Arahitogami
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Script error: No such module "Nihongo". is a Japanese word, meaning a Script error: No such module "Lang". (or deity) who is a human being. It first appeared in the Script error: No such module "Lang". (c. Template:TrimScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".) as the words of Yamato Takeru saying: "I am the son of an Script error: No such module "Lang".."[1]
In 1946, at the request of the GHQ, the Shōwa Emperor (Hirohito) proclaimed in the Humanity Declaration that he had never been an Script error: No such module "Nihongo"., divinity in human form, and claimed his relation to the people did not rely on such a mythological idea but on a historically developed family-like reliance. However, the declaration excluded the word Script error: No such module "Lang"..
In Shinto it is somewhat common for a person to be revered as a god, especially after they have died. Examples include Sugawara no Michizane and Tokugawa Ieyasu.
It is also linked to the Chinese concept of worship of the living.
Overview
Script error: No such module "Nihongo". , also known as "man-god" or "human deity", is a belief in Shinto in which humans are worshipped as gods during their lives or after their deaths. The term Script error: No such module "Lang". is derived from the Japanese words Script error: No such module "Lang"., meaning "human", and Script error: No such module "Lang"., meaning "god" or "spirit". In Japan, this belief is also known as Script error: No such module "Lang". or Script error: No such module "Lang"., especially when the deity is a living person.[2] This concept is distinct from the Script error: No such module "Lang". ("guardian deity") belief system, which focuses on a deity's connection to a specific family or geographic origin. In contrast, the hitogami belief system emphasizes personal faith as the basis for membership in the circle of believers.[3]
People who become human deities include sorcerers, priests, and others who possess special and unusual magical powers, tribal chiefs, kings, and others with superior skills, such as outstanding dancers, soldiers, and others, as well as physically disabled people, Confucian scholars, and foreign aliens who are different from ordinary people. In Japanese folk beliefs, human deities are diverse and can be divided into those who are deified during life and those who are worshipped as human deities after death.[2]
The practice of deifying humans after death is a way to put to rest the legacy of those who have died with a grudge. Examples of the former include Script error: No such module "Lang". (head priests), Script error: No such module "Lang". (shrine maidens), and masquerading deities in the rituals of the Script error: No such module "Lang"..[2] Throughout Japanese history, the hitogami and Script error: No such module "Lang". belief systems have interacted with one another. Examples of the Script error: No such module "Lang". belief system can be seen in the deification of heroes like Hachiman (god of war) and Tenjin (god of calligraphy), as well as in the ecstatic singing and dancing of Japanese festival processions, and in the charismatic leadership of some of Japan's "new religions".[3]
In ancient societies, it was common for aristocrats who were defeated in political disputes to manifest their grudge as a curse after death and to offer sacrifices to gods in order to quell the curse.[2]
This belief is prevalent in Japan and is known by various names such as Script error: No such module "Lang". or Script error: No such module "Lang".. People who become human deities include sorcerers, priests, kings, and others with special and superior skills, as well as physically disabled people, Confucian scholars, and foreign aliens who are different from ordinary people. The practice of deifying humans after death is a way to put to rest the legacy of those who have died with a grudge.[2]
Script error: No such module "anchor".People as Yorishiro
Persons can play the same role as a Script error: No such module "lang"., and in that case are called Script error: No such module "Nihongo".[4] or Script error: No such module "Nihongo"..[5][4]
Difference between akitsumikami and arahitogami
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". Akitsumikami is often translated as "divine" or "divinity", but some Western scholars (including John W. Dower and Herbert P. Bix) explained that its real meaning is "manifest kami" (or, more generally, "incarnation of a god"), and that therefore the emperor would still be, according to the declaration, an arahitogami ("living god"), although not an akitsumikami ("manifest kami"). Jean Herbert explains that, according to the Japanese tradition, the figure of the emperor would be "the extension in time" of the goddess Amaterasu and the previous emperors, representing a naka ima (中今?). Consequently, it would be inadmissible to deny its divine origin.[6]
See also
Notes
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Lang"., Chapter 7
- ↑ a b c d e Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Iwanami Kōjien (広辞苑) Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".