No.1 - The abolition of Buddhism (during the Meiji Restoration), The Persecution of Buddhism
昨日、東京上野の美術館で、ボストン美術館展に行きました。世界の美術品と共に、日本美術のすばらしさを感じることができました。そこで「廃仏毀釈」を学びました。今日はこの歴史を紹介しましょう。(English) I visited the Museum of Fine Arts, Ueno, Tokyo, for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston exhibition. Along with art from around the world, I was able to experience the wonder of Japanese art. There I learned about the 'abolition of Buddhism.' Today I would like to introduce this history.
No.1 - The abolition of Buddhism (during the Meiji Restoration), The Persecution of Buddhism
A)
1)
Haibutu Kisyaku (廃仏毀釈) is an action that deals a heavy blow to Buddhism by discarding Buddhist temples, statues, and scriptures related to Buddhism.
Haibutu Kisyaku:
= The abolition of Buddhism (during the Meiji Restoration)
= The Persecution of Buddhism
2)
Meaning of Haibutu Kisyaku.
Haibutu = to destroy or abolish things related to Buddhism.
Kisyaku = to discard the teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha.
Haibutu Kisyaku occurred in various parts of the world outside Japan, including India and China.
3)
Primarily, however, Haibutu Kisyaku means the Haibutu Kisyaku movement.
In Japan, it occurred after the Shinto and Buddhist Separation Order of the Meiji era.
It destroyed valuable cultural assets in temples, such as Buddhist statues, scripture books, and temple buildings.
B)
4)
The Haibutsu Kishaku (abolition of Buddhism) movement spread throughout Japan.
The abolition of the Buddha movement occurred in temples all over the country at the beginning of the Meiji era (1868-1912).
Until then, Japan had a Shinto/Buddhist syncretism, meaning temples were within shrines.
Japanese deities were also enshrined in temples.
Shinto and Buddhism were both intricately mixed.
5)
You may have heard of 'Kami-sama (God), Hotoke-sama (Budda)'.
Japanese God and Buddha originated in India and are entirely different in the first place.
To be called together in this way is very special.
6)
However, this is now found in only a few shrines and temples.
Most shrines are only Shinto, and temples are only Buddhist institutions.
The movement to abolish Buddhism, which caused this, took place in a short period of only five years, just after the Meiji era.
7)
Buddhism has a history of more than 1,000 years.
There were many valuable Japanese cultural assets, such as Buddhist statues.
This section will explain why this happened with the Haibutsu Kishaku movement, in which these were destroyed or lost.
C)
8)
Why did the abolition of Buddhism occur? It has Multiple causes.
There are various reasons why the abolition of Buddhism occurred.
9)
The government, the citizens, the priests, and the Shintoists, who abolished Buddhism, each have reasons for participating in the movement to abolish Buddhism.
First, we will discuss Japan before the abolition of the Buddha movement occurred.
D)
10)
Historical background of the movement to abolish Buddhism (pre-Meiji period)
The movement to abolish Buddhism occurred after the Meiji era's Shinto and Buddhist Separation Order.
11)
However, during the Edo period, the reasons for the abolition of Buddhism occurred.
Two points of 'ideology' and 'dissatisfaction with the Buddhist side' led to Buddhism's abolition in the Edo period.
E)
12)
The rise of Kokugaku (national studies) and the spread of the idea of the separation of Shintoism and Buddhism
Earlier, I mentioned a period when Shintoism and Buddhism were together, known as Shinto-Buddhism Shugyo.
13)
However, during the Edo period (1603-1868), Kokugaku, which attempted to clarify Japan's original culture and spirit, flourished.
One of the themes of this Kokugaku was the attempt to clarify the original Shintoism before the arrival of Buddhism greatly influenced it.
14)
The man was Hirata Atsutane (平田篤胤), a disciple of Motoya Nobunaga, who was a great exponent of Kokugaku.
He is renowned as a leading researcher who attempted to clarify "Shinto in its original form, the Shinto that has existed in Japan since ancient times."
15)
His disciples, the Hirata group, would majorly influence the Shinto State.
16)
In the Edo period, there were also clans and shrines, such as the Mito method represented by the Mito group, which promoted the separation of Shinto and Buddhism in different regions.
F)
17)
Citizens and Shinto priests dissatisfaction with the Buddhist side due to the "Contract system (=Terakoya system)."
The Edo Shogunate established a system under which all citizens had a relationship as a Danka with a temple.
The "Terakoya system" allowed for a deeper connection between temples and citizens than had previously been the case.
18)
Citizens had difficulty paying money to the temple on various occasions, such as funerals.
On the other hand, the temples were very profitable due to the presence of citizens as a financial base.
Many citizens complained about this.
19)
In addition, temples and shrines were treated almost identically during the Edo period.
However, shrines did not have the same financial base as temples and were pushed by the power of temples.
20)
Some of the Shinto priests were forced to do miscellaneous tasks.
Citizens and Shintoists were dissatisfied with Buddhism.
On the other hand, some Buddhist priests were financially well-off, did not practice Buddhism, were lazy, and their lives were in disarray.
G)
21)
The Shinto/Buddhist Separation Order broke out on the occasion of the Haibutsu Kishaku (abolition of Buddhism).
Then came the Meiji Restoration and the start of a new political system by the Meiji Government.
22)
The Meiji government wanted to improve everything in Japan far behind the West, and catch up quickly.
To achieve this, it acted to create a centralized, modern government.
One of these was the Shinto/Buddhist Separation Order, separating Shinto and Buddhism.
H)
23)
Why the Meiji Government favored Shinto
The Meiji Government made Shintoism the state religion and adopted a rite and political unanimity policy.
This unity of rites and government is said to have been influenced by the earlier Kokugaku and Mito studies.
It aimed to build a state centered on the Emperor, bringing the government and citizens together and catching up with Western countries.
24)
This was also intended to exclude other religions by making Shinto central.
Furthermore, by making Shinto central, the government wanted to take power away from the temples, which until then had effectively controlled the citizens through the temple contract system.
It was also intended to negate the Tokugawa era.
25)
The Meiji Government then sought to reduce the power of Buddhism by separating Buddhism from Shintoism through the Shinto and Buddhism Separation Orders.
These orders are as follows.
26)
The removal of anything related to Buddhism from within shrines.
Buddhist statues, Buddhist temple buildings, and scripture books are to be removed, and Buddhist deities are to be renamed.
They are taking away the territory of Buddhist temples.
Priests belonging to the shrine should become priests or return to the general public.
27)
However, apart from the ideas of the Meiji Government, Buddhist temples were attacked throughout the country.
Various Buddhist objects there were destroyed.
The Meiji Government did not order the movement to abolish Buddhism with these contents.
However, it spread throughout the country in the wake of the Shinto/Buddhist Separation Order.
28)
The movement to abolish Buddhism did not, for example, have a single ringleader who led the thorough destruction.
Various people worked with their ideas.
I)
29)
It is not that someone led the abolition of Buddhism.
Various people are dissatisfied with the Buddhist side and the idea of separating Shintoism from Buddhism.
30)
The citizens' movement to abolish Buddhism was revenge against Buddhism because of the hard life they had been leading.
The priests' movement to abolish Buddhism was revenge against Buddhism.
There were riots by people with an extreme national Shinto ideology.
31)
In addition, some clans were influenced by the fact that the family strongly believed in the separation of Shinto and Buddhism.
In some cases, clans took the initiative to dismantle temples.
The abolition of Buddhism is said to be one of the worst brutal acts in Japanese history.
It was the worst, with a massive loss of cultural property in a short period.
J)
32)
Consequences of the Haibutsu Kishaku
The results of the movement to abolish Buddhism from the Shinto and Buddhist Separation Order were disastrous.
33)
Half of the nation's temples disappeared.
Critical cultural properties from Japan's Nara period were destroyed or leaked abroad.
The Ministry of Divinities was established, focusing on the national Shinto religion, but was dismantled within a few years.
34)
Subsequently, the Daikyoin and the Ministry of Teaching and Research enlisted the help of Buddhism.
Eventually, the separation of Shinto and Buddhism proceeded, but the Meiji Government's intention to create a Shinto-centred state was abandoned.
However, critical cultural assets with a history of over 1,000 years were lost.
The abolition of Buddhism (during the Meiji Restoration)
The Persecution of Buddhism
"Haibutsu Kishaku" - Wikipedia
"Haibutsu Kishaku" is a phenomenon that destroys Buddhist temples, Buddhist statues, and sutra scrolls and abolishes Buddhism. "Habibutsu" means to cancel the Buddha (object of faith), and "Kishaku" means to destroy the teachings of Shakyamuni (the founder of Buddhism).