As compared with the great religions of the world, Shinto, the old
Kami cult of Japan, is decidedly rudimentary in its
character. Its polytheism, the want of a Supreme Deity, the
comparative absence of images and of a moral code, its feeble
personifications and hesitating grasp of the conception of spirit,
the practical non-recognition of a future state, and the general
absence of a deep, earnest faith--all stamp it as perhaps the least
developed of religions which have an adequate literary record.
Still, it is not a primitive cult. It had an organized priesthood
and an elaborate ritual. The general civilization of the Japanese
when Shinto assumed the form in which we know it had left the
primitive stage far behind. They were already an agricultural
nation, a circumstance by which Shinto has been deeply influenced.
They had a settled government, and possessed the arts of brewing,
making pottery, building ships and bridges, and working in metals.
It is not among such surroundings that we can expect to find a
primitive form of religion.
The present treatise has two objects. It is intended, primarily and
chiefly, as a repertory of the more significant facts of Shinto for
the use of scientific students of religion. It also comprises an
outline theory of the origin and earlier stages of the development
of religion, prepared with special reference to the Shinto
evidence. The subject is treated from a positive, not from a
negative or agnostic standpoint, Religion being regarded as a
normal function, not a disease, of humanity. This element of the
work owes much to the continental scholars Réville, Goblet
D'Alviella, and Pfleiderer.
In anthropological matters, I have been much indebted to Dr.
Tylor's 'Primitive Culture' and Mr. J. G. Frazer's 'Golden Bough.'
I should not omit to express my obligations to my friend Mr. J.
Troup for assistance with the proofs and for a number of useful
corrections and suggestions.
Ch. K.--Mr. B. H. Chamberlain's translation of the Kojiki.
Nihongi.--Translation of the Nihongi by W. G. Aston.
T.A.S.J.--Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan.
MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF
SHINTO.
Prehistoric Shinto.--Ethnologists are agreed that
the predominant element of the Japanese race came to Japan by way
of Korea from that part of Asia which lies north of China, probably
by a succession of immigrations which extended over many centuries.
It is useless to speculate as to what rudiments of religious belief
the ancestors of the Japanese race may have brought with them from
their continental home. Sun-worship has long been a central feature
of Tartar religions, as it is of Shinto; but such a coincidence
proves nothing, as this cult is universal among nations in the
barbaric stage of civilization. It is impossible to say whether or
not an acquaintance with the old State religion of
China--essentially a nature-worship--had an influence on the
prehistoric development of Shinto. The circumstance that the Sun
was the chief deity of the latter and Heaven of the former is
adverse to this supposition. Nor is there anything in Japan which
corresponds with the Shangti of the ancient Chinese.
There are definite traces of a Korean element in Shinto. A Kara no
Kami (God of Kara in Korea) was worshipped in the Imperial Palace.
There were numerous shrines in honour of Kara-Kuni Idate no Kami.
Susa no wo and Futsunushi have Korean associations.
Until the beginning of the fifth century of our era, writing was
practically unknown in Japan. It is certain, however, that a
considerable body of myth, together with formal rituals, was
already in existence, having been transmitted from generation to
generation by the Nakatomi and Imbe, two
hereditary priestly corporations attached to the Mikado's Court. We
hear also of Kataribe, or corporations of reciters, who
were established in various provinces, especially in Idzumo, a
primæval centre of Shinto worship. They are mentioned in the
Nihongi under the date a.d. 465, and were
still in existence in the fifteenth century. Unfortunately we know
little about them beyond the circumstance that they attended at the
capital, and delivered their recitals of "ancient words" on the
occasion of the Mikado's coronation. These must have helped to
furnish material for the written mythical and quasi-historical
narratives which have come down to us.
Kojiki.--The oldest of these is a work entitled
the Kojiki, or 'Records of Ancient Matters.' It was
compiled by Imperial order, and completed in a.d. 712.
The preface states that it was taken down from the lips of one
Hiyeda no Are, who had so wonderful a memory that he could "repeat
with his mouth whatever was placed before his eyes and record in
his heart whatever struck his ears." English readers may study this
work in an accurate translation contributed by Mr. B. H.
Chamberlain to the Transactions of the Asiatic Society of
Japan in 1882. It is preceded by a valuable introduction.
Nihongi.--The mythical narrative of the
Nihongi, or 'Chronicles of Japan,' also an official
compilation ( a.d. 720), is not quite so full as that
of the Kojiki, and it has the disadvantage of being
composed in the Chinese language. But it has one feature of great
interest. The author, or some nearly contemporary writer, has added
to the original text a number of variants of the current myths,
thus enabling us to correct any impression of uniformity or
consistency which might be left by the perusal of the
Kojiki or Nihongi alone. These addenda show that
there was then in existence a large body of frequently
irreconcilable mythical material, which these works are attempts to
harmonize. A translation of the Nihongi by the present
writer forms Supplement I. of the Transactions of the
Japan Society (1896). Dr. Florenz's excellent German version of the
mythical part of this work may also be consulted with advantage. It
has copious notes.
Kiujiki.--A third source of information respecting
the mythical lore of Japan is the Kiujiki. A work with
this name was compiled a.d. 620, i.e., one
hundred years before the Nihongi, but the book now known
by that title has been condemned as a forgery by native critics.
Their arguments, however, are not quite convincing. The
Kiujiki is in any case a very old book, and we may accept
it provisionally as of equal authority with the Kojiki and
Nihongi. It contains little which is not also to be found
in these two works. Unlike them, the Kiujiki makes no
attempt to be consistent. It is a mere jumble of mythical material,
distinct and conflicting versions of the same narrative being often
dovetailed into one another in the most clumsy fashion. It has not
been translated.
Idzumo Fudoki.--This work, a topography of the
province of Idzumo, was compiled about a.d. 733. It
contains a few mythical passages.
The Kogoshiui was written in 807. It adds a very
little to the information contained in the Kojiki and
Nihongi.
Shôjiroku.--In this work, which is a sort of
peerage of Japan (815), the descent of many of the noble families
is traced from the deities of the Shinto Pantheon.
Yengishiki.--Our principal source of information
for the ceremonial of Shinto is the Yengishiki, or
'Institutes of the Period Yengi' (901-923). It gives a minute
description of the official Shinto ritual as then practised,
together with twenty-seven of the principal prayers used in
worship. These prayers, called norito, were now, so far as
we know, for the first time reduced to writing, but many of them
must be in substance several hundreds of years older. Some have
been translated by Sir Ernest Satow for the Asiatic Society of
Japan (1879-81), and the series is now being continued by Dr. Karl
Florenz, whose translation of the Ohoharahi (1899) is a
notable addition to the English reader's means of studying
Shinto.
Motoöri and Hirata.--The writings of the native
scholars Motoöri, Hirata, and others during the second half of the
eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth are an
indispensable source of information. No part of this voluminous
literature has been, or is likely to be, translated. The English
reader will find a good account of it in Sir Ernest Satow's
'Revival of Pure Shinto,' contributed to the Transactions
of the Asiatic Society of Japan in 1875. By "Pure Shinto" is meant
the Shinto of the Kojiki, Nihongi, and
Yengishiki, as opposed to the corrupt forms of this
religion which sprang up under Buddhist influence in later
times.
The above-named works contain fairly ample materials for the study
of the older Shinto. They have the advantage of showing us this
religion as seen by the Japanese themselves, thus leaving no room
for the introduction of those errors which so often arise from the
unconscious importation of modern European and Christian ideas into
the accounts of other rudimentary cults. It should be observed that
it is the State religion to which these records chiefly relate. Of
the popular beliefs and practices at this time we are told but
little.
The Nihongi, and, to a lesser extent, the Kojiki,
are somewhat influenced by Chinese ideas; but this element is
generally recognizable. Buddhism was introduced into Japan towards
the middle of the sixth century, and was widely propagated under
the regency of Shôtoku Daishi, who died a.d. 621; but
there is little or no trace of it in the older Shinto. For a long
time there was a marked antagonism between the two religions which
served to protect the latter from such adulteration.
The Fūzoku Gwahō, a modern illustrated magazine,
is a rich store of information respecting modern Shinto and the
folk-lore and superstitions which are associated with it.