Friday, March 15, 2019
Thursday, March 7, 2019
Hindu religion being discriminated
It is strange that in a country where around 80% of the population declare themselves as belonging to Hindu religion, there is widespread feeling amongst cross section of Hindus that Hindu religion is discriminated in variety of ways by successive governments in India.
Though BJP, which is described as “Hindu nationalist party” by western media, ,is in power for more than four and half years now, such feeling of Hindu religion being discriminated persist .
Several instances can be readily pointed out to highlight such discrimination.
Take over of Hindu temples :
Several Hindu temples of great importance and history have been taken over by state governments and have been brought under the administrative control of the government. The income from the temples go to the government treasury. However, no churches or mosques or gurudwaras have been taken over by the government. It is said that churches, mosques etc. belong to the minority religions and therefore, they cannot be under government control. However, there are some states in India where Hindus are in minority and even in these states churches or mosques are not taken over by the government.
In Tamil Nadu, government appoints priests for Hindu temples and choose them for the job based on it’s own regulations. But, the government never interferes in the appointment of priests or in the qualification required for the priests in the case of churches, Mosques and Gurudwaras.
Cow slaughter issue :
Hindus consider cow as a holy and sacred animal and have been worshipping cows historically for several centuries. Many Hindus think that cow slaughter should be prevented.. When cows are taken to slaughter house by anyone, some Hindus protest and they are dubbed by the media as “cow vigilantes”
When some people try to prevent the cows being taken to slaughter house , they are criticized as law breakers and arrested . They are dubbed as Hindu extremists and the campaign against them become so strong that no government want to speak for the protesters against the cow slaughter move.
In the case of Islam religion , millions of innocent goats are being slaughtered at the time of Bakrid festival . No media or animal activists have spoken against this practice.
Sabarimala episode :
The latest episode with regard to Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala is a glaring example.
Sabarimala temple in Kerala is one of the holiest of the temples in India, This temple of great importance observe some strict regulations of which one is the restriction on women in certain age group from visiting the temple. The restriction is not on girl children or elderly women.
This tradition of restricting the women’s entry in certain age group has been banned by Supreme Court terming the practice as discriminatory and not doing gender justice.
All over the world, traditional practices are followed over centuries ,since the devotees believe in such practices out of faith and irrespective of the fact whether they are logical and scientifically appropriate at the present time.
For example, in the case of Sikh religion, for entering Gurudwara, the devotees have to cover their head. In Islam religion women are not allowed to pray in the mosque along with men. In christianity, there is discrimination between men and women in holding positions in the church. No woman can become a pope.
Sabarimala temple in Kerala alone, which has lakhs of Hindu devotees , is being targeted by the so called “activists and reformists”
In the case of Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala in Kerala, restrictions do exist in the case of women of certain age group entering the temple. However, there are so many other temples for Lord Ayyappa in India and abroad, where women of all age groups are allowed free entry. Therefore, it should be recognized that there is no anti women sentiments in Lord Ayyappa temples.
It should be noted that the practice in Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala is not against women as such but only women in certain age group and therefore, it cannot be considered gender injustice in anyway. Entry of women are not banned for their entire life time. Women of all age group are free to visit and pray in any other Lord Ayyappa temple any where else in the world at any time..
Is it a case of appeasement of minorities ?
Many wonder whether the government or the media would be daring enough to criticise any aspect of the faith of other religions.. If they would do so ,perhaps, the reaction from the religious groups would be so strong that could even lead to violence. Such developments rarely take place when Hindu faith are questioned.
The main reason for the discriminatory approach of several political parties and government towards Hindu religion vis a vis other religions appear to be vote bank politics. It is very well known that in elections, almost the entire Christian community or Muslim community vote for a particular party enbloc as directed by the religious heads. This does not happen in the case of Hindus . Therefore, the political parties always try to keep those belonging to minority religions in good humour and take particular care not to displease them in any way.
On the other hand, the political parties believe that Hindu votes always get dissipated as there is no unified leadership for Hindus and there is considerable difference of views among Hindus and therefore , there is no particular need to appease those belonging to Hindu religion.
N.S.Venkataraman
Nandini Voice for The Deprived
MY HEART BLEEDS FOR TIBET
MY HEART BLEEDS FOR TIBET
I am not a Tibetan . I am not a Buddhist. I have never visited Tibet. I have never spoken to venerable the Dalai Lama . I have only seen his face in television. I have never interacted with any Tibetan and exchanged views with him. However, I have studied about Tibet’s glorious history, tradition and culture. From whatever I have read, I have developed deep admiration for this country, that is located in a remote corner of the world and at a height not seen by many people and the people in the past leading nearly a natural life without being influenced by the negative forces of the modern era.
My heart bleeds when I realize that this glorious country with peaceful people was invaded by China with it’s military might and brought the country under it’s total control. It mercilessly drove out venerable the Dalai Lama and hundreds of his followers who were forced to leave their dear country and seek refugee status elsewhere.
Tibet has been grievously wronged and as yet, even after several decades, there is no sign that Tibet will regain it’s old glory and become an independent country, for the Tibetans to live with their cherished values.
However, something in me tells me that Tibet will get independence before long, though the sceptics may not share my view. All I wish is that I should see in my life time a free and independent Tibet getting justice for all the harm that has been done to it.
China, the occupier of Tibet and with ruthless approach to achieve it’s objectives with least consideration for ethical values, has no inclination to quit Tibet.
China is a dictatorial country and the people in China do not have their freedom to express their views on such matters. However, the views of people of China need not be the same as the rulers of China and there could be many Chinese who have ethical standards for themselves and may in all probability desire that Tibet should get it’s independence back. As of now, nobody has heard such sane voice in this iron curtained country.
Apart from the merciless and vengeful attitude of China towards the call for Tibet’s independence, what causes me even more anguish is that some Tibetans seem to be reconciling themselves to the occupation of Tibet by China and are pleading with the Chinese government to give autonomy for Tibet within the overall governance and control of China.
Certainly, such appeal for autonomy has been looked upon with contempt by the Chinese government and the Chinese leadership must now be having hearty laugh over such autonomy pleadings.
Of course, the thoughtful Tibetans would be finding it difficult to understand as to what would be such autonomy for Tibet under Chinese government like. Expecting autonomy for Tibet under Chinese government is similar to the act of an unarmed man standing before a hungry tiger and expecting that it would not maul the person.
Today, the Tibetans living in Tibet who were born much after China’s aggressive occupation , should have been brainwashed by the Chinese government making them think that they are essentially Chinese citizens. In all probability, the present generation of Tibetans in Tibet may not be aware of the glory of Tibet and the history lessons for the students would have been completely re written in the way that the Chinese government want.
The Tibetans who have left Tibet after the Chinese occupation and their descendants now live in different countries either as refugees or the citizens of the countries where they have domiciled. Perhaps, for some of the present generation of Tibetans living abroad, Tibet as a country may be of only historical value, since they have not seen Tibet and had no opportunity to learn about it’s glorious traditions.. This situation is what the Chinese government want ,with almost all the governments in the world reconciling themselves to a world without Tibet as an independent country.
Given this scenario, the Tibetans living outside Tibet should not dilute the objective of independent Tibet and say that autonomy status for Tibet under China would be appropriate. In other words, such voices essentially give up the idea of Tibet as an independent country entirely and permanently.
As my heart bleeds for Tibet’s freedom, I only pray that Tibetans living outside Tibet, wherever they are, should keep their spirit that Tibet should be an independent country sooner or later. Certainly, there must be thousands of Tibetans across the world whose heart bleed for Tibet just as the way my heart does.
History has shown on several occasions that ultimately justice has been done to a wronged country or wronged person sooner or later.
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रवि, 7 जन॰ 2018, 1:04 pm
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NEHRU IS RESPONSIBLE FOR TIBET AND KASHMIR BLUNDER.
S.K.KAPOOR
On Sunday, January 7, 2018, 8:36:51 AM GMT+5:30, Venkatraman Ns nsvenkatchennai@gmail.com [TheBecoming] <TheBecoming@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
To
The Becoming
MY HEART BLEEDS FOR TIBET
I am not a Tibetan . I am not a Buddhist. I have never visited Tibet. I have never spoken to venerable the Dalai Lama . I have only seen his face in television. I have never interacted with any Tibetan and exchanged views with him. However, I have studied about Tibet’s glorious history, tradition and culture. From whatever I have read, I have developed deep admiration for this country, that is located in a remote corner of the world and at a height not seen by many people and the people in the past leading nearly a natural life without being influenced by the negative forces of the modern era.
My heart bleeds when I realize that this glorious country with peaceful people was invaded by China with it’s military might and brought the country under it’s total control. It mercilessly drove out venerable the Dalai Lama and hundreds of his followers who were forced to leave their dear country and seek refugee status elsewhere.
Tibet has been grievously wronged and as yet, even after several decades, there is no sign that Tibet will regain it’s old glory and become an independent country, for the Tibetans to live with their cherished values.
However, something in me tells me that Tibet will get independence before long, though the sceptics may not share my view. All I wish is that I should see in my life time a free and independent Tibet getting justice for all the harm that has been done to it.
China, the occupier of Tibet and with ruthless approach to achieve it’s objectives with least consideration for ethical values, has no inclination to quit Tibet.
China is a dictatorial country and the people in China do not have their freedom to express their views on such matters. However, the views of people of China need not be the same as the rulers of China and there could be many Chinese who have ethical standards for themselves and may in all probability desire that Tibet should get it’s independence back. As of now, nobody has heard such sane voice in this iron curtained country.
Apart from the merciless and vengeful attitude of China towards the call for Tibet’s independence, what causes me even more anguish is that some Tibetans seem to be reconciling themselves to the occupation of Tibet by China and are pleading with the Chinese government to give autonomy for Tibet within the overall governance and control of China.
Certainly, such appeal for autonomy has been looked upon with contempt by the Chinese government and the Chinese leadership must now be having hearty laugh over such autonomy pleadings.
Of course, the thoughtful Tibetans would be finding it difficult to understand as to what would be such autonomy for Tibet under Chinese government like. Expecting autonomy for Tibet under Chinese government is similar to the act of an unarmed man standing before a hungry tiger and expecting that it would not maul the person.
Today, the Tibetans living in Tibet who were born much after China’s aggressive occupation , should have been brainwashed by the Chinese government making them think that they are essentially Chinese citizens. In all probability, the present generation of Tibetans in Tibet may not be aware of the glory of Tibet and the history lessons for the students would have been completely re written in the way that the Chinese government want.
The Tibetans who have left Tibet after the Chinese occupation and their descendants now live in different countries either as refugees or the citizens of the countries where they have domiciled. Perhaps, for some of the present generation of Tibetans living abroad, Tibet as a country may be of only historical value, since they have not seen Tibet and had no opportunity to learn about it’s glorious traditions.. This situation is what the Chinese government want ,with almost all the governments in the world reconciling themselves to a world without Tibet as an independent country.
Given this scenario, the Tibetans living outside Tibet should not dilute the objective of independent Tibet and say that autonomy status for Tibet under China would be appropriate. In other words, such voices essentially give up the idea of Tibet as an independent country entirely and permanently.
As my heart bleeds for Tibet’s freedom, I only pray that Tibetans living outside Tibet, wherever they are, should keep their spirit that Tibet should be an independent country sooner or later. Certainly, there must be thousands of Tibetans across the world whose heart bleed for Tibet just as the way my heart does.
History has shown on several occasions that ultimately justice has been done to a wronged country or wronged person sooner or later.
Japan --ख्रिश्चियानिटीला परतावणे
Japan - Her first dalliance with West
Foreword
The history of the world since fourth century CE has seen the expansionist
monotheistic religions from Middle East stamping out the pagan traditions in one
land after another. We, Hindus, have keenly felt the result of this monotheistic
Abrahamic onslaught losing more than half of our lands. A thorough reversion of
Abrahamic expansion has occurred only in one land - the land of our pagan cousins,
the Land of Rising Sun. Japan is a land of Gods (kami) for the Shintoists just as
Bharata is a punyabhoomi and karmabhoomi for us. Japanese have digested many
Hindu devis and devatas (Sarasvati as Benzaiten, Lakshmi as Kichijo, Ganesha as
Kangiten, Garuda as Karura etc.) in their pantheon through the intermediary
Buddhists from China. While Japan was spared from any Islamic invasions, she had
to face the onslaught of the second Abrahamism from the sixteenth century. Some
missionaries even planned to use a Christian Japan to invade and subdue China as
we shall see later.
Christian inroads into Japan led to severe troubles not unlike what we faced in Goa
and Santhome. Shinto and Buddhist shrines were razed to the ground in the name
of the Saviour. In this essay, we shall see how the Japanese handled the Christian
attempts, their study/understanding of the monotheistic traditions, their view of the
West and its religions and also, the reason why Japanese do not fall to Christian
proselytism so easily.
Japan’s fist tryst with Abrahamic religions began in 16th century CE with the advent
of Portuguese. We shall start our study from that time.
First Portuguese contacts
In 1549, St. Francis Xavier, the butcher of Hindus, first visited Japan with the help of
a Japanese convert he gained in Malaccai
. The first major break came decades later
when Nobunaga allowed Portuguese to establish their church and proselytize in
Japan. He had supposedly reasoned that “Buddhism had been introduced from
abroad and had done good in the country and he therefore not see why Christianity
should not be granted a trial” (White 2011: 225). Japanese felt that Portuguese
planned to convert the masses through acts of charity like tending the sick and
relieving the poor (see also: Costa 2003; we see this in India even today) paving
way to make Japan a vassal state of Portugal by converting people in every one of
the thirty-six provinces (Reed 2012: 191). In parallel, Spaniards in Philippines were
planning for invasion of China with a force consisting of, among others, converted
Japaneseii
The spread of Christianity seems to have been surprisingly fast in the 16th century.
By 1585, eleven daimyos (warlords) were Christian (Hearn 1904: 304). Each daimyo
ruled a small part of Japan as his own land – much like the Poligars and Nayaks in
Southern India. About 200 daimyos were ruling various parts of Japan in the 16th
century. 11 of them had converted to the western religion by 1585. Even by 1581,
one and half lakh Japanese had converted to Christianity (White 2011: 226). By
1614 (when Tokugawa Ieyasu began to exterminate Christianity from Japan), the
number had swelled to 3 lakhs (Brown 2012: 316).
The converted daimyos were used by the missionaries to destroy pagan places of
worship in southern Japan. Turnbull (2006) gives examples. In 1578, daimyo Sorin
accepted baptism and forced all his subjects to become Christian. He persecuted
Shinto and Buddhist priests and destroyed their properties (temples). Another “had
no greater pleasure in the world than to see them pull down idols out of the temples
and houses, and bur them and throw them in to the sea”. Following account would
appear familiar to those who have read about Islamic/Christian aggression against
pagan temples:
As Don Bartholemeo (baptized name of Omura Sumitada) had gone off to the
wars, it so happened that he passed on the way an idol, Marishiten by name,
which is their god of battles. When they pass it, they bow and pay reverence
to it, and the pagans who are on horseback dismount as a sign of their
respect. Now the idol had above it a cockerel. As the daimyo came there with
his squadron he had his men stop and ordered them to take the idol and burn
it together with the whole temple; and he took the cockerel and gave it a
blow with the sword, saying to it, “Oh, how many times have you betrayed
me!” And after everything had been burnt down, he had a very beautiful
cross erected on the same spot, and after he and his men had paid very deep
reverence to it, they continued on their way to the wars.
– Luís Fróis (1532 – July 8, 1597), a Portuguese Christian missionary giving an
eyewitness description of non Christian shrines being destroyed by Japanese
converts. (Turnbull 2006: 96)
Japanese revulsion and initial attempts to curb Christianity
No wonder that Oda Nobunaga regretted his decision to allow these Christians into
his country. While not a contemporary source, being written more than a century
after Nobunaga’s death, the Ibuki Mogusa seems to imply regret on the part of Oda
Nobunaga for permitting the introduction of Christianity. The passage also suggests
that the Jesuits were using money to lure converts (a common accusation by Ming &
Qing sources on missionaries in China) just as missionaries do in contemporary
India. It is helpful to quote the passage in its entirety to give the readers some idea
of viewpoint of Japanese from later generations on Nobunaga’s change of feelings in
regards to Christianity:
"Nobunaga now began to regret his previous policy in permitting the
introduction of Christianity. He accordingly assembled his retainers, and said
to them: - 'The conduct of these missionaries in persuading people to join
them by giving money, does not please me. How would it be, think you, if we
were to demolish Nambanji [The "Temple of the Southern Savages" - so the
Portuguese church was called]?' To this Mayeda Tokuzenin replied. 'It is now
too late to demolish the Temple of the Namban. To endeavour to arrest the
power of this religion now is like trying to arrest the current of the ocean.
Nobles, both great and small, have become adherents of it. If you would
exterminate this religion now, there is fear that disturbance should be
created among your own retainers. I am therefore of opinion that you should
abandon your intention of destroying Nambanji.' Nobunaga in consequence
regretted exceedingly his previous action in regard to the Christian religion,
and set about thinking how he could root it out." (Hearn 1904: 305)
Nobunaga’s unexpected demise seems to have postponed the final solution. His
successor, Hideyoshi, gave immediate priority to unification of Japan and peace.
Hideyoshi seems to have been favorable, or at least neutral, in regards to Christian
missionaries to begin with and this may be attributed to his desire to continue the
Macao trade as well as more pressing concerns in regards to the power struggle
after Nobunaga’s assassination by Akechi Mitsuhide. The Jesuit policy of purchasing
approval for their activities through his wife, Kitanomandokoro, also helped them. In
1586, Kitanomandokoro obtained permission from Hideyoshi for the Jesuits’
activities (Kitagawa 2007: 16 quotes Frois):
“With regard to the bateren in Japan, I permit them to reside wherever they
want to, and I waive some duties such as requiring them to allow soldiers to
stay in their church, and those that are mandatory for Buddhist temples. Do
not be violent to or disturb the bateren when they propagate their
teachings.”
Kitanomandokoro had many Christian women as her lady attendants. Though
initially she was opposed to Christianity, it seems the influence of these attendants
changed her mind. The domination of Christianity among her attendants was so
high that only one woman was a Buddhist and even she was known by a Christian
name (Kitagawa 2007: 13). She even pleaded to Hideyoshi that he should not treat
the Jesuits harshly, a year before his anti-Christian decree. Post that she got the
approval quoted above. Her exact words to Hideyoshi were (Kitagawa 2007: 15
quotes Frois):
“I have been very worried about how you treated the bateren [padres] today.
They are foreigners, and how you treat them could demean their religion and
honor. Besides, they have sent me messages asking me that they want to be
treated well when they see you. So, I have been wishing in my heart that
they will be treated well.”
We do not find any indications from missionary letters that they suspected him of
harboring any intention to persecute Christians and yet it happened. The reasons
for Hideyoshi’s change of mind to which we now turn are illuminating and have
relevance for contemporary India.
In our view, there is no one reason why Hideyoshi made a u-turn in regards to his
policy towards Christianity. Instead a number of events which took place at this time
may better the change that took place. To begin with, in 1587, Hideyoshi received
an assurance from Padre Coelho, who was accompanied by Luís Fróis (the same
missionary who wrote the eyewitness description of destruction of a pagan temple
cited before), that they could arrange for Christian daimyos of Kyushu to assist
Hideyoshi in his power struggle with the other daimyos for the control of Japan as
well as arrange Portuguese naval assistance (including forces from India) for
Hideyoshi’s plan to invade Korea and China (Boxer 1951:141). Several historians
have noted that this may have created the germ of suspicion in Hideyoshi’s mind
about missionary intentions because they had shown a willingness to interfere in
internal Japanese politics. Later, a daimyo openly rejected to follow Hideyoshi’s
order to apostate from Christianity rather preferring that he be stripped of all lands
and titles. This was a test to verify whether the Christian daimyos’ foremost loyalty
was to him or not. Hideyoshi seems to have decided that he was not the true
recipient of their loyalty through these incidents.
In regards to Hideyoshi’s own views about Christianity, we may get some inkling of
the matter by looking at his questions to Padre Coelho (Fujita 1991: 112) in the
aftermath of aforementioned incident:
1. Why do you missionaries so anxiously, even forcefully, try to make
converts?
2. Why do you destroy Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples and persecute
monks instead of being conciliatory to them?
3. Why do you do such unreasonable things as eat useful animals like horses
and cows that serve people? (Note: Similarity with ‘right to beef’ in
today’s India)
4. Why do Portuguese buy many Japanese and take them back to their
country as slaves?
Finally after careful consideration, Hideyoshi decided to expel the missionaries and
issued his famous edicts of 1587 which read as follows (Bary 2005: 167-8) (Lu :196-
7):
Decree 1: Limitation on Propagation of Christianity
1. Whether one desires to become a follower of the padre is up to that
person's own conscience.
2. If one receives a province, a district, or a village as his fief, and forces
farmers in his domain who are properly registered under certain temples to
become followers of the padre against their wishes, then he has committed a
most unreasonable illegal act.
3. When a vassal (kyunin)receives a grant of a province or a district, he must
consider it as a property entrusted to him on a temporary basis. A vassal may
be moved from one place to another, but farmers remain in the same place.
Thus if an unreasonable illegal act is committed [as described above], the
vassal will be called upon to account for his culpable offense. The intent of
this provision must be observed.
4. Anyone whose fief is over 200 cho and who can expect two to three
thousand kan of rice harvest each year must receive permission from the
authorities before becoming a follower of the padre.
5. Persons holding fiefs smaller than the aforementioned: It being a question
of the Eight Sects or Nine Sects, each head of the house may decide
individually as he pleases. (Note: These are sects of Buddhism – nothing to
do with Christianity)
6. The sectarians of Bateren, it has come to His Highness’ attention, are even
more given to conjurations with outsiders than the Single Minded sect. The
Single-Minded sect established temple precincts in the provinces and districts
and did not pay the yearly dues to the enfeoffed recipients. Moreover, it
converted the entire province of Kaga into its own sectarians; chased out
Togashi, the lord of the province; turned over the fiefs to priests of the
Single-Minded sect; and beyond that, even took over the province of Echizen.
Everyone knows that this was harmful to the realm.
7. The priests of the Hongaji sectarians had temples built on every cove and
inlet. Although they have been pardoned, His Highness no longer permits
them to run their temple precincts as they did before.
8. If a daimyo who has a fief over a province, a district, or a village, forces his
retainers to become followers of the padre, he is committing a crime worse
than the followers of Honganji who assembled in their temple [to engage in
the Ikko riot]. This will have an adverse effect on [the welfare of] the nation.
Anyone who cannot use good judgment in this matter will be punished.
9. Those among the common people who freely choose to become sectarians
of the Bateren may do so, it being a question of the Eight Sects or Nine Sects.
10. It is illegal to sell Japanese people to China, to the South Seas, or to Korea
[as slaves]. Henceforth, sale of persons in Japan is forbidden. [Note: Compare
it with abolition of slave trade by Chhatrapati Shivaji]
11. To buy or sell cattle and horses for slaughter and consumption shall also
be considered miscreant.
The above shall be strictly prohibited. Any transgressor shall swiftly be
brought to justice for his offense.
Tensho 15.VI.18 (July 23, 1587)
Decree 2 (the very next day)
1. Japan is the Land of the Gods. That a pernicious doctrine should be
diffused here from the Kirishitan Country is most undesirable.
2. To approach the people of our provinces and districts, turn them into
[Kirishitan] sectarians, and destroy the shrines of the gods and the temples
of the Buddhas is something unheard of in previous generations. Whereas
provinces, districts, localities, and fiefs are granted to their recipients
temporarily, contingent on the incumbent's observance of the laws of the
realm and attention to their intent in all matters, to embroil the common
people is miscreant.
3. In the judgement of His Highness, it is because the Bateren amass
parishioners as they please by means of their clever doctrine that the Law of
the Buddhas is being destroyed like this in the Precincts of the Sun. That
being miscreant, the Bateren can scarcely be permitted to remain on
Japanese soil. Within twenty days from today they shall make their
preparations and go back to their country. During this time, should anyone
among the common people make unwarranted accusations against the
Bateren, it shall be considered miscreant.
4. The purpose of the Black Ships is trade, and that is a different matter. As
years and months pass, trade may be carried on in all sorts of articles.
5. From now on hereafter, all those who do not disturb the Law of the
Buddhas (merchants, needless to say, and whoever) are free to come here
from the Kirishitan Country and return. Be heedful of this.
That is all.
Tensho 15.VI.19
Actions taken were as follows: public notices were put up stating that missionaries
were expelled by Hideyoshi’s order, samurai were told to remove any outward signs
of Christianity like crosses/rosaries, Jesuit properties confiscated in various places
and Jesuit strongholds were taken over by Hideyoshi’s emissaries. The inhabitants
of Nagasaki, Christian headquarters of Japan, were asked to pay a huge fine.
Christians were asked to recovert or face exile/death though no attempt was made
to enforce the last point (Boxer 1951: 148-9). Padre Coelho seems to have planned
for invasion of Japan by fortifying Nagasaki, the Christian stronghold in Japan, with
Spanish help and use it to rally the Christian daimyo of Kyushu against Hideyoshi.
But higher authorities did not support this idea (Boxer 1951: 312). On the other
hand, the edict was not strongly implemented as only 3 out of the 120 Jesuits left
the country and remaining dispersed to territories of Christian daimyos. Hideyoshi’s
emissaries only extracted some fines levied on the population of Jesuit strongholds
and closed down the churches only temporarily rather than destroying them
permanently (Boxer 1951: 150).
However proclaiming something and implementing it are two very different things
which is more than true in discussing events that took place after the edict. Initially,
we do not see much implementation. But the famous San Felipe incident took place
and this seems to have further heightened Hideyoshi’s suspicions. The incident
involved the shipwreck of a Spanish galleon named San Felipe off the Japanese
coast which was seized by the Japanese. The Spaniards then dispatched a request
to Hideyoshi to return the cargo which was refused. It is said that upon this refusal,
the Spanish Pilot Major, Francisco de Olandia was said to have boasted about the
might of the Spanish empire and their possessions in the New World. When his
Japanese audience questioned how they could have achieved this, the Captain was
said to have replied that the Christian missionaries acted as the vanguard for the
Spanish army by making local converts and using them as a fifth column against the
local rulers (Boxer 1951: 165-66). This at least is the contemporary Jesuit view of
the incident which their Franciscan rivals rejected as calumny.
This resulted in the famous martyrdom of twenty-six men - Franciscans and their
men - at Nagasaki Bay whereby a number of missionaries (including a half-Indian
one named Gonsalves Garcia venerated as a saint at Vasai in India) and their
Japanese followers were crucified in public (it may be noted that crucifixion was an
established punishment in Japan predating the introduction of Christianity). In
response to Portuguese complaints about persecution of Franciscan, he drafted the
following reply which is also instructive in regards to his views:
That the Japanese were by no means so ignorant of the state of affairs in
Europe, as the Jesuits sometimes seem to have imagined, can be seen from
Hideyoshi's correspondence with the Governor of the Philippines, Don
Francisco Tello. The governor had sent an envoy, Don Luis Navarrete, to claim
the confiscated cargo of the San Felipe, and to ask why the Franciscans had
been executed. Hideyoshi in his reply, drafted in a spirit more of sorrow than
of anger, explained that Shinto (there is no mention of Buddhism, be it noted)
was the pith and core of the Japanese social structure. He went on to point
out that the friars, threatened to upset the whole national fabric with their
subversive Christian propaganda, "and if per-chance, either religious or
secular Japanese proceeded to your kingdoms and preached the law
of Shinto therein, disquieting and disturbing the public peace and
tranquility there-by, would you, as lord of the soil, be pleased
thereat? Certainly not; and therefore by this you can judge what I
have done.” (Boxer 1951:169)
But after this event, the efforts to expel the missionaries tapered off and eventually
the missionaries even resumed their conversions during the initial years under the
next shogun, Ieyasu. We have no way of knowing the exact reasons for Hideyoshi’s
loss of interest in the matter but we can reasonably speculate that it may have had
something to do with his fear of losing the Macao trade with the Portuguese, his
reluctance to engender further conflict (similar to Nobunaga) when Japan itself was
embroiled in his major undertaking viz the invasion of Korea known as Imjin War
which occupied his final years. The vulnerability of Japan to economic sanctions
during this time of war was well known to the missionaries as they had advised for
imposing economic sanctions against Japan in retaliation. Coelho and Bishop Martin
urged King Felipe to cancel annual trade between Macao and Nagasaki in order to
bring about overthrow of Hideyoshi through economic crisis in Japan or induce him
to accord official recognition to Christianity (Boxer 1951:168-9). Hideyoshi seems to
have understood the peril that he might face and thus, he did not attack the Jesuits
who were essential for trade with Macao (Boxer 1951: 166).
Hideyoshi’s failure to follow through on his edict is similar to the India of today
where many anti conversion laws are passed with much fanfare only to be flouted
openly by the missionaries and never actually implemented. So much so, Hideyoshi
married off his adopted daughter, Gō, to a Christian family a year after his anti-
Christian edict. Said daughter converted to Christianity in 1606; the effect of
Christian lady attendants at her father’s place as well as Christian influence at her
in-laws’ household seem to have made a great impact on her mind (see Kitagawa
2007: 22). Just as Hideyoshi wanted the Macao trade, our politicians too seem to
suffer from the thought of “What would the American government say or do in
regards to call centers or software outsourcing?” whenever someone brings up
protecting our civilization from the murderous assault of Christians. He also suffered
from an inability to keep his household uninfected. His devout Buddhist wife,
Kitanomandokoro had become so thoroughly exposed to Christian theology that in
1595, she is supposed to have stated (Kitagawa 2007: 20 quotes Frois):
...Kitanomandokoro replied [to Maria], saying, “it seems to me that
Christianity has great rationale. And it is superior to any other religion, and it
is more plausible than many existing Japanese religions.” She continued to
make a point that Deus is the only God, and kami and Buddhas are not Deus,
but they are all human. Then, she turned to one Christian lady, Joanna, and
said, “is that right, Joanna?” Joanna said, “that is correct. Kami is a Japanese
creation without any rationale, and humans gave them mystical positions
and honor. Thus, kami are not different from human beings.”
Kitanomandokoro continued and said, “Every Christian agrees on one truth,
and claims that to be true. That makes me believe that [Christianity tells] the
truth. Japanese religions never agree, and are never the same.”
Thus, while Hideyoshi had issued an edict opposing Christianity being adopted by
daimyos, his own wife was praising it years after the edict and her lady attendants
must have also had a great freedom to practice their religion. His son-in-law, Hideie
openly supported Christianity immediately after Hideyoshi’s death and Bizen had
several converts in the year after, in 1599. His own daughter converted in 1606 as
we saw earlier. We see the same practice of socializing with Abrahamists being
practiced by many so-called staunchly Hindu families. There is an important lesson
for us here. Luring entire families to Christianity by attracting the women of the
family is a tactic which is used in India even todayiii
Be that as it may, Hideyoshi’s reluctance to follow through on his edict meant that
the task of dealing with the issue of Christianity now fell to Ieyasu and his
successors.
Ieyasu’s intial years – Tiger waiting to pounce
Initially, Tokugawa Ieyasu did not initiate any action against the Christians. He even
allowed some breathing space to Christians after Hideyoshi’s death. Such that,
Christians felt that they could hope for a better future and more harvest under his
reign (Dominguez 2012: 315). Tokugawa Bakufu was properly set up in 1603 and
Ieyasu channeled his efforts towards establishing a strong system which can
withstand for centuries. He built the great castle at Edo, let his son and successor
become the nominal ruler even when he was alive – in order to ensure a smooth
transition to power though he retained actual power (reminds us of Chola practice
where the Crown Prince ruled jointly with father). Ieyasu also understood the
importance of Macao trade to the Japanese economy. So, while he took steps to
strengthen the economy so that it might survive without the Macao trade, he waited
for the most opportune time. By 1612, Macao trade was not considered as
absolutely essential for Japanese economy (Boxer 1951:308-9). (Boxer 1951: 310-
11) also captures how Ieyasu utilized information from the English about the
Catholic padres and their expulsion from England to decide upon a proper course of
action. A Spanish navigator, Sebastian Vizcaino, obtained permission from the
bakufu to survey the east coast of Japan – so that it can be utilized by the Spanish
ships to enter Japanese ports safely while travelling to Mexico from Manila. This
captain insulted Ieyasu by not adhering to Japanese customs and also tried to force
Ieyasu to accept friars into Japan freely. He stated that the King of Spain wished to
spread Catholic Faith to all nations (Boxer 1951: 312-13). Ieyasu’s tolerance for the
Christians was waning with every such incident.
The tipping point was a fraud committed by a Christian daimyo, Arima Hanurobu,
with the help of two other Christian officials to restore some lands lost by his family
in the previous century. Said daimyo was sentenced to death. Ieyasu also found that
there were Christians who worked within his household by hiding their religious
affiliation. He had them recant or exiled. Also, when some Christians were burned
alive by the son of the daimyo (who had deposed against his fraudulent father) for
refusing to give up their faith, 30000 Christians attended the so-called ‘martyrdom’
and recited prayers (Boxer 1951: 314-5). Another daimyo was found to have
indulged in fraud. He died in 1613 and it was found after his death. It was suspected
that he had planned to support a Christian uprising/invasion. His sons were killed
and the sixth son of Ieyasu, who had contact with the dead daimyo, was disgraced.
When a notorious Christian coiner was crucified, Christians again recited prayers.
(Boxer 1951: 315-6).
Hasegawa Sahioye sent a memorial to the bakufu stating (Boxer 1951: 317)
1. The Christian doctrine teaches that believers should obey the padres as their
spiritual pastors, rather than the daimyo as their temporal lords.
2. The Christians sacrifice everything in favor of their law, and worship criminals
who have been justly condemned as evil-doers and rebels; they carry their relics
as amulets.
3. In order to imitate Jesus Christ, who died crucified between two thieves, the
Christians glory in dying such a death, and for such a cause; hence they are a
fanatical and pernicious sect, dangerous to the Empire, and ripe for any
mischief.
Cleansing the Land of Kami and Buddha
When Ieyasu published his edict ordering expulsion of all missionaries from Japan
and banned the Christian religion in the Land of Kami and Buddha, there were an
estimated 3 lakh Christians in Japan out of a total population of 2 crores – about
1.5% (Boxer 1951: 321). There were no Christian daimyo in 1614 to help the
Christians (Boxer 1951: 329). While some missionaries left Japan, others went
underground. Japanese understood this fact and began to quarantine foreign traders
to specific port cities and denied access to rest of the country (Boxer 1951: 328).
Ieyau’s successor, Hidetada, restricted the foreign trade to Nagasaki and Hirado
(Cary 1996: 191).
In their campaign to suppress Christianity, the Japanese authorities had realized an
important point regarding the Christian psyche, this being the Christian fetish for
martyrdom. The initial public executions of captured Christians resulted in the
veneration of the executed people as martyrs. The astute men in charge of the
eradication of Christianity realized this and decided that henceforth the official
policy should be geared towards securing apostasy with execution being a final
resort. We can glean this from the order given by Hasegawa Sahioye Fujihiro, the
chief Governor of Nagasaki (the Christian center in Japan):
“The Christians desire death in order that they may be honored as martyrs.
Hence it is not desirable to slay them, but rather to prolong their lives,
subjecting them to such severe punishments as will finally overcome their
resistance. The most effective trial will be to enslave their woman, sending
the most beautiful of them to the houses of prostitution in Kyoto. If the
people will renounce the religion of Christ, they shall be exempted from
imposts and other obligations; moreover, Chinese ships will be induced to
come to their ports for trade, and this will be for the great enrichment of the
country.” (Cary 1996: 184)
In order to secure apostasy, persuasion was tried first and if this was unsuccessful
torture followed. The most ingenious of the torture techniques was the tsurushi
which the Japanese refined with practice on Christians. The contemporary Christians
sources testify that it was by far the most effective of the torture techniques as the
following shows:
At last they found a more hellish and exquisite way of torturing than before;
they hung these sufferers by the heels, their heads in pits, which to give the
blood some vent, they slasht lightly cross-waies, (but they do that now no
more), and in this posture they live several daies, ten or twelve, and speak
sensibly to the very last: The greatness of this torment surpasseth all other,
being beyond all humaine strength to suffer and be undergone; but by such
who are extraordinarilie strengthened from above. This extremitie hath
indeed (by reason of its continuance) forced many to renounce their religion;
and some of them who had hung two or three daies, assured me that the
pains they endured were wholly unsufferable, no fire nor no torture equalling
their langour and violence. (Turnbull 2000: 15)
A famous victim of tsurushi was the Portuguese missionary Cristovao Ferreira who
became an apostate after a few hours and was well utilized by the Japanese
authorities. As he was high in the church hierarchy, the Japanese realized they
scored a major propaganda coup and treated him rather well. He was given a
Japanese name, an allowance, became a Zen Buddhist at least for official purposes,
and was married to a Japanese woman. Ferreira was subsequently used in the trials
of other captured Jesuits to try to persuade them to become apostates as well and
even wrote a tract exposing Christianity as a fraud (Turnbull 2000: 27-29).
To summarize, the Japanese were the only pagans to have understand the
Abrahamic fetish of martyrdom and come up with an effective way of countering it.
As Michael Laver explains:
As mentioned before, the preferred result was when Christians were captured
was that they would renounce their faith and live their lives as Buddhists.
According to George Elison, Inoue Chikugo-no-Kami Masashige "wants not
martyrs, but apostates. Apostates better than martyrs attest the impotence
of a religion, especially when those apostates had been apostles of the faith
and priests." After they renounced their faith, priests were forced to take
wives as part of their new lives and were constantly monitored by the
authorities. If renunciation was not forthcoming through torture, however, the
final act would be execution. (Laver 2011: 73)
To be noted that even during these trying times, Portuguese printed Christian texts
in Japanese characters and smuggled them to Nagasaki. In 1622, a printed
biography of Loyola had become available among the Christians of Nagasaki and
there was a growing devotion for Loyola in the city (Costa 2007: 75). Given that, we
can understand the proliferation of Christian literature in India today as we have an
open door policy for them.
An Edict was promulgated in 1635 to the Joint Bugyo of Nagasaki to ordering closure
of Japan (wherein Japanese were prevented from travelling abroad) and strict
surveillance to ensure there was no spreading of Christianity (Lu 1997: 221):
1. Japanese ships are strictly forbidden to leave for foreign countries.
2. No Japanese is permitted to go abroad. If there is anyone who attempts to
do so secretly, he must be executed. The ship so involved must be
impounded and its owner arrested, and the matter must be reported to the
higher authority.
3. If any Japanese returns from overseas after residing there, he must be put
to death.
4. If there is any place where the teachings of padres (Christianity) is
practiced, the two of you must order a thorough investigation.
5. Any informer revealing the whereabouts of the followers of padres
(Christians) must be rewarded accordingly. If anyone reveals the
whereabouts of a high ranking padre, he must be given one hundred pieces
of silver. For those of lower ranks, depending on the deed, the reward must
be set accordingly.
6. If a foreign ship has an objection [to the measures adopted] and it
becomes necessary to report the matter to Edo, you may ask the Omura
domain to provide ships to guard the foreign ship, as was done previously.
7. If there are any Southern Barbarians (Westerners) who propagate the
teachings of padres, or otherwise commit crimes, they may be incarcerated
in the prison maintained by the Omura domain, as was done previously.
Japanese were soon forced to take cognizance of the fact that Portuguese were
smuggling missionaries (and literature) to Japan to propagate the Christian religion.
Thus, an edict was issued in 1639 stating the following (Lu 1997: 222):
1. The matter relating to the proscription of Christianity is known [to the
Portuguese], however, heretofore they have secretly transported those who
are going to propagate that religion.
2. If those who believe in that religion band together in an attempt to do evil
things, they must be subjected to punishment.
3. While those who believe in the preaching of padres are in hiding, there are
incidents in which that country (Portugal) has sent gifts to them for their
sustenance.
In view of the above, hereafter entry by the Portuguese galeota is forbidden.
If they insist on coming [to Japan], the ships must be destroyed and anyone
aboard those ships must be beheaded. We have received the above order
and are thus transmitting it to you accordingly
When a Portuguese ship from Macao violated the above edict in 1640, the ship was
burned and its principal ambassadors along with their companions were summarily
executed – putting an end to Portuguese interference in Japan. It was done as an
example to the show determination of the Shogun to ensure that their territorial
rights and privileges were respected by others. (Lu 1997: 223).
No pagan civilization to our knowledge ever went to the lengths that the Japanese
did in crushing Christianity. Others such as Qing China may have indulged in
sporadic persecutions but the Japanese went to much greater lengths and devised
many policies specifically designed to crush Christianity. The idea that force does
not work or is counterproductive when dealing with Abrahamic religions seems
laughable after studying the Japanese experience. In the following paragraph, we
have summarized some of the methods the Japanese employed and urge the
readers to read the more detailed article cited in the next paragraph to get an idea
of Japanese thoroughness in dealing with Christianity.
In addition to their policy of no martyrs, the Japanese authorities employed a variety
of techniques to catch hidden Christians and to prevent relapse of apostates.
Financial rewards were announced for providing information on priests and other
missionaries in hiding. The Shogunate instituted an annual test in Christian centers
like Nagasaki whereby the entire population was required to trample on Christian
relics such as a picture of Mary holding Jesus. Servants and even prostitutes were
required to sign an oath saying that they were not Christians before they could be
hired. Public announcement boards were erected throughout the country
announcing the prohibition of Christianity which was declared as jashumon (“the
evil doctrine”). The entire Japanese population was required to register at their local
Buddhist temple and were put into groups of five households (called the gonin gumi
system) which functioned as mutual assistance groups but also involved spying on
the other households in the group to make sure there were no hidden Christians or
law breakers of any other sort. If a member of the group knew of hidden Christians
but failed to inform the authorities, the entire household group was usually
punished. These were just some of the measures that the Shogunate formulated to
stamp out Christianity and many of them were upheld throughout the 250 years of
Shogunate rule, long after Christianity ceased to be a viable threat. For more
information on these and other measures, one may consult the online article “How
Japan dealt with the Christian Threat”iv
.
Result
The result of such sanctions can be gleaned from the devil’s own mouth. So
thorough were the Japanese in their eradication of Christianity that a Christian
apologist was forced to declare:
Although we often recall Muslim/Christian conflicts, it was the
Shinto/Buddhist nation of Japan that perpetrated one of the most
thorough extirpations ever recorded of a church. The Japanese exceeded
any Muslim successes in how totally they destroyed once-booming
Christian communities. This movement had significant long-term effects
for the direction of the Christian movement, as the annihilation of the
Japanese missions decisively prevented Christianity resuming its
movement towards global status, striking a dreadful blow against its
progress in Asia. By eliminating potential rivals, both these campaigns
contributed to maintaining the near-total European monopoly of
Christianity. v
For good measure, the Christian apologist is also forced to admit that:
Although we naturally pay most attention to the spectacular acts of mass
martyrdom, such violence in its own right need not be absolutely
destructive. We remember the saying that “the blood of martyrs is the
seed of the church.” Much more effective in the long term is systematic
repression associated with intense surveillance and police work, which
really does ensure that a crushed church cannot rise again. The Japanese
were brilliantly successful at such policies. Much like modern-day
totalitarian regimes, they ran a superbly effective mechanism of
repression and thought control. They offer a terrifying model of the means
by which a faith – any faith – truly can be destroyed.vi
Indeed after receiving that crushing blow, Christianity has never again managed to
make significant headway in the Land of the Rising Sun though there were periods
of optimism and growth such as the early Meiji period or in the immediate aftermath
of WW2.
Bibliography
Bary, Wm. Theodore de & Others (2005). Sources of Japanese Tradition: 1600 to
2000, Columbia University Press
Boxer, Charles R. (1951). The Christian Century in Japan: 1549-1650, University of
California Press
Brown, Miranda and Others (2012). A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese
Civilizations Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning
Cary, Otis (1996). A History of Christianity in Japan: Roman Catholic and Greek
Orthodox Mission – Vol 1, Curzon Press
Costa, João Paulo Oliveira e (2003). The Misericórdias among Japanese Christian
Communities in the 16th and 17th Centuries, Bulletin of Portuguese-Japanese
Studies 2003, 5, Pg 67-79
Costa, João Paulo Oliveira e (2007). The Brotherhoods (Confrarias) and Lay Support
for the Early Christian Church in Japan, Japan Journal of Religious Studies 34/1
Pg.67-84
Dominguez, David C. (2012). Japanese rulers in the Jesuit Correspondence, 1573-
1605: A case of Public Affairs in the XVI century, Journal of Asia Pacific Studies Vol 2
No 3 Pg 294-321
Fujita, Neil S. (1991). Japan’s Encounter with Christianity: The Catholic Mission in
Pre-Modern Japan, Paulist Press
Hearn, Lafcadio (1904). Japan, An Attempt at Interpretation. New York: The
Macmillan Company
Jansen, Marius B. (2002). The Making of Modern Japan. Harvard University Press
Kitagawa, Tomoko (2007). The Conversion of Hideyoshi’s Daughter Gō, Japanese
Journal of Religious Studies 34/1: Pg. 9-25
Laver, Michael S. (2011). The Sakoku Edicts and the Politics of Tokugawa Hegemony,
Cambria Press
Lu, David J. (1997). Japan A Documentary History, Armonk, New York, M. E. Sharpe
Reed, Edward J. (2012). Japan: Its History, Traditions and Religions With the narrative
of a visit in 1879, New York: Cambridge University Press
Turnbull, Stephen R. (2000). Japan’s Hidden Christians 1549-1999. Vol 2, Psychology
Press
Turnbull, Stephen R. (2006). The Samurai and The Sacred, Oxford: Osprey Publishing
White, Trumbull (2011). The War in the East: Japan, China and Corea. New Delhi:
Lancer Publishers
i http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06233b.htm (accessed on 13th Feb 2016)
ii http://www.samuelhawley.com/imjinarticle3.html (accessed on 13th Feb 2016)
iii http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/women-in-agra-village-lured-into-christianity-while-
husbands-stay-hindus/1/408317.html (accessed on 20th Feb 2016)
iv https://vajrin.wordpress.com/2014/04/18/how-japan-dealt-with-the-christian-threat/
(accessed on 21st Feb 2016)
v http://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2014/02/destroying-japanese-christianity/?
repeat=w3tc (accessed on 21st Feb 2016)
vi http://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2014/02/denying-the-faith/?repeat=w3tc
(accessed on 21st Feb 2016)
SEE THIS ANGLE TOO -- Source: koenraadelst.blogspot. in
Indians and Westerners who know Buddhism through Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and other modern pamphlet literature, sometimes believe that the Buddha started a movement of social reform, mobilizing against caste and recruiting among low-caste people.
Foreword
The history of the world since fourth century CE has seen the expansionist
monotheistic religions from Middle East stamping out the pagan traditions in one
land after another. We, Hindus, have keenly felt the result of this monotheistic
Abrahamic onslaught losing more than half of our lands. A thorough reversion of
Abrahamic expansion has occurred only in one land - the land of our pagan cousins,
the Land of Rising Sun. Japan is a land of Gods (kami) for the Shintoists just as
Bharata is a punyabhoomi and karmabhoomi for us. Japanese have digested many
Hindu devis and devatas (Sarasvati as Benzaiten, Lakshmi as Kichijo, Ganesha as
Kangiten, Garuda as Karura etc.) in their pantheon through the intermediary
Buddhists from China. While Japan was spared from any Islamic invasions, she had
to face the onslaught of the second Abrahamism from the sixteenth century. Some
missionaries even planned to use a Christian Japan to invade and subdue China as
we shall see later.
Christian inroads into Japan led to severe troubles not unlike what we faced in Goa
and Santhome. Shinto and Buddhist shrines were razed to the ground in the name
of the Saviour. In this essay, we shall see how the Japanese handled the Christian
attempts, their study/understanding of the monotheistic traditions, their view of the
West and its religions and also, the reason why Japanese do not fall to Christian
proselytism so easily.
Japan’s fist tryst with Abrahamic religions began in 16th century CE with the advent
of Portuguese. We shall start our study from that time.
First Portuguese contacts
In 1549, St. Francis Xavier, the butcher of Hindus, first visited Japan with the help of
a Japanese convert he gained in Malaccai
. The first major break came decades later
when Nobunaga allowed Portuguese to establish their church and proselytize in
Japan. He had supposedly reasoned that “Buddhism had been introduced from
abroad and had done good in the country and he therefore not see why Christianity
should not be granted a trial” (White 2011: 225). Japanese felt that Portuguese
planned to convert the masses through acts of charity like tending the sick and
relieving the poor (see also: Costa 2003; we see this in India even today) paving
way to make Japan a vassal state of Portugal by converting people in every one of
the thirty-six provinces (Reed 2012: 191). In parallel, Spaniards in Philippines were
planning for invasion of China with a force consisting of, among others, converted
Japaneseii
The spread of Christianity seems to have been surprisingly fast in the 16th century.
By 1585, eleven daimyos (warlords) were Christian (Hearn 1904: 304). Each daimyo
ruled a small part of Japan as his own land – much like the Poligars and Nayaks in
Southern India. About 200 daimyos were ruling various parts of Japan in the 16th
century. 11 of them had converted to the western religion by 1585. Even by 1581,
one and half lakh Japanese had converted to Christianity (White 2011: 226). By
1614 (when Tokugawa Ieyasu began to exterminate Christianity from Japan), the
number had swelled to 3 lakhs (Brown 2012: 316).
The converted daimyos were used by the missionaries to destroy pagan places of
worship in southern Japan. Turnbull (2006) gives examples. In 1578, daimyo Sorin
accepted baptism and forced all his subjects to become Christian. He persecuted
Shinto and Buddhist priests and destroyed their properties (temples). Another “had
no greater pleasure in the world than to see them pull down idols out of the temples
and houses, and bur them and throw them in to the sea”. Following account would
appear familiar to those who have read about Islamic/Christian aggression against
pagan temples:
As Don Bartholemeo (baptized name of Omura Sumitada) had gone off to the
wars, it so happened that he passed on the way an idol, Marishiten by name,
which is their god of battles. When they pass it, they bow and pay reverence
to it, and the pagans who are on horseback dismount as a sign of their
respect. Now the idol had above it a cockerel. As the daimyo came there with
his squadron he had his men stop and ordered them to take the idol and burn
it together with the whole temple; and he took the cockerel and gave it a
blow with the sword, saying to it, “Oh, how many times have you betrayed
me!” And after everything had been burnt down, he had a very beautiful
cross erected on the same spot, and after he and his men had paid very deep
reverence to it, they continued on their way to the wars.
– Luís Fróis (1532 – July 8, 1597), a Portuguese Christian missionary giving an
eyewitness description of non Christian shrines being destroyed by Japanese
converts. (Turnbull 2006: 96)
Japanese revulsion and initial attempts to curb Christianity
No wonder that Oda Nobunaga regretted his decision to allow these Christians into
his country. While not a contemporary source, being written more than a century
after Nobunaga’s death, the Ibuki Mogusa seems to imply regret on the part of Oda
Nobunaga for permitting the introduction of Christianity. The passage also suggests
that the Jesuits were using money to lure converts (a common accusation by Ming &
Qing sources on missionaries in China) just as missionaries do in contemporary
India. It is helpful to quote the passage in its entirety to give the readers some idea
of viewpoint of Japanese from later generations on Nobunaga’s change of feelings in
regards to Christianity:
"Nobunaga now began to regret his previous policy in permitting the
introduction of Christianity. He accordingly assembled his retainers, and said
to them: - 'The conduct of these missionaries in persuading people to join
them by giving money, does not please me. How would it be, think you, if we
were to demolish Nambanji [The "Temple of the Southern Savages" - so the
Portuguese church was called]?' To this Mayeda Tokuzenin replied. 'It is now
too late to demolish the Temple of the Namban. To endeavour to arrest the
power of this religion now is like trying to arrest the current of the ocean.
Nobles, both great and small, have become adherents of it. If you would
exterminate this religion now, there is fear that disturbance should be
created among your own retainers. I am therefore of opinion that you should
abandon your intention of destroying Nambanji.' Nobunaga in consequence
regretted exceedingly his previous action in regard to the Christian religion,
and set about thinking how he could root it out." (Hearn 1904: 305)
Nobunaga’s unexpected demise seems to have postponed the final solution. His
successor, Hideyoshi, gave immediate priority to unification of Japan and peace.
Hideyoshi seems to have been favorable, or at least neutral, in regards to Christian
missionaries to begin with and this may be attributed to his desire to continue the
Macao trade as well as more pressing concerns in regards to the power struggle
after Nobunaga’s assassination by Akechi Mitsuhide. The Jesuit policy of purchasing
approval for their activities through his wife, Kitanomandokoro, also helped them. In
1586, Kitanomandokoro obtained permission from Hideyoshi for the Jesuits’
activities (Kitagawa 2007: 16 quotes Frois):
“With regard to the bateren in Japan, I permit them to reside wherever they
want to, and I waive some duties such as requiring them to allow soldiers to
stay in their church, and those that are mandatory for Buddhist temples. Do
not be violent to or disturb the bateren when they propagate their
teachings.”
Kitanomandokoro had many Christian women as her lady attendants. Though
initially she was opposed to Christianity, it seems the influence of these attendants
changed her mind. The domination of Christianity among her attendants was so
high that only one woman was a Buddhist and even she was known by a Christian
name (Kitagawa 2007: 13). She even pleaded to Hideyoshi that he should not treat
the Jesuits harshly, a year before his anti-Christian decree. Post that she got the
approval quoted above. Her exact words to Hideyoshi were (Kitagawa 2007: 15
quotes Frois):
“I have been very worried about how you treated the bateren [padres] today.
They are foreigners, and how you treat them could demean their religion and
honor. Besides, they have sent me messages asking me that they want to be
treated well when they see you. So, I have been wishing in my heart that
they will be treated well.”
We do not find any indications from missionary letters that they suspected him of
harboring any intention to persecute Christians and yet it happened. The reasons
for Hideyoshi’s change of mind to which we now turn are illuminating and have
relevance for contemporary India.
In our view, there is no one reason why Hideyoshi made a u-turn in regards to his
policy towards Christianity. Instead a number of events which took place at this time
may better the change that took place. To begin with, in 1587, Hideyoshi received
an assurance from Padre Coelho, who was accompanied by Luís Fróis (the same
missionary who wrote the eyewitness description of destruction of a pagan temple
cited before), that they could arrange for Christian daimyos of Kyushu to assist
Hideyoshi in his power struggle with the other daimyos for the control of Japan as
well as arrange Portuguese naval assistance (including forces from India) for
Hideyoshi’s plan to invade Korea and China (Boxer 1951:141). Several historians
have noted that this may have created the germ of suspicion in Hideyoshi’s mind
about missionary intentions because they had shown a willingness to interfere in
internal Japanese politics. Later, a daimyo openly rejected to follow Hideyoshi’s
order to apostate from Christianity rather preferring that he be stripped of all lands
and titles. This was a test to verify whether the Christian daimyos’ foremost loyalty
was to him or not. Hideyoshi seems to have decided that he was not the true
recipient of their loyalty through these incidents.
In regards to Hideyoshi’s own views about Christianity, we may get some inkling of
the matter by looking at his questions to Padre Coelho (Fujita 1991: 112) in the
aftermath of aforementioned incident:
1. Why do you missionaries so anxiously, even forcefully, try to make
converts?
2. Why do you destroy Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples and persecute
monks instead of being conciliatory to them?
3. Why do you do such unreasonable things as eat useful animals like horses
and cows that serve people? (Note: Similarity with ‘right to beef’ in
today’s India)
4. Why do Portuguese buy many Japanese and take them back to their
country as slaves?
Finally after careful consideration, Hideyoshi decided to expel the missionaries and
issued his famous edicts of 1587 which read as follows (Bary 2005: 167-8) (Lu :196-
7):
Decree 1: Limitation on Propagation of Christianity
1. Whether one desires to become a follower of the padre is up to that
person's own conscience.
2. If one receives a province, a district, or a village as his fief, and forces
farmers in his domain who are properly registered under certain temples to
become followers of the padre against their wishes, then he has committed a
most unreasonable illegal act.
3. When a vassal (kyunin)receives a grant of a province or a district, he must
consider it as a property entrusted to him on a temporary basis. A vassal may
be moved from one place to another, but farmers remain in the same place.
Thus if an unreasonable illegal act is committed [as described above], the
vassal will be called upon to account for his culpable offense. The intent of
this provision must be observed.
4. Anyone whose fief is over 200 cho and who can expect two to three
thousand kan of rice harvest each year must receive permission from the
authorities before becoming a follower of the padre.
5. Persons holding fiefs smaller than the aforementioned: It being a question
of the Eight Sects or Nine Sects, each head of the house may decide
individually as he pleases. (Note: These are sects of Buddhism – nothing to
do with Christianity)
6. The sectarians of Bateren, it has come to His Highness’ attention, are even
more given to conjurations with outsiders than the Single Minded sect. The
Single-Minded sect established temple precincts in the provinces and districts
and did not pay the yearly dues to the enfeoffed recipients. Moreover, it
converted the entire province of Kaga into its own sectarians; chased out
Togashi, the lord of the province; turned over the fiefs to priests of the
Single-Minded sect; and beyond that, even took over the province of Echizen.
Everyone knows that this was harmful to the realm.
7. The priests of the Hongaji sectarians had temples built on every cove and
inlet. Although they have been pardoned, His Highness no longer permits
them to run their temple precincts as they did before.
8. If a daimyo who has a fief over a province, a district, or a village, forces his
retainers to become followers of the padre, he is committing a crime worse
than the followers of Honganji who assembled in their temple [to engage in
the Ikko riot]. This will have an adverse effect on [the welfare of] the nation.
Anyone who cannot use good judgment in this matter will be punished.
9. Those among the common people who freely choose to become sectarians
of the Bateren may do so, it being a question of the Eight Sects or Nine Sects.
10. It is illegal to sell Japanese people to China, to the South Seas, or to Korea
[as slaves]. Henceforth, sale of persons in Japan is forbidden. [Note: Compare
it with abolition of slave trade by Chhatrapati Shivaji]
11. To buy or sell cattle and horses for slaughter and consumption shall also
be considered miscreant.
The above shall be strictly prohibited. Any transgressor shall swiftly be
brought to justice for his offense.
Tensho 15.VI.18 (July 23, 1587)
Decree 2 (the very next day)
1. Japan is the Land of the Gods. That a pernicious doctrine should be
diffused here from the Kirishitan Country is most undesirable.
2. To approach the people of our provinces and districts, turn them into
[Kirishitan] sectarians, and destroy the shrines of the gods and the temples
of the Buddhas is something unheard of in previous generations. Whereas
provinces, districts, localities, and fiefs are granted to their recipients
temporarily, contingent on the incumbent's observance of the laws of the
realm and attention to their intent in all matters, to embroil the common
people is miscreant.
3. In the judgement of His Highness, it is because the Bateren amass
parishioners as they please by means of their clever doctrine that the Law of
the Buddhas is being destroyed like this in the Precincts of the Sun. That
being miscreant, the Bateren can scarcely be permitted to remain on
Japanese soil. Within twenty days from today they shall make their
preparations and go back to their country. During this time, should anyone
among the common people make unwarranted accusations against the
Bateren, it shall be considered miscreant.
4. The purpose of the Black Ships is trade, and that is a different matter. As
years and months pass, trade may be carried on in all sorts of articles.
5. From now on hereafter, all those who do not disturb the Law of the
Buddhas (merchants, needless to say, and whoever) are free to come here
from the Kirishitan Country and return. Be heedful of this.
That is all.
Tensho 15.VI.19
Actions taken were as follows: public notices were put up stating that missionaries
were expelled by Hideyoshi’s order, samurai were told to remove any outward signs
of Christianity like crosses/rosaries, Jesuit properties confiscated in various places
and Jesuit strongholds were taken over by Hideyoshi’s emissaries. The inhabitants
of Nagasaki, Christian headquarters of Japan, were asked to pay a huge fine.
Christians were asked to recovert or face exile/death though no attempt was made
to enforce the last point (Boxer 1951: 148-9). Padre Coelho seems to have planned
for invasion of Japan by fortifying Nagasaki, the Christian stronghold in Japan, with
Spanish help and use it to rally the Christian daimyo of Kyushu against Hideyoshi.
But higher authorities did not support this idea (Boxer 1951: 312). On the other
hand, the edict was not strongly implemented as only 3 out of the 120 Jesuits left
the country and remaining dispersed to territories of Christian daimyos. Hideyoshi’s
emissaries only extracted some fines levied on the population of Jesuit strongholds
and closed down the churches only temporarily rather than destroying them
permanently (Boxer 1951: 150).
However proclaiming something and implementing it are two very different things
which is more than true in discussing events that took place after the edict. Initially,
we do not see much implementation. But the famous San Felipe incident took place
and this seems to have further heightened Hideyoshi’s suspicions. The incident
involved the shipwreck of a Spanish galleon named San Felipe off the Japanese
coast which was seized by the Japanese. The Spaniards then dispatched a request
to Hideyoshi to return the cargo which was refused. It is said that upon this refusal,
the Spanish Pilot Major, Francisco de Olandia was said to have boasted about the
might of the Spanish empire and their possessions in the New World. When his
Japanese audience questioned how they could have achieved this, the Captain was
said to have replied that the Christian missionaries acted as the vanguard for the
Spanish army by making local converts and using them as a fifth column against the
local rulers (Boxer 1951: 165-66). This at least is the contemporary Jesuit view of
the incident which their Franciscan rivals rejected as calumny.
This resulted in the famous martyrdom of twenty-six men - Franciscans and their
men - at Nagasaki Bay whereby a number of missionaries (including a half-Indian
one named Gonsalves Garcia venerated as a saint at Vasai in India) and their
Japanese followers were crucified in public (it may be noted that crucifixion was an
established punishment in Japan predating the introduction of Christianity). In
response to Portuguese complaints about persecution of Franciscan, he drafted the
following reply which is also instructive in regards to his views:
That the Japanese were by no means so ignorant of the state of affairs in
Europe, as the Jesuits sometimes seem to have imagined, can be seen from
Hideyoshi's correspondence with the Governor of the Philippines, Don
Francisco Tello. The governor had sent an envoy, Don Luis Navarrete, to claim
the confiscated cargo of the San Felipe, and to ask why the Franciscans had
been executed. Hideyoshi in his reply, drafted in a spirit more of sorrow than
of anger, explained that Shinto (there is no mention of Buddhism, be it noted)
was the pith and core of the Japanese social structure. He went on to point
out that the friars, threatened to upset the whole national fabric with their
subversive Christian propaganda, "and if per-chance, either religious or
secular Japanese proceeded to your kingdoms and preached the law
of Shinto therein, disquieting and disturbing the public peace and
tranquility there-by, would you, as lord of the soil, be pleased
thereat? Certainly not; and therefore by this you can judge what I
have done.” (Boxer 1951:169)
But after this event, the efforts to expel the missionaries tapered off and eventually
the missionaries even resumed their conversions during the initial years under the
next shogun, Ieyasu. We have no way of knowing the exact reasons for Hideyoshi’s
loss of interest in the matter but we can reasonably speculate that it may have had
something to do with his fear of losing the Macao trade with the Portuguese, his
reluctance to engender further conflict (similar to Nobunaga) when Japan itself was
embroiled in his major undertaking viz the invasion of Korea known as Imjin War
which occupied his final years. The vulnerability of Japan to economic sanctions
during this time of war was well known to the missionaries as they had advised for
imposing economic sanctions against Japan in retaliation. Coelho and Bishop Martin
urged King Felipe to cancel annual trade between Macao and Nagasaki in order to
bring about overthrow of Hideyoshi through economic crisis in Japan or induce him
to accord official recognition to Christianity (Boxer 1951:168-9). Hideyoshi seems to
have understood the peril that he might face and thus, he did not attack the Jesuits
who were essential for trade with Macao (Boxer 1951: 166).
Hideyoshi’s failure to follow through on his edict is similar to the India of today
where many anti conversion laws are passed with much fanfare only to be flouted
openly by the missionaries and never actually implemented. So much so, Hideyoshi
married off his adopted daughter, Gō, to a Christian family a year after his anti-
Christian edict. Said daughter converted to Christianity in 1606; the effect of
Christian lady attendants at her father’s place as well as Christian influence at her
in-laws’ household seem to have made a great impact on her mind (see Kitagawa
2007: 22). Just as Hideyoshi wanted the Macao trade, our politicians too seem to
suffer from the thought of “What would the American government say or do in
regards to call centers or software outsourcing?” whenever someone brings up
protecting our civilization from the murderous assault of Christians. He also suffered
from an inability to keep his household uninfected. His devout Buddhist wife,
Kitanomandokoro had become so thoroughly exposed to Christian theology that in
1595, she is supposed to have stated (Kitagawa 2007: 20 quotes Frois):
...Kitanomandokoro replied [to Maria], saying, “it seems to me that
Christianity has great rationale. And it is superior to any other religion, and it
is more plausible than many existing Japanese religions.” She continued to
make a point that Deus is the only God, and kami and Buddhas are not Deus,
but they are all human. Then, she turned to one Christian lady, Joanna, and
said, “is that right, Joanna?” Joanna said, “that is correct. Kami is a Japanese
creation without any rationale, and humans gave them mystical positions
and honor. Thus, kami are not different from human beings.”
Kitanomandokoro continued and said, “Every Christian agrees on one truth,
and claims that to be true. That makes me believe that [Christianity tells] the
truth. Japanese religions never agree, and are never the same.”
Thus, while Hideyoshi had issued an edict opposing Christianity being adopted by
daimyos, his own wife was praising it years after the edict and her lady attendants
must have also had a great freedom to practice their religion. His son-in-law, Hideie
openly supported Christianity immediately after Hideyoshi’s death and Bizen had
several converts in the year after, in 1599. His own daughter converted in 1606 as
we saw earlier. We see the same practice of socializing with Abrahamists being
practiced by many so-called staunchly Hindu families. There is an important lesson
for us here. Luring entire families to Christianity by attracting the women of the
family is a tactic which is used in India even todayiii
Be that as it may, Hideyoshi’s reluctance to follow through on his edict meant that
the task of dealing with the issue of Christianity now fell to Ieyasu and his
successors.
Ieyasu’s intial years – Tiger waiting to pounce
Initially, Tokugawa Ieyasu did not initiate any action against the Christians. He even
allowed some breathing space to Christians after Hideyoshi’s death. Such that,
Christians felt that they could hope for a better future and more harvest under his
reign (Dominguez 2012: 315). Tokugawa Bakufu was properly set up in 1603 and
Ieyasu channeled his efforts towards establishing a strong system which can
withstand for centuries. He built the great castle at Edo, let his son and successor
become the nominal ruler even when he was alive – in order to ensure a smooth
transition to power though he retained actual power (reminds us of Chola practice
where the Crown Prince ruled jointly with father). Ieyasu also understood the
importance of Macao trade to the Japanese economy. So, while he took steps to
strengthen the economy so that it might survive without the Macao trade, he waited
for the most opportune time. By 1612, Macao trade was not considered as
absolutely essential for Japanese economy (Boxer 1951:308-9). (Boxer 1951: 310-
11) also captures how Ieyasu utilized information from the English about the
Catholic padres and their expulsion from England to decide upon a proper course of
action. A Spanish navigator, Sebastian Vizcaino, obtained permission from the
bakufu to survey the east coast of Japan – so that it can be utilized by the Spanish
ships to enter Japanese ports safely while travelling to Mexico from Manila. This
captain insulted Ieyasu by not adhering to Japanese customs and also tried to force
Ieyasu to accept friars into Japan freely. He stated that the King of Spain wished to
spread Catholic Faith to all nations (Boxer 1951: 312-13). Ieyasu’s tolerance for the
Christians was waning with every such incident.
The tipping point was a fraud committed by a Christian daimyo, Arima Hanurobu,
with the help of two other Christian officials to restore some lands lost by his family
in the previous century. Said daimyo was sentenced to death. Ieyasu also found that
there were Christians who worked within his household by hiding their religious
affiliation. He had them recant or exiled. Also, when some Christians were burned
alive by the son of the daimyo (who had deposed against his fraudulent father) for
refusing to give up their faith, 30000 Christians attended the so-called ‘martyrdom’
and recited prayers (Boxer 1951: 314-5). Another daimyo was found to have
indulged in fraud. He died in 1613 and it was found after his death. It was suspected
that he had planned to support a Christian uprising/invasion. His sons were killed
and the sixth son of Ieyasu, who had contact with the dead daimyo, was disgraced.
When a notorious Christian coiner was crucified, Christians again recited prayers.
(Boxer 1951: 315-6).
Hasegawa Sahioye sent a memorial to the bakufu stating (Boxer 1951: 317)
1. The Christian doctrine teaches that believers should obey the padres as their
spiritual pastors, rather than the daimyo as their temporal lords.
2. The Christians sacrifice everything in favor of their law, and worship criminals
who have been justly condemned as evil-doers and rebels; they carry their relics
as amulets.
3. In order to imitate Jesus Christ, who died crucified between two thieves, the
Christians glory in dying such a death, and for such a cause; hence they are a
fanatical and pernicious sect, dangerous to the Empire, and ripe for any
mischief.
Cleansing the Land of Kami and Buddha
When Ieyasu published his edict ordering expulsion of all missionaries from Japan
and banned the Christian religion in the Land of Kami and Buddha, there were an
estimated 3 lakh Christians in Japan out of a total population of 2 crores – about
1.5% (Boxer 1951: 321). There were no Christian daimyo in 1614 to help the
Christians (Boxer 1951: 329). While some missionaries left Japan, others went
underground. Japanese understood this fact and began to quarantine foreign traders
to specific port cities and denied access to rest of the country (Boxer 1951: 328).
Ieyau’s successor, Hidetada, restricted the foreign trade to Nagasaki and Hirado
(Cary 1996: 191).
In their campaign to suppress Christianity, the Japanese authorities had realized an
important point regarding the Christian psyche, this being the Christian fetish for
martyrdom. The initial public executions of captured Christians resulted in the
veneration of the executed people as martyrs. The astute men in charge of the
eradication of Christianity realized this and decided that henceforth the official
policy should be geared towards securing apostasy with execution being a final
resort. We can glean this from the order given by Hasegawa Sahioye Fujihiro, the
chief Governor of Nagasaki (the Christian center in Japan):
“The Christians desire death in order that they may be honored as martyrs.
Hence it is not desirable to slay them, but rather to prolong their lives,
subjecting them to such severe punishments as will finally overcome their
resistance. The most effective trial will be to enslave their woman, sending
the most beautiful of them to the houses of prostitution in Kyoto. If the
people will renounce the religion of Christ, they shall be exempted from
imposts and other obligations; moreover, Chinese ships will be induced to
come to their ports for trade, and this will be for the great enrichment of the
country.” (Cary 1996: 184)
In order to secure apostasy, persuasion was tried first and if this was unsuccessful
torture followed. The most ingenious of the torture techniques was the tsurushi
which the Japanese refined with practice on Christians. The contemporary Christians
sources testify that it was by far the most effective of the torture techniques as the
following shows:
At last they found a more hellish and exquisite way of torturing than before;
they hung these sufferers by the heels, their heads in pits, which to give the
blood some vent, they slasht lightly cross-waies, (but they do that now no
more), and in this posture they live several daies, ten or twelve, and speak
sensibly to the very last: The greatness of this torment surpasseth all other,
being beyond all humaine strength to suffer and be undergone; but by such
who are extraordinarilie strengthened from above. This extremitie hath
indeed (by reason of its continuance) forced many to renounce their religion;
and some of them who had hung two or three daies, assured me that the
pains they endured were wholly unsufferable, no fire nor no torture equalling
their langour and violence. (Turnbull 2000: 15)
A famous victim of tsurushi was the Portuguese missionary Cristovao Ferreira who
became an apostate after a few hours and was well utilized by the Japanese
authorities. As he was high in the church hierarchy, the Japanese realized they
scored a major propaganda coup and treated him rather well. He was given a
Japanese name, an allowance, became a Zen Buddhist at least for official purposes,
and was married to a Japanese woman. Ferreira was subsequently used in the trials
of other captured Jesuits to try to persuade them to become apostates as well and
even wrote a tract exposing Christianity as a fraud (Turnbull 2000: 27-29).
To summarize, the Japanese were the only pagans to have understand the
Abrahamic fetish of martyrdom and come up with an effective way of countering it.
As Michael Laver explains:
As mentioned before, the preferred result was when Christians were captured
was that they would renounce their faith and live their lives as Buddhists.
According to George Elison, Inoue Chikugo-no-Kami Masashige "wants not
martyrs, but apostates. Apostates better than martyrs attest the impotence
of a religion, especially when those apostates had been apostles of the faith
and priests." After they renounced their faith, priests were forced to take
wives as part of their new lives and were constantly monitored by the
authorities. If renunciation was not forthcoming through torture, however, the
final act would be execution. (Laver 2011: 73)
To be noted that even during these trying times, Portuguese printed Christian texts
in Japanese characters and smuggled them to Nagasaki. In 1622, a printed
biography of Loyola had become available among the Christians of Nagasaki and
there was a growing devotion for Loyola in the city (Costa 2007: 75). Given that, we
can understand the proliferation of Christian literature in India today as we have an
open door policy for them.
An Edict was promulgated in 1635 to the Joint Bugyo of Nagasaki to ordering closure
of Japan (wherein Japanese were prevented from travelling abroad) and strict
surveillance to ensure there was no spreading of Christianity (Lu 1997: 221):
1. Japanese ships are strictly forbidden to leave for foreign countries.
2. No Japanese is permitted to go abroad. If there is anyone who attempts to
do so secretly, he must be executed. The ship so involved must be
impounded and its owner arrested, and the matter must be reported to the
higher authority.
3. If any Japanese returns from overseas after residing there, he must be put
to death.
4. If there is any place where the teachings of padres (Christianity) is
practiced, the two of you must order a thorough investigation.
5. Any informer revealing the whereabouts of the followers of padres
(Christians) must be rewarded accordingly. If anyone reveals the
whereabouts of a high ranking padre, he must be given one hundred pieces
of silver. For those of lower ranks, depending on the deed, the reward must
be set accordingly.
6. If a foreign ship has an objection [to the measures adopted] and it
becomes necessary to report the matter to Edo, you may ask the Omura
domain to provide ships to guard the foreign ship, as was done previously.
7. If there are any Southern Barbarians (Westerners) who propagate the
teachings of padres, or otherwise commit crimes, they may be incarcerated
in the prison maintained by the Omura domain, as was done previously.
Japanese were soon forced to take cognizance of the fact that Portuguese were
smuggling missionaries (and literature) to Japan to propagate the Christian religion.
Thus, an edict was issued in 1639 stating the following (Lu 1997: 222):
1. The matter relating to the proscription of Christianity is known [to the
Portuguese], however, heretofore they have secretly transported those who
are going to propagate that religion.
2. If those who believe in that religion band together in an attempt to do evil
things, they must be subjected to punishment.
3. While those who believe in the preaching of padres are in hiding, there are
incidents in which that country (Portugal) has sent gifts to them for their
sustenance.
In view of the above, hereafter entry by the Portuguese galeota is forbidden.
If they insist on coming [to Japan], the ships must be destroyed and anyone
aboard those ships must be beheaded. We have received the above order
and are thus transmitting it to you accordingly
When a Portuguese ship from Macao violated the above edict in 1640, the ship was
burned and its principal ambassadors along with their companions were summarily
executed – putting an end to Portuguese interference in Japan. It was done as an
example to the show determination of the Shogun to ensure that their territorial
rights and privileges were respected by others. (Lu 1997: 223).
No pagan civilization to our knowledge ever went to the lengths that the Japanese
did in crushing Christianity. Others such as Qing China may have indulged in
sporadic persecutions but the Japanese went to much greater lengths and devised
many policies specifically designed to crush Christianity. The idea that force does
not work or is counterproductive when dealing with Abrahamic religions seems
laughable after studying the Japanese experience. In the following paragraph, we
have summarized some of the methods the Japanese employed and urge the
readers to read the more detailed article cited in the next paragraph to get an idea
of Japanese thoroughness in dealing with Christianity.
In addition to their policy of no martyrs, the Japanese authorities employed a variety
of techniques to catch hidden Christians and to prevent relapse of apostates.
Financial rewards were announced for providing information on priests and other
missionaries in hiding. The Shogunate instituted an annual test in Christian centers
like Nagasaki whereby the entire population was required to trample on Christian
relics such as a picture of Mary holding Jesus. Servants and even prostitutes were
required to sign an oath saying that they were not Christians before they could be
hired. Public announcement boards were erected throughout the country
announcing the prohibition of Christianity which was declared as jashumon (“the
evil doctrine”). The entire Japanese population was required to register at their local
Buddhist temple and were put into groups of five households (called the gonin gumi
system) which functioned as mutual assistance groups but also involved spying on
the other households in the group to make sure there were no hidden Christians or
law breakers of any other sort. If a member of the group knew of hidden Christians
but failed to inform the authorities, the entire household group was usually
punished. These were just some of the measures that the Shogunate formulated to
stamp out Christianity and many of them were upheld throughout the 250 years of
Shogunate rule, long after Christianity ceased to be a viable threat. For more
information on these and other measures, one may consult the online article “How
Japan dealt with the Christian Threat”iv
.
Result
The result of such sanctions can be gleaned from the devil’s own mouth. So
thorough were the Japanese in their eradication of Christianity that a Christian
apologist was forced to declare:
Although we often recall Muslim/Christian conflicts, it was the
Shinto/Buddhist nation of Japan that perpetrated one of the most
thorough extirpations ever recorded of a church. The Japanese exceeded
any Muslim successes in how totally they destroyed once-booming
Christian communities. This movement had significant long-term effects
for the direction of the Christian movement, as the annihilation of the
Japanese missions decisively prevented Christianity resuming its
movement towards global status, striking a dreadful blow against its
progress in Asia. By eliminating potential rivals, both these campaigns
contributed to maintaining the near-total European monopoly of
Christianity. v
For good measure, the Christian apologist is also forced to admit that:
Although we naturally pay most attention to the spectacular acts of mass
martyrdom, such violence in its own right need not be absolutely
destructive. We remember the saying that “the blood of martyrs is the
seed of the church.” Much more effective in the long term is systematic
repression associated with intense surveillance and police work, which
really does ensure that a crushed church cannot rise again. The Japanese
were brilliantly successful at such policies. Much like modern-day
totalitarian regimes, they ran a superbly effective mechanism of
repression and thought control. They offer a terrifying model of the means
by which a faith – any faith – truly can be destroyed.vi
Indeed after receiving that crushing blow, Christianity has never again managed to
make significant headway in the Land of the Rising Sun though there were periods
of optimism and growth such as the early Meiji period or in the immediate aftermath
of WW2.
Bibliography
Bary, Wm. Theodore de & Others (2005). Sources of Japanese Tradition: 1600 to
2000, Columbia University Press
Boxer, Charles R. (1951). The Christian Century in Japan: 1549-1650, University of
California Press
Brown, Miranda and Others (2012). A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese
Civilizations Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning
Cary, Otis (1996). A History of Christianity in Japan: Roman Catholic and Greek
Orthodox Mission – Vol 1, Curzon Press
Costa, João Paulo Oliveira e (2003). The Misericórdias among Japanese Christian
Communities in the 16th and 17th Centuries, Bulletin of Portuguese-Japanese
Studies 2003, 5, Pg 67-79
Costa, João Paulo Oliveira e (2007). The Brotherhoods (Confrarias) and Lay Support
for the Early Christian Church in Japan, Japan Journal of Religious Studies 34/1
Pg.67-84
Dominguez, David C. (2012). Japanese rulers in the Jesuit Correspondence, 1573-
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No 3 Pg 294-321
Fujita, Neil S. (1991). Japan’s Encounter with Christianity: The Catholic Mission in
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Hearn, Lafcadio (1904). Japan, An Attempt at Interpretation. New York: The
Macmillan Company
Jansen, Marius B. (2002). The Making of Modern Japan. Harvard University Press
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Journal of Religious Studies 34/1: Pg. 9-25
Laver, Michael S. (2011). The Sakoku Edicts and the Politics of Tokugawa Hegemony,
Cambria Press
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of a visit in 1879, New York: Cambridge University Press
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i http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06233b.htm (accessed on 13th Feb 2016)
ii http://www.samuelhawley.com/imjinarticle3.html (accessed on 13th Feb 2016)
iii http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/women-in-agra-village-lured-into-christianity-while-
husbands-stay-hindus/1/408317.html (accessed on 20th Feb 2016)
iv https://vajrin.wordpress.com/2014/04/18/how-japan-dealt-with-the-christian-threat/
(accessed on 21st Feb 2016)
v http://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2014/02/destroying-japanese-christianity/?
repeat=w3tc (accessed on 21st Feb 2016)
vi http://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2014/02/denying-the-faith/?repeat=w3tc
(accessed on 21st Feb 2016)
SEE THIS ANGLE TOO -- Source: koenraadelst.blogspot. in
Indians and Westerners who know Buddhism through Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and other modern pamphlet literature, sometimes believe that the Buddha started a movement of social reform, mobilizing against caste and recruiting among low-caste people.
As against this, Chinese and Japanese Buddhists who have studied their religion only through its source texts, think that Buddhism was an elite movement, recruiting among the upper castes and patronized by kings and magnates. We will argue that these believers are right, while the neo-Buddhists in India and outside enthusiasts in the West are wrong.
A good place to start is the Buddha’s use of the term Ārya. Buddhists claim that when the Buddha lived and taught, the term Ārya had a general psychological-ethical meaning “noble”, a character trait larger than and not dependent on any specific cultural or religious tradition or social class (let alone linguistic or racial group). It is used in the famous Buddhist expressions, the “four noble truths” (catvāri-ārya-satyāni) and the “noble eightfold path” (ārya-astāngika-mārga). However, we must look at the historical data without assuming modern and sectarian preferences.
Firstly, we must take into account the possibility that the Buddha too used the term Ārya in the implied sense of “Vedic”, broadly conceived. It no longer meant “Paurava”, the ethnic horizon of the Veda-composing tribes (whereas in Anatolian and Iranian it would retain this ethnic meaning, “fellow citizens” against “foreigners”, “us” against “them”), but in the post-Buddha Manu Smrti and in general Hindu usage, it would retain the association with the Vedic tradition, hence the meaning “civilized” in the sense of “observing Vedic norms and customs”. The Buddha too may have conceived of his personal practice as restored-Vedic and more Vedic than the “decadent” formalism around him. “Back to the roots” is of all ages, and it may have affected the Buddha as well. What speaks in favour of this thesis is that the Buddha himself, far from being a revolutionary, appealed to the “ancient way” which he himself trod, and which “the Buddhas of the past” had also trodden.
After Vedic tradition got carried away into what he deemed non-essentials, he intended to restore what he conceived as the original Vedic spirit. After all, the anti-Vedicism and anti-Brahmanism now routinely attributed to him, are largely in the eye of the modern beholder. Though later Brahmin-born Buddhist thinkers polemicized against Brahmin institutions and the idolizing of the Veda, the Buddha himself didn’t mind attributing to the Vedic gods Indra and Brahma his recognition as the Buddha and his mission to teach. His disciples took the worship of the Vedic gods as far as Japan.
As Luis Gómez [1999: “Noble lineage and august demeanour. Religious and social meanings of Aryan virtue”, in Bronkhorst & Deshpande: Aryan and Non-Aryan in South Asia, Harvard, p.132-133] points out, the Buddhist usage of Ārya is subject to “ambiguities”, e.g. in the Mahāvibhāsā: “The Buddha said, ‘What the noble ones say is the truth, what the other say is not true. And why is this? The noble ones […] understand things as they are, the common folk do not understand. […] Furthermore, they are called noble truths because they are possessed by those who own the wealth and assets of the noble ones. Furthermore, they are called noble truths because they are possessed by those who are conceived in the womb of a noble person.’”
At the end of his life, the Buddha unwittingly got involved in a political intrigue when Varsakāra, a minister of the Magadha kingdom, asked him for the secret of the strength of the republican states. Among the seven unfailing factors of strength of a society, he included “sticking to ancient laws and traditions” and “maintaining sacred sites and honouring ancient rituals”. [Dīgha Nikāya 2:73] So, contrary to his modern image as a “revolutionary”, the Buddha’s view of the good society was close to Confucian and indeed Brahmanical conservatism. Far from denouncing “empty ritual”, he praised it as a factor of social harmony and strength. He wanted people to maintain the ancestral worship of the Vedic gods, go to the Vedic sites of pilgrimage and celebrate the Vedic festivals. In this light, his understanding of Ārya may have been closer to the Brahminical interpretation of the term as “Vedic” than nowadays usually assumed.
This even applies to the Buddha’s view of caste. Of most of the hundreds of men recruited to the Buddha’s monastic order, we know the provenance, hence the caste. More than 80% of the hundreds of men he recruited, were from the upper castes. More than 40% were Brahmins. The Buddha himself was a Ksatriya, son of the President-for-life of the proud Sākya tribe, and member of its senate. His lay patrons, who had their personnel or their feudal subordinates build monasteries for the Buddha, included most of the kings and magnates of the nether Ganga region. Indeed, this patronage is the main reason why Buddhism succeeded in becoming a world religion where most other contemporaneous sects dwindled and disappeared.
The successor-Buddha prophesied for the future, the Maitreya, is to be born in a Brahman family, according to the Buddha himself. When the Buddha died, his ashes were divided and sent to eight cities, where the elites had staked their claims purely in caste terms: “He was a Kshatriya and we are Kshatriyas, so we are entitled to his ashes.” Clearly, his disciples, after undergoing his teachings for forty-five years, were not in the least hesitant to display their caste in a Buddhist context par excellence.
In his study of caste and the Buddha (“Buddhism, an atheistic and anti-caste religion? Modern ideology and historical reality of the ancient Indian Bauddha Dharma”, Journal of Religious Culture, no.50 (2001)), the German Indologist Edmund Weber quotes the biographical source-text Lalitavistara and concludes: “The standpoint which caste a Buddha should belong to has not been revised in Buddhism up to the present day. It is dogmatised in the Lalitavistara in the following way: a Bodhisattva can by no means come from a lower or even mixed caste: ‘After all Bodhisattvas were not born in despised lineage, among pariahs, in families of pipe or cart makers, or mixed castes.’ Instead, in perfect harmony with the Great Sermon, it was said that: ‘The Bodhisattvas appear only in two kinds of lineage, the one of the brahmanas and of the warriors (kshatriya).’”
A word returning frequently in Buddhist texts is “nobly-born”. Buddhists were proud to say this of their Guru, whose noble birth from the direct descendants of Manu Vaivasvata was an endless object of praise. Birth was very important to the Buddha, which is why his disciples wrote a lot of hagiographical fantasy around his own birth, with miracles attending his birth from a queen. The Buddha himself said it many times, e.g.. of the girls who should not be molested: they should be those of noble birth, as distinct from the base-born women who in the Buddha’s estimation were not equally delicate.
The Buddha also didn’t believe in gender equality. For long he refused to recruit women into his monastic order, saying that nuns would shorten its life-span by five hundred years. At long last he relented when his mother was widowed and other relatives, nobly-born Kshatriyas like the Buddha himself, insisted. Nepotism wasn’t alien to him either. But he made this institution of female monastics conditional upon the acceptance that even the most seasoned nun was subordinate to even the dullest and most junior monk. Some Theravada countries have even re-abolished the women’s monastic order, and it is only under Western feminist influence that Thailand is gradually reaccepting nuns.
The Buddha’s ascent to Awakening was predetermined by physical marks he was born with, according to his disciples. Buddhist scripture makes much of the Buddha’s noble birth in the Solar lineage, as a relative of Rāma. The Buddha himself claimed to be a reincarnation of Rama, in the Buddhist retelling of the Rāmāyana in the Jātakas. He also likened himself to the mightily-striding Visnu. Later Hindus see both Rama and the Buddha as incarnations of Vishnu, but the Buddha started it all by claiming to by Rama’s reincarnation.
To play devil’s advocate, we could even extend our skepticism of the Buddha’s progressive image to an involvement in the racist understanding of Ārya. Some pre-WW2 racists waxed enthusiastic about descriptions by contemporaries of the Buddha as “tall and light-skinned”. [Schuman, H.W., 1989: The Historical Buddha, London: Arkana, p.194] That would seem to make him “Aryan” in the once-common sense of “Nordic”.
Nowadays, some scholars including Michael Witzel [on his own Indo-Eurasian Research yahoo list] suggest that the Buddha’s Śākya tribe may have been of Iranian origin (related to Śaka, “Scythian”), which would explain his taller stature and lighter skin in comparison with his Gangetic fellow-men. It would also explain their fierce endogamy, i.e. their systematic practice of cousin marriage. Indeed, the Buddha himself had only four great-grandparents because his paternal grandfather was the brother of his maternal grandmother while his maternal grandfather was the brother of his paternal grandmother. The Brahminical lawbooks prohibited this close endogamy (gotras are exogamous) and, like the Catholic Church, imposed respect for “prohibited degrees of consanguinity”; but consanguineous marriages were common among Iranians.. (They were also common among Dravidians, a lead not yet fully exploited by neo-Buddhists claiming the Buddha as “pre-Aryan”.) The Śākya tribe justified the practice through pride in their direct pure descent from the Ārya patriarch Manu Vaivasvata, but this could be a made-up explanation adapted to the Indian milieu and hiding their Iranian origin (which they themselves too could have forgotten), still visible in their physical profile. So, that would make the Buddha an “Aryan” in the historically most justified ethnic use of the term, viz. as “Iranian”.
At any rate, nothing in Buddhist history justifies the modern romance of Buddhism as a movement for social reform. Everywhere it went, Buddhism accepted the social mores prevalent in that country, be it Chinese imperial-centralistic bureaucracy, Japanese militaristic feudalism, or indeed Hindu caste society. Buddhism even accepted the religious mores of the people (a rare exception is the abolition of a widow’s burial along with her husband in Mongol society effected by the third Dalai Lama), it only recruited monks from among them and made these do the Buddhist practices. In “caste-ridden India”, the Buddhist emperor Aśoka dared to go against the existing mores when he prohibited animal-slaughter on specific days, but even he made no move to abolish caste.
Buddhism wasn’t more casteist than what went before. It didn’t bring caste to India anymore than the Muslims or the Britons did. Caste is an ancient Indian institution of which the Buddha was a part. But he, its personal beneficiary, didn’t think of changing it, just as his followers in other countries didn’t think of changing the prevailing system.
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