The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1868-09-03
The Religlo1 In Japap-OrlgIn and.
. JLi PrOeekq VI Bud1hiytns

NNaAAANAAhhAtN' Nha INhNANAA.NO MhN MhInNH
ebe, aud ACCOUNTS inn metaphorical way for
the. creation OF man mud of the universe.
The Shintogtdo not believe in a future state
OF eternal Punishment, and generally are
optimists. They believe in f%easting rather
than in fasting; and their only serions re-
lIaious observance is That of makin9 piIcrim-
ages. Their temples are. always placed in
tie most Attractive and picturesque spots
I the approaches TO. Which are troe-ined
Avenues, NTH impressive entrance gates
AZ the great religious festival no Buddhist
is allowedito approach. except in the guise
of a laymau. On their p~ilgrimagas, stiict
abstinehce IL observed from everything uu-
clean orfmpure bntlst the close Of these
services they indulge in all manner OF ex-
eesses. lihiiihf- lHi.
"a III the year 2s5, Vain, a disciple Of Con
%fucius, obtained permission 70 visit Japan
under pretext Ut seeking q remedy for n
disease under which the Chinese Emperor.
was suffering, but really to escape nom his.
tyfanuyl He was well received at the jap
anese Court, aud taught the do~ciriues OF
! Confncius so effactnally that Tie Mika1o
Became q convert. aid his example was
hrrelyr followed Considerable tracts OF.
baud were given rs tudowments in various
parts of the empire, which were apportionod
as 'livings' blythe members ofthe Mikado
Family. Sd scrttpulous we're they Ia the
| observance Of the precepts Of Coniucius,
that when, the Mikndo died the two heirs
to the throne whoYo claims were best re-
fused the Succession, in obedience to the
Ithle that when Cue light to o thing or plnce
is disputed each must refuse in Difference
to the other. After three years OF delay
one. of the heirs kindly terminated the con-.
troyefsy by committing suicide. The
Shilios, happy in tile belief Of their epicur-
can doctrines, mnde no violent opposition
10 those Of ConCncius.
The INTRODUCTION Of Buddhism was how
ever attended with difficulties. The writer
says. ''. .'
Tho date ut which this took place. aud
the attending circumstance Of the event,
We find giydu With much precision aud CON
sidetable detail IN the national records In
sly H. D.the peninsula ofCoren was visited
by a terrible famine. In the universal dis
tress, tue seed usually reserved for the en-
suing crop was consumed, and the land
consequently without means of r%cproducing
the necessaries Of life. The NukNdo hear.
ing of this. sent to the Cdreans several
thousand bushels OF wheat as seed As I'm
expression Of gratitude foT this imperial
muniicence, the Inflicted people sent an
embassy TO the Milyndo, with the most
costly Rndlprecioug relic their country pos
sessed, VIVA golden image of Buddha,
which had been brought from India, the
BIRTHPLACE OF the sacred person II represent
ted Accompanying them was q corps of
missionaries ind teachers, with books and
allthe paraphernlaia of Buddhistic worship.
"Ro-re-hnna. OF the Uitty-second dynas-
", was on the throne, and he immediately
called q council Of stote 10 deliberate and
decide uponthe propnety Of accepting so
novel a return for his wheat. These DELHI
CITATIONS amounted to this. II two snch
0ncientHnd great nationsas India Rnd China
have adopted the religion md Worship of
Buddha, islitnot consistent for US TO give
the subject ut least ON earnest consideru-
ton z At the close of the conference a
division Of opinion was found to exist
Inama and MORN, the two principal minis
tiers of his Majesty taking opposite sides.
An earnest appeal hom Moria in favor OF
their national religion and the gross
heresy of abandoning the creators Of their
country and progenitors OF their race, car
ried the council. and Inamn was told TINT
If he wished to adopt the foreign faith lie
could do. but It could not become the
religion of tho cour or country.
Upon this he took the golden Buddha,
built q temple, and placing IL upon the
alter. instituted for the Arsttime idolRtrous
worship In japan. Being q thorough CON
vert to Buddhism, his zeal for is establish
ment' ouly increasod with opposition
Having a great influence ut court, he at
once began TO use NIL IL to strengthen his
position and overthrow his opponents.
Upscmpulouy Ms to the means, he resorted
Mt first OF the dagger of tue assassin, and
lastly 10 the massacre Of hundreds who OPP
. posed his work Of apostasy anon whom
"as Mana, BY these means, intrigues at
court, he succeeded, after several Years Of
incessant effort In placing on the throne q
MiBado who had been imbued with the
Buddhist faith. The zeal Of this Aiikado
was quite equal 10 that OF hams, but be
soon Rbdicated the throne, took the pricstly
robes, and devoted his life, revenue mud in
fence TO the building up Of the faith of his
adoption. During his reign, and through
his labors, the number Of temples erected
TO the worship Of BUddhG amounted TO 46,
the priests TO SIG and the nuns to jG9,
This was the condition Of Buddhism in
lIupan in GA A. D., or seventy-two years
after the presentation of the golden Buddha
by the Coreans From that time forward
the worship of the great mass of the Japan
cse may be considered IA essestially Bud
ldhist, nothing having arisen TO chcus in
lpLy way its steady advance, until tue
country WIS ulAcDNtftN ny Tue portuguese,
and the Jesuits and Franciscan monks en-
tered upon their missionary hbors in the
year 1919" 1901
ID There are no evidences that up to the
tlme of tho immigration of the Portuguese
there was anything like q Union between
church and state, which began in 1901 with
the present dynasty of Tohg-en-sama. An
imperid edict was promulgated about this
time, requiring every subject TO register
himself as q Buddhist Especial efforts
were made TO crush out Roman Catholicism,
but 1t IL believed that there are large num-
tbersto this day who cherish secretly the
doctrines Of that faith, and are bound to
each other by ties unknown to the public.
For two-hundred years Buddhism has
made no real progress. The Tycoon. sven,
worships the. Shinto, .diyiniiies, The
priests ave, as d Glass, "ignorant, higoted,
lazy nnd icentious. and com mainly from
the lower clhsses and from iarnbng those
who seek the sqcerdotal psefession ns an
escape fromthe consequences ofsome crime.
The mountain priests are little more than
beggJns, o. The Buddhist priests are not all
lowed TO eat flesh or meat, and have gener-
ally a sichy appearance. st fuGCi
The description we have used oonclldea
Rs1nlowssrV y,5lf'l9mml
.li 7gThe forms and ceremonies Of Buddhist,
iG wprship ls eprqctised1 byfthe JnpanesC
consist in the repetition Of set forms Of
prayer, which, with their religious works
and liturgy, are written IN 4 stfhnge langrhfg,
III tTattand SmserIt oinT prostitution befor,
the image OF their goldman Buddha, toward
which they bow then heads in passing il
heterogeneous Of exbortation I'd the people; il
H~elf-denial, modification of the flesh, anC
q4tGTpal forms of purity, in pmyers for tn,
dead, and sale Of merits. The temple wor
ship ~ oondd5t9d by several priests, who
, ~pficiate in turn, or together, They veal
white robes, with gold and silver trim.
I mings, which are 6hRnged fr%euuentlV and