Sannō Shintō(山王神道) was a syncretic shinto group with elements from

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...

buddhism of

Enryaku-ji is a Tendai monastery located on Mount Hiei in Ōtsu, overlooking Kyoto. It was first founded in 788 during the early Heian period (794–1185) by Saichō (767–822), also known as Dengyō Daishi, who introduced the Tendai sect of Mahayana ...

Temple. Sannō(山王) means“King of the Mountain,”, is a common name of the guardian deity of

Buddhism.The roots of the Shintō-Buddhist amalgamation(

Shinbutsu-shūgō ''Shinbutsu-shūgō'' (, "syncretism of kami and buddhas"), also called ''Shinbutsu-konkō'' (, "jumbling up" or "contamination of kami and buddhas"), is the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism in Japan, Buddhism that was Japan's main organized rel ...

) that developed the belief in Sannō can be traced back to the early Heian period, when Buddhist monks regard a number of Shinto deities (''

kami are the Deity, deities, Divinity, divinities, Spirit (supernatural entity), spirits, mythological, spiritual, or natural phenomena that are venerated in the traditional Shinto religion of Japan. ''Kami'' can be elements of the landscape, forc ...

'') as guardian of Buddhism. From the beginning of the Kamakura period (1192–1333), theories of that were formulated. The most important of the syncretic schools to emerge were Sannō and Ryōbu Shintō( 両部神道). Its early modern doctrines that concern

Tōshō-gū A is a Shinto shrine in which Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616), the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, is enshrined. List of Tōshō-gū, Tōshō-gūs are found throughout Japan. The most well-known Tōshō-gū is the Nikkō Tōshō-gū located i ...

(東照宮) are specially distinguished as Sannō Ichijitsu Shintō(山王一実神道) or Ichijitsu Shintō(一実神道). Sannō Shintō no longer exists Hiyoshi-taisha_juge-jinja-honden01s4592

doctrine allowed Japanese Buddhists to reconcile Buddhist teachings with the native religious beliefs and practices of Japan (now labeled "

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

"). In the case of Shinto, the difficulty is the reconciliation of the pantheon of Japanese gods (''

''), as well as with the myriad spirits associated with places, shrines or objects, with Buddhist teachings. These gods and spirits were initially seen as local protectors of Buddhism.Sugahara Shinkai 菅原信海
The Distinctive Features of Sanno Ichijitsu Shinto.
' Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 1996 23/1-2. Sannō Shintō 山王神道 was a specifically Tendai branch of syncretic Buddhist-Shinto religious practice, which revered kamis called the Mountain Kings (Sannō) or Sanno Sansei 山王ニ聖 (The Three Sacred eitiesof Sanno) and was based on Hie Taisha 日吉大社 a shrine on Mount Hiei. The Togakushi Shrine (戸隠神社, ''Togakushi Jinja'') was also associated with the Tendai school before it was separated from Buddhist institutions by the Japanese state during the separation of Shinto from Buddhism in the 19th century. These religious ideas eventually led to the development of a Japanese current of thought called ''

honji suijaku The term in Japanese religious terminology refers to a theory widely accepted until the Meiji period according to which Indian Buddhist deities choose to appear in Japan as native ''kami'' to more easily convert and save the Japanese.Breen and Te ...

'' (本地垂迹), which argued that

are simply local manifestations (the ''suijaku'' or "traces") of the Buddhas (''honji,'' "true nature"). This manifestation of the Buddhas was explained through the classic Mahayana doctrines of skillful means and the

Trikaya The Trikāya (, lit. "three bodies"; , ) is a fundamental Buddhist doctrine that explains the multidimensional nature of Buddhahood. As such, the Trikāya is the basic theory of Mahayana Buddhist theology of Buddhahood. This concept posits that a ...

. In 1571,

Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...

attacked Enryaku-ji Temple, and Hie Taisha was burned down along with the Temple.

Sannō Ichijitsu Shintō

Tenkai was an influential Japanese Tendai Buddhist monk of the Azuchi-Momoyama and early Edo periods. He achieved the rank of ''Daisōjō'', the highest rank of the Tendai priesthood and was an influential advisor to various Shoguns, including To ...

(天海, 1536–1643) influential Tendai Buddhist monk took over the medieval tradition of Sanno Shinto and advocated a new form of Sannō Ichijitsu Shintō(山王一実神道) in opposition to

Yoshida Shintō (), also frequently referred to as (, "One-and-only Shintō"), was a prominent sect of Shintō that arose during the Sengoku period through the teachings and work of Yoshida Kanetomo. The sect was originally an effort to organize Shintō teachi ...

(吉田神道). Sanno Ichijitsu Shinto, based on the same Tendai thought as Sanno Shinto, was formulated in the early

Edo Period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

and was centered at

(東照宮), especially

Nikkō Tōshō-gū is a Tōshō-gū Shinto shrine located in Nikkō, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Together with Futarasan Shrine and Rinnō-ji, it forms the Shrines and Temples of Nikkō UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 42 structures of the shrine included in the ...

(日光東照宮) to enshrine the spirit of is dedicated to

Tokugawa Ieyasu Tokugawa Ieyasu (born Matsudaira Takechiyo; 31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616) was the founder and first ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, which ruled from 1603 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. He was the third of the three "Gr ...

(1542-1616). That formed the doctrine of Ieyasu as Great Radiant Deity of the East (Tōshō Daigongen(東照大権現)). Sugawara says, Sanno Ichijitsu Shinto was a highly political religious system whose purpose was to legitimize and stabilize the rule of the Tokugawa house.

References

{{Authority control Shinto denominations Sannō Ichijitsu Shintō Japanese Vajrayana Buddhism

Sannō Ichijitsu Shintō

See also

References