Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
panied with Buddhist rites. There was a relatively small proportion of the population that
had nothing to do with Buddhism, but were solely followers of the
shintō
religion, and for
these there was a
shintō
form of burial, closely resembling that used by the one or two
families that exclusively practiced Confucianist rites, and involving burial and not crema-
tion. Buddhist rites, however, nearly always meant cremation, and much was made of the
symbolism of life ending with a puff of smoke in the great cremation-grounds of the large
cities.IncountrydistrictsBuddhistbelieversmightbeinterred,althoughcremationbecame
more and more widespread during the Tokugawa period. Even dead Emperors were given
Buddhist rites, as were most of the Shoguns, except the first, Ieyasu, whose remains, trans-
ferred from their original resting-place in Shizuoka, were interred at the great and ornate
shrine at Nikkō.
When someone died, a priest was called from the temple, and he came and chanted
someappropriatepassagefromtheBuddhistscriptures,whichwereChinesetranslationsof
theoriginals; thechanting mightbepunctuated bystrokesonabell(notoftheshapethatis
usual inthe West, butmore like abowl), resting onapadded ringtoallow it toreverberate,
or sometimes strokes on a wooden drum, resembling a gourd. After the reading, the hair
of the corpse would be shaved, then the body was washed and clothed in a white cotton
shroud, and put into its coffin, which was usually tub-shaped. The corpse would be placed
in the coffin in the normal sitting position. The lid was fixed down, and until the following
morning there would be a vigil, with lighted candles and burning incense (
65
), and more
elaborate scripture reading. Then, on the next day, the coffin was taken on a litter to the
burial-place or cremation-ground, accompanied by a procession of mourning relatives and
priests intoning scriptures. The degree of ceremony naturally depended upon the resources
available:apoorfarmerwouldnotbeabletoaffordenoughforafuneralpyre,andacorner
of his land would be set aside for a burial-place.
