What Was The Impact Of Buddhism On Japan

Buddhism was first introduced in Japan by Korea during the mid-sixth century (Earhart 293). Before, Japan was already practicing its own religion called Shinto and the introduction of Buddhism had induced a serious religious conflict within Japan. One form of Buddhism that enthralled Japan was the Mahayana Buddhism, which demonstrated an easy way to achieve salvation for all people (Earhart 293). The new religion and its doctrine attracted both the Japanese people, especially the commoners, the court, and the state. The public easily accepted Buddhism because it allowed all people to participate in the religious rituals, generating a sense of national unity throughout the people and the state. Moreover, the contribution of Buddhism’s profound
doctrine and philosophy had influenced the Japanese government to produce a fairly developed and pragmatic state. These observations led me to ask the following question: How did Buddhism play an essential role in developing the early Japanese government and state? Buddhism played an essential role by developing a centralized government and creating Japan into a unified, coherent state. When Buddhism entered Japan, it had also brought China’s rich philosophy and its models of government to help develop the early Japanese government and state.
Before Buddhism arrived, Japan had “no literature and philosophy to speak of, and her religion and government were only loosely formed” (Earhart 294). Hence, Buddhism had introduced a highly organized Chinese cultural heritage, which Japan had accepted to cultivate its loosely formed state. The two important cultural heritages that Buddhism brought into Japan were literature and writing system, which equipped Japan with effective communication skills and profound intelligence to form an efficient and unified government. Moreover, the most important Chinese cultural heritage that Buddhism introduced to Japan was the “[Chinese] models for a well-ordered kingdom” (Earhart 294). The frailly formed Japanese state adopted the Chinese models of government to consolidate the authority of the court and develop a sound, coherent state. For example, Prince Shotoku’s “Seventeen-Article Constitution,” which adopted Buddhism and Confucianism perspectives on ideal government, stated that the people should obey the Sovereign, and that all taxes should be paid to the Sovereign and not to the local nobilities (“Prince Shotoku and his Constitution” 297-298). The articles demonstrated that Japan had enforced a strong centralized government and consolidated the power of the Emperor by reducing the power of the clans and officials
(forbidding them to levy taxes). Also, the constitution mentioned about government ministers and officials and how they should work hard to accomplish the state business (“Prince Shotoku and his Constitution” 298). This conveyed that Japan had implemented Chinese form of bureaucracy to organize the power hierarchy and form a well-structured and efficient government. As the Buddhism’s influence on Japanese state became crucial, the Buddhist priests also played “a major role in the importation and implementation of Chinese models of government” (Earhart 294). These priests were essential figures in the early Japanese period because they not only disseminated the new religion throughout Japan but also enforced the Chinese government frameworks to develop a more sound and effective Japanese government. Both the Buddhism and the Chinese culture exerted a great influence on shaping a well-developed Japanese state. Buddhism also played a pivotal role in shaping and managing Japanese state affairs. Through his “Seventeen-Article Constitution,” Prince Shotoku had “declared Buddhism to be one of the pillars of the state (together with Confucianism)” (Earhart 294). This led both Buddhism and Confucianism to be set as the rational principles as well as the moral foundation of the state. The Article Four of the Constitution clearly stated that “the Ministers and officials of the state should make the proper behavior their first principle…[because] when people behave properly the Government will be in good order” (“Prince Shotoku and his Constitution” 298). This article insisted the government officials to conduct proper and respectable behaviors to eliminate any kinds of wrongdoings that could lead to corruption and harm both the government and the state. In addition, the Article Five also asserted to “deal impartially with the legal complaints which are submitted to you” (“Prince Shotoku and his Constitution” 298). The government officials were to be unprejudiced and objective when dealing with legal matters to avoid unfair trials. Furthermore, the articles also insisted that government officials should clearly punish the evil and reward the good (“Prince Shotoku and his Constitution” 298-299). The article emphasized the importance of distinguishing right or wrong to create a morally sound society. These laws set out in the constitution portrayed that Buddhism, along with Confucianism, became the principle guidance for the Japanese government to pursue a rational and principled approach in dealing with state matters. Japanese state became more unified after Buddhism was accepted as a state religion. One of the central Buddhism symbols that helped unify the state was “a largest Buddhist statue (of the Sun Buddha Lochana) [that] was erected within Todai-ji, [and] the funds for which are said to have been raised by popular subscription” (Earhart 295). By encouraging a popular donation to build the symbolic Buddhist statue, everyone was welcomed to participate in the new religious rituals and practices. This greatly supported national unity and helped centralize the state by making people feel a sense of oneness by uniting in one faith. Buddhism was especially popular among the Japanese people because it allowed everyone to join the religious practices and services and granted everyone an easy path to salvation. On the other hand, Shinto, a traditional Japanese religion, and its rituals were only practiced by the imperial family, which allowed “little possibility for any sense of participation by the common people” (Earhart 295). For this reason, when Buddhism was first introduced in Japan, people easily and quickly accepted this new religion because it allowed them to engage in the religious rituals. As a result, Buddhism became a national religion by its increasing popularity among the Japanese people (Earhart 296). Buddhism was capable of unifying the Japanese people and the state and became an effective state religion during the early Japanese period. Although Buddhism played an essential role in developing the early Japanese state, it was hard to argue that Buddhism had brought a centralized and coherent government.
For example, Nara Buddhism became “a religion of the aristocracy and monks,” and was “infamous for its increasing decadence and corruption” (Earhart 296). This was partly due to the priests receiving inducement from the nobles who wanted to use the religion as a political leverage to acquire an influential position in the government to interfere with the politics. Since Buddhism became a strong state religion, its temples became powerful and wealthy by receiving inducements and bequests from the nobility. Indeed the priests also became power by receiving bribes and began to interfere with the politics (Earhart 296). The increasing influence of Buddhism was, in fact, considered counterproductive to the Japanese government because it was losing its centralized power to the nobles and priests. Even though the wealth and corruption of Buddhism caused decentralization of the Japanese government, it was still hard to deny that “Buddhism played a major role in shaping the Japanese state” (Earhart 294). Prince Shotoku’s Constitution clearly portrayed that Buddhism created a centralized Japanese government by consolidating the power of the emperor and diminishing the power of the clans and the government officials. Also, the Constitution was marked as the “first recognition of Buddhism’s profound message and the
outstanding precedent of Buddhism as the rationale for the state” (Earhart 295-295). The Japanese state implemented Buddhism doctrines to set comprehensive moral and rational laws to create more coherent and well-ordered society. The popular participation of Buddhism allowed people to actively engage in the religious activities and rituals, which “tended to unify and support the state” (Earhart 295). Therefore, Buddhism had exerted a great influence on Japanese state by centralizing the Japanese government and promoting a more unified Japanese state. Buddhism played a major role in the early Japanese development by exerting a great influence on its loosely formed government and state. This new religion helped centralize and organize the fragile Japanese government by consolidating the power of the emperor, which legitimized his sovereignty and authority over his subjects. The new religion was also important for unifying the state and the people by allowing all people to participate in the religious rituals. However, Buddhism was also proven counterproductive when it became corrupted as the priests were receiving inducements and bequests from the nobles who wanted to use the religion’s influence to interfere with the politics. Indeed, the wealth of the priests also allowed them to confront the power of Japanese government. Thus, the influence of this new state religion had compromised the Japanese centralized government by allowing nobles and the priests to challenge the authority of the government. But, we should not undervalue the impact of Buddhism in the early Japanese period because it had played a major role in developing a centralized Japanese government and creating Japan into a unified and coherent state.