“Ten thousand teachings, one root”. Deguchi Onisaburō’s syncretism during the first half of the twentieth century
L’Hérisson, Édouard
“Ten thousand teachings, one root”. Deguchi Onisaburō’s syncretism during the first half of the twentieth century - 2022.
22
Bridging an analysis at both microscopic and mesoscopic scales, this article sheds light on the construction of the syncretic doctrine of Deguchi Onisaburō—co-founder of the new religious movement Ōmoto— in the 1920s. It explores the issues and limits of this syncretism in an imperial context. Despite a universal ambition and the constitution of a transnational network based on the idea of international religious harmony, the leader’s syncretic discourse was nonetheless based on a particularist postulate that placed Japan at the top of the world hierarchy and emphasized the universal messiah status of the co-founder, holder of the divine truth transmitted by the Shintō deities. Ōmoto’s creed thus appears as a strategic syncretism acting as a veritable spiritual colonialism capable of supporting the imperialist enterprise of modern Japan.
“Ten thousand teachings, one root”. Deguchi Onisaburō’s syncretism during the first half of the twentieth century - 2022.
22
Bridging an analysis at both microscopic and mesoscopic scales, this article sheds light on the construction of the syncretic doctrine of Deguchi Onisaburō—co-founder of the new religious movement Ōmoto— in the 1920s. It explores the issues and limits of this syncretism in an imperial context. Despite a universal ambition and the constitution of a transnational network based on the idea of international religious harmony, the leader’s syncretic discourse was nonetheless based on a particularist postulate that placed Japan at the top of the world hierarchy and emphasized the universal messiah status of the co-founder, holder of the divine truth transmitted by the Shintō deities. Ōmoto’s creed thus appears as a strategic syncretism acting as a veritable spiritual colonialism capable of supporting the imperialist enterprise of modern Japan.
Réseaux sociaux