Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
lit,andincense burned.Theroundofthesememorial services wasaconstant occupation of
the priest, and a steady source of income.
The family was also obliged to observe a period of mourning, the length of which var-
ied according to the closeness of the relationship between the mourner and the deceased,
from 50 days for a parent, 30 for a husband, and 20 for a wife, to three for a nephew or
niece. This period of mourning was fundamentally a time when a mourner had to cut him-
self offfrom the world in order toavoid contaminating others; inparticular he had toavoid
bringing the defilement of death into the precincts of a
shintō
shrine, and should this be
completely unavoidable, he must not go in through a
torii,
the shrine gate. The main en-
trance to the family's home was also barred; there could be no weddings, no division of
property, no drinking of
sake
or eating of meat, no music, and no shaving or hair-cutting.
In addition to this, mourning-clothes had to be worn for a longer period, 13 months for a
parent being the longest time. This custom applied mainly to members of the court, who
wore black, and to warriors, who wore the black
kimono
with the family crest; care had to
be taken to keep the head covered, if only with paper, to avoid exposing the sun to defile-
ment.
Buddhist priests would be seen in the streets when going to funerals and to memorial-
readings, as well as at the time of the
bon
festival in summer, when the souls of the dead
visited the earth, and prayers were appropriate. Novices were also to be seen near the large
seminaries, for they would go out with their begging-bowls on their daily excursions for
alms, clad in white robes held in place by a cord girdle, a black jacket, a straw hat, and
straw sandals or wooden clogs on bare feet. The clothing of established priests varied ac-
cording to their rank and sect, and indeed according to their means, but the normal attire
was the same as the novices, except for the
kesa,
a strip of cloth that hung over the left
shoulder and round the waist to the right; the
kesa
was a surviving relic of the robes worn
by the priests who first brought Buddhism to China. Their heads were shaven—the act of
becoming a Buddhist religious was symbolized by the ritual head-shaving—and they car-
ried a rosary, the beads of which could be “counted” as prayers, or which could be rubbed
between the hands, with the beads rattling against each other, to exorcise spirits and lay
ghosts (
66
)
.
A priest away from his temple might sometimes be visiting the home of one of his pa-
rishioners, who had a customary obligation to support a temple both financially and mor-
ally and often entertained its priests. A priest would be summoned to family consultations,
and
daimyō
householdswouldcarryacomplement ofthem,notonlytolookafterBuddhist
observances but also to act as scribes, calligraphers, and tea ceremony experts; priests
sometimes delivered sermons, and they were often the only persons available with some
training in public speaking. Apart from these respectable pursuits, some priests were not
averse to enjoying themselves outside their temples, and the audiences at theatres always
