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Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/582

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JAPAN (Language and Literature)

and Ise Sangu Meishodzuye, which are in general repute for their accuracy and the excellent wood engravings in which they abound. XIII. Literature of the Shinto Religion. The best sources of the study of pure Shinto are the Kojiki, the Nehongi, and the Norito, already mentioned, with the works of Motoöri Norinaga and Hirata Atsutane on the same subject. The Kojikiden of the first is a monument of learning and industry; it contains the Naobi no Mitama, or "Spirit of Good," a summary of Motoöri's view. This having been attacked by an anonymous author in the Maga no Hire, he replied to his antagonist in the Kuzuhana, with further developments of his position, namely, that mankind are born with a capacity for distinguishing right from wrong, the test of which is the will of the mikado, and that the Chinese system of morals, which is an invention of immoral men for an immoral age, has corrupted the original perfection of the Japanese heart. The Kenkio-jin ("The Mad-man Fettered") is a polemic against the author of a book called Shoko Hatsu, who had maintained that the age of the gods was a barbarous age, and had spoken disparagingly of the mikados. It is a pity that so much acuteness and erudition as Motoöri possessed should have been thrown away in defending views of which the logical effect would be to enslave the whole Japanese nation. His Jindai Shogo is the mythological part of the Kojiki, with additions from the Nihongi, in a mixture of Chinese characters and kana, with kana at the side, for the use of the young. The Rekicho Shoshi-kai is a collection of the speeches and proclamations of the early mikados, with a commentary, which from his point of view are part of the sources of Shinto. Mabuchi had already explained the liturgies in his Norito-kai and Norito-ko. Hirata Atsutane followed Motoöri's lead with the Koshi Seibun, which presents the whole of the mythylogical books worked up into a continuous and consistent form, and he added a commentary in 100 volumes, entitled Koshiden. This work is distinguished by an almost painful elaboration of details, both mythological and philological, but is of great value to the student. In his Zoku Shinto Taii (4 vols.) Hirata has given an account of the various sects of corrupt Shintoists, which number 15 or 16. Besides the works of these men, there are certain collections of ancient Shinto books which are still considered orthodox. The earliest is the Shinto Gobusho, containing five separate works: 1. Yamato-bime no Seiki, said to have been composed in the reign of Temmu Tenno (672–'86), and afterward enlarged in that of Tenchi (765–'70). This princess was in the year 30 B. C. appointed guardian of the sacred emblems of Tensho-kodaijin, with which she travelled about in order to find a location for them. In 4 B. C. she settled down in Ise, and is said to have lived about 400 years after this. 2. Gochinza Shidaiki, an account of the establishment of the two temples at Ise; date of composition unknown. 3. Go chinza Honki, an account of the establishment of the Geku, ascribed to the reign of Keitei Tenno (507–'31). 4. Gochinza Denki, a work similar to the second, said to date from the reign of Yuriaku (457–'79). 5. Hoki Honki, an account of the manufacture of the divine emblems, composed in the reign of Shomu Tenno (723–'49). There is a commentary on these five works entitled Shinto Gobushosho, by Okada Masanori (1721). The Daijin-gu Gishikicho (804) describes the ceremonial at these two temples throughout the year. The Tenchi Reiki no Ko, in 18 books, contains a mixture of Buddhism and Shinto; it is ascribed by some to Shotoku Taishi, by others to Kobo Daishi, who invented what is known as the Riobu Shinto, a harmony of that religion and Buddhism. This work, and two others of the same nature, the Jimbetsuki and Tenshoki, are now asserted to be modern forgeries by Buddhist priests. The Kogoshiui, by Imube no Hironari (807), professes to have been written to preserve fragments of ancient traditions which had not been recorded in any of the earlier books; but the author's main object was to prove the descent of his own family from the gods. Nevertheless, the work is of great value, and was largely used by Hirata in compiling the Koshi Seibun. The Yuiitsu Shinto Mioho Yoshiu (2 vols.) is a work designed to prove that Shinto and Buddhism are identical in their essence. The majority of treatises on Shinto prior to the 17th century maintained this view. An exception is the Gengenshiu (8 vols.), by Kitabatake Chikafusa. It treats of the origin of the world, of the coming into existence of the two races of gods, the heavenly and the terrestrial, the creation of Japan, the delivery of the sacred emblems by the sun goddess to her grandson before his descent upon earth, the foundation of the temples of Ise, and other articles of the Shinto faith. The Nijiu-issha Ki is an account of 21 principal Shinto temples, by Fujiwara no Korechika (Gidosanshi, 973–1010). The Koro Kojitsuden contains information about the ceremonial at the temples of Ise, the old costumes preserved therein, the messengers of the gods (the fox, crow, common cock, serpents), &c. These two works are also considered good sources of information by rigid Shintoists. The Shinto Shiu (8 vols.) is one of those now condemned on account of its confusing the two religions; it treats of the origin of Shinto, the gods of Hachiman, Shinto archways (torii), &c., and gives a list of the Shinto gods in various provinces who were disguised under Buddhistic names. The Riobu Shinto Koketsusho, by Minamoto no Yoshiyasu (6 vols., 1716), is a defence of the sect called Riobu against those who maintain that it is the same as the Yuiitsu, the latter being infected with Confucianist doctrines. The Shinto Miomoku Ruijiusho (6 vols., 1699) is a description of the accessories