Rombald Posted March 25, 2017 The temple of Dainippon Daidokyo (Great Japan Great Taoism), in Fushimi, Kyoto. There are lots of Koshindo in Japan, which are Taoist shrines that are officially Buddhist or Shinto, and there are also a few ethnic-Chinese Taoist temples, but, to my knowledge, this is the only Japanese Taoist temple that falls into neither of those categories.   Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rombald Posted March 25, 2017 I'll have another go at attaching the photo! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rene Posted March 25, 2017 Rombald, hello! Thanks for sharing the pic; how nice for you to see the temples firsthand. Could you elaborate a bit on the way a Taoist shrine/temple became a Shinto or Buddhist temple? Were they confiscated? Sold? Or? I'm very interested. Thanks! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rombald Posted March 25, 2017 The Koshin cultus, a form of Taoism, was introduced to Japan from China in ancient times. It is a moralistic creed, involving belief in three demons that inhabit different parts of the body, and report to the Supreme Emperor about one's sins during the night every 60 days. People gather together to pray and repent on those times, and stay up all night to stop the demons leaving. Â It was always a sort of folk-faith, but in the 1870s the Japanese govt. had a clamp down on "superstition", and forced all traditional religions to define themselves as Buddhism or Shinto, in fairly narrow terms, so Koshin was classified as one or the other. The same happened to Shugendo - a school of Shinto-Taoist-Buddhist mountain mysticism - it had to define itself as Shingon Buddhist to avoid criminalisation. Â Many Buddhist and Shinto temples have Koshin statues or small shrines in their grounds, and I know of one actual Koshin temple - Yasaka Koshindo in Kyoto - but it is officially Buddhist, although clearly actually Taoist. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rene Posted March 25, 2017 Rombald, thank you, most appreciated (-: One of my projects for this summer is to start a build on a simple structure up on our mountain; this winter a few large cedars & firs dropped that may yield nice beams. It finally quit raining this morning so now I can get back out to work, heh. Â Enjoy your time in the forum, many wonderful people here! Â warm greetings (-: 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
