Democratic enquirer. [volume] (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1867-1873, 1868-09-10


is known as the "Shinto faith was the only
religion. Of the Japanese for centuries. II
was indigenous and peculiar TO the Japan
ese, and accounts la inetaph0ricalw foI
the creation Of man and Of the universe.
The Shintos do not believe In a fnture state
Of eternal punishment, and generally are
optimisls. They believe IN feasting rather
than in fasting; and their only serious re-
| ligious observance Is that ofmal1ing pilgrim
ages. Their temples are always placed in
the most attractive and picturesque spots
the approaches to which are tree-lined
avenues, with impressive entrance gates.
At the great religious festival no Buddhist
Ia allowed TO approach, except in the guise
Of layman. On their pilgimages strict
abstinence is observed from everything un-
clean or impure, but at the close of these
services they indulge in all manner Of ex-
cesses n
In the year 285, Vain, disciple Of Con-
fucius, obtained permission TO visit Japan
under pretext of seeking remedy for a
disease under which the Chinese Emperor
vas suffering, but really to escape from his
granny. He was well received at the Jap
anese Court, and taught the doctrines Of
Confucius so effectually that the Mikado
became convert, and his example was
largely followed. Considerable tracts Of
land were given as endowments in various
parts ofthe empire, which were apportioned
as '1iyings' by the members Of the Mikado
family. So scrupulous were they in the
observance of the precepss Of Confueius,
that when the Mikado died the two heirs
to the throne, whose claims we're best, re-
fused the succession, in obedience to the
rule that when the right to a thing or place
is disputed each must refuse in Difference
TO the other. After three years of delay
one of the heirs kindly terminated the con-
troversy by committing suicide The
Shintos,. happy in the belief Of their epicur-
can doctrines, made no violent opposition
to those of Confucius.
The introduction Of Buddhism WAS, how
ever attended with difficulties The writer
says:
'The date at which this took place, and
the attending circumstances Of the event,
we find given~with much precision and con-
siderable detail in the national records. In
512 A. d. the peninsula of Corea was visited
by a terrible famine In the universal dis
tress, the seed usually reserved for the en-
suing crop was consumed, and the land
consequently withoutmeans reproducing
the necessaries of life The Mikado hear
ing Of this, sent to the Coreans several
thousand bushels of wheat 90 seed. AS an
expression OF gratitude for this imperial
munifoence, the afflicted people sent an
embassy to the BIikado, with the most
costly and'precious relic their country pos
sessed, viz, q golden image of Buddha,
which had been brought from India, the
birthblace Of the sacred person it represen-
ted. Accompanying them was corps Of
missionaries and teachers, with books and
1.-THE pamphernlaia of Buddhistic worship.
',Ro-re-tinna, fthe thirty-second dynas-
ty, was on the throne, and he Immediately
called a council of state to deliberate and
decide upon the propnety of accepting so
novel return for his wheat These delib-
erations amounted to this: If two such
ancientand great nationsas India and China
have adopted the religion and worship Of
| Buddha. is ii not consistent for MS to give
the subject at least our earnest considera-
tion2 At the close Of the conference o
division Of opinion was found to exist
Inama and Moria, the two principal minis
ters of his Majesty, taking opposite sides.
An earnest appeal from Moria in favor Of
their national religion and the gross
heresy of abandoning the creators of their
country and progenitors Of their race, car
Iied the council, and Inama was told that
if he wished to adopt the foreign faith he
could do, but it could not become the
religion Of the court or country
Upon this he took the golden Buddha,
built temple, and placing it upon the
alter, instituted for the first time idolatrous
worship in Japan. Being thorough con-
vert to Buddhism, his zeal for its establish
ment only increased with opposition
Having great influence at court, he at
once began to use all it to strengthen his
position and overthrow his opponents
Unscrupulous as to the means, he resorted
at first Ot the dagger Of the assassin, and
lastly to the massacre of hundreds who op-
posed his work of apostasy, among whom
was Mana, By these means, intrigues at
court, he succeeded, after several Years of
incessant effort, in placing on the throne q
Mikado who had been imbued with the
Buddhist faith. The zeal of this Mikado
was quite equal to that of Inam's; but he
soon abdicated the throne, took the priestly
robes, and devoted his life, revenue and 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 Buddha amounted to 49,
the priests to BIG and the nuns to 500.
'fhis was the condition of Buddhism in
Japan in 624 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
ese may be considered as essentially Bud
dhist, nothing having arisen to check in
ally way its steady advance, until the
country was discovered by the Portuguese,
and the Jesuits and Franciscan monks en-
tered upon their missionary labors in the
year 1549.
There are no evidences that up to the
time of the immigration Of the Portuguese
there was anything like Union between
church and state, which began in1604 with
the present dynasty Of Tong-en-sama. An
imperial edict was promulgated about this
time, requiring every subject to register
himself as Buddhist. Especial efforts
we're made to crush out Roman Catholicism,
but it is believed that there are large num-
bers to 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
madeno real progress. The Tycoon, even,
worships the Shinto divinities The
priests are, as a class, ignorant, bigoted,
lazy and licentious' and come mainly from
the lower classes and from among those
who seek the sscerdotal profession as al
pefrom the consequences ofsome crime
The mountain priests ore little more thar
beggars, The Buddhist priests are not al
lowed to eat flesh or meat, and have gener
ally sickly appearance.
The description we have used concludes
as follows:
THE forms and ceremonies of Buddhist
'ic worship as practisgl by the Japanes'
consist in the repetition of set forms o
prayer, which, with their religious work
and liturgy, are written in astrange Language
(Tati and Sanscritl in prostration befor
the image of their goldman Buddhn, towar,
which they bow their heads in passing; il
set sermons of exhortation to the people; il