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*''Japanese'': 本地垂迹 ''(honji suijaku)''
''Honji suijaku'' is one of the core concepts which historically allowed for the syncretic coexistence of [[Buddhism]] and ''[[kami]]'' worship (i.e. [[Shinto]]) in Japan. According to this idea, Buddhist deities are true entities, and the foundations (''honji'') which manifest themselves in a variety of other forms (''suijaku''), including as ''kami''. Buddhist deities were believed to be universal, and ''kami'' merely forms they chose, specific to Japan, in order to be better suited to the Japanese spiritual landscape and/or to be more accessible to Japanese people.
It is through the philosophy of ''honji suijaku'' that each ''kami'' deity is said to be a manifestation of a given [[Buddha]], [[bodhisattva]], or other Buddhist entity.
Though the ''honji suijaku'' held considerable strength throughout the pre-modern period, prominent figures such as [[Yoshida Kanemoto]] in the 15th-16th centuries, and various ''[[kokugaku]]'' scholars in the 18th-19th centuries, argued that the truth was the other way around: that the ''kami'' were the true deities, and Buddhist entities merely versions, aspects, or alternative manifestations of the ''kami''.<ref>Evelyn Rawski, ''Early Modern China and Northeast Asia: Cross-Border Perspectives'', Cambridge University Press (2015), 212.</ref>
In the first years of the [[Meiji period]], the [[Meiji government]] made strong efforts to "separate Shinto and Buddhism" (''[[shinbutsu bunri]]''). Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines which had functioned for centuries as joint entities were separated, and on [[1868]]/3/28, referring to Shinto deities by Buddhist names was banned,<ref>James Ketelaar, ''Of Heretics and Martyrs in Meiji Japan'', Princeton University Press (1991), 9.</ref> as part of efforts to elevate Shinto, and the notion of the Japanese nation as a "land of the gods."
{{stub}}
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Buddhism]]
[[Category:Shinto]]
[[Category:Terminology]]
''Honji suijaku'' is one of the core concepts which historically allowed for the syncretic coexistence of [[Buddhism]] and ''[[kami]]'' worship (i.e. [[Shinto]]) in Japan. According to this idea, Buddhist deities are true entities, and the foundations (''honji'') which manifest themselves in a variety of other forms (''suijaku''), including as ''kami''. Buddhist deities were believed to be universal, and ''kami'' merely forms they chose, specific to Japan, in order to be better suited to the Japanese spiritual landscape and/or to be more accessible to Japanese people.
It is through the philosophy of ''honji suijaku'' that each ''kami'' deity is said to be a manifestation of a given [[Buddha]], [[bodhisattva]], or other Buddhist entity.
Though the ''honji suijaku'' held considerable strength throughout the pre-modern period, prominent figures such as [[Yoshida Kanemoto]] in the 15th-16th centuries, and various ''[[kokugaku]]'' scholars in the 18th-19th centuries, argued that the truth was the other way around: that the ''kami'' were the true deities, and Buddhist entities merely versions, aspects, or alternative manifestations of the ''kami''.<ref>Evelyn Rawski, ''Early Modern China and Northeast Asia: Cross-Border Perspectives'', Cambridge University Press (2015), 212.</ref>
In the first years of the [[Meiji period]], the [[Meiji government]] made strong efforts to "separate Shinto and Buddhism" (''[[shinbutsu bunri]]''). Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines which had functioned for centuries as joint entities were separated, and on [[1868]]/3/28, referring to Shinto deities by Buddhist names was banned,<ref>James Ketelaar, ''Of Heretics and Martyrs in Meiji Japan'', Princeton University Press (1991), 9.</ref> as part of efforts to elevate Shinto, and the notion of the Japanese nation as a "land of the gods."
{{stub}}
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Buddhism]]
[[Category:Shinto]]
[[Category:Terminology]]
