There were sometimes sets of colouredgohei--blue, yellow, red, white, and black. Theawo-nigi-te(blue-soft-articles) andshira-nigi-te(white-soft-articles) consisted of hemp and bark fibre respectively.
Tama-gushiare often mentioned. I take it that in this combinationtamameans gift or offering, not spirit or jewel, as is taught by some modern Japanese authorities.Kushimeans skewer. Thetama-gushiare twigs of the sacred evergreen tree (sakaki) or of bamboo, with tufts ofyufuattached. They are, in short, a simple form ofnusaorgohei. They have a striking resemblance to theἰκτηρἰοις κλάδοισιν(suppliant branches) mentioned in the opening lines of 'Œdipus Tyrannus' and explained by Jebb as "olive branches wreathed with fillets of wool." In oneNihongimyth, Susa no wo is said to have plantedkushiin the rice-fields of his sister, the Sun-Goddess, "by way of claiming ownership," says a commentator. Compare with this the following quotation from Hakluyt's 'Historie of the West Indies': "Every one [of the Caribs] encloseth hisportion [of ground] onely with a little cotton line, and they account it a matter of sacriledge if any pass over the cord and treade on the possession of his neighbour, and hold it for certayne that whoso violateth this sacred thing shall shortly perish."
Along with the alteration in the form of thenusato the presentgoheithere came a change in the mental attitude of the worshipper. Originally mere offerings, they were at length, by virtue of long association, looked upon as representatives of the deity. Scholars like Motoöri and Hirata denounce this view as a corruption of later times, but it is no doubt at present the prevailing conception. Hepburn's Japanese dictionary knows no other. It is illustrated by the fact that instead of the worshipper bringinggoheito the shrine, these objects are now given out by the priest to the worshipper, who takes them home and sets them up in his privateKami-dana(God-shelf) or domestic altar.
A further step is taken when it is believed that on festival occasions the God, on a certain formula, called theKami-oroshi, or "bringing down the God," being pronounced, descends into thegoheiand remains there during the ceremony, taking his departure at its close. In the vulgar Shinto of the present day this belief in a real presence of the God is associated with hypnotism.[182]Akin to the belief in an actual presence of a deity in thegoheiis their modern use in the purification ceremony, when they are flourished over or rubbed against the person to be absolved of ritual uncleanness or to dispel any evil influences which may have attached themselves to his person. Like the Homericστέμμαand the host, they were occasionally used for the protection of the bearer. At the present time agohei-katsugi, orgoheibearer, is synonymous with a superstitious person.
Skins of oxen, boar, deer, and bear were sometimes offered to the Gods.
Jewels (tama)were much worn by the ancient Japanese nobility as ornaments for the head or as necklaces and bracelets. They consisted of round beads, tubes (kuda-tama), and comma-shaped objects (maga-tama) of chalcedony, jasper, nephrite, chrysoprase, serpentine, steatite or crystal. Jewels occur sometimes in the lists of Shinto offerings.
Mirrors.--The ancient Japanese mirrors did not greatly differ from those in use at the present day. They were made of a mixed metal, which is described in the myths as "white copper," and were sometimes round and sometimes eight-cornered. The mirror figures frequently in the old records. Mirrors are among the presents made by a female chieftain to a Mikado, and from a King of Korea to another Mikado.[183]The mirror was primarily an offering, and not to the Sun-Goddess only.[184]Mirrors were presented to, and even constituted theshintaiof other Gods as well. In theTosa Nikki(a.d.935) the author relates that during a storm, an offering ofnusahaving proved unavailing, he bethought him of some more acceptable gift. "Of eyes I have a pair," said he, "then, let me give the God my mirror of which I have only one. The mirror was accordingly flung into the sea, to my very great regret. But no sooner had I done so than the sea itself became as smooth as a mirror."
Mirrors do not appear among the periodical offerings enumerated in theYengishiki, which consisted chiefly of perishable articles. They belonged to a separate class calledshimpō, or divine treasures, which were not set out on the altar but stored in the treasury of the shrine.
Weapons.--Swords were also among the permanent treasures of the shrine. Wonderful stories are related of them. One which was stolen by a thief is said to have left him and returned to the treasury of its own accord. Swords weremadeshintai, and even deified.[185]The God worshipped at Atsuta was the sword Kusanagi, found by Susa no wo in the great serpent's tail, and the God of Isonokami was the sword called Futsu no Mitama (spirit of fire?) given by the Sun-Goddess to Jimmu. I have no doubt that these were originally "divine treasures," which owed their deification to long association with the God. A sword is one of the regalia at the present day.
The principle of substitution is illustrated by the models of swords prescribed as offerings in theYengishiki. I have seen on the top of Ohoyama, sacred to a Goddess named Sekison (Iha-naga-hime?), a pit containing many hundreds of tiny wooden swords which had been deposited there as offerings.
Other weapons which figure as offerings are spears, spear-heads, shields, and bows and arrows.
Agricultural implements, bells, pottery, reels for reeling yarn, are also mentioned. It was the custom, in the case of these and other durable offerings, to offer the same objects again and again.
Human sacrificesformed no part of the State Shinto religion as described in the ancient records. But there are several indications of the existence of this practice in still older times. Human sacrifices to river-Gods have been already mentioned. We have seen that when a Mikado died a number of his attendants were buried alive round his tomb, from which it may be inferred that considerations of humanity would not have prevented similar sacrifices to the Gods. Cases are also recorded of men being buried alive in the foundations of a bridge, a castle, or an artificial island. These were calledhito-bashira, or human pillars. The offerings ofkane-hito-gata(metal-man-form), so often mentioned in theYengishiki, were perhaps by way of substitution for human victims. It issignificant that the Gods of water-distribution (mikumari), that is, the river-Gods, are specially distinguished as their recipients. Similar human effigies, gilt or silvered, formed part of theoho-harahi, or absolution offerings. In this case they were intended as ransom for the offenders whose ritual guilt was to be expiated. They were touched with the lips or breathed upon before being offered. Peachwood or paper effigies might be substituted, and in later times articles of clothing or anything which had been in contact with the person to be absolved. These last were callednade-mono(rub-thing) oraga-mono(ransom-thing). When in danger of shipwreck the hair might be cut off and offered, on the principle of a part for the whole, as ransom to the Dragon-God. TheKogo-jiuiapplies the termaga-monoto the hair and nails of Susa no wo, which were cut off by the other Gods. The principle of ransom is also illustrated by the following extract from theShinto Miōmoku(1699):--
"At the festival of Nawoye, held at the shrine of Kokubu in the province of Owari on the 11th day of the 1st month, the Shinto priests go out to the highway with banners and seize a passer-by. They wash and purify him, and make him put on pure clothing. He is then brought before the God. A block, a wooden butcher's knife, and chopsticks for eating flesh are provided. Separately a figure is made to represent the captive. It is placed on the block with the captured man beside it, and both are offered before the God. They are left there for one night. The next morning the priests come and remove the man and the effigy. Then they take clay, and, making it into the shape of a rice-cake, place it on the captive's back, hang a string of copper cash about his neck, and drive him away. As he runs off, he is sure to fall down in a faint. But he soon comes to his senses. A mound is erected at the place where he falls down, and the clay rice-cake deposited on it with ceremonies which are kepta profound mystery by the priestly house. Of late years couriers have been caught and subjected to purification. This was put a stop to. The custom is celebrated yearly, so that nowadays everybody is aware of it, and there are no passersby. Therefore the priests go to a neighbouring village and seize a man. If they catch nobody on the 11th, they bring in a man on the 12th."
TheNawoye(rectification) festival had probably the same intention as theHarahi, namely, to obtain absolution from ritual impurity, and the captive is therefore apparently a scape-goat. As readers of Mr. Frazer's 'Golden Bough' need not be told, the custom has numerous parallels in European folk-lore. There is some difficulty in applying the principle of substitution for an actual human sacrifice to a custom which was in force so recently. It does not appear probable that it could have descended from such a remote antiquity as the time when real human sacrifice was known in Japan. Might not the instinct of dramatic make-believe alone account for it? Confucius condemned the practice of offering effigies of men on funeral occasions because he thought it led to the substitution of living victims.
Slaves.--Another form of human offerings was the dedication of slaves to the service of a shrine. Such slaves were calledkami-tsu-ko, and are to be distinguished from thekamube, who were freemen. The gift by the legendary Yamatodake to a shrine of a number of Yemishi (eastern savages) whom he had captured is to be understood in this sense. There is a more historical instance in theNihongi, under the datea.d.469, when a seamstress was presented to the shrine of Ohonamochi. In 562 a man was allowed to be given over to thehafurias a slave for the service of the Gods instead of being burnt alive for a criminal offence committed by his father.
Horses.--Presents of horses to shrines are often mentioned. They were let loose in the precinct. At the present day albinos are selected for this purpose, white being considered an auspicious colour. Wooden figures might be substituted by those who could not afford real horses. At the festivals of Gion and Hachiman men riding on hobby-horses (koma-gata) or with a wooden horse's head attached to their breasts formed part of the procession. They no doubt represented riding-horses for the deity. In more recent times the further step was taken of offering pictures of horses. This practice became so common that special buildings, calledemadō(horse-picture-gallery) were erected for their accommodation. But they contained many other pictures as well. Theemadōof Kiyomidzu in Kiōto and of Itsukushima in the Inland Sea are very curious collections of this kind. They correspond to theex-votochurches of Roman Catholic countries.
Carriages.--The Mikoshi, or carriage of the God (pp. 224, 225), in which hisshintaiis promenaded on festival occasions, is usually a very elaborate and costly construction. It is carried on men's shoulders to atabi no miya(travel-shrine)orreposoirand back again to the shrine. The confusion in many minds between theshintaiand themitamais illustrated by the fact that a standard modern dictionary speaks of the Mikoshi as containing the God'smitama.
Shrines.--A shrine is a species of offering. Whatever may be the case in other countries, in Japan the shrine is not a development of the tomb. They have no resemblance to each other. The tomb is a partly subterranean megalithic vault enclosed in a huge mound of earth, while the shrine is a wooden structure raised on posts some feet above the ground. The Japanese words for shrine indicate that it is intended as a house for the God.Miya, august house, is used equally of a shrine and of a palace, but not of a tomb, except poetically, as when theManyōshiuspeaks of one as atoko no miya, or "long home."Araka, another word for shrine, probably means "dwelling-place." Inyashiro, a very common word for shrine,yameans house andshirorepresentative or equivalent. There is evidence[186]that this word comes to us from a time when theyashirowas a plot of ground consecrated for the occasion to represent a place of abode for the deity. The analogy of the Romantemplumwill occur to the classical scholar. Thehimorogi(p. 226), a term which has been the subject of some controversy, was probably, as Hirata suggests, at first an enclosure ofsakakitwigs stuck in the ground so as to represent a house. It is probable that in all these cases the make-believe preceded any actual edifice, and was not a substitute for it.
There is a somewhat rare word, namelyoki-tsuki, properly a mound, which is applied to both tombs and shrines. Old sepulchral mounds have frequently a small shrine on their summit.
[Pg 225]
The Shinto shrine is by no means so costly an edifice as its Buddhist counterpart. Thehokora,[187]as the smaller shrines are called, are in many cases so small as to be easily transportable in a cart. Even the great shrines of Ise (pp. 228, 229) are of no great size and of purposely plain and simple construction. In 771 a "greater shrine" had only eighteen feet frontage. Some of the more importantyashirohave smaller buildings attached to them, such as anemadō, or gallery of votive pictures; ahaiden, or oratory, where the official representative of the Mikado performedhis devotions, and a stage for the sacred pantomimic dance. A number of smaller shrines (sesshaormassha) dedicated to other Gods are usually to be seen within the enclosure. No accommodation is provided for the joint worship of the congregation of believers, which is indeed exceptional. The individual worshipper stands outside in front of the shrine, calls the attention of the deity by ringing a gong provided for the purpose, bows his head, claps or folds his hands, puts up his petition, and retires. A large box stands conveniently for receiving such small contributions of copper cash as he may make.
In many shrines more than one deity is worshipped. These are calledahi-dono no kami, that is to say, deities of a joint shrine. They may, like Izanagi and Izanami, have some mythical connexion with each other or they may not. TheYengishikienumerates 3,132 officially recognized shrines. Of these 737 were maintained at the cost of the Central Government. Some had permanent endowments of lands and peasants. Many minor shrines existed in all parts of the country. The shrines are classed as great and small, the respective numbers being 492 and 2,640. They differed in the quantity of offerings and in the circumstance that in the former case the offerings were placed on an altar and in the latter on the ground. Thirty-six shrines were situated in the palace itself. The most important deities worshipped here were eight in number, comprising five obscurely differentiated Musubi, the Goddess of Food, Oho-miya-no me, and Koto-shiro-nushi. There were also several Well-Gods, a Sono no Kami, a Kara no Kami (Korean God), a Thunder-God, a pair ofsakedeities, and others of whom little is known.
[Pg 229]
In enumerating the officially recognized shrines throughout the rest of the country theYengishikiunfortunately, in the great majority of cases, does not name the God, but only the locality where the shrine was situated, as when we speak of Downing Street, meaning the collective officialdom of the place. This is in accordance with the impersonal habit of the Japanese mind already referred to. Strange to say, in some even of the most popular shrines, the identity of the God is doubtful or unknown. Kompira is a conspicuous example. According to some he is a demon, the alligator of the Ganges. Others say that Buddha himself became "the boy Kompira" in order to overcome the heretics and enemies of religion who pressed upon him one day as he was preaching. The mediæval Shintoists identified him with Susa no wo. More recently it has been declared officially that he is really Kotohira, an obscure Shinto deity, whose name has a resemblance in sound to that of the Indian God. His popularity has been little affected by these changes.[188]
In 965 a selection of sixteen of the more important shrines was made to which special offerings were sent. These were as follows:--
In 991 there were added the three following:--
In 994 there was added
The next to be added was
The number was finally raised to twenty-two in 1039 by the addition of
Proximity 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.
At 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)."
Very many houses have theirkamidanaor domestic shrine, where the ujigami, the ancestor, and the trade-God, with any others whom there is some special reason for honouring, are worshipped.
Tori-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 astori-wi. Thisword 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, thetori-wiis a continental institution identical in purpose and resembling in form theturanof India, thepailooof China, and thehong-sal-munof Korea. When introduced into Japan at some unknown date (theKojikiandNihongido not mention them) the Japanese called themtori-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]
Hyaku-do ishi.--Near the front of the shrine may sometimes be seen ahyaku-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.
Asori-bashiortaiko-bashi, representing the mythical floating bridge of Heaven (the rainbow), is also to be seen at the approach to some shrines.
Prayer.--Private individual prayer is seldom mentioned in the old Shinto records, but of the official liturgies ornoritowe have abundant examples in theYengishikiand 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 theNihongias expressing her satisfaction with the beauty of thenoritorecited in her honour.
Thenoritoare 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.
The phrase "fulfilling of praises," which occurs frequently in thenorito, 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 thenoritopresents 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 asoho, great;take, brave;taka, high;haya, swift;toyo, rich;iku, live;yori, good, and perhaps one or two more.
Thedo ut desprinciple of offerings is plainly avowed in some of thenorito.
Besides 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.
TheYengishikicontains nonoritoaddressed 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?) wereattributed 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. Othernoritoannounce to the preceding Mikado the accession of a new sovereign or the appointment of a Prince Imperial.
Thenoritocontain 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.
Numerous specimens ofnoritowill be found inChap. XII.
In connexion with the attempted revival early in the last century of the pure Shinto of ancient times, Hirata composed a book of prayer entitledTamadasuki, 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, theTamadasukiowes 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.
Prayers 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 upsake, 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 papernobori(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."
Oaths and Curses.--TheNihongimentions 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 theNihongi, 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 burntwith 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. On 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.
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 nowo 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. The 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.
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.
Some 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.
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 calledKō, 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. Almost 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.
Boys and even girls often run away from their homes and beg their way to Ise. This is regarded as a pardonable escapade.
When an actual visit to a shrine is inconvenient or impossible, the worshipper may offer his devotions from a distance. This is calledem-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.
Circumambulation.--The Brahmanic and Buddhist ceremony ofpradakchina, 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 theKojiki[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.
Horses presented to shrines were led round them eight times.
CHAPTER XI.MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY.
MORALS, LAW, AND PURITY.
In the previous chapter we dealt with the positive side of religious conduct. We have now to examine its negative aspect, namely, those prohibitions which fall under the general description of morality and ceremonial purity.
Morals.--Before proceeding to examine the relation of morals to religion in Shinto, let us note some general considerations. Right conduct has three motives: first, selfish prudence; second, altruism, in the various forms of domestic affection, sympathy with others and respect for their rights, public spirit, patriotism and philanthropy; and third, the love of God. Conduct which is opposed to these three sanctions is called in the case of the first folly, of the second crime, and of the third sin; to which are opposed prudence, morality, and holiness. With the infant and the savage the first motive predominates. With advancing age in the individual, and civilization in the race, the second and third assume more and more importance. All but the lowest grades of animals have some idea of prudential restraint. Many are influenced by the domestic affections, while the higher, and especially the gregarious species, have some rudiments of the feeling of obligation towards the community, on which altruistic morality and eventually law are based. But in the lower animals, and even in many men, the religious sanction is wanting.
Right conduct may usually be easily referred to an origin in one or other of these three classes of motives. The duty of refraining from excess in eating and drinking belongs primarily to the first, the care of children and the avoidance of theft, murder, or adultery to the second, acts of worshipand abstinence from impiety and blasphemy to the third. There is, however, a tendency for these motives to encroach on each other's provinces without relinquishing their own. Acts which belong at first to one category end by receiving the sanction of the other motives. Drunkenness, at first thought harmless, is soon recognized as folly, though harming nobody but the drunkard himself. It is eventually seen to be also a crime against the community, and last of all a sin in the eyes of God. Criminal Law is a systematic enforcement of the rights of others by adding prudential motives for respecting them. It also punishes blasphemy and heresy, no doubt for the protection of the interests of the community against the curse which such offences bring down. With ourselves religion condemns not only direct offences against the Deity as in the first three commandments, but selfish folly, and throws its ægis over the rights of our neighbour, by prohibiting theft, murder, adultery, lying, disrespect to parents, &c. Can it be doubted that these were already offences before the ten commandments were delivered from Mount Sinai?
There is no stronger proof of the rudimentary character of Shinto than the exceedingly casual and imperfect sanction which it extends to altruistic morality. It has scarcely anything in the nature of a code of ethics. Zeus had not yet wedded Themis. There is no direct moral teaching in its sacred books. A schedule of offences against the Gods, to absolve which the ceremony of Great Purification was performed twice a year,[193]contains no one of the sins of the Decalogue.[194]Incest, bestiality, wounding, witchcraft, andcertain interferences with agricultural operations are the only offences against the moral law which it enumerates. TheKojikispeaks of a case of homicide being followed by a purification of the actor in it. But the homicide is represented as justifiable, and the offence was therefore not so much moral as ritual.[195]Modern Japanese boldly claim this feature of their religion as a merit. Motoöri thought that moral codes were good for Chinese, whose inferior natures required such artificial means of restraint. His pupil Hirata denounced systems of morality as a disgrace to the country which produced them. In 'Japan,' a recent work published in English by Japanese authors, we are told that "Shinto provides no moral code, and relies solely on the promptings of conscience for ethical guidance. If man derives the first principles of his duties from intuition, a schedule of rules and regulations for the direction of everyday conduct becomes not only superfluous but illogical."
But although there was little religious sanction of morality in ancient Japan, it by no means follows that there was no morality. We have seen that there are moral elements in the character of the Sun-Goddess as delineated in myth.[196]Law, which is the enforcement by penalties of a minimum altruistic morality, certainly existed. A Chinese author, in a description of Japan as it was in the later Han period (a.d.25-220), says that "the wives and children of those who break the laws are confiscated, and for grave crimes the offender's family is extirpated.... The laws and customs are strict." In 490 we hear of two men being thrown into prison for crimes. The Mikado Muretsu (488-506) is said to have been fond of criminal investigation. TheNihongicondemns theft, robbery, rebellion, and non-payment of taxes, none of which matters is taken formal cognizance of by Shinto. Without some law, unwritten and ill-defined though it was, and unequal and fluctuatingin its application as it must have been, the Japanese could not possibly have reached even the moderate degree of organized government which we find them enjoying at the dawn of their history.
The earliest so-called legislation which we meet with is embodied in a proclamation issued by the Regent Shōtoku Taishi ina.d.604. On examination these "laws" prove to be a sort of homily addressed to Government officials, recommending harmony, good faith, a respect for Buddhism, obedience to the Imperial command, early rising, decorum, disinterestedness in deciding legal cases, fidelity to one's lord, and benevolence to the people. In 645 a "beginning of regulations" was promulgated. It relates to the status of slaves and their children. In the following year a set of rules was issued regulating the construction of tombs forbidding human sacrifice in honour of the dead, &c. In the same year laws were promulgated dealing with dishonesty, retaining slaves belonging to other people, bringing plaints of adultery before the authorities without having the evidence of three credible witnesses, &c. "Severe penalties" are threatened in case of their infraction. In 681 a sumptuary law in ninety-two articles was enacted. In 682 flogging was limited to 100 blows: in 689 a book of laws was distributed to all the local authorities; and in 701 the code known as the Taihōriō was promulgated. The latter was borrowed from China, and no doubt Chinese influences had much to do with the more partial legislation which preceded. Shōtoku Taishi's advice to officials is thoroughly Chinese. But the examples quoted show that such enactments were not made without reference to the wants of Japan. It may be inferred from Shōtoku Taishi's mention of "legal cases," and from the regulation of procedure in cases of adultery, that there was already in existence a body of unwritten common law by which a rude sort of justice was administered. Prisons are mentioned more than once in the seventh-century records.
Dr. Weipert says:[197]"There are in theKojikiandNihonginumerous instances of arbitrary punishment inflicted by rulers, chieftains, &c., or of private revenge, but nothing shows the existence of fixed punitive laws or conventions.... If we confine ourselves to the prehistoric times of Japan, we find in them no other traces of conceptions of a binding law than those handed down to us in the rituals dedicated to the Gods. It was indeed the power of the ruler which held the community together, but the idea of the society being subject to lawful restraint was to be found only in the religious sentiments of the people. To the extent of these sentiments alone can it be said that a lawfully regulated community and a consciousness of such existed in those days. Now since we take criminal law to be the publicly regulated reaction of a community against all acts of its members which are detrimental to the common interest, we can scarcely hesitate to describe the Ohoharahi[198]as the first source of Japanese criminal law." This is a special application to Shinto of the principle laid down in general terms by Dr. Pfleiderer that "the beginnings of all social customs and legal ordinances are directly derived from religion." Max Müller has expressed himself nearly to the same effect.
I hardly think that the Japanese facts bear out these views. It may be admitted that before the seventh century there were no "fixed punitive laws or conventions in Japan." But between this and mere "arbitrary punishment" or "private revenge" there is a middle term, and I submit that it was precisely to this stage that the Japanese nation had arrived at this time. A common law was in existence, unwritten and ill defined, leaving much room for arbitrary procedure and punishments, but yet a reality. It dealt, as there is evidence to show, with matters so essential to the welfare of the community as treason, rebellion,and robbery, none of which is so much as mentioned in the Ohoharahi. Indeed we could scarcely expect to find such offences noticed in it, as the application of the criminal law in these cases places the guilty persons far beyond the reach of a purifying process.
In an organized community like the ancient Japanese there must have been many torts recognized by public opinion. We know that adultery and dishonesty were punishable. Yet Shinto takes no notice of them. The only civil wrongs singled out for religious denunciation relate to agriculture. The ancient authorities enumerate, among the misdeeds of Susa no wo, "breaking down the divisions of rice fields," "filling up irrigation ditches,"[199]"sowing seed over again," with one or two other offences of a similar kind, and the Ohoharahi includes them in its schedule of sins which require absolution. But surely rights of property (we can recognize germs of them in the lower animals) are long antecedent to religion, and offences against them are recognized as offences against man before they became sins against God.
Moreover, the Ohoharahi is wanting in the first essential of a criminal law. It provides no fixed punitive sanction. It is true that the culprit was in some cases obliged to supply at his own cost the necessary offerings for the ceremony, and that practically this amounted to a fine. The original intention, however, was not to punish the offender, but to avert the wrath of the Gods. And it must be remembered that individual cases of purification were exceptional. For the offences of the nation generally, which it was the main object of the Ohoharahi to absolve, no punishment was practicable, or indeed dreamt of. The Ohoharahi fines of purificatory offerings may have contributed to a system of criminal law, but they were certainly not its main source. The case of Japan seems to provethat, in many cases at least, altruistic morality, even in the crystallized form of law, is in advance of religion. And may we not point to cases in our own country where religion withholds its sanction until the law has become well established? The following extract from theNihongishows that the distinction between criminal law and offences against the Gods, with their respective punishments, was recognized at an early period:--
"a.d.404 Winter, 10th month, 11th day. The Imperial concubine was buried. After this the Emperor, vexed with himself that he had not appeased the divine curse, and had so caused the death of the Imperial concubine, again sought to ascertain where the fault lay. Some one said: 'The Kimi of the Cart-keepers went to the Land of Tsukushi, where he held a review of all the Cart-keepers' Be, and he took along with them the men allotted to the service of the Deities. This must surely be the offence.' The Emperor straightway summoned to him the Kimi of the Cart-keepers and questioned him. The facts having been ascertained, the Emperor enumerated his offences, saying: 'Thou, although only Kimi of the Cart-keepers, hast arbitrarily appropriated the subjects of the Son of Heaven. This is one offence. Thou didst wrongfully take them, comprising them in the Cart-keepers' Be after they had been allotted to the service of the Gods of Heaven and Earth. This is a second offence.' So he imposed on him the expiation of evil and the expiation of good, and sent him away to Cape Nagasa, there to perform the rites of expiation. After he had done so, the Emperor commanded him, saying: 'Henceforward thou mayest not have charge of the Cart-keepers' Be of Tsukushi.' So he confiscated them all, and allotted them anew, giving them to the three Deities."
Ceremonial Purity.--Things displeasing to the Gods are called by the Japanesetsumi(guilt), and the avoidance of such things by their worshippers is calledimi(avoidance). As Motoöri points out, thetsumiof Shinto comprisesthree distinct things, namely, uncleanness, sin or crime, and calamity. The distinction between ceremonial impurity and moral guilt (of certain specific kinds) was probably obscure to the ancient Japanese. Certain calamities are included amongtsumibecause they were looked upon as tokens of the displeasure of the Gods for some offence, known or unknown. Alltsumiinvolved religious disabilities or punishments.
Uncleanness holds a far more important place in Shinto than moral guilt. As in the Mosaic law, it assumes various forms. Actual personal dirt was considered disrespectful to the Gods, as we see by the frequent mention of bathing and putting on fresh garments before the performance of religious functions. The Ohoharahi includes the committing of nuisances among the offences to be absolved by it.
Sexual Immorality and Uncleanness.--It was probably because the consummation of a marriage was thought to defile the house in which it took place that a special nuptial hut was in the most ancient times provided for this purpose. The same idea is illustrated by the custom which existed until quite recently of sousing with buckets of water on New Year's Day young men who had been married during the preceding year. According to a novel called 'Hino-deshima' it is now the bride who is thus saluted while on her way to her husband's house. The bridegroom is treated by the boys of the neighbourhood to volleys of stones which break his paper windows. In later times sexual intercourse generally caused temporary uncleanness. Virgins were selected as priestesses and as dancers before the Gods. But there were no vows of perpetual chastity, and they married in due time just like other girls. TheNihongimentions a case of the appointment of a princess as priestess having been cancelled on account of her unchastity. A modern Japanese writer says: "At Ise to-day Laïs opens her doors to the pilgrim almost within sight of the sacredgroves. To accept her invitation does not disqualify him in his own eyes nor in the eyes of any one else for the subsequent achievement of his pious purpose. A single act of lustration restores his moral as well as his physical purity." Perhaps this puts the matter too strongly. Those shameless wights Yajirō and Kidahachi, the heroes of theHizakurige, were troubled with scruples in this matter, which were not, however, invincible.
With such ideas of uncleanness it is not surprising that Shinto never had a marriage ceremony. No Shinto or other priest is present. We must, therefore, take with some reserve Max Müller's statement that marriage had a religious character from the very beginning of history. It is to be noted, however, that in modern times Susa no wo and his wife Inadahime are thought to preside over connubial happiness, and that something of a religious flavour is contributed to the marriage ceremony by setting out on a stand (shimadai) figures of the old man and old woman of Takasago, spirits of two ancient fir-trees, who are the Darby and Joan of Japanese legend.
Uncleanness includes bestiality, incest of parent and child, of a man with his mother-in-law or stepdaughter,[200]but not of brothers and half-sisters by the father's side. Unions with a sister by the mother's side were unlawful and offensive to the Gods, but they are not specially enumerated in the Ohoharahi schedule.
In 434 Prince Karu, then Heir to the Throne, fell in love with his younger sister by the same mother. At first he dreaded the guilt and was silent. But after a time he yielded to his passion. The next year, in the height of summer, the soup for the Mikado's meal froze and became ice. The diviner said, "There is domestic disorder (incest)." This led to the discovery of Prince Karu's crime, but, as he was successor to the Throne, he was not punished, and hissister only was sent into banishment. After his father's death, however, the ministers and people refused him their allegiance, and he ultimately committed suicide, or, according to another version of the story, went into exile. It is difficult to say whether the religious or the merely moral element predominates in such a case. The portent by which the Prince's crime was followed and the application to the diviners indicate that the crime was thought offensive to the Gods. On the other hand, banishment is a civil form of punishment, and the idea that the offence might bring disaster on the community was probably at the root of the indignation which it caused. Nor is it to be forgotten that there is another non-religious reason for the law against incest. Consanguineous unions are notoriously unfavourable to the propagation of a numerous and healthy progeny, and therefore to the welfare of the community. The 'Chüen,' a Chinese work written several centuries before the Christian era, says: "When the man and woman are of the same surname, the race does not continue." But in China too, the religious sanction of the prohibition of incest is not absent. It is one of those primarily non-religious sexual taboos, having for their object to place a check on masculine tyranny over the weaker sex and the premature, promiscuous, and excessive indulgence of the sexual passion which even savages find to be fatal to the welfare of the individual and the community, and whose transcendent importance and the difficulty of enforcing them by law lead to be reinforced everywhere by religious terrors. The prohibition of unions between brothers and sisters by the mother's side--that is, practically of the full blood--and not of those of the half-blood by the father's side, may be partly due to the circumstance that the former are more commonly brought up together, and a check on immature and consanguineous intercourse was more necessary in their case. This taboo very likely dates from a period when parentage was reckoned chiefly by maternity.
Vulgar licentiousness is not mentioned in the more ancient books as causing ceremonial impurity.
Interference with the virgin priestesses was not only a source of uncleanness, but was in some cases severely punished. TheNihongistates that ina.d.465
"Katabu and an Uneme were sent to sacrifice to the Deity of Munagata. Katabu and the Uneme, having arrived at the altar-place, were about to perform the rites, when Katabu debauched the Uneme. When the Emperor heard this, he said, 'When we sacrifice to the Gods and invoke from them blessings, should we not be watchful over our conduct?' So he sent Naniha no Hidaka no Kishi to put him to death. But Katabu straightway took to flight and was not to be found. The Emperor again sent Toyoho, Yuge no Muraji, who searched the districts of that province far and wide, and at length caught and slew him at Awi no hara in the district of Mishima."
Here it is primarily the offence against the Gods which is reprobated.
As in the Mosaic law, menstruation and child-birth were regarded as sources of uncleanness.[201]The custom of providing a special hut for parturient women has been already noted.[202]In 811 the wife of a Kannushi was delivered of a child close to the enclosure of the Shrine of the Goddess of Food at Ise. Both husband and wife had to perform an Ohoharahi. After that time no pregnant woman was admitted within thetori-wiof this shrine. In 882 a Prince was sent as Envoy to Ise because a bitch had had puppies within the precincts of the Imperial Palace. Several days' religious abstinence had to be observed in consequence. Until recently births and deaths were prohibited on the sacred island of Itsukushima in the Inland Sea.
Disease, Wounds, and Deathcaused uncleanness.[203]
The death of a relation, attending a funeral, pronouncing or executing a capital sentence, touching the dead body of a man or beast, even eating food prepared in a house of mourning, all involved various degrees of ritual impurity.
Before the Nara period of Japanese history it was the custom on the death of a sovereign to remove the capital to a fresh site, no doubt for the sake of purity. The Ainus of Yezo destroy huts in which a death has taken place. The modern Japanese custom of turning upside down the screen which is placed round a corpse is perhaps a much attenuated survival of the same idea. In 801 a Great Purification ceremony was performed, because a dead dog had been discovered under one of the palace buildings. The same ritual was celebrated in times of pestilence, when a death took place close to the palace and on the Mikado's putting off mourning. If any one died within the precincts of a shrine, no festival could be held there for thirty days. A disability of five days was prescribed in the case of a dog or other beast dying there. At the present day lucifer matches are advertised as "fit for sacred purposes"; that is, they contain no phosphorus which is made of bones, and therefore unclean. Leprosy, owing to its reputed contagious character, is specially mentioned as a cause of uncleanness.[204]Wounds, whether inflicted or received, were objectionable, not so much on grounds of humanity, as because of their offensiveness. TheNihongirelates that ina.d.404 the God Izanagi expressed by the mouth of one of his priests his dislike for the stench of blood caused by branding some of the Mikado's escort. The striking of a Shinto priest while on duty was a cause of uncleanness. In grave cases, however, the offender was handed over to the civil authorities. According to the strict Shinto of a later period, a man must abstain from worship at a shrine for thirty daysif he has wounded somebody, or, if he has accidentally hurt himself, so that more than three drops of blood have flowed, for that day. If he has vomited or passed blood, he must not worship for two days, if he has an abscess, until it is cured, for seven days after moxa is applied, and for three days in the case of the operator. At the present day the common word for wound iskega, that is to say, defilement.
Baldness and emaciation were regarded as disqualifications for the position of Imperial Princess consecrated to the service of the Gods.[205]
It was no doubt the fear of contagion and an instinctive feeling of horror and repulsion which inspired this class of taboos. Contact with death, disease, and wounds are displeasing to living human beings, and therefore to the Gods. In ancient Greece it was notthemisfor the Gods to look on death. There is an obvious absurdity in referring such incidents of religious ritual to the principle that we must seek for the origin of forms of divine worship in observances towards the dead.
Eating Flesh.--Eating flesh is not included among the causes of uncleanness enumerated in theKojiki[206]or in the Ohoharahi. A Chinese notice of Japan written centuries before the dawn of Japanese history says that the "abstainers" (medicine men) of Japan were not allowed to comb their hair, to wash, to eat flesh meat, or to approach women. But this was perhaps asceticism rather than religion. A prohibition of the eating of the flesh of the ox, the horse, the dog, the monkey, and the fowl ina.d.647 was certainly due to Buddhist influences. The first hint that it was offensive to the Shinto Gods to eat flesh is found in theKogo-jiuï, where it is stated that when the son of Mitoshi no Kami saw that Ohotokonushi no Kami had given beef to his field labourers he spat upon their offering andreported the matter to his father, who was angry and sent a blight upon the rice. But this very passage speaks of a horse, a pig, and a cock as acceptable offerings. In thenoritothings coarse of hair and things soft of hair occur frequently in the lists of offerings. Hirata points out that in sacrifices to the Sun-Goddess no flesh was used. In the most ancient times there was no prejudice against eating the flesh of animals. The Food-Goddess entertained Tsuki-yomi with things soft of hair and things coarse of hair. Hohodemi was a hunter by profession. The ancient Mikados frequently went hunting, and had no scruple in partaking of the products of the chase. Under Buddhist influences, however, there came a change. In theJōgwan-shiki(859-877) we find that persons who ate flesh were unclean for one day. In theYengishikithree days are the limit. As time went on the prohibition was extended, until in 1683 we find that to eat the flesh of horse, cow, pig, goat, wild boar, deer, monkey, bear, or antelope caused uncleanness for one hundred days. Birds and fish, it will be observed, are not included in this schedule. Whereas in ancient times the Mikados ate the flesh of deer and wild boar asha-gatame(hardening the teeth) on the third day of the year, from which a person's age was reckoned, fish, fowl, and rice-cake were substituted at a later period.
Persons who are unclean for any cause must have nothing to do with the preparation or serving of the Mikado's food.
Intoxicating liquors are not tabooed in Shinto. There is, however, mention of an embassy to Ise in 749, the members of which were not allowed to take animal life, to eat flesh, or to drinksake.
Impure food communicated its uncleanness to the fire with which it had been cooked. Persons who used such a fire (kegare-bi) for cooking were unclean for seven days. Hirata suggests that the reason why Izanami was unable to return to the upper world after partaking of the food ofYomi was because of the unclean fire with which it had been cooked.
On the first day of the sixth month, the Mikado was served with food specially prepared with pure fire (imu-bi no zen).
Buddhist Rites.--The performance of Buddhist rites incapacitated a man from the service of the Shinto Gods until he had been subjected to purification. For an infringement of this rule, Shinto functionaries might be fined or dismissed. The use of Buddhist terms was forbidden to every one concerned in the Shinto ceremonies at Ise and Kamo. A Sutra was called "tinted paper," Buddha the "middle child," a Buddhist temple a "tile roof." Buddhist priests and nuns were ironically styled the "long-haired ones." At Ise Buddhist priests were not admitted to the sacred precincts beyond a certain cryptomeria tree. A separate place was assigned them for their prayers.
Other words of ill omen were "death," for which "recovery" was used; for "disease" the participant in a Shinto festival said "rest"; for "weeping," "brine-dripping"; for "blood," "sweat"; for "strike," "stroke"; for "flesh," "mushroom"; for "tomb," "clod," &c. These are later inventions.
Calamities.--We learn from the Ohoharahi that snakebite, being struck by lightning, and other accidents were regarded astsumi, or sources of impurity. At a later time, a fire which destroyed a man's house made him unclean for seven days.
Any neglect or irregularity in the divine services, any interference with the treasures, priests, or slaves of the shrine, or with the sacred grove around it, or failure to repair it whenever necessary, aroused the anger of the God and involved the uncleanness of the culprit.
Magic or witchcraft (majinahi) is one of the sources of impurity enumerated by the Ohoharahi.[207]