude; 3. courage; 4. justice; 5. truthfulness; 6. politeness; 7. reserve; 8. honor. 28: summarize the story of the forty-seven ronin : Answer: the lord of the 47 ronin embarrassed himself and committed hara-kiri. The 47 ronin atoned for their lord s error by, attacking the castle of the one who seduced him into his heir. They cornered this person who could not commit hari-kiri and thus they beheaded him and offered his head on the grave of their master. After this, they all committed hara-kiri; 29: How has the Bushido code influenced the modern warrior? Answer: This code is still practiced although the final step of honor sometimes is reinterpreted to not demand hara-kiri; 30: How does a Japanese professor argue that Ameno-mi-naka-nushi-no-kami is none other than the god who has been recognized in all other religions and philosophies as the unchanging foundation of all things? Answer: Simply by asserting it, claiming that Shinto is the religion of all religions. Even Jesus, who did not die but had his brother die in his place, was a follower of Shinto. He made his way to Japan where a grave site today marks his resting place; Shrine Shinto Today 31: How and to what extent is Shrine Shinto practiced today? : Answer: There are some 86,000 shrines maintained by a nationwide association. These shrines are simply but beautifully decorated, the torii be essential. The inner sanctuary is the honden which houses a shintai or god body, a precious object that is never allowed to be seen. 32: Identify some of the major festivals of Shinto: Answer: the go-sekku, the five festivals are: the New Year Festival (or first moon s festival) beginning at midnight on December 31 and lasting 3 days; Feast of the Seven Herbs (Jan 7); The Girl s (or Doll s) Festival (3 rd day of 3 rd month); Boys Festival (5 th day of 5 th month); festival of the star Vega (7 th day of 7 th month); and, Chrysanthemum Festival (the nine day of the ninth month); Domestic and Sectarian Shinto: 33: what is a kami-dana? Answer: A god-shelf, a shrine in a home where sacred objects are placed. 34: What is a torii? Answer: A sacred gateway marking an entrance to a jinja (kami residence), or a path toward it. 35: What are the two annual festivals for boys and girls? Answer: Dolls Festival and the Boys Festival;

5 36: What is Sectarian Shinto? Answer: This is religious Shinto, the particulars of the religion up to those who maintain the shrine; 37: What is Tenrikyo? What are some of the other new religions in Japan? Answer: Tenrikyo was founded by Nakayama Miki (ca: 1838), a living kami with a revelation centering on the healing power of the Heavenly Parent. Other new religions are: Omoto, founded by Deguchi Nao (ca: 1892); the Reiyukia, founded by Kotani Kimi around 1925; Odoru Shukyo, founded by Kitamura Sayo (ca: 1945); Kyodan, Perfect Liberty;