The , also known as the Department of Shinto Affairs, Department of Rites, Department of Worship, as well as Council of Divinities, was a Japanese Imperial bureaucracy established in the 8th century, as part of the reforms. It was first established under the Taihō Code which also established the . However, the and the Daijō-kan made their first appearance in the Asuka Kiyomihara Code.

While the Daijō-kan handled secular administrative affairs of the country, the oversaw matters related to Shintō, particularly of kami worship. The general functions of the included overseeing kami-related affairs at court, managing provincial shrines, performing rites for the , as well as coordinating the provinces' ritual practices with those in the capital based on a code called , which translates to "Code of Celestial and Terrestrial Deities" or "Code of Heavenly and Earthly Gods".

While the department existed for almost a millennium, there are periods of time in Japanese ancient and medieval history where the was effectively nonexistent such as when the physical establishment of the department was burned down during the Ōnin War (1467-1477). During the Meiji period, the was briefly reinstated in 1868 and dissolved in 1871, succeeded by the and the Ministry of Religion (教部省, kyōbushō).

Term

The term is composed of the Chinese characters , "council" or "department," and , which are an abbreviated form of , "celestial and terrestrial deities." The term , also known as amatsukami which translates to "celestial deities" or "heavenly gods" encompasses all kami gods in Shintō that reside in Takamagahara or the "High Plains of Heaven," from whom the Japanese imperial line claims descendance. The term , also known as kunitsukami, translates to "terrestrial deities" or "earthly gods" and encompasses all kami gods in Shinto that reside in or have appeared on the earth. Colloquially, the term jingi can also be used to refer to the rituals performed to the heavenly and earthly gods.

Therefore, there are several ways to translate the term jingi-kan in English:

1. "Department of Divinities" or "Council of Divinities," where the term jingi is used to refer to both heavenly and earthly gods. This is the most common translation used in English.

2. "Department of Rites" or "Council of Rites," where the term jingi refers not to the heavenly and earthly gods but to the rites performed for these gods.

3. "Department of Shinto Affairs" or "Council of Shinto Affairs," where "Shinto Affairs" refer to the general function of , that is to oversee all matters related to Shintō.

Ritsuryō Jingi-kan

This Shintō administrative hierarchy was an intentional mirror of its Chinese counterpart, the Ministry of Rites (禮部). The Jingi-kan was charged with oversight of Shintō clergy and rituals for the whole country.

Hierarchy

The Jingi-kan was staffed by four levels of managers, as seen below:

Functions

In its early days, the had four main functions:

1. To carry out annual rites written in jingiryō as well as oversee the overall coordination of shrine rites.

2. To provide the sovereign and his court with ritualists who assist in the performance of palace ceremonies.

3. When misfortune struck or to determine the cause of ominous events, it performs divination to determine the identity of the responsible kami.

4. To conduct the distribution of tribute offerings (heihaku) to shrines for four annual rituals: Kinen-sai (Toshigoi no Matsuri), the spring and autumn Tsukinamisai, and Niinamesai.

Annual Rites

The was responsible for carrying out thirteen rites as written in the jingiryō. The rites are laid out in articles 2 through 9, as well as article 18. Those rituals are:

Jingi-kan in Medieval Japan

From the 10th century to the 15th, the Shirakawa-hakuō family held this position continuously.

In feudal Japan, the Jingi-kan became the final surviving building of the Heian Palace. During the Jōkyū War in 1221, most of the palace was evacuated and fell into disrepair; the Jingi-kan alone remained in operation. A 1624 memoir by a Jingi-haku reports that the Jingi-kan was still being used as late as 1585 and was demolished during renovations. In 1626, a temporary building was constructed to perform additional ceremonies.

Meiji Jingi-kan

On 3 March 1868, Emperor Meiji announced that the new Meiji government would restore direct imperial rule (王政復古, ōsei fukko) and unity of rites and government (祭政一致, saisei itchi). The department was reinstated in 1868 at the beginning of the Meiji period as a provisional step to achieve saisei itchi.

In the seventh month of 1869, the department was further reorganized as an office independent of, and positioned above, the Daijō-kan, echoing the structure of its ancient predecessor; proponents of this restructuring included scholars of the Hirata and Ōkuni schools of kokugaku, respectively represented by Hirata Nobutane and Fukuba Yoshishizu. The reorganized Jingi-kan was headed by Nakayama Tadayasu, with Shirakawa Sukenori as deputy; a separate mausoleum section was placed under Toda Tadayuki, while a propaganda bureau known as Senkyōshi, led by Nakayama with Fukuba as deputy, employed graded ranks of religious instructors.

After 1871

In 1870, the Meiji administration attempted to create a new national religion under the term , primarily to keep Christianity from gaining popularity and influence in the Japanese society and to re-educate the population about the significance of the imperial rule. Consequentially, in addition to overseeing Shintō affairs, the began to produce propaganda supporting the empire.

The was demoted to the Ministry of Divinities, lasting from 1871 to 1872, as part of the saisei itchi campaign, bringing the to an end.

The goals of the Great Teaching campaign were deemed too ambiguous to be formed into practice, making it difficult for the Jingi-shō to provide theoretical and spiritual content to be spread among the public. The Jingi-shō also lacked staff to oversee their two major functions, Shintō affairs and propaganda. Because of this, the Jingi-shō was dissolved and the Meiji administration established Ministry of Religion (教部省, kyōbushō), also known as the Ministry of Doctrine.

See also

• Engishiki, volume 1-10

• State Shinto

• Unity of religion and rule

Notes

External links

• Kokugakuin University, Encyclopedia of Shinto, "Concepts of Emperor and State" (