Comments on: Shotoku Taishi: the Know-It-All Who Brought Chinese Culture to Japan

By: fee_fi_Fiona

fee_fi_Fiona — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 08:31:00 +0000

The focus of the article was on Shotoku Taishi, not on the dynamics between Shinto and Buddhism. I was not trying to elucidate the nitty-gritty details between the two at all.

The material for this post was mostly from “Giants of Japan” by Mark Weston, and I took it on good faith that his data was sound. While I do try to ensure that what I write is correct, please remember that this is a blog post, not an academic paper.

I have a whole other life outside of Tofugu; when I write I have to make do with whatever limited time and resources available. I wouldn’t, for example, have the time and money to spend on that book, although I am sure it is an excellent read.

By: HatsuHazama

HatsuHazama — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 23:13:00 +0000

You know, the Shinto soldiers on one side, in a large fortress, with the beautiful Buddhist monks trying to hit the exterior with prayer slips and such.

By: gongen

gongen — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 15:39:00 +0000

Sorry I don’t mean to be a troll at all, but this is a really weak article; your understanding of the interplay between shinto and buddhism is very, very superficial, in fact it’s mostly just incorrect. It’s a far more complex and interesting dynamic than you have it here that involves indigenous magical practices, shamanism, buddhist cosmology, nationalistic trends, and many monks and priests of extreme genius… I would recommend you read some good books on the subject before you write more posts like this about a very complex subject!

Try this scholar for an influential part of the discourse in general: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuroda_Toshio

Or try this book, it’s a good solid exposition: http://tinyurl.com/9pd9vnb

By: Joel Alexander

Joel Alexander — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 22:49:00 +0000

Rather than simply “not being in opposition”, the Buddhists actually presented the Shinto kami as Buddhas appearing in a way that the early Japanese could understand. Essentially, Buddhism absorbed Shintoism – there was no separate Shintoism until the Meiji Restoration, when the Meiji Emperor needed a state religion to solidify his power. Since Buddhism had been the state religion for the Tokugawa government, the emperor reinstated Shintoism as a secular religion (if that makes sense), and basically went “hey look, these are the native Japanese traditions we’ve been following all along.”

So, yeah. Modern Shintoism dates back barely a hundred a fifty years. Not really related to the article, but since it got mentioned, I thought I should clarify.

By: ジョサイア

ジョサイア — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 20:53:00 +0000

狐 = 　❤ O❤
かわいいですう！！！

化け猫　＝。。。怖がっている！Dx

By: fee_fi_Fiona

fee_fi_Fiona — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:26:00 +0000

Thank you, couldn’t have put it better myself ^_^