英語訳
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They supervised the noro throughout the Ryukyu islands. Priestesses of noro rank and above received appointment letters called goin-han from the king, and received fiefs, stipend rice or utaki fields, taking on the character of court ladies. The Kikoe-ogimi typically became the head administrator of Chinen magiri (with a fief worth 200 koku). While political and administrative ○○ of the government office remained the domain of men, divine festivals and purification rituals were still conducted by these women. The first two generations of Kikoe-ogimi were unmarried, and their rank was second only to the king, but from the third generation the queen consort held the position concurrently, and thereafter there were no unmarried holders. The purity of faith began to crumble from the highest priestess and became formalized.
The Shimazu invasion of the early 17th century dealt a blow to indigenous faith. Despite conducting prayers and exorcisms to repel the Shimazu forces, they had no effect. The Shimazu handed over 15 articles of political ○ orders, which included "women shall not be granted fiefs," thus denying this court lady system. Until then, besides the Kikoe-ogimi, various other priestesses with names like Shuri-ogimi, Ooriyahe, Sasugasa had been appointed from among the royal family. They had no special ○ responsibilities and existed merely to ○ stipends. Many of the so-called Thirty-Three Lords were of this ○ type, but they were gradually eliminated, and after King Sho Ho (1621-40), these priestesses almost completely disappeared. However, only the priestesses who permanently resided in the royal ○, namely the Kikoe-ogimi and Tsukasa
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Kumoi Aji, remained until the end.
The person who called indigenous faith superstition and openly took an oppressive stance was Haneji Choshu (Chinese name: Sho Shoken), regent under Kings Sho Shitsu and Sho Tei (1666-75). He submitted the following petition to the king: "Regarding this spring's Kudaka Island festival, since the national ruler is scheduled to participate, I humbly submit my thoughts" (The national ruler refers to the king. By Shimazu's order, he was called national ruler, but later reverted to the royal title).
"Hearing about the purpose of the Kudaka festival, it is not a ritual of sages. If the Satsuma people heard of it, with women and shrine maidens participating, it would only become a laughing matter," and so forth.【(5)】
This proposal was adopted, and the king's and Kikoe-ogimi's pilgrimage to Kudaka Island was abolished from this year (1673). This incident signifies the victory of the Way of Sages, namely Confucianism. The year after Haneji became regent (1667), he demoted the Kikoe-ogimi's rank to below the queen consort, taking the first step of reform, but his ten years in office were spent entirely fighting against superstitions entrenched in the inner palace. This battle was, from one perspective, a struggle between antiquity and the medieval period, a ○○ between the women who bore the ancient ways and male political leaders who had awakened to medieval consciousness. In other words, it was a conflict between indigenous faith and Confucian morality.
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Sai On, the famous politician who followed Haneji, also devoted efforts to oppressing indigenous faith. While Haneji was trained in Satsuma and acquired Japanese cultural education, Sai On studied in Fuzhou and made Confucianism even more ○ clear. He created precepts that could be called a national textbook (1733), established filial piety as the foundation of morality, and prohibited the "toki" and "yuta" types that had emerged in the previous era. Toki were specialists in selecting auspicious days. In indigenous faith, selecting auspicious days and times was a condition for success, and all rituals and events were ○ strained by this. Yuta were those who spoke of the spiritual world and performed magical healing and disaster prevention, and were considered even more malicious than toki.
III Ancestor Veneration and Tombs
In ancient times, these people appear to have been believed to be transcendent beings who performed divine works. However, from the perspective of those with Confucian education, epitomized by Haneji and Sai On, they were ignorant and illiterate groups, and what they preached was heretical doctrine contrary to the "Way of Sages," and believing their words was considered superstition. This trend spread from the center to the regions, and indigenous faith gradually became formalized, with only those elements connected to agricultural rituals surviving.
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The Shimazu invasion removed the barriers of isolation and seclusion, leading to self-reflection by enlightened individuals and a series of reforms in politics and education. Looking at the results, Mr. Okuno's view that the transition from divine rule to virtuous rule occurred in the 17th-18th centuries should be respected (Okuno Hikoroku, "History of Okinawan Personnel and Legal Systems"). Haneji and Sai On can be seen as promoters of virtuous rule.
Ancestor worship probably began around the 13th century when male lineage dominance started. As mentioned earlier, Buddhism, Confucianism, and ○ teachings penetrated from this time. In indigenous faith, perhaps because death was seen as pollution, there are absolutely no references to death and tombs in the Omoro. Existing stone tombs date from the 13th century onward, with Buddhist statue carvings on the sides of ○-shaped stone coffins, and royal tombs built in the 15th century are famous as excellent stone architecture. Mr. Okuno noted that the regulations include provisions for the king's ancestral ○○ worship at New Year, explaining that "from this time the nation made ancestral rituals more solemn" (ibid.), which I believe is a correct view. Modern Okinawan tombs were often luxurious stone constructions with stucco coating, counted among unique landscapes. Such tombs, which were limited to the upper classes in the 14th-15th centuries, gradually extended to the middle ○ classes, with clan groups building massive tombs and rituals becoming clan-centered.
Okinawa The Decline of Indigenous Faith
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