Religions of the East
Weekly Notes Summary

Week of April 28

Due to exam coming up, I am leaving last week's material online,
but this week's material is attached to the end last week's notes

The Mythological Construct

n      The Kojiki, 712 (“Chronicle of Ancient Matters”) and the Nihongi, 720 (“Chronicle of Japan”)

n      A constructed mythos serves as a divine legitimization for those who wrote it

n      Izanagi and Izanami: the divine creators of Japan and the subsequent kami

n      Amaterasu: the Sun Goddess

n      Susano-o: the Storm God

n      A mythological metaphor for an actual political rivalry between the Yamato and the Idzumo?

n      Ironically, the Kojiki and Nihongi are written in Chinese (the language of the Japanese elite)

n      “History written backwards:” mythos as:

n      A “record” of the rise and establishment of the Yamato uji

n      A divine sanction of the Yamato authority

n      Jimmu, of the Yamato uji - the first emperor of Japan

n      “Great-grandson” of Amaterasu

n      Arrives in Kyushu from Silla (a Korean kingdom); conquest moves eastward to Honshu, into competition with the Idzumo (Izuma) uji

n      The transition from matriarchy to patriarchy

n      Recall shaman/queen Himiko of the Kofun Period

Other Religious Influences

n      Confucianism (from China)

n      Filial piety and extensions: the good child = the good citizen

n      Heavenly-ordained ruler (Neo-Confucian, later)

n      Religious Daoism (from China)

n      The Government Bureau of Divination (702)

n      Indigenous folk religions/practices

n      “Filtered up” into both Shinto and Buddhism

Heian Period (794-1185)

n      Basic characteristics

n      Court from Nara (via Nagaoka) to Heian (Kyoto)

n      A “Japanized” Japan finds its own identity, apart from Chinese importation

n      The development of the Japanese syllabary or kana (phonetic Japanese “alphabet”)

n      Court culture: closed, refined, and highly ritualized

n      “The Tale of Genji” (1021), first novel ever written

n      Religion: Confucianism, Buddhism, Shinto

n      Confucian ethos of sociopolitical protocol

n      Shinto applied to day-to-day practical concerns

n      Buddhism dealt with concerns of the afterlife

n      “Shinto marries, Buddhism buries”

n      New Japanese sects of Buddhism develop

Heian Attempts to Reform Buddhism

n      Tendai Buddhism (Tendai, “heavenly platform”)

n      Importance of secluded mountain retreat (i.e., Mount Hiei, NE of Heian) and proper meditation technique

n      More practical than speculative in content (e.g., reward and punishment vs. abstraction of “nirvana”)

n      Gave reverence to Shinto kami of Mount Hiei

n      Shingon (“True Word”) Buddhism

n      Centered on Mount Koya (SE of Heian)

n      Esoteric mantras, rituals, and symbol systems and meditation techniques

n      Mandalas: Womb (female) and Diamond (male) as the duality of the universe

n      A “gnostic” Buddhism with a secret “knowledge-within-knowledge”?

n      Rivalries grew between the two sects (cf. quote of Emperor Go-Shirakawa

The Stages of Buddhist Degeneration

n      The Ideal Stage

n      All follow the Buddhist teachings with diligence

n      The Initial Age of Degeneration

n      With institutionalization, Buddhist teachings are followed but in a mindless fashion

n      The Final Age of Degeneration

n      No one follows the Buddhist teachings any longer

n      Buddhism of the late Heian and Kamakura Periods was seen as enveloped in the third stage

n      Existing institutions were deemed to be of no help for lay persons seeking and needing salvation

Reformed Buddhist Sects

n      Jodo (Pure Land)

n      Honen (1133-1212)

n      Ritual and meditation replaced by faith in and grace from the Amida Buddha

n      The repetitive chanting of the mantric phrase, Namu Amida Butsu (“Praise to the name of the Amida Buddha”)

n      Jodo Shinshu (True Pure Land)

n      Shinran (1173-1263)

n      Saying the phrase but one time is sufficient

n      Shinran disdained the celibate monastic life and initiated the convention of the married priesthood (which continues today)

n      Nichiren Buddhism

n      Nichiren (1222-1282): Nichi (“sun”) and Ren (“lotus”)

n      One need only meditate on and utter simply the name of the Lotus Sutra to achieve salvation: Namu myoho rengekyo (“Praise to the wonderful law of the Lotus Sutra”)

n      The wicked more acceptable than the good (cf. NT Luke 18.9-14)

n      Zazen (seated meditation)

n      Satori 悟り (“unmediated enlightenment”) in the course of one’s everyday experience

n      The actualization of non-duality

n      Intensive student-master relationship

n      Eisai (1141-1214) and the Rinzai sect: the use of koan in conjunction with seated meditation

n      Dogen (1200-1253) and the Soto sect: the use of seated meditation alone

Zazen and the Samurai

n      Why would any form of Buddhism appeal to the warrior?

n      Tiendai and Shingon: very esoteric doctrines and demanding scriptural study

n      Jodo (Pure Land): very pious, and even sentimental at times

n      In contrast, Zazen taught enlightenment through discipline, inner control, and austerity: already the traits of a warrior

n      Overall, the teachings of impermanence of all things rang true with the warrior’s awareness of living and fighting “on the edge:” death can come at any time, even to the bravest

Many samurai who survived the wars retired into the monastery, not out of convenience, but from a conviction that they might atone for the sins of warfare in the world

The Formalization of Medieval Shinto

n      Despite Buddhism’s dominance among the elite, Shinto still prevailed in the population at-large

n      The developments of both Buddhism and Shinto were quite hybrid in nature (they borrowed from each other)

n      Many Shinto shrines existed side-by-side with Buddhist temples; priests often shared duties with one another

n      Honji-suijaku (“original substance is manifest in traces”), i.e., Shinto is revealed in later forms:

n      A Buddhist bodhisattva is a Shinto kami

n      Dainichi (the Sun Buddha) is a form of Amaterasu

n      The Shingon dual mandala (diamond and womb) correspond to Izanagi and Izanami, whose duality transcends itself in the creation of Japan

n      Kami no kaze or kamikaze 神の風 (“the divine wind”)

n      The Mongol ruler Kublai Khan of China attempted to conquer Japan through two separate invasions of Kyushu (the southernmost island), in 1274 and in 1281

n      On both occasions, his forces were repelled by violent tropical typhoons, thereafter referred to as the kamikaze

n      These events added credence to the assertion that divine kami were indeed protecting the Japanese land

n      This served as the inspiration, tragic as it was, behind the kamikaze pilots who flew to their deaths during the final months of the Pacific War in 1945

Initial contacts with Western Technology and Christian Mission

n      1542: a Portuguese shipwreck in Kyushu

n      1549: Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier arrives in Kyushu, makes his way to Kyoto

n      Japanese impressed with Jesuit order: modern, academic, scientific, disciplined (reminiscent of the best Zen monks)

n      Many Japanese converts; Jesuit success alarms the Buddhist authorities

n      Over the next 50 years, trade relations (and rivalries) develop with Portugal, Spain, Holland, and England

n      1597: first major persecution of Christians in Japan (both missions and converts)

n      1614: official edict to suppress Christianity

Tokugawa (Edo) Period (1615-1868)

n      Basic characteristics of Pre-Tokugawa and Tokugawa Japan

n      Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu: the three-tiered foundation of a unified Japan (1534-1615)

n      Western firearms and resulting changes in war tactics

n      Hideyoshi’s sword confiscation: the clear distinction of the samurai class

n      In 1615, Japan ultimately unified under one powerful military shogunate (Tokugawa clan)

n      Samurai pledged themselves to the service of a daimyo 大名 (lit., “great name”), a feudal lord who governed a district under the ruling shogun

n      Under Ieyasu, capital moved from Kyoto to Edo (modern Tokyo)

n      Figurehead emperor remained in Kyoto

n      Sankin-kotai: “alternate attendance” of the daimyo and the “hostage system”

n      Sought to isolate Japan from ever-increasing foreign influences (both Asian and Western), including sometimes violent suppression of Christian mission

n      Early 17th century religious persecution: the Fumi-e

n      The exceptional affinity for the Dutch, who are allowed to maintain limited trading privileges in the southern port of Nagasaki

n      Science, technology, and illustration

n      Edo painting and the development of Ukiyo-e

Religion in Tokugawa Japan

n      Buddhism institutionalized into state-sanctioned tool of social control

n      Every family must register with local temple

n      Evolves into consciousness of religion as family tradition, not personal faith

n      As a mere political tool, Buddhism’s influence declines

n      Neo-Confucianism provides a rationale for the existence of the political order (recall li as “natural order”)

n      But in regard to the samurai, changes in the Confucian notion of “self-cultivation” as a basis for discipline

n      The samurai class becomes one of name only, as their responsibilities become more bureaucratic and less martial in a time of relative peace and political stability

n      “Martial skills” become “martial arts” (the “art” of the sword)

n      Many samurai are without occupation, and become wandering masterless warriors, or ronin; cf. Kurusawa’s “The Seven Samurai” (1954) or Kobayashi’s “Seppuku” (1962)

Tokugawa Restoration Shinto  

n      Due to its political institutionalization, Buddhism falls into relative disfavor

n      Motoori Norinaga (1730-1801)

n      Edited both the Kojiki and The Tale of Genji, in order to strip away the layers of Buddhist and Confucian socio-ethical ideas that had been artificially imposed on them (also, the Kojiki is written in the Japanese kana syllabary so that it is much more accessible)

n      The Kojiki accounts for both good and evil kami, for all of life is a composite of good and evil, right and wrong

n      The ethical inconsistencies of Genji demonstrate that human emotions do not follow the dictates of reason

n      Better to accept the inconsistencies than to follow the deceptive Buddhist and Confucian views that attempt to hide the truth

n      Mono no aware 物の哀れ (“the sadness of things”): life is an immense opera that hurts, and the kami of the natural world are behind it

The Meiji Restoration (1868)

n      Historical Background (late Tokugawa Period)

n      The political and economic power of the Tokogawa shogunate was declining in the 19th century

n      The foreign insistence on trade relations seen as a political threat to which the shogunate was unable to respond effectively

n      More Japanese come to favor the restoration of the emperor as internal factions compromise the control of the shogunate

n      1853: U.S. naval forces sail into Edo harbor in an attempt to open trade relations with Japan

n      The weakened shogunate had no real choice but to cede to their request

n      1868: the shogunate was formally abolished and, under the name of Meiji (“enlightened rule”), the emperor (16 years old!) is “restored” to direct power for the first time in 700 years

n      The Meiji Period (1868-1912) marks Japan’s transformation from feudal society to modern nation-state

The Unification of Shinto and State

n      Due to its spiritual decline, Buddhism posed no obstacle to Shinto’s ascension to prominence

n      The close association of temples and shrines made it a relatively simple matter for the Buddhist priest simply to “change his robe”

n      In 1868, Shinto is proclaimed as the sole basis of the Restoration government: one need only to invoke the Kojiki to legitimize the link between religion and state

n      The Imperial Rescript of 1870: Japan created by the kamis and by the unbroken line of the imperial family

n      All citizens required to register with a local Shinto shrine

n      A government “Department of Shinto” is created

The Creation of a State Shinto

n      Due to the foreign pressure to increase religious freedom (particularly for the re-admittance of Christian mission), the government was forced to grant allowance

n      The government response to this foreign imposition was to create a category of Shinto practice that is “non-religious”

n      Referred to as “Shrine Shinto,” it was distinguished from the “religious” form known as “Sect Shinto”

n      “Sect Shinto” held the same religious status as Buddhism and Christianity, thereby allowing for religious freedom (while “Shrine Shinto” was presented as “non-religious”)

• The Imperial Rescript on Education (1890) assured that Shinto (and Confucian) principles would be respected in the moral education of the people, while “religious” teaching, as defined by the state (Buddhist, Sect Shinto, and Christian) was excluded from the educational curriculum

Imperialism and Expansion

nAny Japanese who grew up between 1890 and 1945 received a public education that was grounded in kokutai (“nationalistic values”)

nThe Sino-Japanese War of 1895

nThe Russo-Japanese War of 1905

nThese stunning military victories served to reinforce kokutai in the Japanese mind, thereby providing a rationale for expansionism as a kind of divine destiny

 

nBushido: "The Way of the Warrior"
 

nIt is generally held that bushido is a “formal” code of honor that dates back to the medieval age of the samurai

nEvidence suggests that the term itself never existed until it was artificially romanticized into the modern 20th century Japanese mind

nBushido: The Soul of Japan, by Inazo Nitobe (1900, revised 1905) presented bushido as the means by which Japan rose to become a world power

nBushido evolved into the basis of the nationalist spirit that led to Japan’s aggressive military expansionism in the Pacific War (1930-45)

Shinto in Postwar Japan

nNational pride is not to be equated naively with nationalist aggression

nShinto should therefore not be condemned as the impetus behind Japan’s expansionism in the Pacific War

nRather, it was Japan’s expansionist policies that appropriated and exploited Shinto doctrine for its own aggressive purposes

nNevertheless, due to its use of Shinto as an ideological tool, as well as the concern that it might continue as such, Japan was ordered by the occupation forces to abide by the following:

The Shinto Directive (December 15, 1945)
 

nAll government sponsorship or promotion of Shinto will cease

nAll public financial support of Shinto shrines or teachings will cease (voluntary private support to be permitted)

nReligious-oriented teachings will be removed from the curriculum and textbooks of all public educational institutions

nNo political official, acting in his public capacity,  shall visit a Shinto shrine nor shall he participate in any ceremony or observance thereof

Ongoing Religious Issues in Japan

nFormal separation of religion and state is one thing…

nThe interrelationship of religion and public life of a nation is yet another

nThe question of Yasukuni Jinja

nA Shinto shrine that memorializes the war dead

nShould it receive public support?

nIs it a “private shrine” or a “public memorial”?

nThe former can only be funded privately

nThe latter may be funded publicly

Chronology of Yasukuni Jinja
 

n1862: rituals are enacted in Kyoto to honor those who died fighting in support of the Imperial Restoration against the deteriorating Tokugawa Shogunate

 

n1867: Shokonsho(jo) (招魂所 “place to which spirits are invited”) are to be built in every region under imperial control in order to honor those who gave their lives for the emperor since the rebellion took flight in 1853

 

n1868: the unification of government and ritual affairs; local Shinto shrines are therefore tied to state agenda, much as Buddhist temples had been in the Tokugawa/ Edo period
 

n1872: the Tokyo Shokonsha ( 招魂社 “shrine to which spirits are invited”) is placed under the control of the army and navy ministries.
 

n

n1874: the emperor attends ceremonies at the Tokyo Shokonsha for the first time
 

n

n1875: the spirits of the war dead from all regional shokonsho are brought to the Tokyo Shokonsha
 

n

n1879: Tokyo Shokonsha formally becomes Yasukuni, which means “peaceful nation” ( 靖 “peace, serenity;” 国 “nation, country”).

Ritual Enactment at Yasukuni

nShokonshiki (招魂式 “rite of inviting spirits”): the enshrinement ceremony in which the names of the war dead are transferred to the Yasukuni Shokonsha in the palanquin procession, through which they are ritually transformed via an overnight vigil into kami of the state

 

nThe list of names acted as a kind of guide for the lost spirits of the war dead, so that they could find their respective ways “home” to Yasukuni

 

nThe spirits at Yasukuni are not “invoked:” they are regarded as always present
 

nTraditionally, the welfare of the dead is the concern of Buddhism, not Shinto (ritually, the dead are kegare, “defiled, unclean”)

 

nThe spirits of those who have suffered untimely or violent deaths are unstable
 

nThey are as likely to seek retribution from Japan as from those directly responsible for their deaths

 

nFor their well-being (and for that of the nation itself), they require ongoing care

nThrough ritual enactment,Yasukuni provides this care on a daily basis
 

nAs noted, the spirits of Yasukuni are regarded as unique, in that they are not invoked, but ever-present
 

Contemporary Issues
 

nThe politics and logistics of enshrinement

nThe 1978 enshrinement of “Class A war criminals”

nThe imposed enshrinement of foreign nationals who fought for Japan under colonial coercion during the Pacific War

nThe un-repatriated remains of those who are not enshrined
 

nIs Yasukuni a uniquely “Japanese” agenda?

n

nAre both factions (i.e., nationalist and globalist) deluding themselves when they restrict the scope of the issue to Japan alone?

n

nThe implicit role of the U.S., 1945-present

n

nThe exoneration of the emperor as the absolution of the nation

nThe universal alchemy of nationalism and denial

nPostwar Japan and the Communist paranoia

n

nJapanese Identity: Asian, not Asian, or not not Asian?

nThe controversy of “official” visitation

nThe 1946 Constitution and Article 20: the separation of religion and state

nJapan’s Prime Ministers and annual visitations to Yasukuni