History 150A
Early Belief Systems and Authority
Overview
Shamanism and Early Belief Systems
Purity and Pollution
Sacred and Secular Power
Regional and Clan Deities
Ise v. Izumo
Spiritual Authority and the Imperial Clan
Early Belief Systems
Evidence: archaeological records, comparative religious studies, myths, folk studies
Migrants to the Archipelago brought
“Northern” shamanism from Korea, Hokkaidô, and the Ryûkyûan islands (worshipped mountains, trees, pillars)
“Southern” shamanism from Polynesia or Melanasia (worshipped ocean, water; female shamans)
Merged by 5-6th c. CE to produce “Shintô”
Shamanism
Emerged in the meso-neolithic periods in central and N. Asia (Siberia)
Tungus, Mongols, Somoyedes, Inuit, and Altaians
Term derives from Tungusic word saman
Shaman views “other world” by entering a trance or by possession
Shaman serves as a healer and diviner
Female shamans or mediums important in the Korean peninsula, Hokkaidô, the Ryûkyûs and the Japanese archipelago
Miko
Ancient miko probably had great authority in the community
Voice of the deities for prophecy, judgement and trouble-shooting
Mirrors, jewels, bow and arrows
Were Queen Himiko and Empress Jingu miko?
Close association in myth with water & snake deities
Kami
Many phenomena seen as kami: waters, mountains, trees, stones, animals, people
Things (above all, nature) beyond the control or comprehension of ordinary people
A window indicating a world beyond
A being endowed with power
Kami not necessarily friendly or unfriendly to humans, but always potentially dangerous
The Other World
In N. shamanism, stacked levels of existence; in S. shamanism, horizontal differentiation
In the Kojiki, references to the heavens and the realm of the dead
In other tales, other worlds under the ocean or beyond the sea
Over time in the J. archipelago, "location" of the Other World of kami becomes something like a parallel dimension
Kami and the Other World
While humans cannot cross easily into the other world, kami can freely go back and forth
Kami can be called with musical instruments, songs and dances, twanging of bow
Can be drawn down with wands, pillars, spears
Housed in mirrors, swords, magatama, shrines
Purity and Pollution
Purity
Things in order, as usual or as should be
Preparation for approaching the deities
Pollution
A disruption of the balance/separation of this world and the other world
Birth and death, exhaustion, disease, crime, alterations of nature
Nonhumans and Divine Servants
People who dealt with pollution were called nonhumans (hinin) because of their ability to come into contact with pollution without harm
People who provided goods and services to institutions related to other world (shrines, temples, emperor) were also considered set apart from normal humans
Kami and Secular Power
Competing Deities
Different regional groups or clans claimed association with and divine descent from a specific founding deity (sun, bear, etc.)
Leadership
Both a sacred and secular dimension
United in one figure or distributed among more than one?
Trade and Taxes
Offerings to local deity stimulated regional exchange and formed the conceptual foundation for suiko
Ise and Izumo
Ise and Izumo shrines represented two powerful clans in relatively close contact but politically opposed
Issue of livelihoods and centrality of agriculture
Authoritative architecture: construction of large shrines for kami stimulated by the introduction of Buddhist temple architecture from the 6th c.
Izumo Taisha
"Whence the Clouds Come"
"Whence the Clouds Come"
Located on the Japan Sea side in Shimane Prefecture
Dedicated to Okuninushi, son of Susanoo and deity of fishing, sericulture, good fortune and fertility
Izumo Taisha
Aristocratic dwelling architectural style
Once 48 meters tall (monumentality), built on pillars, kept falling over, prob. 8 fences
Until establishment of Yamato hegemony, appears to have been a more important religious site than Ise
Thereafter, Susano-o and Izumo got a bad rap in (Yamato) myths, fortunes of the shrine declined, tended to benefit in times of less centralized authority
Ise Jingû
Southeast of the Yamato Plain on Pacific Ocean side
Dedicated to Amaterasu (sun goddess) and Toyouke (deity of grains and harvest)
Ise Jingû
On the Korean peninsula, royal families claimed to be descendents of sun deity
Also deep roots for sun worship in archipelago
Appears that the Yamato clans appropriated their relationship to sun deity
Local shrine of Ise chosen because it had no powerful elite serving it
With the ascendance of the Yamato imperial clan, Amaterasu and Ise gain "national" significance
Rebuilt bigger and bigger on stone foundation
Sacred and Secular Authority
W. Coaldrake: "To rule is to build, and to build is to rule"
Mobilization of labor and materials for periodic rebuilding
Symbol of power of ruler(s), focuses attention on the "center"
Facilitates interregional exchange
Monday, October 2, 2006
Lecture 4: Early Beliefs
