Confucianism/Daoism and Shinto Key Terms

Ancestor

deceased parents, grandparents, and other kin to whom food and other offerings are made on the ancestor's birthday, at Chinese New Year, during the mid-autumn, and at other annual festivals

Benevolence

ren, or humaneness, the most important Confucian virtue; the character ren shows the radical for "person" and the number two, signifying human relationship.

Chinese Benevolent Association

founded in Victoria, B.C., in 1884 to provide new Chinese immigrants with legal, social, and cultural services.

Chinese Immigration Act

a piece of legislation that initially served to impose a poll tax and later excluded persons of Chinese descent from Canada for sixty-two years, from 1885 to 1947.

Confucius

the Latinized name for Kong Qiu (chee-o), or "Kong of the Mound" (traditional dates 551-479 B.C.E.), whose conversations are contained in the Analects.

Dao

nature, Daoism's main idea.

Five Elements

wood, metal, fire, water, and earth, associated with Zou Yan (350-270 B.C.E.).

Five Relationships

defined in the Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong), a text ascribed to Confucius's grandson Zisi. Includes between subject and ruler, father and children, husband and wife, siblings, and friends.

Hexagrams

sixty-four combinations of six broken and unbroken lines that signify natural phenomena or abstract concepts.

Laozi

Lao Dan, one of the earliest and the most famous of the Li/Lee family, who was a court archivist during the sixth century B.C.E. and lectured about Confucian ritual; once thought to be author of The Way and Its Power.

Li

proprietary, or rites relating to social conduct, outlined in the Classic of Ritual; depicts a person bending over a sacrificial vessel filled with soybeans.

Ling

Daoism and Confucianism's core idea, sometimes defines as magical power or efficacy and referring to the sincere performance of rituals and maintenance of traditions; also conveys the idea that power is held by both worshippers and deities and materializes because of human efforts and out of human needs.

Mandate of Heaven

tianming, a traditional Chinese concept that emerged in the Zhou dynasty to establish the Zhou rulers as part of an all-male line of rulers extending back to the Three Sovereigns of the Legendary period. Rulers are seen to have a mandate to rule from the Divine when there is peace and no drought, for instance.

Qi

energy or life force, a key idea in Daoist and Neo-Confucian texts; shows vapour or energy rising from rice being cooked.

Reciprocity

shu, another important Confucian virtue; it is expressed by the characters meaning "like" above and "heart"/"mind" below, conveying the idea is to be like heart or mind.

Sage

a ruler or person who is wise; traditionally believed to hear what was communicated by the Divine and transmit that to the people, thereby uniting the three realms of heaven, earth, and humanity.

Three Obediences

sancong, a requirement of women that emphasized their comparatively inferior social and familial status that they obey their fathers when they are daughters, their husbands when they are wives, and their sons when they are mothers.

Trigram

a divided hexagram with three lines, partnered after natural imagery.

Yin and Yang

A binary term first occurring in a Zhou dynasty poem from the Classic of poetry, which refers to oscillation from a yang state of light and movement to a yin state of darkness and stillness; during the Han dynasty came to be associated with femininity and weakness (yin) and masculinity and strength (yang).

Amaterasu

The One Who Illuminates the Heavens, the sun goddess and supreme kami of the shinto pantheon.

Ema

Wooden prayer tablets at shrines on which to write prayer requests to the Kami, often involving this-worldly concerns about health, healing, and protection.

Harae

Ritual purification required to counteract impurities (kegare) that may pollute and offend a kami.

Atsutane Hirata

A National studies scholar (1776-1843) who promoted Japan as the land of the Kami in order to claim Japan as a divine and thus culturally superior nation.

Honji suijaku

Essence manifestation, a combinatory system of thought in which kami (manifestations) are understood as incarnations of Buddhist deities (essences).

Imperial Regalia

The three legendary sacred treasures - a sword, a mirror, and a jewel - bestowed by Amaterasu, guaranteeing the Japanese emperor's divine right to rule.

Inari

The kami of rice and business, who often appears in the form of a box.

Ise Shrine

Japan's most important national shrine and sacred residence of the imperial ancestor Amaterasu.

Izanagi and Izanami

The primordial male and female kami responsible for creation of the Japanese islands.

Jimmnu

The mythological first emperor of Japan, who ascended the throne in 660 B.C.E.

Jinja

Shrines; sacred religious sanctuaries constructed to enshrine and protect kami, generally distinguished from Buddhist temples by such features as torii gateways and their orange colour.

Kagura

Literally, to please the kami; a sacred ceremonial ritual of dance, music, and offerings to entertain and venerate kami.

Kami

The divine spirits of heaven and earth, which number in the thousands and are intimately connected to nature and human activity; the central objects of worship in Shinto; may appear as natural objects and phenomena, animals, and even human beings.

Kojiki

Records of Ancient Matters, dating from 712 C.E. one of the two classic texts of Shinto describing the mythic origins of Japan.

Matsuri

Shrine festivals numbering in the hundreds and held on various dates throughout the year.

Miko

Literally, child of kami, Shinto assistant priestesses who perform a variety of religious functions at shrines.

Norinaga Motoori

A famous National Studies scholar (1730-1801) who penned the classic definition of kami as anything possessing extraordinary powers or awe-inspiring qualities.

Miki Nakayama

The celebrated founder of Tenrikyo (1798-1887), one Japan's oldest and largest new religious movements.

National Studies (Kokugaku)

A pro-Shinto revival of the 1700s and 1800s that promoted Shinto as Japan's native and national religion.

Nihon Shoki (Nihongi)

Chronicles of Japan (720 C.E.), the second of the imperial dynasties, containing stories of the mythic origins of Japan and early emperors.

Ryobu (Dual) Shinto

A highly syncretic amalgamation of Shinto and Buddhism that developed around the thirteenth century.

State Shinto

A nonreligious national creed promoted by the empire of Japan to support patriotism and emperor worship.

Tenjin

The kami of scholarship and learning, popularly worshipped by students during examination periods at shrines throughout Japan.

Torii

Iconic arched gateways commonly placed at shrine entrances, signifying the residence of a kami.

Tsumi

Taboo human activity that produces defilements (kegare) that pollute the sanctity of kami and must be counteracted with ritual purification (harae).