著者

窪 徳忠

出版者

東京大学東洋文化研究所

雑誌

東洋文化研究所紀要 (ISSN:05638089)

巻号頁・発行日

no.17, 1959-03

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Kōshin beliefs still maintained by many people in Tokyo and other parts of the country are believed by Japanese folklorists to be peculiar to Japanese culture.I cannot help casting doubt on this idea, however, since Kōshin beliefs have much in common with San-shih beliefs of Taoism in China.I recently published a small book entitled'Kōshin Beliefs', in which I tried to make a comparative study.In this book, however, I was unable to drive my argument home, because had to be omitted for fear of over-complexity.In this paper I have prepared a chronological table from the original texts giving data concerning the regular functions of Kōshin beliefs as collected from Japanese history books, diaries, poetry, and other sources from the Nara period to the end of Tokugawa era.The paper gives an outline of change in the functions of Kōshin beliefs in Japan, the terminology used, and the manner in which people worship.I have also included three examples of Kōshin monuments, which I think may be of high value in this.Since the documentary sources which I have used are, of course, limited and they leave many points, which I would like to modify later.