Solar deity in Japanese mythology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14712874 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Danijela Vasić (0000-0001-6260-1045, University of Belgrade – Faculty of Philology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 72 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 59-78 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Glasnik Etnografskog instituta (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0350-0861 • E-ISSN: 2334-8259 |
| Publisher | National Library of Serbia (PUBLISHER • RS) |
| DOI | 10.2298/gei2401059v |
| OpenAlex | W4399910670 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 9 |
In order to create an orderly state, the first imperial chronicles emerged in the early 8th century in the territory of modern Japan through the integration and systematization of mythical elements that proved the legitimacy of the government and the descent of the imperial Yamato lineage from the supreme deity of the Shinto pantheon - the Great Sun Goddess Amaterasu. This mythic paradigm was created on the existing mytho-historical foundations fostered by cultural and political contacts with the Korean kingdoms and the Chinese empire. There is evidence that the cult of the solar deity, originally portrayed as a male principle, originated in a corpus outside the Yamato mythological system. And since male-female pairs of rulers were common (first it was the gods, later the ruler and the shamaness), it is possible that at some point the distinction between the sexes was blurred and then the female side prevailed. However, the female ancestral deity does not indicate a period of matriarchy. This symbolic type of goddess, who initiates a patrimonial lineage with rare female exceptions, was created by members of a privileged group of powerful men to legitimize their own power structures. Moreover, the cult of the mother goddess is not limited to the solar principle, but is associated with weaving, silk production, and agriculture. Thus, the simple assertion that the Yamato imperial lineage descended from the goddess Amaterasu raises numerous questions and doubts, which this essay attempts to answer
Ancient history · Art · Clan · Connotation · Cult · Empire · Ideology · Legitimacy · Literature · Mythology · Political science · Politics · Ruler · Sociology · Anthropology · Chinese history and philosophy · Classics · History · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Philippine History and Culture · Philosophy
The Emperor of Japan
Origin and Growth of the Worship of Amaterasu
Japanese Myths of Descent from Heaven and Their Korean Parallels
The Myth of the Descent of the Heavenly Grandson
The Sun and the Throne
Significance of Military Power in the Jindai Moji Text Hotsuma Tsutae-With a Focus on Susanoo and Yamato Takeru
The Emperor of Japan as Deity (Kami)
| Highly cited | No |
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