428 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION E. 



be an ancient shrine to resort to and at whicli to purchase charms, 

 cai'e little what form of faith may be there professed. 



As a result of this purification, the visitor to Japan to-day, while 

 he loses much that charmed the eye thirty or forty years ago, or less, 

 nevertheless has better opportunity of making' himself familiar with 

 the " pure Shinto" style, which, while simple, at the same time is 

 unique as being one of tlie few things which was not imported from 

 the mainland of Asia. 



Kestoration of Mikadu. 



With the I'evolution of 1868 came the restoration of the Mikado's 

 authority; old traditions became paramount; thus the divine right of 

 the sovereign once more was openly acknowledged and proclaimed. 



Buddhism had had hold of the common people so long that they 

 viewed with regret the demolishing of gods which for centuries they 

 liad been wont to worship as part of their daily life. Centuries of 

 unquestioning obedience to the commands of those in authority had, 

 during the years of " purification," caused these same people to obey 

 the dictates of their superiors as a matter of course. But, as was 

 to be expected, the bonzes (Buddhist priests) took the matter much 

 more to heart, some preferring to consign their temples to Nirvana 

 rather than to the hands of Shinto priests. Thus, the finest temple in 

 Tokyo, that- of Zozoji in Shiba, built by the Shogun leyasu, perished 

 in the flames, together with its store of ancient art treasures, shortly 

 after the order for its tiansformiation into a Shinto temple. And this 

 so late as New Year's Night, 1874. 



Eallt of Buddhism. 



But the new " purified" order of things was not to last. Buddhism 

 was not long in rallying. The Spiritual Council sank to the rank of a 

 niere department, and afterwards lower still. The whole thing has 

 dwindled down. The efforts on the part of the Government to supplant 

 Buddhism by Kami worship have now been veiy considerably relaxed. 

 Nevertheless, Shintoism to-day still is so far the official cult that 

 certain temples, e.g. — Ise and Nikko, are maintained out of public 

 moneys; while the attendance of certain officials is required from time 

 to time at ceremonials of a semi-religious or semi-courtly nature, e.g. — 

 the Emperor returning thanks at Ise for success in tlie war with 

 Eussia. 



In effect, the endeavour to supplant Buddhism by Sliintoism 

 really was an attempt to set up as the national religion a religion both 

 hollow and unsatisfying. This and the ojjening up of the country to 

 foreign influences, together with the spread of modern thouglit, would 

 prevent the subsistence of beliefs which only wei"e possible while the 

 Mikado lived in a retirement and seclusion which allowed him to be 

 wrapped in so divine an atmosphere that awestruck reverence for- 

 bade the utterance of the name of the divinely descended iiiler. 



Shinto (Descriptive). 



Wliile the indigenous religion of Japan is Shinto, Buddhism in its 



Chinese form was imported from India throu2:h China and Korea in 



the sixth centuiy of the Christian era. But, though Shinto and 



Buddhism Ion": have stood, and still stand, side bv side, it must not 



