SHINTO
687
SHINTO
honored the memory'of Shinraii by bestowing upon him the posthumous title, by imperial letters patent, of Ken- shin Uaishi ( Great Kevealer of Light ), on Nov. 28, 1S76. Though wary and ceaselessly active in their en- deavors to counteract Cluistiauity, now so aggressive in Japan, they have resisted every effort of the govern- ment to amalgamate them with other sects, and their enemies and rivals of late have charged them with be- ing so much like Cliristians that separation from the latter is inconsistent. (W. E. G.)
Shinto {iS/iinfoism, Siiituism, " the Religion of the Kami") is the term for the religion of the ancient Jap- anese which existed before the introduction of Confu- cian ethics or Buddhism into Japan, and which was practiced in a more or less pure form until the restora- tion of the mikado to supreme power in 1868, when a thorough purification and propagation of the ancient cult was ordered by the government. Nearly all ac- counts of Shinto by European writers prior to 1870 are of little value, as these treat of the impure Buddhaized form. The ancient documents and archaic literature of Shinto have been unearthed and made accessible even to native readers only during the last and present cen- turies. The ancient faith has always had a distinct life and literature apart from the imported creeds of India and China, and pure Shintoists insist that the native and the foreign religions are incompatible.
Shinto is a Chinese term repudiated by native schol- ars, who use the pure Japanese word Kami no Michi ( way or doctrine of the gods ). Since the introduc- tion of Chinese letters in the 6th century A.D., every important Japanese word has a Chinese equivalent and synonyms. The term Shinto was coined to distinguish the native cult from the two other to or do then new upon the soil, viz. Ju-do (Confucianism) and Butsu-do (Buddhism). The literal rendering of Shinto is " the- ology."
I. The Scriptures, Essence, and Characteristics of Shintoism (to A.D. 60). — To decide positively the ulti- mate origin of Shinto, whether a purelj' indigenous growth or imported from the Asian mainland, is to de- cide the origin of the Japanese peo])le. Believing as we do that the aborigines of Japan were Ainos in the north and Malays in the south, ultimately conquered by immigrant tribes from the jMantchuriau highlands, de- scending through Corea, who thus became the dominant race in Japan, we must refer the origin of the germs, but the germs only, of Shinto to the Asian mainland. The pre-Confucian religion of China (see the She King: Book of Ancient Chinese Poetry [transl. by Dr. Legge], p. 46-53) and Shinto had some striking points in com- mon, though the growth and development of Shinto have been on Japanese soil. The Asian invaders in Japan had neither letters nor writing until they were brought from China after the 3d century A.D. Kigid Shintoists, however, assert that previously there was a native alphabet in use called Shindaiji or Shinji {god- letters, or letters of the divine age). The Buddhists and all foreign scholars maintain that this alphabet was de- rived from Corea. Certain it is that these "god-let- lers" were never in general use, nor can their influence be traced on the alphabets now written in Japan, while no literary remains have yet been found written in them. The origin of most of the Shinji may be discov- ered by comparing them with the ali)habet invented in Corea in the latter part of the 7th centurj' A.D., and still in use by the Coreans. Tiiis subject has been fruit- ful of literary controversy in Japan.
The oldest monuments both of Shinto and the Japan- ese language are the Kojiki (book of ancient traditions, or "notices of ancient things"), the Nihongi (chronicles of Japan), and some liturgical works, such as the Na- kaiomi no Ilirai (the Nakatomi ritual) and the En- gishiki (book of the ceremonial law of Shinto). These ancient texts, with the recensions, commentaries, and controversial writings of the native scholars and Shinto revivalists— Mabuchi (1697-1769), Motoori (1730-1801),
and Hirata (1776-1843) — form the chief sources of infor- mation concerning Shinto. In the texts are imbedded a number of poetical passages forming the Norito, or Shinto liturgies, composed most probably centuries be- fore the introduction of writing, and preserved through the medium of the human memory. The ancient texts contain the cosmogony, philosophy, and ritual of Shin- to. According to them, Japan is the centre of the earth, and the mikado is the first of men and vicar of gods. Infallibility is his attribute, and his will is the test of right.
The Kojiki is written almost entirely in pure Japan- ese style as concerns the forms both of language and thought, while the text of the Nihongi is full of Chi- nese modes of expression and purely Chinese philo- sophical conceptions. Both are expressed by Chinese characters, which in some cases are phonetic for Japan- ese words, but in others are ideographic. The correct deciphering of the texts, especially that of the Kojiki, and the interlinear given in kana letters in some edi- tions, is a comparatively modern work, which is as yet by no means infallible. The Kojiki was composed A.D. 712 by order of the 44th mikado, Gemmio, and first printed in the period 1624-42. The Nihongi was com- posed A.D. 720, and the evident intent of the writer is to clothe the matter in hand in Cliinese garb and give a Chinese character to the native history. The tenor of both works is best shown by a comparison of their opening sentences literally translated :