Proclamation of the Great Religion
The Proclamation of the Great Religion (大教宣布, Taikyou Senpu no mikotonori) was issued in the name of Emperor Meiji on January 3, 1870 (February 3).[1][2]。The Emperor was given Divinity, Shinto was designated as the State religion, and Japan (Empire of Japan) was designated as a "Unity of ritual and government state".
Commentary
After the Meiji Restoration, the theory of unification of ritual and government increased, centering on Kokugaku scholars of the Hirata Atsutane school, which dedicated itself to the restoration of Shintoism, and on July 8, 1869, a missionary mission was established within the Department of Divinities. The missionary mission was established, and Nakayama Tadayasu was appointed as the missionary director and Fukuha Yoshishige as the vice-director. Fukuha served as Ministry of Shinto, the de facto chief executive officer after the Ministry of Shinto was renamed Ministry of Divinity.
This was followed by the issuance of an imperial decree in the name of the Emperor Meiji of the time, which set forth the principle of "clarifying the doctrine of jikkyo and proclaiming the way of godliness. In direct opposition to Christianity, it proposed the promotion of Shintoism and national protection through missionary missions.
However, the confusion caused by the movement to abolish Buddhism, the conflict with the Confucian-Buddhist philosophy of the clans that still functioned as local governments, and the conflicts among national scholars within the Ministry of Shintoism, combined with the demand from the west to stop the suppression of Christianity, led to the continued sluggish movement toward Shinto nationalization The establishment of the Ministry of Religious Education on March 14, 1872 (April 21, 1872), the separation of Miyanaka rituals, and the abolition of missionary missions forced a review of the Taikyo Mission, and the Taikyoin, which aimed to rebuild and strengthen the line of the Taikyo Mission, was established the following year. The following year, the Daikyoin was established with the aim of rebuilding and strengthening the line of the Daikyo Mission.
References
- 安丸良夫・宮地正人編『日本近代思想大系5 宗教と国家』431ページ
- 『歴代の詔勅』 p.66 河野省三 内閣印刷局、1940年(国立国会図書館)