A Handbook of Modern Japan

by Ernest W. Clement

Inasmuch as the influence of Confucianism in Japan was chiefly manifested through Bushidō, to be correct, we ought to speak of their joint influences. But since Bushidō, as we have just seen, was largely Confucianism, slightly modified to suit the needs of the Japanese spirit (Yamato-damashii), we shall, for convenience, follow other writers in using the term “Confucianism.” Rein testifies that in Japan “widely diffused religious indifference and formal atheism are the consequences” of the pursuit of Confucianism. Chamberlain says that “during the two hundred years that followed, the whole intellect of the country was moulded by Confucian ideas.” Griffis bears similarly strong testimony, and emphasizes the fact that “all Japanese social, official, intellectual, and literary life was permeated with the new spirit of Confucian thought.” It is not strange, therefore, that when Japan was opened to the world, and Occidental learning and literature poured in, the materialism and the agnosticism of the West met with a sympathetic reception.

GROUP OF PILGRIMS, AND BUDDHIST PRIESTS

Buddhism is the accepted faith of the great mass of the Japanese people. It was introduced into Japan from Korea, in the sixth century A. D., and spread rapidly. It is now divided in Japan into eight sects, with various sub-sects, which bring the grand total up to about thirty-five. These sects vary, some in doctrines and others in rituals, and are even quite hostile to each other. The Shin sect deserves, perhaps, a special mention; because it opposes celibacy and asceticism, does not restrict the diet, worships only one Buddha, and preaches salvation by faith. It is often called “the Protestantism of Buddhism.” Buddhist temples are usually magnificent structures, and the ritual is elaborate; but, in spite of the assistance of Colonel Olcott, Sir Edwin Arnold, and others, it is fast losing ground. It has degenerated and become idolatry and superstition. It keeps hold of the ignorant masses, and even of intelligent persons, chiefly because it has control of funeral rites and cemeteries. It has been said that a Japanese is a Shintōist in life and a Buddhist at death; and it is also true that he may be during life, at one and the same time, a devotee of both. Buddhism may suffice for a people who are crushed under an Oriental despotism; but Christianity alone is the religion of liberty and progress. Buddha may be “the light of Asia,” but Jesus Christ is “the light of the world.”

Nanjō, the historian of Japanese Buddhism, has written a “History of the Twelve Japanese Buddhist Sects”; but as some of these are now defunct, it is sufficient to notice here only eight principal sects, as follows: Tendai, Shingon, Zen, Jōdo, Shin, Nichiren, Ji, Yuzu Nembutsu. Moreover, as the last two of these are comparatively insignificant, the mere mention of their names is enough, but a little more should be said concerning each of the other six.

1. The Tendai sect is the oldest, but now ranks among the lowest. It belongs to the school which “sought to define truth and to find salvation in knowledge”: but as the truth was often too abstruse for the mass, it must be dealt out, by means of pious devices, according to the ability of the learner; so that the disciples of this sect have been called the Jesuits of Buddhism.

2. To the same school belongs the Shingon sect, which is only a year younger than the former sect and now ranks third in the list. It was founded by the celebrated priest Kōbō Daishi; and its doctrines also are quite abstruse. This is the sect which is responsible for that mixing of Shintō and Buddhism that prevailed for so many centuries by the adoption of Shintō deities into the Buddhist pantheon. These believers are sometimes called the Gnostics of Buddhism.

3. The Zen sect represents the school which teaches that “abstract contemplation leads to a knowledge of saving truth.” “Look carefully within, and there you will find the Buddha.” This sect arose probably “out of a reaction against the multiplication of idols,” and was “a return to simpler forms of worship and conduct”; therefore its disciples have been called “the Quakers of Japanese Buddhism.” Others call them “the Japanese Quietists” or “the Japanese Mystics.” This is now the largest Buddhist sect.

4. A third school, teaching that salvation was to be obtained only through the works of another, has been represented by two sects, the Jōdo and the Shin. The former, which now ranks fourth, was founded upon a very simple doctrine, with an easy rule of life, that is, the frequent repetition of the invocation Namu Amida Butsu, “Hail to Amida the Buddha.” These Buddhists use a double rosary.

5. The Shin sect,[157] which sprung out of the Jōdo sect, is that of the Japanese Reformers or Protestants. In numerical strength it is second to the Zen sect, but in real power and influence it is facile princeps. Its priests are allowed to marry, and to eat flesh and fish. It teaches that morality is as important as faith; or, in quite familiar words, that “faith without works is dead.” It is monotheistic, as it worships only one Buddha. It alone of all Buddhist sects provides a way of salvation for women. It upholds a high standard of education, carries on vigorous missions in China and Korea, and has priests even in America.