Shinto: The Way of the GodsShintoScholarly ReconstructionEnglish study drawing on Japanese sourcesShareShinto: The Way of the Gods 22Aston - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableAstonLanguageEnglishEspañol‹Shinto: The Way of the Gods 1Shinto: The Way of the Gods 2Shinto: The Way of the Gods 3Shinto: The Way of the Gods 4Shinto: The Way of the Gods 5Shinto: The Way of the Gods 6Shinto: The Way of the Gods 7Shinto: The Way of the Gods 8Shinto: The Way of the Gods 9Shinto: The Way of the Gods 10Shinto: The Way of the Gods 11Shinto: The Way of the Gods 12Shinto: The Way of the Gods 13Shinto: The Way of the Gods 14Shinto: The Way of the Gods 15Shinto: The Way of the Gods 16Shinto: The Way of the Gods 17Shinto: The Way of the Gods 18Shinto: The Way of the Gods 19Shinto: The Way of the Gods 20Shinto: The Way of the Gods 21Shinto: The Way of the Gods 22Shinto: The Way of the Gods 23Shinto: The Way of the Gods 24Shinto: The Way of the Gods 25Shinto: The Way of the Gods 26Shinto: The Way of the Gods 27Shinto: The Way of the Gods 28Shinto: The Way of the Gods 29Shinto: The Way of the Gods 30Shinto: The Way of the Gods 31›Footnotes:Shinto: The Way of the Gods 22ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1[177] The old Hebrew idea (Genesis viii. 21) was that the food actually reached God in the form of the fragrant fire-distilled essence, and thus gratified him as an agreeable gift. Hastings, 'Dict. of the Bible.' 2[178] Robertson Smith, 'Religion of the Semites,' p. 345. 3[181] Reminding us of Homer's στἐμμαα θεοἶο, which consisted of tufted wool attached to a wand (σκῆπτρον). The ancient Jews made offerings of wool. 4[185] Agamemnon's sword was worshipped in Greece in the time of Pausanias. 5[187] See illustration in Chapter XIV. 6[188] Murray's 'Japan,' fifth edition, p. 50. 7In 991 there were added the three following:-- 8Name of Shrine. Province. God or Gods Worshipped. Yoshida. Yamashiro. Same as Kasuga. Hirota. Settsu. Sun-Goddess's aratama. Kitano. Yamashiro. Temmangū. 9Name of Shrine. Province. God or Gods Worshipped. Mume no Miya. Yamashiro. Ancestor of Tachibana family. 10Name of Shrine. Province. God or Gods Worshipped. Gion. Yamashiro. Susa no wo. 11The number was finally raised to twenty-two in 1039 by the addition of 12Name of Shrine. Province. God or Gods Worshipped. Hiye or Hiyoshi. Yamashiro. Ohonamochi. 13Proximity to the capital no doubt influenced this selection. Idzumo, Kashima, Katori, Usa, Suha, and other important shrines are omitted. All the principal deities, however, are included in this list. 14At the present day there are 193,476 Shinto shrines in Japan. Of these the great majority are very small and have no priests or revenues. Capt. Brinkley, in his 'Japan and China,' gives the following list of the ten most popular shrines in Japan at the present day: "Ise, Idzumo, Hachiman (Kyōto), Temmangū (Hakata), Inari (Kyōto), Kasuga (Nara), Atago (Kyōto), Kompira (Sanuki), Suitengū (Tōkyō), and Suwa (Shinano)." 15Very many houses have their kamidana or domestic shrine, where the ujigami, the ancestor, and the trade-God, with any others whom there is some special reason for honouring, are worshipped. 16Tori-wi.--The approach to a Shinto shrine is marked by one or more gateways or arches of the special form shown in the illustration (p. 233) and known as tori-wi. This word means literally "bird-perch," in the sense of a henroost. By analogy it was applied to anything of the same shape, as a clothes-horse, or the lintel of a door or gateway. As an honorary gateway, the tori-wi is a continental institution identical in purpose and resembling in form the turan of India, the pailoo of China, and the hong-sal-mun of Korea. When introduced into Japan at some unknown date (the Kojiki and Nihongi do not mention them) the Japanese called them tori-wi, which then meant simply gateway, but subsequently acquired its present more specific application. It sometimes serves the purpose of marking the direction of a distant object of worship.[189] 17Hyaku-do ishi.--Near the front of the shrine may sometimes be seen a hyaku-do ishi, or hundred-time-stone, from which the worshipper may go back and forward to the door of the shrine a hundred times, repeating a prayer each time. 18A sori-bashi or taiko-bashi, representing the mythical floating bridge of Heaven (the rainbow), is also to be seen at the approach to some shrines. 19=Prayer=.--Private individual prayer is seldom mentioned in the old Shinto records, but of the official liturgies or norito we have abundant examples in the Yengishiki and later works. The authors are mostly unknown, but they were no doubt members of the Nakatomi House. Their literary quality is good. Motoöri observes that the elegance of their language is an offering acceptable to the Gods. The Sun-Goddess is represented in the Nihongi as expressing her satisfaction with the beauty of the norito recited in her honour. 20The norito are addressed sometimes to individual deities, sometimes to categories of deities, as "the celebrated Gods" or "the Gods of Nankaido," and sometimes to all the Gods without exception. They contain petitions for rain in time of drought, good harvests, preservation from earthquake and conflagration, children, health and long life to the sovereign and enduring peace and prosperity to his rule, the safety of his ambassadors to foreign countries, the suppression of rebellion, the repulse of invasion, success to the Imperial arms, and general prosperity to the Empire. Sometimes the Mikado deprecates the wrath of deities whose services had been vitiated by ritual impurity, or whose shrines had suffered from neglect or injury. 21The phrase "fulfilling of praises," which occurs frequently in the norito, must not be taken literally. It is really equivalent to "show all due honour to," and usually applies to the offerings which were made in token of respect. There is very little of praise in the ordinary meaning of the word. The language of the norito presents a striking contrast to the profusion of laudatory epithets and images of the Vedas, or the sublime eulogies of the Psalms of David. The only element of this kind is a few adjectival prefixes to the names of the Gods, such as oho, great; take, brave; taka, high; haya, swift; toyo, rich; iku, live; yori, good, and perhaps one or two more. 22The do ut des principle of offerings is plainly avowed in some of the norito. 23Besides petitions we find also announcements to the Gods, as of the appointment of a priestess, the bestowal on the deity of a degree of rank, and the beginning of a new reign. The Mongol invasion was notified to Ise in 1277 with the happiest results. 24The Yengishiki contains no norito addressed to deceased Mikados, but several examples of this class, due no doubt to Chinese influence, have come down to us from the ninth century. In 850 Jimmu was prayed to for the Mikado, who was dangerously ill, and who died soon after. In the same year, "evil influences" (the Mikado's illness?) were attributed to his wrath, and envoys despatched to his tomb, in order to ascertain whether he might not have been offended by some pollution to it. The Empress Jingō was prayed to in 866 under similar circumstances. Other norito announce to the preceding Mikado the accession of a new sovereign or the appointment of a Prince Imperial. 25The norito contain few petitions for which we might not easily find parallels in modern Europe, but a comparison with Christian, Jewish, or even Mohammedan and Buddhist formulæ reveals enormous lacunæ in the ancient Japanese conception of the scope of prayer. Moral and spiritual blessings are not even dreamt of. Such prayers as "that we may live a godly, righteous, and sober life," "to grant us true repentance and His Holy Spirit," are foreign to its character. "Lead us not into temptation" and "Thy will be done" are conspicuously absent. No Shinto God is petitioned to "endue the Sovereign with heavenly gifts," nor that "after this life he may attain everlasting joy and felicity." Indeed, there is no reference anywhere to a future life--a significant fact, in view of the circumstance that human sacrifices at the tombs of great men were at one time common. The commonly received opinion that the latter indicate a belief in a future state is, perhaps, after all, erroneous. Nor does any one beseech a Shinto deity to send down on the priesthood the healthful spirit of his grace. 26Numerous specimens of norito will be found in Chap. XII. 27In connexion with the attempted revival early in the last century of the pure Shinto of ancient times, Hirata composed a book of prayer entitled Tamadasuki, not for official or temple use, but as an aid to private devotion. It was not printed until some years after his death, and I doubt whether it was ever much used even by Shinto devotees. Notwithstanding the author's professed abhorrence of Buddhism and his condemnation of Chinese religious notions, the Tamadasuki owes much to these sources. He instructs his followers to "get up early, wash the face and hands, rinse the mouth, and cleanse the body. Then turn towards Yamato, clap hands twice, and bow down the head" before offering their petitions. 28Prayers to the Shinto Gods, even at the present day, are mostly for material blessings. Anything more which they contain may be confidently set down to Buddhist influence. There are prayers on reclaiming a new piece of ground, building a house, sowing a rice-field, prayers for prosperity in trade and domestic happiness, prayers promising to give up sake, gambling, or profligacy (Buddhist), thanks for escape from shipwreck or other danger, &c. Sometimes the prayer is written out on paper and deposited in the shrine, perhaps accompanied by the petitioner's hair or a picture having some reference to the subject of his prayer. When it is answered, small paper nobori (flags) are set up at the shrine or its approaches. A common prayer at the present day is for "Peace to the country, safety to the family, and plentiful crops." 29=Oaths and Curses=.--The Nihongi mentions several cases of Heaven or the Gods being appealed to for the sanction of an oath. Thus in 562 an accused person declares: "This is false and not true. If this is true, let calamity from Heaven befall me." In 581 tribes of Yemishi promised submission to the Mikado, saying: "If we break this oath, may all the Gods of Heaven and Earth and also the spirits of the Emperors destroy our race." In 644 the Mikado made an oath appealing to the Gods of Heaven and Earth, and saying: "On those who break this oath Heaven will send a curse and Earth a plague, demons will slay them, and men will smite them." The author of the Nihongi, however, is grievously open to the suspicion of adorning his narrative liberally with rhetorical ornaments of Chinese origin. The following is an example of a nonreligious oath said to have been made by a Korean king in 249: "If I spread grass for us to sit on, it might be burnt with fire; if I took wood for a seat, it might be washed away by water. Therefore, sitting on a rock, I make this solemn declaration of alliance." A curse pronounced over a well in 456 has likewise no religious quality. It is simply "This water may be drunk by the people only: royal persons alone may not drink of it." The instructions of the Sea-God to Hohodemi, "When thou givest this fishhook back to thy brother, say, 'A hook of poverty, a hook of ruin, a hook of downfall,'" are a kind of curse. 30On the whole, oaths and curses of a religious character are rare in Japanese literature. Profanity is almost unknown. A mild appeal to the "three holy things" (of Buddhism) or to the Sun, or a wish that divine punishment (bachi) may strike one's enemy, are almost the only things of the kind. And they are infrequent. Probably this is due to the want of a deep-seated sentiment of piety in the Japanese nation. Such expressions as "Thank God," "Good-bye," "Adieu," "God forbid," are also rare, whether in speech or in literature. The Mohammedans, with their continual use of the name of Allah, are the antipodes of the Japanese in this respect. 31=Rank of Deities=.--A system of official ranks, borrowed from China, was introduced into Japan in the seventh century. There were at one time forty-eight different grades, each with its distinct costume, insignia, and privileges. The first notice of deities being granted such ranks occurs in 672, when we are told that three deities were "raised in quality" on account of useful military information supplied by their oracles. This practice became systematized in the period 749-757, and was very prevalent for several centuries longer. A rain of volcanic ashes which fell in many of the eastern provinces in 838 was attributed by the diviners to the jealousy of a Goddess, the true wife of a God, and mother by him of five children, at a step of official rank granted by the Mikado to a younger rival. Tantæ ne animis cælestibus iræ! In 851 Susa no wo and Oho-kuni-nushi received the lower third rank and in 859 were promoted to the upper third rank. The Mikado Daigo, on his accession in 898, raised the rank of 340 shrines. In 1076 and 1172 wholesale promotions of deities took place. After this time the custom fell into neglect, owing partly to the circumstance that many of the Gods had reached the highest class and could not be promoted any further. Several of the most important deities were not honoured in this way. The Sun-Goddess and the Food-Goddess were among this number. The same deity might have different ranks in different places. 32The lowness of the ranks with which the inferior deities were thought to be gratified is rather surprising. It throws a light on the mental attitude of the Japanese towards them. Beings who could be supposed to take pleasure in a D.S.O. or a brevet majority must have seemed to them not very far exalted above humanity. 33=Kagura=.--This word is written with two Chinese characters which mean "God-pleasure." It is a pantomimic dance with music, usually representing some incident of the mythical narrative. Uzume's dance before the cave to which the Sun-Goddess had retired is supposed to be its prototype. Important shrines have a stage and a corps of trained girl-dancers (miko), for the purpose of these representations. Kagura was also performed in the Naishidokoro (the chamber in the Palace where the Regalia were kept), and under Chinese influences became a very solemn function, in which numerous officials were concerned. Many kinds of music, song, and dance are included in this term. It was the parent in the fourteenth century of the No, a sort of religious lyrical drama, and less directly of the modern popular drama. 34Some authorities say that the music of the Kagura consisted at first of flutes made by opening holes between the joints of a bamboo, of wooden castanets, and of a stringed instrument made by placing six bows together. 35=Pilgrimages=.--Paying visits is a recognized mode of showing respect to Gods as it is to men. The Mikado himself formerly paid frequent visits to the shrines of Kiōto and the vicinity, and in all periods of history embassies were continually despatched by him to the great shrines of the Empire. The private worshipper, besides visiting the shrine of his local deity, generally makes it his business, at least once in his lifetime, to pay his respects to more distant Gods, such as those of Ise, Miha, Ontake, Nantai (at Nikko), Kompira, Fujiyama, Miyajima, &c. Intending pilgrims associate themselves in clubs called Kō, whose members each contribute five sen a month to the pilgrimage fund. When the proper time of year comes round, a certain number of members are chosen by lot to represent the club at the shrine of their devotion, all expenses being defrayed out of the common fund. One of the number who has made the pilgrimage before acts as leader and cicerone. As a general rule the pilgrims wear no special garb, but those bound for Fuji, Ontake, or other high mountains may be distinguished by their white clothes and sloping broad hats. While making an ascent, they often ring a bell and chant the prayer, "May our six senses be pure and the weather fair on the honourable mountain."[190] Many thousand pilgrims annually ascend Fuji, and over 11,000 paid their devotions at Ise on a recent New Year's day. 36Almost all Japanese cherish the hope of visiting this shrine at least once in their lives, and many a Tokio merchant thinks that his success in business depends largely on his doing so. Pilgrimages are an ancient institution in Japan. It is recorded that in the ninth month of 934, 10,000,000 pilgrims of all classes visited the shrines of Ise. 37Boys and even girls often run away from their homes and beg their way to Ise. This is regarded as a pardonable escapade. 38When an actual visit to a shrine is inconvenient or impossible, the worshipper may offer his devotions from a distance. This is called em-pai, or distant worship. Special shrines are provided in some places where the God will accept such substituted service. Processions may be joint formal visits of the worshippers to the God's shrine, but they oftener consist in attending him on an excursion from it to some place in the neighbourhood and back again. They much resemble in character the carnival processions of Southern Europe. 39=Circumambulation=.--The Brahmanic and Buddhist ceremony of pradakchina, that is, going round a holy object with one's right side turned to it, is not found in Shinto. The principle, however, on which it rests--namely, that of following or imitating the course of the Sun--is recognized in the Jimmu legend. Jimmu says:[191] "If I should proceed against the Sun to attack the enemy, I should act contrary to the way of Heaven.... Bringing on our backs the might of the Sun-Goddess, let us follow her rays and trample them down." It is difficult to reconcile with this a passage in the Kojiki[192] where it is counted unlucky for the Mikado to travel from East to West, because in so doing he must turn his back upon the Sun. 40Horses presented to shrines were led round them eight times. ‹Previous chapterShinto: The Way of the Gods 21Next chapterShinto: The Way of the Gods 23›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the United States via Project Gutenberg