9781422283547

In the Shadow of China

T he Great Buddha at Nara was built in the 8th century. It stands 50 feet (16.2 m) high and is the world’s largest statue of cast metal.

T hese are the Wedded Rocks at Futamigaura in Ise Bay. They are symbolic for Shinto followers, because people think that they sheltered the gods Izanagi and Izanami, the legendary creators of the islands of Japan.

Buddhism Comes to Japan In 552 CE the king of Paekche in Korea sent some priests to the emperor of Japan with a statue of Buddha to explain the Buddhist religion. Buddha (Enlightened One) was the title given by his followers to an Indian teacher called Gautama. His teachings promised that if people lived a good, considerate and unselfish life they could escape being born over and over again, with all the pain, suffering and illness that went with human life. The Buddha died around 483 bce , so Buddhism was already a thousand years old as a religion by the time it had spread through China and Korea to reach Japan. Two Religions Side by Side The Japanese were interested in Buddhism because it had a lot to teach about what happens to people when they die. Shinto was much more concerned about life in this world. So the two religions were thought to support each other. Japanese people came to believe that the Buddhist gods were Shinto spirits in another form. Nowadays most people still have a Shinto wedding and a Buddhist funeral.

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