「人間淨土」在山中：日本東北地區山嶽信仰特徵的宗教學分析

Humanistic Pure Land in the Mountains: A Religious Analysis of the Features of the Mountain Cult in Northeastern Japan

何燕生(HE Yansheng)

《眾力莊嚴．一佛圓滿——人間淨土與彌陀淨土》 2017年(下冊) (2017/12) Pp. 277-290

摘要

日本的國土以山居多，“山”佔整個國土的70％。在日本人的心目中，“山”（yama）具有特別的意涵；以富士山為代表，可以說，“山”已成為日本的符號，日本民族文化的象徵。本文從宗教學角度對日本東北地區的山嶽信仰的特徵進行了考察。之所以選擇日本東北地區，是因為本人居住在日本東北地區長達20餘年，自學生時代以來，對東北地區的山嶽信仰進行了多次實地考察。當時我們主要考察了出羽三山、恐山等山，積累了一些資料。著名宗教學者埃利亞特（Mircea Eliade）1958年訪問日本東北大學時留下了日記，日本東北地區民間信仰給埃利亞特留下了深刻印象，對於埃利亞特後期宗教學的拓展似乎發生過積極的影響。因此，從宗教學的角度看，日本東北地區山嶽信仰是一個值得我們關注的重要課題。本文認為，日本東北地區山嶽信仰的特徵主要表現在以下幾個方面：第一，地勢不高，但充滿奇異；第二，宗教信仰與民間信仰相融合；第三，死者供養；第四，聖人信仰；第五，神聖性與世俗性（觀光性、體驗性和速食充饑性）互動。然而，“山中淨土”觀念則是日本東北區地區山嶽信仰的主要特徵。

關鍵字

人間淨土 ； 山嶽特徵 ； 日本東北地區 ； 宗教學分析

並列摘要

Mountains (Yama) which cover 70% of the total territories in Japan have a special meaning for Japanese. Mount Fuji is a symbol of all the mountains in Japan. Mountains become a symbol of Japan and Japanese culture. This paper studies the features of the mountain cult in Northeastern Japan in a religious way. The author has stayed at Northeastern Japan for more than 20 years and has conducted site visits regarding the mountain cult in Northeastern Japan since his school days. Dewa Sanzan (出羽三山), Osorezan (also known as Mount Osore, 恐山), etc. were the main sites for visiting that numerous field notes have been accumulated. Mircea Eliade, a famous scholar in religious studies, wrote a diary during the period he was in Tohoku University of Japan in 1958. He was impressed with the folk religion of Northeastern Japan which affected his studies in religious studies in terms of the range and the depth in his later stage. Thus, it is worth studying the mountain cult in Northeastern Japan from the religious point of view. This paper shows that the features of the mountain cult in Northeastern Japan can be found on the below aspects: 1) low elevation but with peculiar landscapes; 2) mixture of religious belief and folk religion; 3) offerings to the dead; 4) believing in saint; 5) interaction between sacredness and secularization (tourism, emphasizing experiencing and aiming at relieving daily sadness and stress). Nevertheless, the concept of ＂Pure Land in the mountains＂ is the main feature of the mountain cult in Northeastern Japan.

並列關鍵字

Humanistic Pure Land ； Features of the Mountain ； Northeastern Japan ； A Religious Analysis