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(★)(There must always remain some uncertainty about the origins of ancestor worship in Japan. To some it has seemed obviously a cult imported from China ; but they have been unable to show how a phenomenon so thoroughly bound up with lineage principles could operate in a society lacking lineage organization altogether. To others it is equally apparent that ancestor worship lies at the heart of the indigenous belief system of Japan and thus predates the introduction of Buddhism and Confucianism. Still others argue that although the Japanese practices resemble ancestor worship they fall short of the full-fledged development to be seen in China or in some African societies. We cannot finally know which of these positions comes closest to the truth, but we can be certain that insofar as the practice of ancestor worship in Japan owes anything at all to continental sources, it has not unexpectedly taken on emphases without analogue in any other Buddhist country of Asia. In this respect ancestor worship is like all other features of Japanese culture that are wholly or partially of alien derivation --the transformations wrought by the Japanese have been profound. ／In the course of dealing with the historical materials I shall first discuss the earliest manifestations of ancestor veneration in the indigenous, pre-Buddhist tradition, in part for the light they throw on the character of the syncretic practices of later centuries. These early forms are important in another way as well, for by A.D. 400 at the latest there evidently had become established an indigenous view of ancestry and descent that despite all the later amalgamations of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism persists to the present day in the peculiar institution of the imperial house. This same view of ancestry and descent persists also among many lesser ancient families, and by extension among all Japanese. The conception of the ancestry of the imperial house found in the early chronicles has exerted a profound influence at every level of Japanese social organization, from the patrilineal household to the nation as a whole. Indeed, that influence was particularly felt in the development of the idea of a national polity, an idea that dominated the thinking of the oligarchs of the Meiji period. ／My second historical concern will be with the consequences of the introduction of Buddhism into Japan through China and Korea, with particular reference to its effect on the conceptualization of gods and ancestors. In particular, I shall deal specifically with the Buddhist ´urabon-e´, or ´bon´, the midsummer Festival of the Dead. Although it is true that there has since been a considerable accretion of indigenous elements, bon was already by the early seventh century, when its first observance in Japan is reported, a complex of elements of a heavily syncretic character. At the time of its introduction it must have exerted an irresistible appeal, for it had already become in China the major vehicle for the fusion of Buddhism and ancestor worship. It remains to this day the single great Buddhist festival of Japan, the perfect counterpoint to the Shinto emphasis of celebrations marking the New Year. Over time the association of ancestral rites with institutionalized Buddhism became so complete that for most Japanese today Buddhism has come to mean ancestor worship and little more. In tracing the course of this development, I shall necessarily touch on the complex relationship between Buddhist and non-Buddhist beliefs and practices that reveals on the one hand important continuities with Japan´s past and on the other the surprisingly recent development of practices that are ordinarily taken to be of great antiquity. ／The separation of ritual universes is a constant theme in those villages called shrine-communities (miyaza), where the responsibility for carrying out rites at the local Shinto shrine falls in turn to the heads of certain households. During a man´s period of service, he is called by the ordinary word for a Shinto priest, and the Buddhist altar containing the ancestral tablets of his house is sealed and removed from his dwelling (fuente : Hori 1969 : 300-301). The intent of this practice is obviously to prevent pollution of the Shinto shrine through even indirect contact with death and the dead. On a more general level, in the ordinary Japanese dwelling the gods and buddhas are separately enshrined. The god shelf is high up on the wall of the room, often above a door, and is made of untreated wood. It contains no images, for the gods are not anthropomorphized. The worshiper stands before it. The Buddhist altar, by contrast, is usually an ornately lacquered and gilded cabinet set into or against a wall. It may contain a representation of the Buddha ; it almost invariably contains memorial tablets of the dead. Ordinarily the worshiper sits before it. When there is severe illness or a death in the household, it is still today the common practice to seal off the god shelf lest the pollution offend the gods and bring harm to the members of the family.／ [from ´INTRODUCTION´] ▼CONTENTS／ ●INTRODUCTION／ ●ONE.The Historical Perspective／ ●TWO.Spirits, Ghosts, and Gods／ ●THREE.Caring for the Dead／ ●FOUR.Approaches to the Ancestors／ ●FIVE.Who Are the Ancestors?／ ●SIX.The Realm of Personal Attachments／ ●CONCLUSION／ ) |
BASE de DATOS, Biblioteca del Centro Cultural de la Embajada de Japon
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