Confucianism and Shintōism — Similarities and Differences in Belief and Practice
A comparison
When we refer to Eastern religions, we typically mean those religions that originated in East, South and Southeast Asia. While the larger Eastern religions, Buddhism and Hinduism, will be familiar to most people in the Western hemisphere, it is also worth investigating and comparing the less well-known ones, and here, in particular, we shall contrast Confucianism and Shintōism.
Having originated in China, Confucianism is based on the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius who lived from approximately 551 to 479 BCE. Although it originated in China, Confucianism slowly went on to influence East-Asian culture far beyond China, extending to Vietnam, Korea and Japan, in particular. Confucianism was introduced to Japan in 285 BC, where it dominated in the following centuries. Rather than a religion in the traditional sense, Confucianism can be understood as a quasi-religion or humanist religion that provides an ethical and philosophical framework for how to lead a good life. It is notable that the main focus of Confucianism is on virtues and morals, especially family values and honesty. Followers of Confucianism are concerned with leading a meaningful life and living in a harmonious society. This can be achieved through kindness to others and placing emphasis on loyalty and filial piety. The shared understanding of human benignness also makes coercive laws redundant as everyone shares the same goal and is working towards it.
Interestingly, Confucianism also developed into a fundamental tool in the Chinese education system, especially as the basis for civil service examinations and ultimately acquiring a political dimension. The goal of creating a harmonious society is naturally closely linked to the ideals of the government in charge, which was at the time guided by Confucianist principles, leading some Western scholars to question whether Confucianism can even be considered a religion at all and is not rather a set of administrative ethics. It is certainly an authoritative political philosophy. The Confucianist principles are summed up in its five classics (Classic of Poetry/Songs; Classic of Changes; Classic of History; Book of Ritual/Rites; Spring and Autumn Annals) and four books (The Analects of Confucius; The Book of Mencius; The Great Learning; The Doctrine of the Mean)[8], which cover a variety of subjects including history, poetry and older documents to describe the best way of living.
Crucially, in stark contrast to Shintōism, Confucianism does not support any belief in the supernatural or spirits, although it does comprise the concept of Tian or ‘heaven’. However, this is not ‘heaven’ in the Semitic tradition or in the sense of an afterlife, but rather heaven as a concept for the cosmos as a whole. Interestingly, on the other hand, a main similarity shared by Confucianism and Shintōism is the focus on rites and rituals. Despite its humanist nature, Confucianism still includes a number of rites such as the veneration of ancestors and the worship of ‘heaven’ and the emperor making official sacrifices at an altar in Beijing dedicated to this purpose.
Shintōism is a purely Japanese folk religion that can be considered an ethnic religion because it has no interest in converting outsiders from other countries to it and is rarely practiced outside of Japan. Even in countries with large Japanese communities such as Singapore, Shintōism is virtually non-existent. Unlike most major religions, Shintōism has no written tradition or central doctrine or founder. Its rituals were first recorded in approximately the 8th century but it is thought to have been around and played an important role in Japanese society and culture for much longer than that. Emerging from a system of origin myths, the main concern of Shintōism is ‘the nature of the land and one’s relationship to it’. The name Shintō means ‘way of the gods’, whereby the Shintō gods are called kami, which translates loosely to divine creatures. Shintōism is still closely linked with the Japanese value system and the Japanese way of thinking and acting to this day.
Most notably, in contrast with Confucianism, Shintōism is a polytheistic religion with a strong belief in spiritualism. There are a large number of spirits referred to as kami, who are either heavenly or terrestrial and can inhabit different spaces in nature, objects or even spirits of deceased ancestors. Each spirit (kami) has a dedicated shrine or represents a different aspect, for example, the sun goddess Amaterasu, who is closely linked with Japan’s creation myth and is said to be connected to the Japanese Imperial Family. Active emperor worship is therefore a large part of Shintōism. In fact, the Japanese people consider the emperor a kind of living god.
There are therefore a vast number of Shintō shrines throughout Japan, and many rituals are performed to honour the different kami. While Shintōism has a multitude of shrines in family homes and public spaces, Confucianism only recognises Confucius tomb and the Temple of Heaven as official sacred spaces. Further, although both Confucianism and Shintōism have many set rituals, the reasoning for these is different in both religions; in Confucianism they serve to order society and reflect on ‘heaven’, while in Shintōism they act as a connection to the kami. When attending shrines and worshipping the kami, many Japanese people also use talismans or amulets for personal protection or good luck, often collecting different ones from each shrine they visit.
What both Shintōism and Confucianism have in common is the belief that human beings are inherently good. Neither share the belief in the original sin and humans as inherently flawed typical of the Abrahamic religions and Christianity in particular. However, both religions have different reasons for human beings acting in a way that is no considered good. If they do not act ‘good’ according to Confucianism, they are corrupted by society and merely uneducated and can achieve goodness by studying and broadening their mind. On the other hand, if a person is not good according to Shintōism, then they are influenced by bad spirits. As not all kami are good and some are considered only semi-benevolent or even demonic, rituals and prayers serve to either garner their favour and obtain good luck or appease these kami and help remove their negative influence from the person concerned and thus purify them. This is where the highly structured rituals of Shintōism come in, as they are expected to lead to the desired outcome.
Another shared characteristic of Confucianism and Shintōism is the use of music. Both consider music very important, but again for different reasons. In Shintōism, music is used at ceremonies and festivals along with dance and poetry to entertain the kami, while in Confucianism, classical music, in particular, is seen as an important tool to aid concentration and to purify the mind There is even said to be a lost classic, the Classic of Music, which is sometimes considered the sixth classic.
Despite their differences, over the centuries there have been successful attempts at syncretism between the two religions. Although the earliest documented contact between Shintōism and Confucianism dates back to around 650 in a chronicle of Emperor Kōtoku’s reign, it was not until the time of Hayashi Razan that they began to syncretise. Hayashi Razan was a Japanese Neo-Confucian philosopher and scholar who created a new school of thought that removed Buddhist principles from Shintōism and replaced them with Confucianist thought in the early 1600s, leading to Shintōist beliefs starting to merge with Confucianism by 1682.
In summary, Confucianism is a non-theistic humanist religion, and Shintōism is a polytheistic ethnic religion. Shintōism beliefs in spirits and the supernatural, while Confucianism does not, instead interpreting the concept of heaven as the cosmos shared by all. Both religions share a focus on rites and rituals but for different reasons, and both belief humans are inherently good. Confucianism focuses on filial piety and loyalty to family, while Shintōism is more concerned with revering the kami. However, both seek to achieve a harmonious, balanced life and society, although they set out to achieve this through different means. So although Shintōism and Confucianism share a number of the same beliefs, they are largely rather different in their approach to achieving their goal. Yet, interestingly, they have been gradually merged over time and are today largely syncretised in Japanese society.
Sources:ArcGIS StoryMaps, 'Confucianism and Shintōism: Chilling over the Ages'Pickford, Lucy, ‘Exploring religion: Shintōism and Confucianism’, 2019Yazaki, Hiroyuki Encyclopedia of Shintō, 2006, http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=827
