Before feudalism was firmly established in Japan, Buddhism occupied the mainstream of Japanese thought. The Buddhist culture introduced politically by Prince Shōtoku was completed as the "making a country safe" thought in the Nara period. When the Heian period (794–1185) began, in substitution for the "making a country safe thought", a form of esoteric Buddhism collectively known as mikkyō became widespread. However, in the late noble era when pessimism was popular due to the "belief that Buddhism will decline during the latter days of this world", the Pure Land movements spread out encouraging anticipation of a "future life" as a means to cope with desperation over "life in this world". During the Kamakura period (1185–1333) when government dominated by the samurai class began, a “new” Buddhism for the newly-risen class (samurai) appears.
In ancient Japan, the arrival of Buddhism closely relates to the national construction and the national centralization of power. Prince Shōtoku and the Soga family fought and overcame the Mononobe family, who had handled the ancient Japanese religion, and elaborated a plan for national governance based on the unification of the legal codes system and Buddhism. While cooperating with the Soga family, Prince Shōtoku, who was the regent of the Empress Suiko, showed a deep understanding in "foreign" Buddhism,[1] and planned to stabilize national politics through the use of Buddhism. The thought that national peace and security came through the power of Buddhism is called the "making a country safe" thought. In the Nara period, in particular the times of Emperor Shōmu, the Kokubun-ji temples and Kokubun-ni-ji temples were erected throughout the whole country and Tōdai-ji Temple and the Daibutsu were erected in Nara. The Buddhist policy of the state reached its apex during the Nara period, as evidenced by Jianzhen of the Tang dynasty bringing an imperial ordination platform to Todai-ji Temple,
While Nara Buddhism followed only the "making a country safe" thought, Heian Buddhism brought not only national peace and security but also the personal worldly profit. Because practitioners of Heian Buddhism frequently performed severe ascetic practices, incantations and prayers in the mountains; this Buddhism came to be called mikkyō. Kūkai, a Buddhist monk, learned Chinese esoteric Buddhism while on a diplomatic mission to the Chinese court, and combined Japanese Buddhism with Chinese esoteric Buddhist practices to form Japanese Shingon Buddhism. Saichō, a Buddhist monk who also journeyed to China, learned the practices of the Chinese Tendai sect and argued that the teachings of the Lotus Sutra should be the core of Japanese Buddhism.
By the late Heian era, the earthly focus of Heian Buddhism led Buddhist monks to declare a "sinful age" wherein the possibility of relief in this world was denied and therefore a trend of looking for reincarnation to the Buddhists' paradise after death arose. Additionally, the new thought that "Buddhism will decline during the latter days of this world" led to the rise of the Pure Land movement. This movement, spearheaded by Kūya, a follower of Pure Land Buddhism, preached faith to the Amitābha and taught that all people could reach the Buddhist paradise, not just Buddhist monks.
The Jōdo faith, which affected by the Jodo sect of the late Heian period, relies on salvation through the benevolence of Amitābha, and is going to be relieved by its power. Hōnen, who initiated the Jodo sect of Buddhism, abandoned other ascetic practices entirely. He preached his pupils to believe in Amitabha and to earnestly pray "namu-amida-butsu", and so they would go to the paradise. His pupil, Shinran who initiated Pure Land Buddhism, thoroughly carried out Honen's teaching and preached the absolute dependence. In addition, Shinran advocated that an object of the relief of the Amitabha was a criminal who was aware of a worldly and desirous criminal oneself. Ippen, who initiated the Jishu sect, began "the chanting religious dance".
As contrast with dependent Jōdō faith, Zen Buddhism attempts to be spiritually self-awakened by Zen meditation. Eisai learned the Rinzai sect in China. He gave pupils a difficult problem and he made them solve it, and so they would be enlightened by themselves. Rinzai Zen was supported widely by the upper samurai class in the Kamakura period. Dōgen learned the Sōtō sect in China.[2] Oppose to Eisai, he preached enlightenment by earnest sitting meditation (zazen). Soto Zen was supported by the local samurais.
Most schools of Nichiren Buddhism (Japanese: 法華系仏教Hokke-kei Bukkyō) refer to the priest and teacher Nichiren as their founding father. In his teachings he underlined the, to his mind, supremacy of the Lotus Sutra. He advocated the attainment of Buddhahood during one's lifetime and regarded his interpretation of the Buddhist teachings as the correct form of practice for the Latter Day of the Law mappō. One of his major treatises is the "Rissho Ankoku Ron" (On Establishing the Correct teaching for the Peace of the Land). The chanting of the Mantra "Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō" is to this day the central practice to almost all Nichiren Buddhist schools and organisations.
Whereas the ancient and medieval thought of Japan was tied closely to Buddhism, the early modern thought of Japan was mainly Confucianism or Neo-Confucianism, which was designated for official study by the Tokugawa shogunate. In addition, rational Confucianism stimulated Kokugaku, Rangaku and the non-official popular thought after the middle Edo period.
The Zhu Xi school of neo-Confucianism respected family-like feudal order which upheld fixed social positions. Hayashi Razan assumed the Zhu Xi school of neo-Confucianism to be the theoretical basics of the Tokugawa shogunate. Through the principle of civiliangovernment, Yushima Seidō dedicating to Confucius was established. By the Kansei Reforms, the Zhu Xi school of neo-Confucianism were still more strengthened and authorized by the Tokugawa shogunate. In addition, the thought of a school of the Zhu Xi school of neo-Confucianism gave big influence to the political movement advocating reverence for the Emperor and the expulsion of foreigners of the late Tokugawa era.
In contrast with the Zhu Xi school of neo-Confucianism, the Wang Yangming school of neo-Confucianism respecting practical ethics was consistently monitored and oppressed by the Tokugawa shogunate because of its criticisms against the socio-political conditions under the Tokugawa shogunate.
The third schools of neo-Confucianism took consideration into the real intentions of original texts by Confucius and Mencius. Yamaga Sokō established his philosophy on Confucian ethics, and assumed the samurai to be the highest class. Itō Jinsai paid attention to "ren" of Confucius and he respected "ren" as the love for another person and "truth" as pure consideration. In addition, deriving from his substantial studies of ancient Chinese classics, Ogyū Sorai insisted that the original Confucian spirit is to rule the world and to save a citizen.
In the middle of the Edo period, Kokugaku, the study of ancient Japanese thought and culture, became popular against foreign ideas such as Buddhism or Confucianism. By the Sakoku policy of the Tokugawa shogunate, Edo intellectuals could not have any positive contact with Western civilization, and so Rangaku, Dutch learning, was the only window to the West.
In the middle days of the Edo period, Kokugaku became popular while being influenced by positivist Confucianism with nationalism as a background. Kokugaku positively studied ancient Japanese thought and culture, including "Kojiki", "Nihon Shoki" and "Man'yōshū", and they aimed at excavating original moral culture of Japan which was different from Confucianism and Buddhism. Kamo no Mabuchi wrestled with the study of "Manyoshu" and called "masurao-buri" for masculine and tolerant style, and he evaluated the collection as pure and simple. Through his study of the Kojiki, Motoori Norinaga argued that the essence of the Japanese literature came from "mono no aware" which were natural feelings to occur when you contacted an object. He respected Japanese "Yamato spirit" instead of Chinese (Confucianism / Buddhism) "Kara spirit". According to him, Kokugaku should pursue the Japanese old way of "Shinto". Through his study of Kokugaku, Hirata Atsutane advocated nationalistic State Shinto, the obedience to the Emperor and abolition of Confucianism and Buddhism. It was a driving force to the end of the Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji Restoration.
In the Sakoku period of the Edo period, there was no direct contact with the West, but Rangaku became popular by encouraging importation of Western books translated in Chinese from China during the Kyōhō Reforms. Maeno Ryotaku and Sugita Genpaku translated the Dutch "Tafel Anatomie" into Japanese. Dutch learning unfolded to other Western studies such as British, French and American studies by the late Tokugawa era. The manner of "Japanese spirit, Western civilisation" was completed by Sakuma Shōzan’s straightforward expression, "Eastern ethics and Western technology". Because Takano Chōei and Watanabe Kazan criticized Sakoku strictly, they were oppressed by the Tokugawa shogunate.
Popular thought
In the Edo period, private schools were opened by samurais, merchants and scholars who played an active part. Their thoughts were criticisms for the dominant feudal order.
Ishida Baigan synthesized Confucianism, Buddhism and Shinto, and established practical philosophy for the masses. He recommended working hard at commerce as the effect of honesty and thrift. Ando Shoeki called nature's world the ideal society where all human beings engaged in farming and they lived self-sufficiently without artificiality. He criticized a lawful society where there was feudal class discrimination and the difference between the rich and poor. Ninomiya Sontoku insisted that people must repay the virtues, which supported their existence, with their own virtue.
The thinkers of the early Meiji period advocated the British Enlightenment values derived from Western civil society. They attempted to criticise Japanese traditional authority and feudalism. However they were finally in harmony with the government and accepted the modernization from the above without the radicalness. In 1873, Mori Arinori formed Meirokusha. The people who gathered in this cultural association had much in common with points such as regarding practical learning as important, catching human characteristics practically and assuming the form of government that accepted the conditions of a country an ideal. Mori Arinori promoted national education as Minister of Education. Nishi Amane affirmed a human behaviour based on interest. Katō Hiroyuki threw away natural rights under influence of social Darwinism, and instead advocated the survival of the fittest.
Fukuzawa Yukichi, who introduced British utilitarianism to Japan and advocated natural rights, assumed that human rights were given by Heaven. He considered the development of the civilization to be the development of the human spirit, and it was assumed that one's independence led to independence of one country.[3] Fukuzawa thought that government is for the "sake of convenience", and its appearance should be suitable to the culture. He said that there is no single ideal form of government. In addition, he insisted that Japan should have gone into the continent externally against the Great Powers.[4]
From the late period of Meiji to the Taishō era, a democratic trend spread as a background of bourgeois political consciousness. Its current led to political movements for safeguarding the Constitution and for the popular election. Yoshino Sakuzō argued for party cabinet politics and popular election. He did not deeply pursue who was the sovereign but he insisted the political goal aim for people's happiness and political decisions aim for people's intentions. Minobe Tatsukichi interpreted a sovereign as not an emperor but the state. According to him, an emperor only excises his power as the highest organ under the Meiji Constitution. Although his theory was widely acknowledged at first, he was politically suppressed by the military and the rightists afterwards.
In 1911, Hiratsuka Raichō formed Seitosha. She asked for awakening of women's own right and development of feminist movement. While Yosano Akiko denied gender differences, Raicho emphasised motherhood raising a child and she acknowledged the official aids for women to demonstrate their feminine ability. In 1920, Raicho formed a new association for women with Ichikawa Fusae and Oku Mumeo. Soon after their activities were successful in getting women's participating at political addresses, the association fell apart due an internal schism. Later, Ichikawa formed a new one and continued a movement for female suffrage.
It was Christians and socialists who struggled with social contradictions derived from Japanese modernity. Christian social movements were active after the Sino- and Russo-Japanese Wars, which brought capitalism and its contradiction to Japanese society. Many Japanese socialists were influenced by Christian humanism, and in that point they were deeply associated with Christianity.
About the time of Sino- and Russo-Japanese wars, Japan succeeded in capitalization through the industrial revolution as soon as socialism spread against capitalism. However, the social movements were suppressed by the security police law of 1900, and finally in the High Treason Incident of 1910 socialists were pressed by the military and the fascist government. Kawakami Hajime wrote articles about poverty in a newspaper. He emphasized personal remodeling to solve poverty at first, however, later he became a Marxist and he argued for social remodeling by social compulsion. Kōtoku Shūsui originally attempted to realize socialism through the Diet, however he became a unionist and he argued for a direct action by a general strike. He was executed as the mastermind of the high treason incident of 1910. Osugi Sakae argued for individual freedom using the principles of anarchism and unionism. He was seen as a threat by the government and was assassinated by military police in the disorder following the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.
In pre-war Japan, German philosophy was eagerly studied and introduced. However, from the late Meiji to Taishō period, Kyoto School attempted to harmonize Western thought with Eastern thought such as Zen Buddhism. Nishida Kitaro established an original thought by fusion of Zen and Western thought. His thought is called Nishida philosophy. He insisted on pure experience in which there is no opposition between subjectivity and objectivity.[8] His ontology derived from absolute nothingness. Watsuji Tetsuro criticized Western selfish individualism.[9] His ethics says human beings are not in an isolated existence but related existence. He insisted that individual and social beings should be aware of their own individuality and social membership. He is also well known as his Climate and Culture in which he studied the relationship between the natural environment and local lifestyle.
↑ For a philosophical study of Dōgen's concept of language cf. Ralf Müller: Dōgens Sprachdenken: Historische und symboltheoretische Perspektiven [Dōgen’s language thinking: Systematic perspectives from history and the theory of symbols], Welten der Philosophie, vol. 13. Freiburg/München: Verlag Karl Alber, 2013; reviewed by Steffen Döll in Philosophy East & West Volume 65, Number 2 April 2015 636–639.
↑ Encouragement of learning (1872–76) and An outline of a theory of civilization (1875)
James W. Heisig, Thomas P. Kasulis, John C. Maraldo (eds.), Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook, Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2011.
David A. Dilworth & Valdo H. Viglielmo, with Agustin Jacinto Zavala (eds.), Sourcebook for Modern Japanese Philosophy: Selected Documents, Westport: Greenwood Press, 1998.
R. Tsunoda, W.T.de Bary, D. Keene (eds.), Sources of Japanese Traditions, New York: Columbia University Press, 1964, 2 vols.
Studies
H. Gene Blocker, Christopher L. Starling, Japanese Philosophy, Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 2001.
Hajime Nakamura, History of Japanese Thought: 592–1868. Japanese Philosophy before Western Culture Entered Japan, London – New York: Kegan Paul, 1969.
Gino K. Piovesana, Contemporary Japanese Philosophical Thought, New York: St John's University Press, 1969.
Bushidō is a moral code concerning samurai attitudes, behavior and lifestyle, formalized in the Edo period (1603–1868). There are multiple types of bushido which evolved significantly through history. Contemporary forms of bushido are still used in the social and economic organization of Japan. Bushido is also used as an overarching term for all the codes, practices, philosophies and principles of samurai culture. It is loosely analogous to the European concept of chivalry, but with some major differences.
The Edo period, also known as the Tokugawa period, is the period between 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional daimyo. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterized by economic growth, strict social order, isolationist foreign policies, a stable population, overall peace, and popular enjoyment of arts and culture, colloquially referred to as Ōedo.
Religion in Japan is manifested primarily in Shinto and in Buddhism, the two main faiths, which Japanese people often practice simultaneously. According to estimates, as many as 70% of the populace follow Shinto rituals to some degree, worshiping ancestors and spirits at domestic altars and public shrines. An almost equally high number is reported as Buddhist. Syncretic combinations of both, known generally as shinbutsu-shūgō, are common; they represented Japan's dominant religion before the rise of State Shinto in the 19th century.
Buddhism was first established in Japan in the 6th century CE. Most of the Japanese Buddhists belong to new schools of Buddhism which were established in the Kamakura period (1185－1333). During the Edo (Tokugawa)-period (1603–1868), Buddhism was controlled by the feudal Shogunate. The Meiji-period (1868–1912) saw a strong response against Buddhism, with persecution and a forced separation between Buddhism and Shinto.
Neo-Confucianism is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, which originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) in the Tang dynasty, and became prominent during the Song and Ming dynasties under the formulations of Zhu Xi (1130–1200). After the Mongol conquest of China in the thirteenth century, Chinese scholars and officials restored and preserved neo-Confucianism as a way to safeguard the cultural heritage of China.
Kokugaku was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period. Kokugaku scholars worked to refocus Japanese scholarship away from the then-dominant study of Chinese, Confucian, and Buddhist texts in favor of research into the early Japanese classics.
The Japanese term shinbutsu bunri (神仏分離) indicates the separation of Shinto from Buddhism, introduced after the Meiji Restoration which separated Shinto kami from buddhas, and also Buddhist temples from Shinto shrines, which were originally amalgamated. It is a yojijukugo phrase.
This is the glossary of Japanese history including the major terms, titles and events the casual reader might find useful in understanding articles on the subject.
Yamazaki Ansai was a Japanese philosopher and scholar. He began his career as a Buddhist monk, but eventually came to follow the teachings of Neo-Confucian Zhu Xi. He combined Neo-Confucian ideas with Shinto to create Suika Shinto.
Shunkō-in is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan and belongs to the Myōshin-ji school, which is the largest among 14 Japanese Rinzai Zen Buddhist schools. The temple was established in 1590 by Horio Yoshiharu, who was a feudal lord, or daimyō, of Matsue in present-day Shimane Prefecture. This temple houses important historical objects that reflect the multifaceted religious and artistic atmosphere in Japan from the sixteenth century onward.
Buddhism's rich history spans over 2,500 years, originating from the Indian subcontinent in the 2nd century AD. Teachings of the Buddha were introduced over time, as a response to brahmanical teachings. Buddhism relies on the continual analysis of the self, rather than being defined by a ritualistic system, or singular set of beliefs. The intersections of Buddhism with other Eastern religions, such as Taoism, Shinto, Hinduism, and Bon illustrate the interconnected ideologies that interplay along the path of enlightenment. Buddhism and eastern religions tend to share the world-view that all sentient beings are subject to a cycle of rebirth that has no clear end.
Ogyū Sorai, pen name Butsu Sorai, was a Japanese historian, philologist, philosopher, and translator. He has been described as the most influential such scholar during the Edo period Japan. His primary area of study was in applying the teachings of Confucianism to government and social order. He responded to contemporary economic and political failings of the Tokugawa shogunate, as well as the culture of mercantilism and the dominance of old institutions that had become weak with extravagance. Sorai rejected the moralism of Neo-Confucianism and instead looked to the ancient works. He argued that allowing emotions to be expressed was important and nurtured Chinese literature in Japan for this reason. Sorai attracted a large following with his teachings and created the Sorai school, which would become an influential force in further Confucian scholarship in Japan.
Kada no Azumamaro was a poet and philologist of the early Edo period. His ideas had a germinal impact on the nativist school of National Learning in Japan.
Haibutsu kishaku (廃仏毀釈) is a term that indicates a current of thought continuous in Japan's history which advocates the expulsion of Buddhism from Japan. More narrowly, it also indicates a particular historic movement and specific historic events based on that ideology which, during the Meiji Restoration, produced the destruction of Buddhist temples, images and texts, and the forced return to secular life of Buddhist monks. It is a yojijukugo phrase.
The danka system, also known as jidan system, is a system of voluntary and long-term affiliation between Buddhist temples and households in use in Japan since the Heian period. In it, households financially support a Buddhist temple which, in exchange, provides for their spiritual needs. Although its existence long predates the Edo period (1603–1868), the system is best known for its repressive use made at that time by the Tokugawa, who made the affiliation with a Buddhist temple compulsory to all citizens.
Buddhism played an important role in the development of Japanese art between the 6th and the 16th centuries. Buddhist art and Buddhist religious thought came to Japan from China through Korea. Buddhist art was encouraged by Crown Prince Shōtoku in the Suiko period in the sixth century, and by Emperor Shōmu in the Nara period in the eighth century. In the early Heian period, Buddhist art and architecture greatly influenced the traditional Shinto arts, and Buddhist painting became fashionable among wealthy Japanese. The Kamakura period saw a flowering of Japanese Buddhist sculpture, whose origins are in the works of Heian period sculptor Jōchō. During this period, outstanding busshi appeared one after another in the Kei school, and Unkei, Kaikei, and Tankei were especially famous. The Amida sect of Buddhism provided the basis for many popular artworks. Buddhist art became popular among the masses via scroll paintings, paintings used in worship and paintings of Buddhas, saint's lives, hells and other religious themes. Under the Zen sect of Buddhism, portraiture of priests such as Bodhidharma became popular as well as scroll calligraphy and sumi-e brush painting.
Yoshida Shintō (吉田神道), also frequently referred to as Yuiitsu Shintō, was a prominent sect of Shintō that arose during the Sengoku period through the teachings and work of Yoshida Kanetomo. The sect was originally an effort to organize Shintō teachings into a coherent structure in order to assert its authority vis-a-vis Buddhism. However, by the Edo period, Yoshida Shintō continued to dominate the Shintō discourse, and influenced Neo-Confucian thinkers such as Hayashi Razan and Yamazaki Ansai in formulating a Neo-Confucian Shinto doctrine. Yoshida Shinto's dominance rivaled that of Ise Shintō. Yoshida Shrine was the center of this sect.
Edo Neo-Confucianism, known in Japanese as Shushi-Gaku, refers to the schools of Neo-Confucian philosophy that developed in Japan during the Edo period. Neo-Confucianism reached Japan during the Kamakura period. The philosophy can be characterized as humanistic and rationalistic, with the belief that the universe could be understood through human reason, and that it was up to man to create a harmonious relationship between the universe and the individual. The 17th-century Tokugawa shogunate adopted Neo-Confucianism as the principle of controlling people and Confucian philosophy took hold. Neo-Confucians such as Hayashi Razan and Arai Hakuseki were instrumental in the formulation of Japan's dominant early modern political philosophy.
The history of religion in Japan has been characterized by the predominance of animistic religions practiced by its mainland, Ryukyuan, and Ainu inhabitants. In addition, on the Yamato-dominated mainland, Mahayana Buddhism has also played a profoundly important role. Throughout the Japanese middle ages, many different schools of Buddhism flourished, such as Tendai, Shingon, Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren, and others. With time, Shinto and Buddhism gradually became intertwined with each other in Japanese culture, rather than being viewed as mutually exclusive. The first conclusive appearance of western religions in Japan was Christianity, which had been introduced by European travelers beginning in 1549. In the period between 1614 and 1889, Christianity and all other foreign religions were banned and its adherents persecuted, with Buddhism being co-opted by the Tokugawa authorities as a means to keep the population in check through the danka system.
Shinto is a religion native to Japan with a centuries'-long history tied to various influences in origin.
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