Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
October 2002
The ancient Japanese found divinity manifested within nature itself. Flowering peaks, flowing rivers, and venerable trees, for example, were thought to be sanctified by the deities, or kami, that inhabited them. This indigenous “Way of the Gods,” or Shinto, can be understood as a multifaceted assembly of practices, attitudes, and institutions that express the Japanese people’s relationship with their land and the lifecycles of the earth and humans. Shinto emerged gradually in ancient times and is distinctive in that it has no founder, no sacred books, no teachers, no saints, and no well-defined pantheon. It never developed a moral order or a hierarchical priesthood and did not offer salvation after death. The oldest type of Shinto ceremonies that could be called religious were dedicated to agriculture and always emphasized ritual purity. Worship took place outdoors at sites proclaimed to be sacred. In time, however, the ancient Japanese built permanent structures to honor their gods. Shrines were usually built on mountains or in rural areas, often on unlevel ground, without any symmetrical plan.
In Japan, anthropomorphic representations of gods were unknown before the spread of Buddhism, although deities were symbolically associated with sacred objects, such as mirrors, swords, and jewels, that became imperial insignia. Following the advent of the new religion, Shintoists began to make images. The form of worship, however, did not change, as representations of gods were hidden away in the inner sanctuary of the Shinto shrine, adherents demonstrating their faith—at the entrance—simply by clapping their hands.
Citation
Department of Asian Art. “Shinto.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/shin/hd_shin.htm (October 2002)
Further Reading
Mason, Penelope. History of Japanese Art. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004.
Varley, H. Paul. Japanese Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000.
Additional Essays by Department of Asian Art
- Department of Asian Art. “Mauryan Empire (ca. 323–185 B.C.).” (October 2000)
- Department of Asian Art. “Zen Buddhism.” (October 2002)
- Department of Asian Art. “Chinese Cloisonné.” (October 2004)
- Department of Asian Art. “Chinese Gardens and Collectors’ Rocks.” (October 2004)
- Department of Asian Art. “Landscape Painting in Chinese Art.” (October 2004)
- Department of Asian Art. “Nature in Chinese Culture.” (October 2004)
- Department of Asian Art. “Han Dynasty (206 B.C.–220 A.D.).” (October 2000)
- Department of Asian Art. “Kushan Empire (ca. Second Century B.C.–Third Century A.D.).” (October 2000)
- Department of Asian Art. “Qin Dynasty (221–206 B.C.).” (October 2000)
- Department of Asian Art. “Rinpa Painting Style.” (October 2003)
- Department of Asian Art. “Jōmon Culture (ca. 10,500–ca. 300 B.C.).” (October 2002)
- Department of Asian Art. “The Kano School of Painting.” (October 2003)
- Department of Asian Art. “Woodblock Prints in the Ukiyo-e Style.” (October 2003)
- Department of Asian Art. “Traditional Chinese Painting in the Twentieth Century.” (October 2004)
- Department of Asian Art. “Ming Dynasty (1368–1644).” (October 2002)
- Department of Asian Art. “Northern Song Dynasty (960–1127).” (October 2001)
- Department of Asian Art. “Period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386–581).” (October 2002)
- Department of Asian Art. “Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279).” (October 2001)
- Department of Asian Art. “Tang Dynasty (618–907).” (October 2001)
- Department of Asian Art. “Yayoi Culture (ca. 300 B.C.–300 A.D.).” (October 2002)
- Department of Asian Art. “Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368).” (October 2001)
- Department of Asian Art. “Art of the Pleasure Quarters and the Ukiyo-e Style.” (October 2004)
- Department of Asian Art. “Scholar-Officials of China.” (October 2004)
- Department of Asian Art. “Kofun Period (ca. 300–710).” (October 2002)
- Department of Asian Art. “Shunga Dynasty (ca. Second–First Century B.C.).” (October 2000)
- Department of Asian Art. “Lacquerware of East Asia.” (October 2004)
- Department of Asian Art. “Painting Formats in East Asian Art.” (October 2004)
- Department of Asian Art. “Asuka and Nara Periods (538–794).” (October 2002)
- Department of Asian Art. “Heian Period (794–1185).” (October 2002)
- Department of Asian Art. “Kamakura and Nanbokucho Periods (1185–1392).” (October 2002)
- Department of Asian Art. “Momoyama Period (1573–1615).” (October 2002)
- Department of Asian Art. “Muromachi Period (1392–1573).” (October 2002)
- Department of Asian Art. “Samurai.” (October 2002)
- Department of Asian Art. “Art of the Edo Period (1615–1868).” (October 2003)
- Department of Asian Art. “Neolithic Period in China.” (October 2004)
- Department of Asian Art. “Seasonal Imagery in Japanese Art.” (October 2004)
- Department of Asian Art. “Shang and Zhou Dynasties: The Bronze Age of China.” (October 2004)
- Department of Asian Art. “Shōguns and Art.” (October 2004)
Related Essays
- Buddhism and Buddhist Art
- Kings of Brightness in Japanese Esoteric Buddhist Art
- Life of the Buddha
- Seasonal Imagery in Japanese Art
- Zen Buddhism
- Asuka and Nara Periods (538–794)
- Heian Period (794–1185)
- Japanese Illustrated Handscrolls
- Japanese Incense
- Japanese Weddings in the Edo Period (1615–1868)
- Jōmon Culture (ca. 10,500–ca. 300 B.C.)
- Kamakura and Nanbokucho Periods (1185–1392)
- Kofun Period (ca. 300–710)
- Momoyama Period (1573–1615)
- Muromachi Period (1392–1573)
- Painting Formats in East Asian Art
- Samurai
- Shōguns and Art
- Yayoi Culture (ca. 300 B.C.–300 A.D.)