RELIGION AND RITES
view of the highest powers in the State. But the scholastic movement in the eighteenth century for the revival of pure Shintō assisted so materially to reëstablish the doctrine of the Throne's divinity, and thus to prepare the way for the Restoration in 1867, that the Meiji Government naturally identified itself with a creed of such political utility. The Jisha-bugyo, whose authority had extended to Shintō and Buddhism alike, were abolished, and in their stead was established the Shingi-sho, an office which ranked above all the State departments, and was practically a resuscitation of the Shingi-kan already mentioned. It is not to be doubted that the aim of the more radical reformers of the time was the ultimate suppression of Buddhism and the elevation of Shintō to the rank of a State church. For whereas the affairs of Shintō received direct superintendence from the new office, those of Buddhism ceased to be recognised by officialdom; the Buddhist temples were stripped of the greater part of their large estates, and since they necessarily lost at the same time the munificent patronage that had been extended to them by the feudal nobles, a season of decadence and impoverishment overtook them. But Buddhism had twined its roots too strongly round the hearts of the people to be overthrown by an official storm. Steadily it reasserted its influence, until, in 1872, the Shingi-sho was replaced by the Kyobu-sho, an office ranking lower than its predecessor, but still
175
