Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...

is believed to be the inspiration for spiritual concepts in

Japanese culture The culture of Japan has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world. Historical overview The ances ...

. Taoism is similar to

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shint ...

in that it also started as an

indigenous religion Indigenous religions is a category used in the study of religion to demarcate the religious belief systems of communities described as being " indigenous". This category is often juxtaposed against others such as the " world religions" and " ne ...

in China, although it is more hermetic than

shamanistic Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiri ...

. Taoism's influence can be seen throughout the culture but to a lesser extent than

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

. Taoism in the form it takes in Japan can be easily seen as superstitious or astrological and the concept of demons and spirits seem to have their roots in a Taoist influence such as

Onmyōdō is a system of natural science, astronomy, almanac, divination and magic that developed independently in Japan based on the Chinese philosophies of yin and yang and wuxing (five elements). The philosophy of yin and yang and wu xing was intro ...

and

Shugendō is a highly syncretic religion, a body of ascetic practices that originated in the Nara Period of Japan having evolved during the 7th century from an amalgamation of beliefs, philosophies, doctrines and ritual systems drawn from local ...

. The widely practiced ritual of ''

setsubun is the day before the beginning of spring in the old calendar in Japan. The name literally means 'seasonal division', referring to the day just before the first day of spring in the traditional calendar, known as ; though previously referr ...

'' (節分) where chanters repeat "Demons out! Luck in!" has its base in Taoism and also touches on a relation to '' uchi-soto''. There is a culture of consultation where ''ogamiyasan'' are called upon to provide their Taoism based insight to bear upon events such as house-buildings. Taoism has a calendar whereby one can determine the best day, element and time should be chosen to color an event in the right light (

Tengenjutsu (fortune telling) Tengen-jutsu is a Japanese fortune telling method. It is based on yin and yang and the five elements, and uses a persons birth date in the sexagenary cycle and physical appearance to predict ones fate. Tengen-jutsu originated in various Chinese ...

Etymology

The Japanese ''

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequ ...

'' for Taoism is 道教 (Dô-kyô). The root of this ''kanji'' is 道 (''michi'', way, path) + 教 (''kyō'', doctrine, teaching, education). ''Dô'' shares the same Chinese character as ''tao'', 道 which literally means "way".

Taoism in Japan

According to a tale from the '' Nihon Shoki'', a man named Tajima Mori set out to explore for the elixir of immortality and reached the Eternal Land, where he brought back the “fragrant fruit” to offer to his ruler; the latter turned out to be already dead so Tajima Mori followed suit. “Scholars have identified it as the immortals’ isles of ''Penglai'', and the ‘fragrant fruit’ as the mandarin orange". The legal system of China was brought to Japan in the late 7th and early 8th centuries, specifically a Bureau of ''yin'' and ''yang'', the ''Ommyokan'', to handle affairs of time keeping, astronomy, dream interpretation and calendar calculation and ''yin-yang'' and the Five Phases cosmology. By the 10th century, it developed with rituals to cast away unlucky tendencies and this became known as the religious practice in Japan called ''inyodo'' (

) or ''yin-yang'' divination. Taoism also influenced '' Shugendo'', Japan’s shamanistic and mountain worship. It began in the 7th century and combined Buddhism, ''yin-yang'' divination, Shinto and Taoist elements. One spell of Taoistic influence is the “Come down, soldiers and fighters, and line up before me!” which is used to enter a holy mountain on certain days. Another ritual formula evident of Taoism is the “Swiftly, swiftly, in accordance with the statutes and ordinances!” which can be seen in banners, talismans and roof tiles even today in Japan. Taoist influences made their way even to Shinto, specifically

Ise Ise may refer to: Places *Ise, Mie, a city in Japan ** Ise Grand Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Ise, Mie * Ise Ekiti, a city in Nigeria * Ise, Norway, a village in Norway * Ise Province, an ancient province of Japan * River Ise, a tributary of ...

and Yoshida Shintō, both of which developed in Kamakura in 1281. Shinto became one of Japan’s political doctrines in the early 20th century, known as the State Shinto. In 1950, the Society for the Research of Daoism was founded. In 1951, the Society published its first journal. One of the Taoist practices in Japan is the ''

Kōshin or is a folk faith in Japan with Taoist origins, influenced by Shinto, Buddhism and other local beliefs. A typical event related to the faith is called , held on the Kōshin days that occur every 60 days in accordance with the Chinese sexagena ...

'' religion. ''Koshin'' refers to the 57th day of the 60-day calendar cycle, where three worms bringing death from the human body go to report of people’s sins in heaven. The worms then go back to the human body and shorten the people’s lifespan by causing illnesses and unhappiness. To avoid this, the Taoists stays awake the whole day and night and perform rituals. “The Koshin cult is the most obvious and best known instance of Taoism in Japan” Kohn, L. (1995). Taoism in Japan: Positions and evaluations. Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie, 8(8), 389-412. doi:10.3406/asie.1995.1103

References

{{reflist Japanese philosophy

Etymology

Taoism in Japan

See also

References