Japanese Culture by Roger J. Davies

Author:Roger J. Davies
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-4-8053-1163-9
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Taoism

INTRODUCTION

Taoism and Confucianism are considered to be the two main religious and philosophical traditions of China. Taoism affected Japanese culture mostly as a result of its formative influences on Zen Buddhism, while classical Confucianism entered Japan in earlier waves of influence, along with Buddhism, and became the official doctrine of the Tokugawa shogunate in its later form of neo-Confucianism.

Taoist divination techniques and other magico-religious practices were introduced into Japan starting in the 6th century along with numerous other borrowings from ancient China, and “although Taoism has never been institutionalized in Japan, it has penetrated deeply into folk belief systems and practices” (Ohnuki-Tierney, 1984, p. 135). Taoism is still found in modern Japan, and Japanese scholarship on the Taoist tradition is considered one of the foremost in the world.

“Tao” literally means “way,” but also the Way to be followed, and by extension, a code of behavior and doctrine (cf. dō in Japanese). Many Japanese expressions contain the kanji dō (道), and these words carry a wide range of meanings, from the mundane to the profound. The following are examples of some of the ways in which dō can be used in Japanese:

• dōkyō: Taoism

• Shinto: “the way of the gods”

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