Changes

Though appalled by Japanese practices of sodomy and  [[shudo|pederasty]], and of course wholly disapproving of [[Buddhism]] and [[Shinto]] as "pagan" religions, the Jesuits for the most part, at least initially, held rather positive views of the Japanese. Jesuit Visitor (i.e. supervisor) [[Alessandro Valignano]] wrote of the Japanese as "white, courteous, and highly civilized," and wrote of their dignity, cleanliness, rationality, and a host of other positive traits.<ref>Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie, and Suzanne Gay, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 123.</ref>

Though appalled by Japanese practices of sodomy and  [[shudo|pederasty]], and of course wholly disapproving of [[Buddhism]] and [[Shinto]] as "pagan" religions, the Jesuits for the most part, at least initially, held rather positive views of the Japanese. Jesuit Visitor (i.e. supervisor) [[Alessandro Valignano]] wrote of the Japanese as "white, courteous, and highly civilized," and wrote of their dignity, cleanliness, rationality, and a host of other positive traits.<ref>Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie, and Suzanne Gay, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 123.</ref>

The Jesuits took great pains to adapt to Japanese culture, including learning to sit in a Japanese style, to speak [[Japanese language|Japanese]], and even to properly formally entertain guests with [[tea ceremony]]. They struggled to some extent with the Japanese custom of daily baths, due not only to European beliefs at the time associating bathing with the danger of illness, but also because of religious or cultural associations drawn between dirt and lice and the monastic vow of poverty.

At Valignano's suggestion, the Jesuits took great pains to adapt to Japanese culture, including learning to sit in a Japanese style, to speak [[Japanese language|Japanese]], and even to properly formally entertain guests with [[tea ceremony]]. They struggled to some extent with the Japanese custom of daily baths, due not only to European beliefs at the time associating bathing with the danger of illness, but also because of religious or cultural associations drawn between dirt and lice and the monastic vow of poverty. Further, not all Jesuit missionaries in Japan agreed with this policy, or with Valignano's positive view of the Japanese people; [[Francisco Cabral]], for one, reportedly found Japanese culture to be "conceited, covetous, inconstant, and insincere," and so "unpalatable that he even refused to drink tea."<ref>de Bary, et al, 155.</ref>

The Jesuits gained allies relatively quickly among the ''daimyô'' and other prominent figures in Kyushu, including winning a number of converts among the Kyushu elite. Christianity suited samurai lords well, as missionaries emphasized sacrificing oneself for the Lord – and with the ''daimyô'' himself as divinely mandated, loyalty to God became intertwined with loyalty to one’s earthly lord. The Jesuits had difficulties, however, explaining the differences which separated their religion from Buddhism, with many potential converts confusing or conflating the Christian God and/or Jesus with [[Dainichi]] (Vairocana, the cosmic Buddha), and the Christian Heaven with the Buddhist [[Jodo-shu|Pure Land]]. Some Jesuit missionaries even wrote that the Devil himself "had deliberately fashioned Buddhism to resemble the true faith so as to confound and confuse the people."<ref>Schirokauer, et al., 122.</ref>

The Jesuits gained allies relatively quickly among the ''daimyô'' and other prominent figures in Kyushu, including winning a number of converts among the Kyushu elite. Christianity suited samurai lords well, as missionaries emphasized sacrificing oneself for the Lord – and with the ''daimyô'' himself as divinely mandated, loyalty to God became intertwined with loyalty to one’s earthly lord. The Jesuits had difficulties, however, explaining the differences which separated their religion from Buddhism, with many potential converts confusing or conflating the Christian God and/or Jesus with [[Dainichi]] (Vairocana, the cosmic Buddha), and the Christian Heaven with the Buddhist [[Jodo-shu|Pure Land]]. Some Jesuit missionaries even wrote that the Devil himself "had deliberately fashioned Buddhism to resemble the true faith so as to confound and confuse the people."<ref>Schirokauer, et al., 122.</ref>