Comparative perspectives on the emergence of jindō and Shinto

Bibliographic Data

ID2807295
AuthorsMark Teeuwen (0009-0007-1126-3147, University of Oslo, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume70
Issue2
Pages373-402
Publication date2007-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0041-977X • E-ISSN: 1474-0699
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0041977x07000456
OpenAlexW2149174663
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited9

The common understanding that Shinto is Japan's "indigenous religion" makes it difficult to raise the question of when and how this Shinto emerged as a religious identity distinct from Buddhism. This article argues that Shinto arose from a Buddhist cult that incorporated the kami as jindō, rather than from the classical court cult that created a distance between Buddhism and the kami, and that defined the latter as jingi. This Buddhist jindō cult had obvious parallels in other Buddhist states (notably in the Burmese cult of nats), and a comparative approach is essential if we are to understand the dynamics at work here. To explain Shinto's emergence, we must, first, recognize and analyse its origins in jindō and, second, address its medieval dispersal from the royal court into the periphery - another process that can be fruitfully compared with Burma's nat cult

Ancient history · Archaeology · Border crossing · Buddhism · Burmese · Cult · Epistemology · Linguistics · Parallels · Sociology · Chinese history and philosophy · History · Japanese History and Culture · Philosophy · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

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