Shinbutsu bunri
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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.
Background before 1868
Until the end of the Edo period, in 1868, Shinto and Buddhism were intimately connected in what was called shinbutsu-shūgō (神仏習合), to the point that the same buildings were often used as both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples, and Shinto gods were interpreted as manifestations of Buddhas. However, the tendency to oppose Buddhism as a foreign import and to uphold Shinto as the native religion can be seen already during the early modern era, partly as a nationalistic reaction.[1] In a broad sense, the term shinbutsu bunri indicates the effects of the anti-Buddhist movement that, from the middle of the Edo period onwards, accompanied the spread of Confucianism, the growth of studies of ancient Japanese literature and culture (kokugaku), and the rise of Shinto-based nationalism,[2] All these movements had reasons to oppose Buddhism.
Policy of the Meiji government
In a narrower sense, shinbutsu bunri refers to the policy of separating Shinto and Buddhism pursued by the new
Details of the policy
The new government that seized power in 1868 saw shinbutsu bunri as a way to reduce the immense wealth and power of the Buddhist sects. At the same time, it was supposed to give Shinto, and especially its cult of the Emperor, time to grow into an effective vehicle for nationalism.[3]
A first order issued by the Jinguji Muka in April 1868 ordered the defrocking of shasō and bettō (shrine monks performing Buddhist rites at Shinto shrines).[1][6]
A few days later, the Daijōkan banned the application of Buddhist terminology such as gongen to Japanese kami and the veneration of Buddhist statues in shrines.[1]
Next came a ban on applying the Buddhist term Daibosatsu (Great
In the final stage, all the defrocked bettō and shasō were told to become "shrine priests" (kannushi) and return to their shrines.[1] Also, monks of the Nichiren sect were told not to refer to some deities as kami.[1]
Consequences of the policy
The campaign ultimately failed to destroy the influence of Buddhism on the Japanese people, who still needed funerals, graves and ancestral rites,[7] all services traditionally provided by Buddhism. The state's first attempt to influence religious life therefore resulted in failure.[8] In 1873, the government admitted that the effort to elevate Shinto above Buddhism had failed.[6] However, the government did cause the diffusion of the idea that Shinto was the true religion of the Japanese, finally revealed after remaining for a long time hidden behind Buddhism.[5]
In recent years, many historians have come to believe that the syncretism of kami and Buddhas (shinbutsu-shūgō) was just as authentically Japanese.[5] The government was successful in separating the Shinto and Buddhism or Shinto Buddhism hybrid religion in Japan as three completely independent religions. Most Japanese today are completely aware of different religious practices and the context of the syncretism of kami and Buddhas.[9] In discussing some Japanese Buddhist temples dedicated to the cult of kami Inari, Shinto scholar Karen Smyers comments:
Recent scholarship has shown the term [Shinto] to be highly problematic – its current content is largely a political construction of the Meiji period. [...] The surprise of many of my informants regarding the existence of Buddhist
Inari temples shows the success of the government's attempt to create separate conceptual categories regarding sites and certain identities, although practice remains multiple and nonexclusive.[10]
Haibutsu kishaku
Although the government did not explicitly order the closing of temples, the destruction of Buddhist property or the defrocking of Buddhist priests and nuns, they were often interpreted as implying it, and the haibutsu kishaku movement soon spread across the country.
Another consequence of the policy was the creation of so-called "invented traditions".[3][13] To avoid the destruction of material illegal under the new rules, Shinto and Buddhist priests invented traditions, genealogies and other information that justified its presence.[13] Later, awareness of their origin was often lost, causing considerable confusion among historians.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g "Shinbutsu Bunri", Encyclopedia of Shinto.
- ^ a b c Stone 1993.
- ^ OCLC 812924947.
- ^ "Haibutsukishaku", Encyclopedia of Shinto.
- ^ a b c Scheid, Grundbegriffe, Shinto.
- ^ a b Burkman 1974, p. 175.
- ^ Hardacre 1986, p. 42.
- ^ Hardacre 1986, p. 43.
- ^ Grapard 1984, p. 246.
- ^ Smyers 1999, p. 219.
- ^ a b Kamakura Official Textbook for Culture and Tourism (「鎌倉観光文化検定公式テキストブック」). (in Japanese)
- ^ Mutsu 1995, p. 172.
- ^ a b Smyers 1999, p. 26–27.
References
- Bocking, Brian. "Shinbutsu Bunri". University of Cumbria. Archived from the original on 2007-10-23. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
- Burkman, Thomas W. (1974), "The Urakami Incidencts and the Struggle for Religious Tolerance in Early Meiji Japan", Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 1 (2–3): 143–216,
- Burns, Susan (2007-04-19). "The Kokugaku (Native Studies)School". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
- S2CID 161234426
- JSTOR 132446
- Hur, Nam-Lin (2007). "Introduction: The Rise of Funerary Buddhism in Tokugawa Japan" (PDF). Death and Social Order in Tokugawa Japan: Buddhism, Anti-Christianity, and the 'Danka' System. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02503-5. Archived from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2008-07-17.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link - Josephson, Jason Ānanda (2012). The Invention of Religion in Japan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Kamakura Shunshūsha (2008). 「鎌倉観光文化検定公式テキストブック」 [Kamakura Official Textbook for Culture and Tourism]. Kamakura.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Loftus, Ronald. "Confucianism in the Edo (Tokugawa) Period". Retrieved 2008-07-17.
- Mutsu, Iso (June 1995), "Jufuku-ji", Kamakura: Fact and Legend, Tokyo: Tuttle Publishing, ISBN 978-0-8048-1968-8
- Sakamoto, Koremaru (2007-02-28). "Shinbutsu Bunri". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Tokyo: Kokugakuin University. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
- Sakamoto, Koremaru (2007-03-30). "Haibutsukishaku". Encyclopedia of Shinto. Tokyo: Kokugakuin University. Retrieved 2008-07-03.
- Scheid, Bernhard. "Grundbegriffe:Shinto". Religion in Japan. University of Vienna. Retrieved 9 December 2010.
- "Shinbutsu Bunri". Overview of World Religions. University of Cumbria. Archived from the original on 2007-10-23. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
- Smyers, Karen Ann (1999), The Fox and the Jewel: Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 978-0-8248-2102-9
- JSTOR 2719461, retrieved 2008-07-03
- Tamura, Yoshiro (2000). "The Birth of the Japanese Nation". Japanese Buddhism: A Cultural History. Tokyo: Kosei Publishing Company. ISBN 978-4-333-01684-6.
- Watt, Paul B. "Review of Death and Social Order in Tokugawa Japan: Buddhism, Anti-Christianity, and the 'Danka' System by Nam-Lin Hur". Itinerario. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
External links
- 明治元年(1868)3月|神仏分離令が出される:日本のあゆみ 神号々仏語ヲ用ヒ或ハ仏像ヲ神体ト為シ鰐口梵鐘等装置セシ神社改正処分・三条 (Archive of photographs of Meiji document ordering separation of Shinto and Buddhism) National Archives of Japan