Shinbutsu Bunri
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Shinbutsu bunri (神仏分離, lit. Shinto-Buddhism-separation) refers to the policies by the Meiji government to separate Shinto from Buddhism. By the end of Edo period, Shinto and Buddhism were intimately connected, what was called Shinbutsu Shugo (神仏習合) up to the point, where even the same buildings were used as Shinto shrine and Buddhist temple. The government decreed their separation in temples and shrines, in order to purify Shinto, the traditional religion, as a reaction to perceived foreign threats in Christianity and against Buddhism, which had originally come from India via China.
It can be questioned to what extent this policy succeeded, since today most Japanese people still believe in both Shinto and Buddhism and go to shrines (Jap. 神社 - jinja, for Shinto) and/or temples (Jap. 寺 - tera, which is for Buddhism).
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[edit] Further reading
Some of the effects of the Shinbutsu bunri policy are discussed by Brian Victoria in his 1998 book Zen at War.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- A history of Japan, R. H. P. Mason, J. G. Caiger, Tuttle Publishing; Revised edition (November 1, 1997), ISBN 0-8048-2097-X
