The term in Japanese indicates the forbidding by law of the fusion of
Shintoor kami-no-michi is the natural spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. The word Shinto was adopted from the written Chinese , combining two kanji: , meaning gods or spirits ; and , or "do" meaning a philosophical path or study...
and
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
, and the effort to create a clear division between Shinto and Buddhism on one side, and
Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines on the other. By the end of Edo period, Shinto and Buddhism were intimately connected in what was called
shinbutsu shūgōliterally "syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism" is the Japanese syncretism of Buddhism and local religious beliefs...
(神仏習合), up to the point that even the same buildings were used as both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples.
The tendency to oppose Buddhism can be seen already during the early modern era as a nationalistic reaction to its spreading but the term usually indicates the anti-Buddhist movement that, from the middle of the
Edo periodThe , or , is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868 and is the premodern era. The period marks the governance of the Edo or Tokugawa shogunate, which was officially established in 1603 by the first Edo shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period ended with the Meiji Restoration, the...
onwards, accompanied
ConfucianismConfucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . It is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought that has had tremendous influence on the culture and history of East Asia...
, the study of ancient Japanese literature and culture (or
kokugakuKokugaku was a National revival, or, school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period...
), and Shinto nationalism, all movements with reasons to oppose Buddhism. In a narrower sense,
shinbutsu bunri is the policy of separation of Shinto and Buddhism pursued by the new
Meiji governmentThe Government of Meiji period Japan from 1868-1911 was an evolution of institutions and structures from the feudal order of the Tokugawa bakufu towards a constitutional monarchy encompassing pro-forma representative democracy.-Early developments:...
with the . This last event is of particular historical importance, partly because it triggered the
haibutsu kishakuis a term that indicates a current of thought continuous in Japan's history which advocates the expulsion of Buddhism from Japan...
, a violent anti-Buddhist movement which in the final years of the
Tokugawa shogunateThe Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which now is called Tokyo...
and during the
Meiji RestorationThe , also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to enormous changes in Japan's political and social structure...
caused the forcible closure of thousands of temples, the confiscation of their land, the forced return to lay life of monks, and the destruction of books, statues and other Buddhist property. Even Buddhist bronze bells were melted to make cannons. The policy failed in its short-term aims and was ultimately abandoned, but had nonetheless a profound and lasting impact on the nation and its culture, and was successful in the long term in creating a new religious
status quo in which Shinto and Buddhism were perceived as independent and equal.
The shinbutsu bunri in the early modern age
The
shinbutsu bunri, and the
haibutsu kishaku it tended to cause, in the early modern age were a phenomenon encountered mostly in domains where anti-Buddhist Confucianism was strong, as the
OkayamaThe ' was a Japanese feudal domain of the Edo period, located in modern-day Okayama Prefecture. The domain sided with the Kyoto government during the Boshin War.-List of Daimyo:*Kobayakawa clan, 1600-1602 #Hideaki...
,
Mitowas a prominent feudal domain in Japan during the Edo period. Beginning with the appointment of Tokugawa Yorifusa by his father, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, in 1608, the Mito branch of the Tokugawa clan controlled the domain until the abolition of the han system in 1871...
, and
Yodo DomainThe ' was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, and the only domain located in Yamashiro Province. Its castle was located within modern-day Fushimi, Kyoto....
s. For example, in the 1660s
Tokugawa Mitsukuniwas a prominent daimyo who was known for his influence in the politics of the early Edo period. He was the third son of Tokugawa Yorifusa and succeeded him, becoming the second daimyo of the Mito domain....
in Mito forcibly closed a thousand temples and ordered the building of one shrine per village.
The shinbutsu bunri of the Meiji era
The Restoration government tried to clarify the distinction between Buddhism and Shinto with a series of edicts. This was done in several stages.
A first order issued by the Jingijimuka on April 1868 ordered the defrocking of
shasō and
bettōis a term which originally indicated the head of an institution serving temporarily as the head of another one, but which came to mean also the full-time head of some institution...
(shrine monks performing Buddhist rites at Shinto shrines).
A few days later, the Daijōkan banned the application of Buddhist terminology such as
gongenin Japanese Buddhist and Shinto terminology is an avatar, a Japanese kami which is really a temporary manifestation of a buddha come from India to guide the Japanese to salvation. The words and are synonyms. is the belief in the existence of gongen....
to Japanese
kamiis the Japanese word for the spirits, natural forces, or essence in the Shinto faith. The oldest written record of Japanese creation is in the Kojiki of 712. Although the word is sometimes translated as "god" or "deity," some Shinto scholars argue that such a translation can cause a...
and the veneration of Buddhist statues in shrines.
The third stage consisted of the prohibition against applying the Buddhist term
Daibosatsu to Shinto's deity
Hachimanis the Shinto god of war, and divine protector of Japan and the Japanese people. The name means God of Eight Banners, referring to the eight heavenly banners that signaled the birth of the divine Emperor Ōjin...
at
IwashimizuThe is a Shinto shrine in the city of Yawata in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. -History:The shrine's Heian period connections with the Kyoto and the Imperial family date from its founding in 859 when construction on its earliest structures commenced...
and Usa Hachiman shrines.
In the fourth and final stage, all the defrocked
bettō and
shasō were told to become "shrine priests" (or
kannushiA is the person responsible for the maintenance of a Shinto shrine as well as for leading worship of a certain kami. The characters for kannushi are sometimes also read jinshu with the same meaning.Originally the kannushi was an intermediary between kami and could transmit his will to common...
) and return to their shrines. Also, monks of the
NichirenNichiren was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, Namu-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of "Nam Myo ho Renge Kyo" as the essential practice of the teaching...
sect were told not to refer to some deities as
kami.
The Meiji era's
shinbutsu bunri policy was meant as a first step towards making Shinto the official state religion; however, the idea failed because of widespread opposition and was scrapped. In 1873 the government admitted that the effort to elevate Shinto above Buddhism had failed.
The government was however successful in creating the false impression that Shinto and Buddhism in Japan are completely different and independent. In dealing with some Buddhist temples in Japan dedicated to the cult of Shinto
kami InariInari may refer to:In other uses* Inari , a Shinto spirit** Mount Inari in Japan, site of Fushimi Inari-taisha, the main Shinto shrine to Inari** Inari Shrine, shrines to the Shinto god Inari* Inari Sami, one of the Sami languages...
, Shinto scholar Karen Smyers comments:
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.
In any case, in less than two decades Buddhism had not only had recovered, but had modernized itself, becoming once more a significant force. This led to the coexistence of Shinto and Buddhism as we see it today.
Consequences of the Separation Policy
Although the government's edicts didn't explicitly order the closing of temples, the destruction of Buddhist property and the defrocking of Buddhist priests and nuns, they were often interpreted as implying it, and the
haibutsu kishaku movement soon spread to the entire country with tragic consequences. A substantial part of the population that had felt financially exploited by the
danka systemThe , also known as 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...
(檀家制度 (だんかせいど) participated in the movement. This system, made mandatory by the Tokugawa in order to halt the spread of Christianity, obliged all families to be affiliated to and support a Buddhist temple.
The
shinbutsu bunri policy was itself the direct cause of serious damage to important cultural properties. Because mixing the two religions was now forbidden, shrines and temples had to give away some of their treasures, thus damaging the integrity of their cultural heritage and decreasing the historical and economic value of their properties. For example,
Kamakurais a city located in Kanagawa, Japan, about south-south-west of Tokyo. It used to be also called . Although Kamakura proper is today rather small, it is sometimes considered a former de facto capital of Japan as the seat of the Shogunate and of the Regency during the Kamakura Period...
's Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū's giant ] (the two wooden wardens usually found at the sides of a temple's entrance), being objects of Buddhist worship and therefore illegal where they were, were sold to
Jufuku-ji, usually known simply as Jufuku-ji, is a temple of the Kenchō-ji branch of the Rinzai sect and the oldest Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It's ranked third among Kamakura's prestigious Five Mountains, it's number 24 among the pilgrimage temples and number 18 of the temples...
, where they still are. The shrine also had to destroy Buddhism-related buildings, for example its
tahōtōA is a kind of building found primarily at Buddhist temples in Japan. It is a two-storied structure. The ground floor has a square plan, and is topped by a dome, with a four-sided roof. Above this sits a circular second story having a four-sided roof. A metal spire with rings reaches up from...
tower, its , and its . Many Buddhist temples were simply closed, like Zenkō-ji, to which the now-independent Meigetsu-in used to belong.
Another consequence of the policy was the creation of so-called "invented traditions". 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. Later, awareness of their origin was often lost, causing considerable confusion among researchers.
Causes of the shinbutsu bunri
Anti-Buddhist feelings had been building up during the last two centuries of the Tokugawa period, and several groups had reasons to oppose Buddhism. The
shinbutsu bunri was seen as a way to weaken Buddhism and lessen its immense economic and social power. At the same time, it was supposed to give Shinto and its cult of the Emperor time to grow, while prodding the Japanese's national pride. The anti-Buddhist movement was lead by
ConfucianConfucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . It is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought that has had tremendous influence on the culture and history of East Asia...
,
Neo-ConfucianNeo-Confucianism / is a form of Confucianism that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty. It formed the basis of Confucian orthodoxy in the Qing Dynasty of China. It was a philosophy that attempted to merge certain...
,
Shintoor kami-no-michi is the natural spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. The word Shinto was adopted from the written Chinese , combining two kanji: , meaning gods or spirits ; and , or "do" meaning a philosophical path or study...
, and
KokugakuKokugaku was a National revival, or, school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period...
scholars like
Toju Nakaethumb|180px|right|Tōju NakaeTōju Nakae was a Japanese Confucian philosopher known as "the sage of Ōmi".Toju was a feudal retainer who lived during the Tokugawa shogunate...
,
Kumazawa Banzanwas an adherent of a branch of Neo-Confucianism called Wang Yangming Studies {Japanese: Yōmeigaku: 陽明学}, who lived during the early Edo period. His childhood name was , His imina was , also read Shigetsugu; his common name was , and he was commonly known by the personal names as or . His most...
,
Yamaga SokōYamaga Sokō was a Japanese philosopher and strategist during the Tokugawa shogunate. He was a Confucian, and applied Confucius's idea of the "superior man" to the samurai class of Japan...
,
Itō Jinsai, who also went by the pen name Keisai, was a Japanese Confucian philosopher and educator. He is considered to be one of the most influential Confucian scholars of seventeenth century Japan. His Kogigaku school rejected the Neo-Confucianism of Zhu Xi and instead advocated looking to the original...
,
Ogyū Sorai, also known by the pen name Butsu Sorai, was a Japanese Confucian philosopher. He has been described as the most influential such scholar during the Tokugawa period. His primary area of study was in applying the teachings of Confucianism to government and social order...
, Norinaga Motoori, and
Hirata Atsutanewas a Japanese scholar, conventionally ranked as one of the four great men of Kokugaku studies, and one of the most significant theologians of the Shintō religion. His literary name was Ibukinoya.-Life and thought:...
. Because motives were different and often in contrast, there was no unity. In fact, while there were modernizers, criticism often stemmed from a feudalistic mentality or from an emotional and simplistic nationalism.
The Tokugawa and the danka system
The relationship between Buddhism and the Tokugawa state was complex. Although the shogunate's official philosophy was lay
Neo-ConfucianismNeo-Confucianism / is a form of Confucianism that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty. It formed the basis of Confucian orthodoxy in the Qing Dynasty of China. It was a philosophy that attempted to merge certain...
, Buddhism had become an integral part of the state as a consequence of the Tokugawas' anti-Christian policy. To stop the propagation of Christianity, they had introduced the
danka systemThe , also known as 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...
, which obliged families to affiliate themselves with a Buddhist temple, and in return this would certify that they were not Christian. Without this certification a normal life in Tokugawa Japan was impossible. Families had by law several obligations towards Buddhist institutions, among them monetary donations to their temple of affiliation. Because there were some 100,000 temples in a country of 30 million people, on average 300 persons had to support a temple, so the burden was considerable. This caused widespread discontent and ultimately lead to a backlash. The fact that Buddhism was so deeply involved with the shoguns also meant that it had become one of its symbols and an enemy of all those who wanted the shogunate's fall. All these parties wanted to see Buddhism cut down to size, and the strengthening of Shinto was considered a good way to achieve the goal.
Neo-Confucianism
Neo-Confucian thought in Japan emphasized the use of reason and was essentially humanistic; it therefore rejected Buddhism as superstition. It also emphasized loyalty to the emperor and was fiercely xenophobic Confucian anti-Buddhism was the cause for example of
haibutsu kishaku episodes in the Aizu, Okayama and Mito domains during the early modern era. Some of the leaders of the Neo-Confucian movement were former Buddhist priests.
Fujiwara Seikawas a Japanese philosopher, a leading neo-Confucian of the early Tokugawa Period and a teacher of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Like Hayashi Razan , he had studied in Zen monasteries. The reason was that Zen monks had been the only teachers of neo-Confucianism until that time in Japan, and some of them were...
,
Hayashi RazanHayashi Razan , also known as Hayashi Dōshun, was a Japanese Neo-Confucian philosopher, serving as a tutor and an advisor to the first four shoguns of the Tokugawa bakufu. He is also attributed with first listing the Three Views of Japan...
, and
Yamazaki AnsaiYamazaki 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...
were all former Rinzai priests.
Kokugaku
KokugakuKokugaku was a National revival, or, school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period...
was a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period.
Kokugaku scholars tended to relativize the study of Chinese and Buddhist texts and favored philological research into the early Japanese classics.
Kokugaku scholars criticized the repressive moralizing of Confucian thinkers, and tried to re-establish Japanese culture before the influx of foreign modes of thought and behavior. One of its most influential exponents was scholar Norinaga Motoori.
In the mid-nineteenth century,
kokugaku students became involved in the fight against the shogunate and in favor of the emperor. They claimed that ancient Japanese documents said the emperor alone was divinely authorized to rule Japan.
Modernizers
Modernizers stressed the unscientific character of Buddhism and the drain it was for the national economy.
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